In a year in which the pandemic shuttered movie theaters for months, Academy Awards nominations went to two female filmmakers for the first time and a historically diverse slate of actors Monday but, ultimately, David Fincherās Mank ā a very traditional contender about Hollywood itself ā took the lead.
Fincherās Mank, a black-and-white, period drama about Citizen Kane screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz, easily topped nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards ā delayed two months by the coronavirus pandemic ā with 10 nominations, including best picture, best director, acting nods for Gary Oldman and Amanda Seyfried, and a host of others for its lavish craft.
The other nominations were spread among a wide variety of contenders. Six each were scored by six films, all of which are also up for best picture: Judas and the Black Messiah, Nomadland, Minari, Sound of Metal, The Trial of the Chicago 7 and The Father. Also nominated for best picture was Emerald Fennellās Promising Young Woman.
History was made in the best director category. Only five women have ever been nominated before. For the first time, two were this year. ChloĆ© Zhao got a nod for her elegiac road-trip drama Nomadland alongside first-time feature filmmaker Fennell for her pitch black #MeToo revenge comedy. Never going to stop crying,ā Fennell, also nominated for best screenplay, said on Twitter.
Zhao, the first Asian woman nominated for best director, is the most nominated woman in a single year in Oscar history. She was also tipped for the filmās adapted screenplay, editing and as a producer in the best picture category. The other directing nominees were Lee Isaac Chung for the tender family drama Minari, Fincher for Mank and Thomas Vinterberg for his heavy-drinking Danish tragicomedy Another Round.
For performers, itās the most diverse group of nominees ever ā and a far cry from the all-white acting nods that spawned the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag five years ago. Nine of the 20 acting nominees are people of color, including a posthumous best-actor nomination for Chadwick Boseman (āMa Raineyās Black Bottom), as well as nods for Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal), Steven Yeun (Minari), Viola Davis (Ma Raineyās Black Bottom) and Andra Day (The People vs. Billie Holiday) and supporting nominations for Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield (āJudas and the Black Messiahā), Leslie Odom Jr. (āOne Night in Miamiā) and Yuh-Jung Youn (āMinariā).
Davis, who won for her performance in 2016ās āFences,ā landed her fourth Oscar nomination, making her the most nominated Black actress ever. Yeun is the first Asian American ever nominated for best actor. āJudas and the Black Messiah,ā Shaka Kingās powerful Black Panther drama, is the first best-picture nominee with an all-Black producing team: King along with Ryan Coogler and Charles D. King. Overall, a record 70 women were nominated for 76 Oscars, the academy said.
The other nominees for best actress are: Carey Mulligan (āPromising Young Womanā); Frances McDormand (āNomadlandā); Vanessa Kirby (āPieces of a Womanā). The remaining nominee for best actor is Anthony Hopkins for the dementia drama āThe Father.ā
With moviegoing nearly snuffed out by the coronavirus, the best-picture nominees had hardly any box office to speak of. For the first time, Hollywoodās biggest and most sough-after awards belong to movies that were almost entirely seen at home.
āWe learned a lot of hard lessons last year, but a nice one was that people will find a way to go to the movies, even if they can only go as far as their living rooms,ā Aaron Sorkin, writer and director of āThe Trial of the Chicago 7,ā said in a statement.
Netflix, as expected, led all studios with 35 nominations. The streaming service is still gunning for its first best-picture winner, and this year has two shots in āMankā and āThe Trial of the Chicago 7ā ā a movie Paramount Pictures sold off during the pandemic. Netflix led last year, too, with 24 nominations, but came away with just two wins.
Other streamers were in the mix. Amazon, in particular, was well represented with āSound of Metal,ā āBorat Subsequent Moviefilmā and āOne Night in Miamiā ā leading to 12 nominations overall. Both Apple TV+ (āWolfwalkers,ā āGreyhoundā) and Disney+ (āSoul,ā āOnwardā) landed their first nominations. The film that tried to lead a box-office revival ā Christopher Nolanās āTenetā ā walked away with nominations for production design and visual effects.
The nominations were announced from London by presenters Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra Jonas. The Academy Awards would typically have happened by now but this year will be telecast April 25. The film academy confirmed Monday that the show will be held at both its usual home in the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles and the cityās railway hub, Union Station.
This yearās awards season ā typically a monthslong circuit of screenings, cocktail parties and schmoozing ā has been entirely virtual, taking much of the buzz and predictability out of the Oscars. Eligibility was extended to early 2021 releases and to movies that bypassed theaters.
āIn our industry there is nothing more traditional than the Academy Awards, which hopefully sends a sign of hope that we will get out of this,ā Oldman said in a statement. āThe Oscars are such a sign that normalcy still exists.ā
Among the films that had hoped for a better result Monday was Spike Leeās āDa 5 Bloodsā ā which was nominated only for its score. Just eight out of a possible 10 movies were nominated for best picture, leaving out āMa Raineyās Black Bottom,ā Regina Kingās āOne Night in Miamiā and Golden Globe winner āBorat Subsequent Moviefilm.ā
Despite the best-picture snub for āBorat,ā Sacha Baron Cohen, who created the title character, was still a nominee for his supporting role as activist Abbie Hoffman in āThe Trial of the Chicago 7,ā and āBoratā star Maria Bakalova was nominated for best supporting actress. Also nominated in the category: Glenn Close for āHillbilly Elegyā and Olivia Colman for āThe Father.ā
The most competitive category might have been documentary, where āCollective,ā āCrip Camp: A Disability Revolution,ā āThe Mole Agent,ā My Octopus Teacherā and āTimeā ultimately landed nominations. āCollective,ā the Romanian documentary about investigative journalism and government corruption, became just the second film nominated for both best documentary and best international film. The other international film nominees were āQuo Vadis, Aida?,ā Bosnia and Herzegovina; āAnother Round,ā Denmark; āBetter Days,ā Hong Kong; and āThe Man Who Sold His Skin,ā Tunisia.
The nominees for best animated feature: āOnwardā; āOver the Moonā; āA Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddonā; āSoulā; āWolfwalkers.ā
The film academy and ABC will hope that the nominees can drum up more excitement than they have elsewhere. Interest in little golden statuettes has nosedived during the pandemic. Ratings for a largely virtual Golden Globes plunged to 6.9 million viewers ā a 64% drop from 2020 ā last month. Though on Sunday the Grammys managed to break through the Zoom trap.
With the notable exception of fueling streaming subscriber growth, the pandemic has been punishing for the movie industry. Production slowed to a crawl, blockbusters were postponed or detoured to streaming and thousands have been laid off or furloughed.
But the outlook for Hollywood has recently brightened as coronavirus cases have slid and vaccines have ramped up. Movie theaters are reopening in the U.S.ās two largest markets, New York and Los Angeles. And several larger movies ā including the Walt Disney Co.ās āBlack Widowā (May 7) ā are scheduled for May and beyond.
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