2020 was rough. Many films that were supposed to headline this awards season such as West Side Story and Dune were promptly postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and blockbuster films that included Black Widow and No Time to Die were pushed back to unknown release dates. However, many films shocked me and evoked something in me through multiple watches in preparation for the writing of this article. So without any further interruption, here is what you came for. These are my latest predictions for this year’s Academy Awards.
Best Picture
Judas and the Black Messiah, Warner Bros. Pictures: MY Winner
Judas and the Black Messiah is unlike any film I have seen in the past few years. It is a picture-perfect portrayal of one of the most ambitious political activists and the chairman of the Illinois Black Panther Party. Daniel Kaluuya continues to top himself with impressive monologues all throughout this wonderful feature. This film isn’t just telling the story of Fred Hampton, because it documents the events leading up to his assassination at the hands of law enforcement, and the story of William O’Neal, an FBI informant that infiltrated the Black Panther Party and gave the police the information they needed to take Hampton down. This is such a well-told story, with a masterful script and acting from both Lakeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya.
Promising Young Woman, Focus Features
Minari, A24
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Netflix
Mank, Netflix
Sound of Metal, Amazon Studios
The Trial of the Chicago 7, Netflix
Nomadland, Searchlight Pictures: THE Winner
Best Director
Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman: MY Winner
The look of this film just pops out at the viewer. The direction is magnificent. Fennell uses her debut feature to instill a lasting impression on the viewer with her masterful use of the elements of suspense and thrill. The way each scene is set up has the viewer on the edge of their seat waiting for an exciting reveal or an insane plot twist. Next to Chloe Zhao, Emerald Fennell is easily this year’s best director, and it shows with her style of play and the way she uses the camera to illustrate different emotions.
Chloe Zhao, Nomadland: THE Winner
Spike Lee, Da 5 Bloods
Aaron Sorkin, The Trial of the Chicago 7
Regina King, One Night in Miami
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal: MY Winner
Imagine hardship. Hardship hinders our ability to do what we love on a consistent basis, and has the unwavering power to shatter relationships while also helping to create new ones. The character of Ruben is a portrait of the men and women suffering from loss, and Ahmed plays the role ever so genuinely that one could definitely get lost in his desert yellow hair, as he struggles to get his life together. The chemistry between Ahmed and Olivia Cooke and Paul Raci is excellent, and it feels like a real story rather than a staged depiction of loss and redemption.
Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom: THE Winner
Anthony Hopkins, The Father
Delroy Lindo, Da 5 Bloods
Steven Yeun, Minari
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman: MY Winner
Three words: Amy. Dunne. Reincarnated. This is Carey Mulligan’s finest performance, where she plays a woman haunted by a traumatic event that affected her best friend in the past. The film follows her as she seeks revenge for those that wronged her and those around her. Mulligan vastly expands her range as an actress in this film, going from docile to freaky in any split second. So like I said, this is Gone Girl’s Amy Dunne, reincarnated. But better….
Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom: THE Winner
Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman
Andra Day, The United States v. Billie Holiday
Frances McDormand, Nomadland
Best Supporting Actor
Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah: THE Winner and MY Winner
There comes a time in film where once every few years, you forget that you’re watching somebody act out their lines, and you get lost in the beauty of it all, throwing away the key to escape. You want to stay, you want to relish in the glory of this performance. Well, Daniel Kaluuya is just plain unrecognizable as Fred Hampton in this film. I felt like I was watching real life events as they originally occurred happen right in front of me, and that made me both frightened and impressed. If you could do that to me, a certified critic who has been at this for five years now professionally, you have yourself a performance that wins.
Paul Raci, Sound of Metal
Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7
Jared Leto, The Little Things
Leslie Odom Jr., One Night in Miami
Best Supporting Actress
Olivia Colman, The Father: THE Winner
Ellen Burstyn, Pieces of a Woman
Amanda Seyfried, Mank
Yuh-jung Youn, Minari
Dominique Fishback, Judas and the Black Messiah: MY Winner
Best Adapted Screenplay
Chloe Zhao, Nomadland: THE Winner
Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Kemp Powers, One Night in Miami: MY Winner
Luke Davies and Paul Greengrass, News of the World
Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller, The Father
Best Original Screenplay
Aaron Sorkin, The Trial of the Chicago 7: MY Winner and THE Winner
Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
Will Berson and Shaka King, Judas and the Black Messiah
Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
Abraham Marder, Darius Marder, and Derek Cianfrance, Sound of Metal
Best Animated Feature Film
Soul, Disney+: MY Winner and THE Winner
Wolfwalkers, Apple TV+
Onward, Pixar
Over the Moon, Netflix
The Croods: A New Age, Dreamworks Animation
Best International Feature Film
Another Round (Druk), Denmark: MY Winner
Two of Us, France
Quo Vadis, Aida?, Bosnia
The Life Ahead, Italy
Minari, South Korea: THE Winner
Best Documentary Feature
Time, Amazon Studios: MY Winner and THE Winner
Boys State, Apple TV+
The Truffle Hunters, Sony Pictures Classics
I am Greta, Hulu
Welcome to Chechnya, HBO
Best Original Score
Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor, and Atticus Ross, Soul: MY Winner
Ludwig Göransson, Tenet: THE Winner
Alexandre Desplat, The Midnight Sky
James Newton Howard, News of the World
Emile Mosseri, Minari
Best Sound
Tenet: THE Winner
The Midnight Sky
The Prom
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Best Production Design
Mank: THE Winner and MY Winner
The Prom
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Tenet
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Best Cinematography
Sean Bobbitt, Judas and the Black Messiah: MY Winner
Hoyte Van Hoytema, Tenet: THE Winner
Martin Ruhe, The Midnight Sky
Łukasz Żal, I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Dariusz Wolski, News of the World
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
The United States Vs. Billie Holiday: THE Winner
The Prom
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Birds of Prey: Harley Quinn
Hillbilly Elegy: MY Winner
Best Costume Design
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom: MY Winner
Emma: THE Winner
The United States Vs. Billie Holiday
Judas and the Black Messiah
News of the World
Best Film Editing
Judas and the Black Messiah: MY Winner
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
The Trial of the Chicago 7: THE Winner
Minari
Nomadland
Best Visual Effects
Tenet: MY Winner and THE Winner
The Invisible Man
Mulan
Sonic the Hedgehog
Wonder Woman 1984
👍I’m going to check out some of the movies mentioned in this!
Dear
I too am going to watch the movies you reviewed; especially Black Messiahs.