Most years, I’ve seen a good 35-40 movies by the time the Oscars roll around, so sometimes my own personal Oscar choices diverge pretty heavily from from the official nominations. This year, for a variety of pandemic-related reasons (fewer movies released, I didn’t catch any of the theatrical-only options, my overall movie mood tended more toward the familiar than the new,) but there are still some differences here. As I’ve said before, despite the shock waves that the pandemic wrought across the industry, the movies that did come out this past year displayed a lot of quality and creativity.
Best Picture – As always, there are 10 slots, so I’m filling all of them. And even though I really like all of the actual Best Picture nominees, I found myself swapping a few of them out for other favorites.
Birds of Prey – Yeah, I said it. I’ve always been one for recognizing genre films a little more than the Academy, and even though we didn’t get many options this year, Birds of Prey was a worthy contender.
Da 5 Bloods – Great, engrossing film. Just fascinating.
The Father
The Half of It – Loved this movie. So well-made, so beautifully-done.
Judas and the Black Messiah
Minari
One Night in Miami… - Really, really wish this one had made the actual cut.
The Personal History of David Copperfield – What wonderful, unexpected things this movie did. A delight.
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Best Leading Actor – A few changes here. I moved Lakeith Stanfield up to this category, and as good as Riz Ahmed is in Sound of Metal, I couldn’t bring myself to nominate him.
Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom)
Anthony Hopkins (The Father)
Lakeith Stanfield (Judas and the Black Messiah) – Where he belongs, in my opinion. This is a leading role.
Steven Yeun (Minari)
Dev Patel (The Personal History of David Copperfield)
Best Leading Actress – Nearly rock-solid. All I did was move Viola Davis to Best Supporting Actress, which opened up an extra slot here.
Andra Day (The United States vs. Billie Holiday)
Vanessa Kirby (Pieces of a Woman)
Leah Lewis (The Half of It)
Frances McDormand (Nomadland)
Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)
Best Supporting Actor – This one was wild. It was a stacked category to begin with, but somehow, I wound up swapping out every entry except Daniel Kaluuya. Fierce competition for supporting actors this year!
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (The Trial of the Chicago 7) – Not that Sacha Baron Cohen wasn’t great, but I could only fit in one, and Abdul-Mateen was the biggest knockout for me.
Kingsley Ben-Adir (One Night in Miami…) – I really tried to fit in more actors from One Night in Miami…, but the category was just too stuffed. For me, I had to go with Ben-Adir.
Collin Chou (The Half of It) – Such a delicate, understated role. Chou was excellent here.
Daniel Kaluuya (Judas the Black Messiah)
Delroy Lindo (Da 5 Bloods) – Another film where everybody was great but I could only fit in one. It had to be Lindo for me.
Best Supporting Actress – A couple changes, including the move for Viola Davis.
Olivia Colman (The Father)
Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) – Davis is excellent in this movie, but it really feels more like a supporting role to me.
Dominique Fishback (Judas and the Black Messiah) – Very understated, but so good.
Amanda Seyfriend (Mank)
Yuh-jung Youn (Minari)
Best Director
Birds of Prey –Cathy Yan was holding it down! Fast, funny direction that deftly captures the incredible action.
Mank
Minari
Nomadland
The Personal History of David Copperfield
Best Original Screenplay
Da 5 Bloods – Really wish this film had gotten more love. So good.
Judas and the Black Messiah
The Half of It – Beautifully written. I loved this movie, and this is the category I most wish I’d seen it in.
Minari
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Best Adapted Screenplay
Birds of Prey – Great balancing of the cast. Funny, cool, and ballsy. Loved it.
The Father
One Night in Miami…
The Personal History of David Copperfield – As I said in my review, this adaptation definitely makes big changes/cuts to the source material, but I just love the way it realizes the story.
The White Tiger
Best Cinematography
Mank
Minari
Nomadland
The Personal History of David Copperfield – Beautifully, beautifully filmed.
Sound of Metal
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