Hollywood loves a movie about Hollywood, so itâs no real surprise that the Oscar nominations on Monday morning were led by Mank, director David Fincherâs story about the writing of Citizen Kane. It landed 10 nominations: best picture, actor (Gary Oldman), supporting actress (Amanda Seyfried), directing, cinematography, costume design, makeup, sound, production design and score.
Including Mank, there are a total of eight best picture contenders: The Trial of the Chicago 7, Minari, The Father, Judas and the Black Messiah, Nomadland and Sound of Metal, all of which had six nominations total; and Promising Young Woman, which had five. (See the full nominations list for the 93rd Academy Awards here.)
And among the top films, there are certainly firsts. Itâs the first year two womenâChloé Zhao for Nomadland and Emerald Fennell for Promising Young Womanâhave been nominated for best director, and Zhao is the first woman of color nominated and the first woman to have four nominations in one year. (Her other nominations are for writing, editing and producing the film.) Steven Yeun in Minari is the first Asian American actor, and Riz Ahmed the first actor of Pakistani heritage, to be nominated as leads.
Many expect the lead actor Oscar to be awarded posthumously to Chadwick Boseman, who died in August, for his final film role in Ma Raineyâs Black Bottom; Viola Davis was also nominated for her work in that film. Rounding out the best actor category is Anthony Hopkins, who plays a man dealing with the onset of dementia in the unusually structured film The Father. (Note: Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield were both nominated for Judas and the Black Messiah, in the supporting actor category.)
In the lead actress race, Davis will face Andra Day in The United States vs. Billie Holiday, Frances McDormand in Nomadland, Vanessa Kirby in Pieces of a Woman, and Carey Mulligan in Promising Young Woman.
Other nominations are certainly more conventional, such as the recognition of the somewhat dutiful The Trial of the Chicago 7, written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, for which Sacha Baron Cohen was nominated for his portrayal of Abbie Hoffman. (Great men, check. Historical figures, check. Courtroom drama, check.) Glenn Close was nominated for her heavily disguised work in the poorly reviewed Hillbilly Elegy, which perhaps tellingly got its only other nomination for makeup.
As happens every year, this crop of nominees has a lot of delights: The strong showing for Minariâincluding nominations for lead actor Steven Yeun, supporting actress Yuh-jung Youn, and director Lee Isaac Chungâfollows its disappointing and somewhat baffling move to the foreign language film category at the Golden Globes. (It is an American-made and American-set film.) The academy doesnât often recognize a purely, truly comedic performanceâespecially an extravagantly silly oneâin the acting categories, but Maria Bakalova grabbed a nomination for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. And itâs lovely to see a nomination for Wolfwalkers, an animated feature thatâs nothing like the style of Pixar or Disney, and which sits over on Apple TV+, just waiting to be watched.
But as always, there are nominations that were expected or hoped for that didnât come through, probably none more noted this year than Delroy Lindo, who was absent for his work in Spike Leeâs Da 5 Bloods. Regina King, who made her feature directing debut with One Night In Miami, wasnât nominated, and the film missed out on best picture, although Leslie Odom Jr. was nominated as a supporting actor for playing Sam Cooke.
Another first thatâs likely to set the tone for the awards is directly related to the pandemic that shut down theaters in many places for much of 2020: Itâs the first year most of the best picture nominees, and most of the other major nominees as well, have been widely available to watch at home for at least some period of time prior to the nominations. The one exception in the best picture category is The Father, starring nominee Anthony Hopkins, which wonât hit streaming until March 26âwhich is still well before the ceremony on April 25. Itâs possible that by Oscar night, a lot more people than ever before will have seen all (or nearly all) of the nominees, at least in the feature categories.
Whether these nods please you or not, youâre probably in a better position to have strong opinions than youâve been in past years. How pleased youâll be with the outcomes remains to be seen.
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