By Sebastian Talib
After many delays because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Oscars are finally happening on April 25th at 8:00PM ET, televised live on ABC. The nominations for the most prestigious award, Best Picture, were recently announced. This article will be exploring at all eight nominees. If you still haven’t seen any one of these movies and are still bored during the pandemic, I highly recommend all eight brilliant films.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) can nominate up to ten movies for Best Picture. This year the AMPAS nominated eight films: The Father, Judas and the Black Messiah, Mank, Minari, Nomadland, Promising Young Woman, Sound of Metal, and The Trial of the Chicago 7.
The Father
The Father, directed by Florian Zeller, starring Anthony Hopkins who plays Anthony, and is also nominated for Best Actor!). Olivia Colman plays Anthony’s daughter Anne, and is nominated for Best Supporting Actress. The film follows Anthony, an aging man who is suffering from dementia and rejecting support from his daughter. Anthony has to accept his forgetfulness of his love ones and himself. I was very excited when I found out that The Father was nominated for Best Picture because it wasn’t receiving as much love from previous award shows. This film is a cinematic masterpiece and I fully recommend you give it a watch. You can catch The Father in theaters or on Amazon Prime.
Judas and the Black Messiah
Judas and the Black Messiah, directed by Shaka King, starring Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith
Stanfield, both nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Inspired by true events, the film surrounds the Illinois Black Panther Party led by Fred Hampton, played by Kaluuya. The film earned a well-deserved nomination for Best Picture, Kaluuya is the favorite to win Best Supporting Actor; however, it came to a big shock in the film community that Lakeith was nominated for Best Supporting Actor because he was campaigning for Best Actor instead. Judas and the Black Messiah is an amazing film, telling the events of the Black Panther group. You can watch the film on Amazon Prime, or other streaming services.
Mank
Mank, directed by David Fincher who is nominated for Best Director, starring Gary Oldman who plays Herman Mankiewicz and is nominated for Best Actor. Amanda Seyfried plays Marion Davies and is nominated for Best Supporting Actress. “Mank is a movie about a man who left a career in journalism and the theater to write for Hollywood, and found it to be almost stupidly easy” (Alissa Wilkinson, Vox). The film is completely in black and white, with the story being derived from the infamous Citizen Kane - it is a brilliant film with brilliant acting which I highly recommend. You can watch Mank on Netflix.
Minari
Minari, directed by Lee Isaac Chung who is nominated for Best Director, starring Steven Yeun who plays Jacob and is nominated for Best Actor. The film surrounds a Korean family pursuing the “American Dream”. The film won the award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2021 Golden Globes and has created a strong campaign for Best Picture at this year’s Oscars. You can watch the film on Amazon Prime or other streaming services.
Nomadland
Nomadland, directed by Chloé Zhao, starring Frances McDormand who plays Fern and is
nominated for Best Actress. After winning Best Director at the 2021 Golden Globes, Zhao has become the favorite to win Best Director at the Oscars, which would be a brilliant
accomplishment for the young Chinese director. The film has incredible cinematography, and is one of the favorites to win Best Picture after it won the award at the Golden Globes. You can watch Nomadland on Hulu.
Promising Young Woman
Promising Young Woman, directed by Emerald Fennell who is nominated for Best Director,
starring Carey Mulligan who plays Cassandra and is nominated for Best Actress. The film
surrounds Cassandra, this young woman seeking revenge on men who she encounters that try to take advantage of her. The film tells an interesting story, one we rarely see told in film. You can watch Promising Young Woman on Amazon Prime or other streaming services.
Sound of Metal
Sound of Metal, directed by Darius Marder, starring Riz Ahmed who plays Ruben and is
nominated for Best Actor. The film follows Ruben, a heavy-metal drummer who starts to lose his hearing. This came as a surprised when the film got nominated for Best Picture, but it is truly deserved and I highly recommend the film, especially to people who enjoy music. You can
watch Sound of Metal on Amazon Prime.
The Trial of the Chicago 7
The Trial of the Chicago 7, directed by Aaron Sorkin, starring Eddie Redmayne who plays Tom Hayden, Alex Sharp who plays Rennie Davis, and Sacha Baron Cohen who plays Abbie Hoffman and is nominated for Best Supporting Actor. The film is a story inspired by true events about the 7 people on trial for various charges surrounding the riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Sorkin’s brilliant writing and directing is complemented by the film’s all-star cast. The Trial of the Chicago 7 is another favorite to win Best Picture and is my personal favorite of the films nominated. You can watch The Trial of the Chicago 7 on Netflix.
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