The 2021 Oscar Nominations Are Finally Here

After the Oscar nominations and ceremony were pushed back because of COVID-19, the nominations were finally announced today. As expected, we’ve got all the usual suspects, and just like many years before it, there’s one specific film that has swept the nominations, and this year it’s…Mank? Ok sure, you take what you can get under the circumstances, I guess.

Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas announced the 2021 Oscar nominations this morning in a two-part live-stream event. It makes sense that they were chosen because they live together, so you only have one laptop camera that might glitch up and wreak havoc. And also, because they’re both notable icons of film. Before you scoff, think for a second: in what universe could Marlon Brando do Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam? Exactly. But enough about them, you’re here for the nominations, and if you’ve been following along with award season so far, then you kind of already know who’s name was going to be announced this morning.

Mank received ten nominations. Following Mank with a whole bunch of nominations are six films that all got six nominations (The Father, Judas and the Black Messiah, Minari, Nomadland, Sound of Metal, The Trial of the Chicago 7). The late Chadwick Boseman received his first Academy Award nomination, for Best Actor in a Leading Role (for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom). Riz Ahmed, nominated in the same category, for Sound of Metal, made history as the first Muslim to be nominated in the Best Actor category.

Variety notes that also making history was Emerald Fennel (director of Promising Young Woman) and Chloé Zhao (director of Nomadland), as this is the first year in Oscar history that two women are nominated in the Best Director category. And as The Hollywood Reporter points out (with some phrasing that that likely has an editor fielding a lot of phone calls this morning), Steven Yeun’s Best Actor nomination for Minari is also the very first time an Asian-American actor has been nominated in that category as well.

Oscars: Diverse Field Sees Asian Actors Shatter a Bamboo Ceiling https://t.co/gXPGDxEOQ4

— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) March 15, 2021

The universe was clearly listening when we all said, “She deserves an Oscar for this” as we watched Maria Bakalova run from that creep Rudy Giuliani in Borat 2. Because Maria got herself an Oscar nomination this morning, for Best Supporting Actress. Of course, there are going to be some nominations that make you go, “Hmmm, okay.” Like the fact that the two male leads of Judas and the Black Messiah, the literal Judas and the aforementioned Black Messiah, Lakeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya, were both nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category. In terms of snubs, Jared Leto might be waking up to the news that he didn’t get shit for The Little Things. Also shut out was Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe winner Jodie Foster. And multiple award season nominee Da 5 Bloods got 0. And can you believe not a single nomination for Sia’s Music? You can?

Glenn Close also got a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her role as Grizzled Granny in Walmart T-Shirt in Hillbilly Elegy. Just last week she was nominated for a Worst Supporting Actress Razzie for the very same role. Which is it, Hollywood? Is she the best or the worst? I know how to solve this. Give her the Razzie for Hillbilly Elegy, and a retroactive Best Actress Oscar for Fatal Attraction. That’s more than fair.

You can read the entire list of nominees here, but here’s a condensed version for your future Oscar pool-betting pleasure, before the ceremony on April 25th.

Best Picture
The Father
Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank
Minari
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

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
The Father
Nomadland
One Night in Miami
The White Tiger

Best Original Screenplay
Judas and the Black Messiah
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

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
Terence Blanchard (Da 5 Bloods)
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross (Mank)
Emile Mosseri (Minari)
James Newton Howard (News of the World)
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste (Soul)

Best Costume Design
Emma
Mank
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mulan
Pinocchio

Best Cinematography
Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank
News of the World
Nomadland
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Documentary Feature
Collective
Crip Camp
The Mole Agent
My Octopus Teacher
Time

Best International Feature
Another Round (Denmark)
Better Days (Hong Kong)
Collective (Romania)
The Man Who Sold His Skin (Tunisia)
Quo Vadis, Aida? (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Pic: Netflix