You can read the entire list here.
It was a rough year to be honest. Many top movies were likely delayed and despite there being some OK movies on the list, I think it is a subpar set of nominations.
Best 2020 movie I saw last year was probably Palm Springs or perhaps Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds. Neither was nominated as far as I can tell.
I thought Borat 2 had a real shot at a Best Picture nomination, but it is nice that the girl from the movie got an acting nomination. She was great.
I saw Eurovision the other day and the movie was terribly lame, but I did like the final song “Husavik” and I am glad it is nominated for best song.
Any favorites on the list?
I thought Minari was only OK, so while I am glad Steven Yeun has a nomination, it isn’t a great movie and I found his performance to be nice, but nothing special.
Usually, by the time the nominations are announced, I’ve seen perhaps half the nominated movies. This year, I’ve only seen Nomadland, and that was literally just yesterday. I know that three others (Mank, Judas and the Black Messiah and The Trial of the Chicago 7) are available on the streaming services I subscribe to and yet I haven’t seen them yet. Perhaps having them easily available to watch whenever I want somehow makes them less compelling. Most years, I’m relatively enthusiastic about some of the movies but not this year.
I’ve actually already seen every film nominated for Best Picture as well as all but one of the acting nominees. (Glenn Close is the only one I haven’t seen.) Honestly I think it’s a pretty solid group of films, much better overall than many recent years. There’s not a dud among them. I enjoyed every film nominated and think they’re all worthy, though my least favorite would be “Mank.” I really enjoyed the craft and look of the film but found the story to be a bit dull. I loved “Sound of Metal” and am really happy that it got some big recognition here! Especially Riz Ahmed! If I were voting I’d probably choose “The Father” as Best Picture, but both “Minari” and “Nomadland” were excellent as well. If it weren’t for “Parasite” winning last year I’d say that “Minari” has a very good chance of winning, but I really doubt the Academy would give it to two (mostly) Korean films in a row.
I thought “Borat 2” was one of the stupidest films I’ve ever seen and I was afraid after the Globes that garbage might actually get a nomination. Very glad it did not. “Palm Springs” was OK, I preferred “The Map of Tiny Perfect Things” in the new genre of time-looping boy meets girl dramedies.