With films like Nomadland , Minari , Borat 2 , Mank and Promising Young Woman up for statues, the 2021 Oscars will be a close race. …
With films like Nomadland, Minari, Borat 2, Mank and Promising Young Woman up for statues, the 2021 Oscars will be a close race. This year’s many affecting and inspiring movies are reflected in a slate of historically diverse Academy Award nominations: Nomadland director Chloé Zhao could be the first person of color to win the Academy Award for best director, and there’s a very real chance of all four acting awards going to people of color. As the pandemic wiped dozens of planned movies off the calendar, streaming services continued uninterrupted — and indeed the film with the most nominations ( Mank, up for 10 gongs) is a Netflix flick. Amazon Prime Video also has Borat, One Night in Miami and Sound of Metal in the running. And Apple TV Plus has landed two Oscar nominations in its first year since launching. The 93rd Academy Awards take place Sunday, April 25. Here are my predictions for the major categories. There are two clear trends in this year’s Oscars: true stories, and the experience of marginalized people in America. Two of the films even intersect with portrayals of the same real-life figure, murdered Black Panther Fred Hampton, who’s depicted in both The Trial of the Chicago 7 and Judas and the Black Messiah. But Nomadland has to be the frontrunner after winning best picture from the Golden Globes, the Baftas, the Independent Spirit Awards and a hatful of other awards. My money’s on: Nomadland More than one woman is nominated as best director for the first time in Oscar history. Chloé Zhao is the first woman of color to be nominated for the directing award, which I’m guessing would make up for the disappointment of seeing her Marvel movie Eternals delayed by the pandemic. Or The Crown star Emerald Fennell could win for her debut feature as writer and director with the scathingly timely Promising Young Woman.
