The pandemic year of 2020 has led to one of the strangest Oscar seasons we've ever seen, but with the announcement of this year's Oscar nominations, it's also good to recall that there were some amazing movies in the past twelve months. The 2021 Oscar nominations spotlight a wide range of movies, performers, and subjects, with MANK, MINARI, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN, and NOMADLAND all nominated in multiple categories.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Nick Jonas appeared on a live stream from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to announce the 2021 Oscar nominations, and we've got the full list below. While this year's Oscar ceremony takes place a bit later than usual — it's on April 25 — that gives us time to talk about all the movies below.
Several movies we've been talking about since Sundance 2020 ended up with multiple Oscar nominations. The nearly-unclassifiable PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN — which is a black comedy, a revenge thriller and a bleak drama all in one — is nominated for Best Picture, with director/writer Emerald Fennell, star Carey Mulligan, and editor Frédéric Thoraval all got nominations for their work.
And JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH also scored a Best Picture nomination while actors Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield both got Best Supporting Actor nominations. (Which raises a question: If those two actors, whose names are above the title, are supporting actors, does JUDAS not have a lead actor?)
And composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, who already have Oscars for their work on THE SOCIAL NETWORK, have dual nominations for the scores for Pixar's SOUL and David Fincher's new MANK. Who would have believed, while listening to Nine Inch Nails records, that Trent Reznor was likely to end up as a winner of multiple Oscars!
Best Picture
THE FATHER (David Parfitt, Jean-Louis Livi and Philippe Carcassonne, producers)
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH (Shaka King, Charles D. King and Ryan Coogler, producers)
MANK (Ceán Chaffin, Eric Roth and Douglas Urbanski, producers)
MINARI (Christina Oh, producer)
NOMADLAND (Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey and Chloé Zhao, producers)
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN (Ben Browning, Ashley Fox, Emerald Fennell and Josey McNamara, producers)
SOUND OF METAL (Bert Hamelinck and Sacha Ben Harroche, producers)
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 (Marc Platt and Stuart Besser, producers)
Best Director
Thomas Vinterberg (ANOTHER ROUND)
David Fincher (MANK)
Lee Isaac Chung (MINARI)
Chloé Zhao (NOMADLAND)
Emerald Fennell (PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Riz Ahmed (SOUND OF METAL)
Chadwick Boseman (MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM)
Anthony Hopkins (THE FATHER)
Gary Oldman (MANK)
Steven Yeun (MINARI)
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Viola Davis (MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM)
Andra Day (THE UNITED STATES V. BILLIE HOLIDAY)
Vanessa Kirby (PIECES OF A WOMAN)
Frances McDormand (NOMADLAND)
Carey Mulligan (PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN)
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
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)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Maria Bakalova (BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM)
Glenn Close (HILLBILLY ELEGY)
Olivia Colman (THE FATHER)
Amanda Seyfried (MANK)
Yuh-jung Youn (MINARI)
Best Animated Feature Film
ONWARD
OVER THE MOON
A SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE: FARMAGEDDON
SOUL
WOLFWALKERS
Best Adapted Screenplay
BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM, Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer, Peter Baynham, Erica Rivinoja, Dan Mazer, Jena Friedman, Lee Kern; Story by Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer, Nina Pedrad
THE FATHER, Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller
NOMADLAND, Chloé Zhao
ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI, Kemp Powers
THE WHITE TIGER, Ramin Bahrani
Best Original Screenplay
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH, Screenplay by Will Berson, Shaka King; Story by Will Berson, Shaka King, Kenny Lucas, Keith Lucas
MINARI, Lee Isaac Chung
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN, Emerald Fennell
SOUND OF METAL, Screenplay by Darius Marder, Abraham Marder; Story by Darius Marder, Derek Cianfrance
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7, Aaron Sorkin
Best Original Song
“Fight for You,” JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH, Music by H.E.R. and Dernst Emile II; Lyric by H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas
“Hear My Voice,” THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7, Music by Daniel Pemberton; Lyric by Daniel Pemberton and Celeste Waite
“Húsavík,” EUROVISION SONG CONTEST, Music and Lyric by Savan Kotecha, Fat Max Gsus and Rickard Göransson
“Io Si (Seen),” THE LIFE AHEAD, Music by Diane Warren; Lyric by Diane Warren and Laura Pausini
“Speak Now,” ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI, Music and Lyric by Leslie Odom, Jr. and Sam Ashworth
Best Original Score
DA 5 BLOODS, Terence Blanchard
MANK, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
MINARI, Emile Mosseri
NEWS OF THE WORLD, James Newton Howard
SOUL, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste
Best Sound
GREYHOUND, Warren Shaw, Michael Minkler, Beau Borders and David Wyman
MANK, Ren Klyce, Jeremy Molod, David Parker, Nathan Nance and Drew Kunin
NEWS OF THE WORLD, Oliver Tarney, Mike Prestwood Smith, William Miller and John Pritchett
SOUL, Ren Klyce, Coya Elliott and David Parker
SOUND OF METAL, Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés and Phillip Bladh
Best Costume Design
EMMA., Alexandra Byrne
MANK, Trish Summerville
MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM, Ann Roth
MULAN,
Bina Daigeler
PINOCCHIO, Massimo Cantini Parrini
Best Cinematography
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH, Sean Bobbitt
MANK, Erik Messerschmidt
NEWS OF THE WORLD, Dariusz Wolski
NOMADLAND, Joshua James Richards
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7, Phedon Papamichael
Best Documentary Feature
COLLECTIVE, Alexander Nanau and Bianca Oana
CRIP CAMP, Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht and Sara Bolder
THE MOLE AGENT, Maite Alberdi and Marcela Santibáñez
MY OCTOPUS TEACHER, Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed and Craig Foster
TIME, Garrett Bradley, Lauren Domino and Kellen Quinn
Best Film Editing
THE FATHER, Yorgos Lamprinos
NOMADLAND, Chloé Zhao
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN, Frédéric Thoraval
SOUND OF METAL, Mikkel E.G. Nielsen
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7, Alan Baumgarten
Best International Feature Film
ANOTHER ROUND (Denmark)
BETTER DAYS (Hong Kong)
COLLECTIVE (Romania)
THE MAN WHO SOLD HIS SKIN (Tunisia)
QUO VADIS, AIDA? (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
