My Ramblings on the Oscar Nominations

So, the Oscar nominations have been announced, and as predicted, they were pretty predictable - only a few minor surprises. As far as my prediction rate went, I was 38 for 43, or an 88% correct percentage. I missed one each in Director, the two screenplay categories, and the two Supporting categories. But enough of that - here are my thoughts on what we got.

Mank, my second favourite film of 2020, was the big winner with 10 nominations, but the real news was the diversity in the nominations - a reflection in both the more diverse Academy membership and the more diverse Hollywood as a whole, especially when it comes to women in the directors seat. 2020 saw 18% of Hollywood made films being directed by women, doubling the numbers from just two years prior. This has also led to a long overdue new record, as two women are nominated for Best Director this year. Emerald Fennell, who directed Promising Young Woman, and Chinese born Chloe Zhao, who is expected to take the prize home for her film Nomadland. Only five women have aver been nominated in the first 92 years of the awards - with just one, Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker in 2009, actually winning. So yeah, about freakin' time. Some thought Oscar winning actress Regina King could make it three for her directorial debut, One Night in Miami, but it wasn't to be. One Night in Miami was also snubbed in the Best Picture race, as it was not among the eight nominees, although many, myself included, expected it to be. But that does not mean this isn't the most diverse Oscars ever.

Out of the 20 acting nominees, nearly half were actors of color. The late great Chadwick Boseman, along with Riz Ahmed, and Steven Yeun, are all up for Best Actor, the latter becoming the first Asian actor to garner a Best Actor nomination. Meanwhile, Viola Davis and Andra Day are up for Best Actress; Youn Yuh-jung is up for Supporting Actress, and Leslie Odom Jr., Daniel Kaluuya, and in a bit of a surprise, Lakeith Stanfield are all up for Supporting Actor. That's a record 9 out of 20.

Overall, as I said before, it was a mostly predictable morning. The only real surprises were Aaron Sorkin's snub for Best Director (replaced by Thomas Vinterberg for Another Round, the frontrunner for Best International Feature) even though his film, The Trial of the Chicago 7 received 6 nominations including Best Picture. Sorkin is up for Best Original Screenplay though, an award he will almost assuredly win in April. The other surprise was the aforementioned Stanfield nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Judas and the Black Messiah. Otherwise, blah blah blah.

So, I'll be back with my final predictions the day before the Oscar telecast (which will air on April 25th) and I am sure, a few other things in the meantime.

That's it gang! See ya 'round the web!