This year’s Academy Awards were naturally delayed, given the coronavirus pandemic. Finally, this week, critics and audiences got a glimpse of what awaits fans for the ceremony in April. As a whole, the nominations were mostly expected, with a few drastic surprises. For instance, even though David Fincher’s Mank led the tally with 10 nominations, the film surprisingly didn’t bag an Original Screenplay nomination.
In the Directory category, Another Round‘s director, Thomas Vinterberg, turned out to be a dark horse in the race. As for Best Picture, a slew of deserving nominees made the final cut surprisingly, with the exceptions of One Night In Miami and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. With such surprises, the stakes have risen and online predictions are already underway.
Andra Day – Best Actress
A Golden Globe win might have helped Andra Day emerge as a surprise contender in an intense competition for the Best Actress category. The star of The United States Vs Billie Holiday wasn’t getting as much acclaim by awards bodies as other contenders, like Vanessa Kirby, Carey Mulligan, and Viola Davis.
But a Critics’ Choice nomination and a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture-Drama has strengthened her case. Some might see Promising Young Woman‘s Carey Mulligan as a frontrunner right now, but the verdict is highly unpredictable. In comparison, last year’s Oscars were pretty straightforward, with Renée Zellweger sweeping every ceremony for Judy.
Collective – Best International Feature Film
Collective got an easy nomination for Best Documentary Feature, considering its groundbreaking take on investigative journalism. The film revolves around a Romanian newspaper and its staff’s pursuit of unearthing fraud and corruption.
At the Oscars, it also ended up getting a nomination for Best International Feature, a feat that was achieved by the Macedonian documentary, Honeyland, last year. The Bosnian film, Quo Vadis, Aida (that recently achieved surprise nominations at the BAFTAs), and the Danish frontrunner, Another Round, were other expected nominees in the category, although a few major international films seem to have missed out including the likes of Dear Comrades (Russia) and La Llorona (Guatemala).
Sound Of Metal – Best Original Screenplay
Darius Marder won universal acclaim for his direction and writing on his debut feature film, Sound of Metal. However, no one would have imagined him getting nominated in the Original Screenplay category over a contender like the late Jack Fincher (Mank).
While screenwriting stalwart Aaron Sorkin’s nomination was locked for The Trial of the Chicago 7, Emerald Fennell was also building up her tally of writing awards for Promising Young Woman. Lee Isaac Chung (Minari) was also very much expected and even though Shaka King and Will Berson (Judas and the Black Messiah) might be surprising for some, Darius and Abraham’s Marder nomination came as a pleasant surprise against a screenplay like Mank, which got more attention.
Husavik – Best Original Song
When it comes to the category of Best Original Song, often socially-relevant, romantic, or Disney songs end up making the final cut. And then, at times, an offbeat song with comedic overtones becomes a surprise nominee. A prominent example in this regard can be Blame Canada from the South Park film.
This year, the song category is studded with hard-hitting tracks like Leslie Odom Jr.’s Speak Now, and H.E.R’s Fight For You. When it comes to the unconventional nominee, the satirical Wuhan Flu (from Borat Subsequent Moviefilm) could have bagged a nomination, but this spot was taken by Husavik, the song sung in the third act of the Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. Even though Will Ferrell and Molly Sanden perform the song in the film, it was written and composed by Fat Max Gsus, Savan Kotecha, and Rickard Göransson.
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm – Best Adapted Screenplay
Much like its Oscar-nominated predecessor, the second Borat film was heavily improvised. At the same time, its screenplay was monumental in setting up the bizarre and quite unthinkable premises of the film. The Amazon Prime original ended up getting a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, as its premise was based on the original character Borat, created by leading man and co-writer, Sacha Baron Cohen.
Along with Cohen, seven other writers joined him for screenwriting credit on the film. Technically, this nomination makes Borat the second franchise to have back-to-back screenplay nominations (the first being The Godfather).
Pinnochio – Best Costume Design & Best Makeup
Pinnochio is an Italian-language Roberto Benigni-starring movie that’s the latest interpretation of the novel The Adventures of Pinnochio. Even though it was met with a positive response, most of its awards season buzz was limited to Italy. In fact, the film went on to get nominated for 15 David di Donatello Awards.
Hence, Pinnochio’s Oscar nominations for Best Makeup and Hairstyling, along with Best Costume Design, were surprising, as it’s a lesser-known contender compared to Emma or Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
Da 5 Bloods – Best Original Score
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ multiple score nominations for Soul and Mank were expected, while the other nominees came as slight surprises, the biggest one being Terence Blanchard for Da 5 Bloods.
A frequent collaborator of Spike Lee, Blanchard was last nominated for scoring Lee’s Blackkklansman. That year, he lost out to Black Panther‘s Ludwig Göransson. In what seems like a pretty ironic situation, Blanchard’s nomination comes as a surprise, while Göransson got snubbed for his massively-acclaimed electronic and synth-heavy score for Tenet.
LaKeith Stanfield – Best Supporting Actor
Although Daniel Kaluuya was the standout star in Judas and the Black Messiah, LaKeith Stanfield and Dominique Fishback also drew considerable praise. And while Kaluuya was being campaigned as a Supporting Actor (recently winning the Golden Globe for the same), Stanfield was being campaigned as a lead character.
So nobody would have expected Stanfield to get in for Best Supporting Actor, but it’s believable considering how the Academy has shifted categories in a few cases. Even if it might be a different category than expected, Stanfield’s emotionally-driven performance as an FBI informant did deserve to be nominated. The actor himself expressed his confusion and awe on Instagram, although he deleted his posts soon after.
The White Tiger – Best Adapted Screenplay
If Borat Subsequent Moviefilm wasn’t that big of a shock in the Adapted Screenplay category, Ramin Bahrani’s The White Tiger clearly was, joining the race very surprisingly. Based on Arvind Adiga’s Booker Prize-winning novel of the same name, the film was critically-acclaimed and the BAFTAs were pretty generous towards it.
However, it’s curious to find the Netflix film overpowering another Netflix original, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. The latter’s screenplay by Rubio Santiago-Hudson was heavily praised for channeling the energy and dramatic prowess of August Wilson’s original play and was a common nominee in many screenplay categories at awards.
Thomas Vinterberg – Best Director
Many would argue that Danish auteur Thomas Vinterberg deserved a Best Director nomination for his magnum opus, The Hunt. However, he shifted his tone from a gritty drama to a feel-good tragicomedy with Another Round. While the film’s nomination for Best International Feature was very much expected, Vinterberg’s nomination for Best Director came as a game-changer.
While his other four fellow nominees were predictable names, Vinterger’s last-minute entry was a pleasant surprise and can be compared to Pawel Pawlikowski’s nomination for Cold War in 2019.
