The 2021 Academy Awards, the 93rd ceremony celebrating Hollywood, aired Sunday night on ABC in an interesting way thanks to Covid-19.  The audience was much smaller than normal, and the festivities were actually held in Union Station, a location that’s been used in so many memorable films.  It was very spread out, yet more intimate.  There was no set host, rather just presenters.  Gone was the shtick and jokes, no skits and no songs performed, just awards and acceptance speeches that didn’t seem rushed at all… and somehow they managed to stay on time.  Makes you wonder if the traditional hosts and jokey skits are part of why the Oscars normally take so long.  The show wasn’t without a few surprises, perhaps the biggest being Chadwick Boseman NOT receiving the Best Actor Oscar posthumously, which is shocking as he got it in just about every other award show leading up to Sunday night.  And we can’t help but wonder if The Academy expected backlash, as they noticeably moved Best Picture up and gave out Best Actor last… and Anthony Hopkins, who won Best Actor for THE FATHER, not only wasn’t there but didn’t even give an acceptance speech by Skype or Zoom, which is odd since he frequently posts videos on his Twitter of him goofing around at home.  Check out the full list of winners below, which also shows all the nominees in each category, and our original picks to win.  This was definitely a big night for NOMADLAND.

I always note, for what it’s worth, the picks defined below of what we thought would win were not necessarily what we thought should win, rather what we expected would win…

Best Picture:
The Father
Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank
Minari
Nomadland – our pick to WIN! – WINNER!
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Director
Thomas Vinterberg – Another Round
David Fincher – Mank
Lee Isaac Chung – Minari
Chloe Zhao – Nomadland – our pick to WIN! – WINNER!
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman

Best Actor
Riz Ahmed – Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – our pick to WIN!
Anthony Hopkins – The Father – WINNER!
Gary Oldman – Mank
Steven Yeun – Minari

Best Actress
Viola Davis – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Andra Day – The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Vanessa Kirby – Pieces of a Woman
Frances McDormand – Nomadland – WINNER!
Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman – our pick to WIN!

Best Supporting Actor
Sacha Baron Cohen – The Trial of the Chicago 7
Daniel Kaluuya – Judas and the Black Messiah – our pick to WIN! – WINNER!
Leslie Odom, Jr. – One Night in Miami
Paul Raci – Sound of Metal
LaKeith Stanfield – Judas and the Black Messiah

Best Supporting Actress
Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm – our pick to WIN!
Glenn Close – Hillbilly Elegy
Olivia Colman – The Father
Amanda Seyfried – Mank
Yuh-Jung Youn – Minari – WINNER!

Best Original Screenplay
Judas and the Black Messiah
Minari
Promising Young Woman – WINNER!
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7 – our pick to WIN!

Best Adapted Screenplay
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
The Father – WINNER!
Nomadland – our pick to WIN!
One Night in Miami
The White Tiger

Best Animated Film
Onward
Over the Moon
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
Soul – our pick to WIN! – WINNER!
Wolfwalkers

Best Documentary
Collective
Crip Camp – our pick to WIN!
The Mole Agent
My Octopus Teacher – WINNER!
Time

Best International Feature Film
Another Round – our pick to WIN! – WINNER!
Better Days
Collective
The Man Who Sold His Skin
Quo Vadis Aida?

Best Editing
The Father
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal – our pick to WIN! – WINNER!
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Cinematography
Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank – our pick to WIN! – WINNER!
News of the World
Nomadland
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Visual Effects
Love and Monsters
The Midnight Sky
Mulan
The One and Only Ivan
Tenet – our pick to WIN! – WINNER!

Best Costume Design
Emma
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – our pick to WIN! – WINNER!
Mank
Mulan
Pinocchio

Best Production Design
The Father
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – our pick to WIN!
Mank – WINNER!
News of the World
Tenet

Best Score
Da 5 Bloods
Mank
Minari
News of the World
Soul – our pick to WIN! – WINNER!

Best Original Song
“Fight for You” – Judas and the Black Messiah -WINNER!
“Hear My Voice” – The Trial of the Chicago 7
“Husavik” – Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
“Io Si (Seen)” – The Life Ahead
“Speak Now” – One Night in Miami – our pick to WIN!

Best Make-Up and Hairstyling
Emma
Hillbilly Elegy
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – our pick to WIN! – WINNER!
Mank
Pinocchio

Best Sound
Greyhound
Mank
News of the World
Soul
Sound of Metal – our pick to WIN! – WINNER!

Best Animated Short
Burrow – our pick to WIN!
Genius Loci
If Anything Happens I Love You – WINNER!
Opera
Yes-People

Best Documentary Short Subject
Colette – our pick to WIN! – WINNER!
A Concerto is a Conversation
Do Not Split
Hunger Ward
A Love Song for Latasha

Best Live-Action Short Film
Feeling Through
The Letter Room
The Present
Two Distant Strangers – WINNER!
White Eye – our pick to WIN!

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