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« New Oscar Records! | Main | Jane Austen @ the Oscars »
Monday
Mar152021

93rd Oscars - The Nominations are here!

by Nathaniel R

Mank led the honors for the 93rd Oscars with 10 nominations though it missed in two surprising places (Bset Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing). With most of the Bst Picture contenders scoring six nominations each, Nomadland clearly remains the frontrunner and Chloe Zhao made history becoming the first woman ever to score four nominations in one year (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing). The nominations and more commentary are after the jump. The oscar charts are being updated and will be going up throughout the day

BEST PICTURE

 

"The Father"
"Judas and the Black Messiah"
"Mank"
"Minari"
"Nomadland"
"Promising Young Woman"
"Sound of Metal"
"The Trial of the Chicago 7″...

 

In a major surprise both Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and One Night in Miami failed to make the cut with The Father, Sound of Metal, and Judas and the Black Messiah all benefitting from late surges.

Thomas Vinterberg, "Another Round"
David Fincher, "Mank"
Lee Isaac Chung, "Minari"
Chloe Zhao, "Nomadland"
Emerald Fennell, "Promising Young Woman"

.

OSCAR CHART UPDATED - YOU CAN VOTE

Several people predicted Vinterberg as a hunch. We did not but good on them! Happy to see him here after a stellar career and mistreatment by the Academy (as he should have taken the Best Foreign Language Feature Oscar for Festen/Celebration way back in 1998 but he wasn't nominated). In  more important news, this is the first time two women have been nominated simultaneously in the category and this is the first time two Asians have competed in the category. 

Viola Davis, "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"
Andra Day, "The United States vs. Billie Holiday"
Vanessa Kirby, "Pieces of a Woman"
Frances McDormand, "Nomadland"
Carey Mulligan, "Promising Young Woman"

.

OSCAR CHART UPDATED - VOTE DAILY

This is only the second time two black women have been nominated simultaneously in this category (the first was in 1972 with Diana Ross and Cicely Tyson both competing)

Maria Bakalova, "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm"
Glenn Close, "Hillbilly Elegy"
Olivia Colman, "The Father"
Amanda Seyfried, "Mank"
Youn Yuh-jung, "Minari"
.
OSCAR CHART UPDATED - VOTE ON THE READER'S POLL

Despite a volatile precursor season, Oscar went with the somewhat expected lineup here. The most precursor honored player that didn't land here was Helena Zengel in News of the World. And Jodie Foster's Globe win and subsequent miss here is interesting in that that hasn't happend in 44 years. The last such instance was Katharine Ross in Voyage of the Damned (1976)

 

Riz Ahmed, "Sound of Metal"
Chadwick Boseman, "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"
Anthony Hopkins, "The Father"
Gary Oldman, "Mank"
Steven Yeun, "Minari"

.

OSCAR CHART UPDATED - VOTE DAILY

This is the first time Best Actor has been majority men of color and the first time two Asians have competed in any acting category. This was a tough break for Delroy Lindo from Da 5 Bloods but precursors just didn't push him hard enough. Given Another Round's Best Director nomination, we're guessing Mads Mikkelsen was in sixth place here rather than Delroy Lindo.

Sacha Baron Cohen, "The Trial of the Chicago 7"
Daniel Kaluuya, "Judas and the Black Messiah"
Leslie Odom Jr., "One Night in Miami"
Paul Raci, "Sound of Metal"
Lakeith Stanfield, "Judas and the Black Messiah"

.

OSCAR CHART UPDATED - vote daily

Did you hear? Both Judas and the Black Messiah are supporting characters in the movie called Judas and the Black Messiah. Category Fraud ridiculousness. The film has two male leads and both were nominated for supporting, proving once again that Oscar voters have no respect for character actors, preferring movie stars in the categories designed for non-headliners. 

The surprising omission here, given the precursor support, was Chadwick Boseman for Da 5 Bloods but that film scored only 1 nomination (Best Score) so it clearly wasn't an Oscar favourite. 

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

"Borat Subsequent MovieFilm"
"The Father"
"Nomadland"
"One Night in Miami"
"The White Tiger"

.

Recency helped The White Tiger land here. And also it's very writerly nature given the excessive narration and being based on a best-seller. These nominations were an unlucky break for First Cow and Ma Rainey. We love Ma Rainey but we're glad it didn't score here as there wasn't much adaptation of August Wilson's brilliant play. Not that there should have been. It was fine the way it was. Brilliant already.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

"Judas and the Black Messiah"
"Minari"
"Promising Young Woman"
"Sound of Metal"
"TheTrial of the Chicago 7"

.

Recency helped Judas  and Sound of Metal held on too. Mank proved to be the film without enough support from the writer's branch which is interesting since it's about a writer and about writing movies. 

ORIGINAL SONG

"Fight For You" from "Judas and the Black Messiah"
"Hear My Voice" from "The Trial of the Chicago 7"
"Husavik" from "Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga"
"lo Sì (Seen)" from "The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se)"
"Speak Now" from "One Night in Miami..."
.
Oscar was REALLY into end credits songs this yar, suggesting they might have changed their "bakeoff" process where they used to watch the song clips in context of the films -- a process which wasn't that favorable to end credits over black screens. 

Very happy for "Husavik" which should clearly win.

PRODUCTION DESIGN

"The Father"
"Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"
"Mank"
"News of the World"
"Tenet"

.

The Production design branch of the Academy just can't get enough of Christopher Nolan's movies, can they? This is a surprising (but deserved) get for The Father though. 

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Sean Bobbitt, "Judas and the Black Messiah"
Erik Messerschmidt, "Mank"
Dariusz Wolski, "News of the World"
Joshua James Richards, "Nomadland"
Phedon Papamichael , "The Trial of the Chicago 7"

.

We correctly guessed that they'd finally nominated Bobbitt for late-breaking Judas but we still don't get what Trial of the Chicago 7 is doing here. 

COSTUME DESIGN

"Emma"
"Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"
"Mank"
"Mulan"
"Pinocchio"

.

Pinnochio surprises. We probably shoudln't have predicted Ammonite given its lack of a CDG nomination but we though that branch would favor Michael O'Connor's work again. Only 1 Best Picture nominee is competing here which is a fun change of pace. 

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND

"Greyhound"
"Mank"
"News of the World"
"Soul"
"Sound of Metal"

.

Greyhound managed to score one nomination after all. And Soul is th first animated film to score in Sound in a bit. 

ORIGINAL SCORE

"Da 5 Bloods"
"Mank"
"Minari"
"News of the World"
"Soul"

.

Raise your hand if you knew that Terence Blanchard would be the only Oscar nominee from Da 5 Bloods. (We did not). 

VISUAL EFFECTS

"Love and Monsters"
"The Midnight Sky"
"Mulan"
"The One and Only Ivan"
"Tenet"

.

The Academy had the chance to make humanitarian history here and honor the very deserving Welcome to Chechnya. They blew it. 

FILM EDITING

"The Father"
"Nomadland"
"Promising Young Woman"
"Sound of Metal"
"The Trial of the Chicago 7"

.

We're thrilled that The Father made it but we think Trial of the Chicago 7 easily wins this which is a pity as the others are so artful and interesting in the editing department. 

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

"Emma"
"Hillbilly Elegy"
"Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"
"Mank"
"Pinocchio"

 

Nice group don't you think?

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

"Another Round" - Denmark
"Better Days" - Hong Kong
"Collective" - Romania
"The Man Who Sold His Skin" - Tunisia
Quo Vadis, Aida? - Bosnia and Herzegovina

.

In a major surprise Hong Kong scores here despite being about teenagers which is not really an Oscar draw in this category. The others were expected but for Tunisia though it's fans were very passionate so it wasn't much of a surprise. 

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

"Feeling Through"
"The Letter Room"
"The Present"
"Two Distant Strangers"
"White Eye"
,
Color us disappointed that our two favourites (Kicksled Choir and The Human Voice) weren't nominated and our two least favourites  (The Letter Room, Feeling Through) among the 10 finalists were. 

 

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

"Onward"
"Over the Moon"
"A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon"
"Soul"
"Wolfwalkers"

.

As expected. This is the first time Pixar has managed two nominations in a single year in this category though they've won half of these trophies so it's easy to not notice that. 

 

ANIMATED SHORT FILM

"Burrow"
"Genius Loci"
"If Anything Happens I Love You"
"Opera"
"Yes-People"

.

Hmmm. Very happy for Opera and Yes People.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

"Collective"
"Crip Camp"
"The Mole Agent"
"My Octopus Teacher"
"Time"

.

An insanely competitive category this year though we're bummed for Dick Johnson is Dead and Welcome to Chechnya our two fav docs of the year. 

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT)

"Colette"
"A Concerto Is a Conversation"
"Do Not Split"
"Hunger Ward"
"A Love Song For Latasha"

.

Almost nailed the predictions in this category. Alas, our favourite of the 10 finalists (Speed Cubers) didn't mak it. Perhaps it was just too happy for this category that generally loves misery. 

AND THAT'S THAT. CHART UPDATES COMING ALL DAY TODAY. 

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Reader Comments (131)

Dear @Cash - Nope. Only if you have nothing better to do, or unless you are a Close completist, or an Oscar-nominated completist..

March 15, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterPam

I saw Better Days back in the autumn of 2019 (in a theater - that's how long ago) and because the movie had nothing to do with Hong Kong, it wasn't until I googled it this morning that I made the connection. I've basically forgotten it, although I remember thinking it wasn't bad at all. Not nearly in the same class as Collective or Quo Vadis, Aida?, the only other nominees I've seen so far.

March 15, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterAmy Camus

Delroy Lindo should had been camaigning in supporting. He would be doung great here and he is more in an Ensemble Piece, than Kaluuya and Stansfield. What do you think about that?

March 15, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterPatrick

I am now actively rooting for a:

Mulligan/Close/Boseman/Kaluuya winners quartet.

Nomadland and Zhoa for director.

That's what I'd love to see.

March 15, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterJW Sen

OfCourse -- who you talking about. I don't see anybody dissing Indian actors in these comments. but there are a lot of comments so maybe i missed something.

Ryan -- the Mank screenplay missing is fascinating given that it's about the writing of a famous screenplay.

Lynn -- i dont think this hurts Kaluuya but actually helps him. It just shows the strength of that movie with voters. but two supporting nods is actually insane given the title and narrative and genre. haha.

March 15, 2021 | Registered CommenterNATHANIEL R

@Volvagia, if that's the case I could still see the Razzies giving Close the win just in case she wins the Oscar too. Apparently obnoxious online Glenn Close fans are the culprit, if we're to believe obnoxious online fans of Glenn Close supporters on these comments.

March 15, 2021 | Unregistered Commenterwhunk

Interesting that we went 25 years or more without double Supporting Actor nods from one film, and now it's happened what, 3 times in the past 4 years?

I'd guess the Judas actors pulled votes in both categories but got the most votes in Supporting. Kind of a reverse from Winslet in 08?

Hoping so hard for a Nomadland Best Picture win!

I know it's not a major category but what is the big deal about that If Anything Happens short? Maybe I need to watch it again? I was thoroughly impressed.

March 15, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterStephenM

shoot! Unimpressed*

Sad for One Night in Miami too, I thought it was a solid film.

March 15, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterStephenM

Bakalova???? It's just a joke.

March 15, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterGeri

Who is considered the Lead Actor in Judas and the black Messiah? Just asking for a friend.

March 15, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterTim

Is there some Borat “making of” featurette that the entire acting and screenwriting branches have seen?

It’s not obvious to me that the “script” or the performances deserve to be evaluated alongside narrative feature films. I would really need to be persuaded that that’s the case to even consider voting for it.

I'm surprised that voters who couldn't possibly see *any* part of their own jobs in Bakalova's performance would rubberstamp it so easily.

March 15, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterJF

You're a beloved star with back-to-back Best Actor statues in the '90s, but can't get any traction in a year where two of your films are nominated (in the same category, just to rub it in)...

March 15, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterWorking stiff

Hopkins just became a lot stronger as far as I can see.

March 15, 2021 | Unregistered Commentermarkgordonuk

@Working Stiff—

Hanks would have as many nominations as Jack Nicholson by now, if the Academy weren't so weirdly resistant to him. He's far from my favorite actor so I find the Annual Hanks Oscar Bait Movie annoying.

March 15, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterJF

@WorkingStiff, all three of Tom Hanks' films were nominated this year!

March 15, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterJoe G

@ Joe G

Oh yeah, I forgot to include Borat!

March 15, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterWorking stiff

(...though he's not the Lead in that, so he was completely out of the running there.)

March 15, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterWorking stiff

Thanks to the Gawds that Mank was not nominated in Screenplay. That script is a HOT HOT HOT mess.

March 15, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterCharlieG

I am glad Boseman missed in Supporting since his role was tiny. I am happy Amanda is here (which is what I predicted but many like this site were not predicting her anymore) but her role is too small to win.

March 15, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterChinoiserie

Bit boring. Congratulations Close. A shame you win for this.

March 15, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterMariah

Audra Day would’ve had a better chance of swiping an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress...

March 15, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterTim

Guys, is "Mank" really about writing a screenplay? This storyline was barely there. Screenplay was clunky and I'm ecstatic it didn't got its spot by default over worthier contenders as I thought it will. Highly unimpressed by Oldman's annoying performance too but film was beautifully shot and Amanda Seyfried gave it a much needed dose of charm.

If this Stanfield/Kaluuya situation won't bring any move towards eliminating category frauds, nothing will.

I'd be happy to see Glenn winning but I'm not sure why so many people believe she will. Like... did she win anything for that role up until this point? Razzies embarrassed themselves.

Cool for "Promising Young Woman", "Minari", "Judas..." and "Sound of Metal". I was shocked to see people predicting Mads Mikkelsen but I guess with Vinterberg pulling a Pawlikowski in Best Director, he wasn't that far away in Best Actor.

March 15, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterTheDrMistery

The more I think about it, I wonder if this is really the worst supporting actor lineup of all time. I know 2011 gets brought up for that, and I guess I probably would toss out all 5 of those too. It’s close.

March 15, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterCharlea

@ Charles

See 1990, 1991, 2003.

March 15, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterWorking stiff

@working stiff: I think 1991 & 2003 both have some worthy nominees. You are on to something with 1990 but at least the winner is good and the other 4 bad nominees are actually supporting; gotta admit it’s better than this years for the lack of category fraud alone.

March 15, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterCharlea

This year's cannot possibly be the worst with performances of the caliber of Raci and Odom Jr. nominated. Kaluuya and Stanfield are also terrific despite the fraud. Baron Cohen is good. Solid lineup.

March 15, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterJonathan

I honest think andra day is legit winning. I’m just watching that film tonight and it has EVERYTHING needed to win. So she doesn’t have SAG. I think all you have to do is have voters watch the film. This really feels like a slam dunk in terms of what type of performances Oscar loves. Ticks all the boxes.

March 15, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterCharlea

I guess Thelma & Louise were both supporting? 🤔

March 15, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterErick

@ Charlea (sorry about that typo above)

I like four of the five nominees this year quite a bit, category fraud notwithstanding. But 1990's group is full of films/performances that I either loathe or am lukewarm about (aside from the winner and Bruce Davison); 1991 is slightly worse; and 2003 is redeemed by del Toro (and Hounsou to a degree) but otherwise meh.

March 15, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterWorking stiff

@Fadhil. We're all thrilled at the two Asian nominees. I'd be angry if either had been excluded. Both nods richly deserved. But considering the strength of Black movies last year--JUDAS, DA 5 BLOODS, ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI, and MA RAINEY, the fact that not a single one landed a nod is sad. I'm not calling the Academy racist, just saying it's sad. I haven't seen his film, but if Thomas Vinterberg is such a great director, how come he couldn't direct a single one of his collaborators to a nomination? That seems like the person who really shouldn't be there.

March 16, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterChris B

Went to a theater for the first time in a year (NJ).

How the hell is Olivia Colman supporting?

Nathaniel: there is no room for debate, she's lead. Come on now.

March 16, 2021 | Unregistered CommenterMe
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