Regardless of who wins, the 2021 Oscar nomination slate is a historic one. It marks the first time an all-Black producing team has been nominated for best picture ( Judas and the Black Messiah ), the first time two actors of Asian decent were nominated for best actor (Steven Yeun and Riz Ahmed) and the first year that two women have been nominated for best director (Chloe Zhao and Emerald Fennell).
Zhao s Nomadland has swept the awards season and seems poised to nab best picture as well as the best directing award for the filmmaker, barring any unforeseen upsets.
Chadwick Boseman, who unexpectedly passed away after a four-year battle with colon cancer that he concealed from the public, is likely to pick up the best actor award for his performance in Ma Rainey s Black Bottom.
Wherefore art thou, Oscar?
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Chloé Zhao, left, is nominated in four categories for “Nomadland”: Best Picture (as co-producer), Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Editing.
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By Derrick Bang
Talk about challenging.
Between the yearlong closure of movie theaters, the concurrent explosion in streaming content and the almost certain political influence of the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements
nothing seems certain this year.
Far too many of this year’s Academy Awards categories are a coin toss between who/what
should win, and
Oddsmakers are going crazy, and I can’t blame them.
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If you don’t know that the Oscars are Sunday, I understand and even endorse that lack of awareness. We’ve had a few (hundred) other things to think about this last year. Multiplexes have been mostly closed, consigning movies to the edges of the cultural conversation. And besides . it’s nearly May. Thinking about the Academy Awards when the weather is warm and people are stocking up on margarita mix for Cinco de Mayo feels weird.
But if you are interested and there are reasons you should be take comfort that Steven Soderbergh and his fellow producers have promised to deliver an interesting ceremony that, in Soderbergh’s words, “challenges all the assumptions that go into an awards show.” Perfect! Because my primary awards show assumption is that the night will be dull and go on way too long. So hopefully, this show won’t be that.
Carey Mulligan dedicates Promising Young Woman awards win to late Harry Potter actress Helen McCrory yahoo.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from yahoo.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
This year’s awards, which will be held at 8 p.m. ET, Sunday, April 25, airing on ABC, feature more uncertainty than any Oscars in recent memory. With every major studio delaying its releases in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Academy extending awards eligibility to films released in early 2021, and streaming-only titles being granted a one-time exception to a rule dictating that every nominee must have a theatrical release, it would be shocking if the 93rd Academy Awards featured zero surprises. Advertisement
Based on wins from other awards bodies, it seems like this year’s Best Picture frontrunner is “Nomadland,” with “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” “Promising Young Woman,” and “Minari” also in contention. That said, in a year defined by darkness, many of the Academy’s more than 9,000 members could be like the rest of America, seeking comforting, conventional fare instead of artistically significant films that are difficult to watch. (I personally cho