On March 15, the Academy Award nominations will begin the countdown to the biggest year of the year in Hollywood. Wildly late, and leaned down to the pandemic, this year’s […]
On March 15, the Academy Award nominations will begin the countdown to the biggest year of the year in Hollywood. Wildly late, and leaned down to the pandemic, this year’s Oscars are going to the strangest on record. So many films, major work set for release last year was bumped to 2021 and in most cases are still awaiting release. With the studios bumping their big Oscar films to the following year gave the smaller independent films and the streaming networks to step in and release their films with Oscars in their eyes. After the ten nominations last year for Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman, the years best film despite its poor showing at the Oscars. This year I do not see how the Academy can possibly ignore or try to humiliate Netflix this year given their outstanding showing. It seemed that the Academy nominated the greatest living filmmaker only to embarrass him with a complete shutting out of his film. With no less than potentially four films in the running for Best Picture and a multitude of other awards, this could be the year that streaming films are welcomed to the Academy Awards. From Netflix this year came Mank, The Trial of the Chicago 7, The Midnight Sky, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and Spike Lee’s brilliant Da Five Bloods. Not a bad output at all and the studios cannot compare. High time.
It will be an interesting year, one for the ages, I just wish I could get more excited about it. Anyway, here are my predictions. I intentionally left out the Best Documentary Feature and Short, as well as the Short Films, live-action and animation and International Feature because I simply have not seen enough of them this year given the limited screening access. Bear in mind there a single award for Sound this year, the two previous having been combined. Expect two nominations for the late Chadwick Boseman and at least a single win, maybe two, who knows? And there could be sentimental awards to Glenn Close in Hillbilly Elegy (no one thinks she deserves this do they?…seriously!) and Sophia Loren in The Life Ahead.
Here we go. Oh yeah, the alternate, the one that might bump one of the first five is in brackets at the end of each category.
NOMADLAND
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
MANK
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
DA FIVE BLOOD
THE FATHER
MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
NEWS OF THE WORLD
MINARI
ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
EMERALD FENNELL FOR PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
DAVID FINCHER FOR MANK
AARON SORKIN FOR THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
CHLOE ZHAO FOR NOMADLAND
SPIKE LEE FOR DA FIVE BLOOD
(PAUL GREENGRASS FOR NEWS OF THE WORLD)
CHADWICK BOSEMAN IN MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
GARY OLDMAN IN MANK
ANTHONY HOPKINS IN THE FATHER
DELROY LINDO IN DA FIVE BLOODS
RIZ AHMED IN SOUND OF METAL
(TOM HANKS IN NEWS OF THE WORLD)
FRANCES MCDORMAND IN NOMADLAND
CARY MULLIGAN IN PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
VIOLA DAVIS IN MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
VANESSA KIRBY IN PIECES OF A WOMAN
SOPHIA LOREN IN THE LIFE AHEAD
(ROSAMUND PIKE IN I CARE A LOT)
CHADWICK BOSEMAN IN DA FIVE BLOODS
BILL MURRAY IN ON THE ROCKS
DANIEL KALUUYA IN JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
JARED LETO IN THE LITTLE THINGS
SACHA BARON COHEN IN THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
(LESLIE ODOM JR. IN ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI)
GLENN CLOSE IN HILLBILLY ELEGY
AMANDA SEYFRIED IN MANK
MARIA BAKALOVA IN BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIE FILM
OLIVIA COLMAN IN THE FATHER
ZENGEL IN NEWS OF THE WORLD
(OLIVIA COOKE IN SOUND OF METAL)
MINARI
MANK
DA FIVE BLOODS
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
(SOUND OF METAL)
NOMADLAND
ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
NEWS OF THE WORLD
THE FATHER
(BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIE FILM)
MANK
TENET
DA FIVE BLOODS
NEWS OF THE WORLD
NOMADLAND
(THE MIDNIGHT SKY)
EMMA
MANK
MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTON
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
THE MIDNIGHT SKY
(NEWS OF THE WORLD)
MANK
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
TENET
SOUND OF METAL
NEWS OF THE WORLD
(MULAN)
SOUL
MANK
NEWS OF THE WORLD
THE MIDNIGHT SKY
DA FIVE BLOODS
(TENET)
MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
EMMA
BIRDS OF PREY
HILLBILLY ELEGY
MANK
(BIRDS OF PREY)
MANK
EMMA
MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
NEWS OF THE WORLD
MULAN
(PROMISING YOUNG GIRL)
SOUND OF METAL
TENET
MANK
NEWS OF THE WORLD
DA FIVE BLOODS
(MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM)
BIRDS OF PREY
TENET
THE MIDNIGHT SKY
MULAN
MANK
‘SPEAK NOW” IN ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
“NEVER BREAK” IN GIVING VOICE
“HEAR MY VOICE” IN THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
“LOYAL LOVE BRAVE” IN MULAN
“FIGHT FOR YOU” IN JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
What are your picks for the Oscars this year. Do comment.
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The Cinemawala 