If I Was the Only One Who Voted for the Oscars, Vol. 3
“Everybody talks about they want a piece of the pie. Well, I don’t! I want the goddamn recipe.”
Back to my favorite thing to write on this website! This is the third year running for my ideal version of the Oscars, based on my favorite movies of the year (and their subsequent top hallmarks). You can check out 2019’s edition and 2020’s edition by clicking on them post-haste! I love doing this every winter and I’m happy 2020 still managed to have enough movies to pull it off again for 2021. A few notes at the jump here, though.
First, this will be probably the year with the least overlap with the real Academy Awards. After all, I’m sticking to the January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020 calendar, whereas the real Academy extended the window to the end of February* for some bizarre reasons that I don’t fully understand, but whatever. We’ll just embrace the wonkiness.
(* = This means Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, Cherry, Judas and the Black Messiah, Locked Down, Malcolm & Marie, Minari, Nomadland, Our Friend, and The United States vs. Billie Holiday will be eligible next year.)
Second, Hamilton and David Byrne’s American Utopia are not eligible. Some people call these movies, but they are more stage recordings to me. Leslie Odom, Jr. deserves a trophy for his turn as Aaron Burr, but that trophy would be a Tony because he performed it on stage and not for a movie. Hamilton is a masterwork, but it’s just not eligible.
Anyway, if you don’t like stories of love, music, heartfelt emotions, and justice, then this probably won’t be for you. Call me Iago because the heart is on the sleeve, folks, and I’m not rolling it up anytime soon! Let’s give out some fake trophies in the only version of the Oscars that matters around Saoirse Ronan Deserves an Oscar. (Until they actually give her an Oscar, that is.) After all, the real Academy might have earned some goodwill from me with surprise nods for Toy Story 3, The Martian, and Phantom Thread. But that ran out when they nominated Todd Phillips for directing Joker instead of Greta Gerwig for directing Little Women. Gross! You won’t see that on the Oscars for this website!
Best Picture
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (Netflix)
Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (Disney)
Happiness Continues (Amazon)
The Invisible Man (Universal)
Miss Americana (Netflix)
One Night in Miami (Amazon)
Onward (Pixar)
Palm Springs (Neon)
Soul (Pixar)
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)
Obviously, this one was evident over a month ago, which is why I introduce this category first. For the first time ever, my favorite movie from a year was a documentary. An intimate concert/storytelling documentary about a pop singer on a streaming service, no less! Hamilton, WandaVision, Soul, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. Disney Plooos has had all of these. But their greatest achievement so far might just be this. Of course, it only ranks as, like, the sixth or seventh best achievement by Taylor Swift herself, but what can I say? She’s the artist of the century. This cements that — in all its majesty.
Previous Winners: The Old Man and the Gun (Searchlight), Avengers: Endgame (Marvel)
Best Acting in a Cameo Role
Michael Keaton for The Trial of the Chicago 7
Demi Lovato for Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
Jason Mraz for Clouds
Bill Nye for Mank
Ben Stiller for Hubie Halloween
Cameos were very weird this year. Demi Lovato ended up being the funniest part of a movie about Eurovision. Ben Stiller reprised a decades-old role from Happy Gilmore. Bill Nye played Upton Sinclair in Mank (???). And Jason Mraz acted as the backdrop to one of the most moving scenes in the surprisingly enriching Clouds. But no one completely took over a movie like Michael Keaton did in his brief cameo as Ramsey Clark in Trial. Granted, the culmination is infuriating, but his brief moments were thrilling and they demonstrated why getting Michael Keaton involved in your movie is always a good idea.
Previous Winners: Dick Van Dyke for Mary Poppins Returns, Rene Russo for Avengers: Endgame
Best Acting in a Voice-Over or Motion Capture Role
Sean Bean for Wolfwalkers
Tina Fey for Soul
Jamie Foxx for Soul
Tom Holland for Onward
Natalie Portman for Dolphin Reef
This was a scant category this year. Usually, we have plenty of options, but we were forced to dip into an actual narrator to round out five worthy nominees. (Fortunately, Portman is still one of the best Disneynature orators thus far.) The ultimate winner, though, is as worthy as any previous year’s. He would’ve been nominated in even a non-decimated film year. Jamie Foxx breathed a sense of enthusiasm and authenticity into Joe Gardner, whether he was in the form of a teacher, a cat, or a soul. Often times, animated movies go for big names without care for how they’ll actually pull off voice acting. With Soul, though, the Jamie Foxx of it all came last. The actual acting was a top priority and he crushed every line.
Previous Winners: Josh Brolin for Avengers: Infinity War, Tom Hanks for Toy Story 4
Best Visual Effects
Mark Bakowski for The Midnight Sky
Nick Davis for The One and Only Ivan
Jonathan Dearing for The Invisible Man
Sean Faden for Mulan
Adam Rowland for An American Pickle
Last year, Avengers: Endgame didn’t win for having the most visual effects. Granted, it likely did have the most, but every one of them was immaculately created. Without a believable Professor Hulk and Thanos, the movie wouldn’t work and Dan DeLeeuw’s team rose to the challenge. This year, though The Invisible Man earns its victory for what it doesn’t show. It’s the restraint that completes the horror picture because when the effects do happen, they’re utterly captivating. There’s a brilliant artistry in that, just as it’s impressive to craft a dozen lifelike animals interacting with Bryan Cranston.
Previous Winners: Christopher Lawrence for Christopher Robin, Dan DeLeeuw for Avengers: Endgame
Best Film Editing
Craig Alpert for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Tariq Anwar for One Night in Miami
Alan Baumgarten for The Trial of the Chicago 7
Matthew Friedman for Palm Springs
Laura Randolph for Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions
It’s not easy to edit a time-loop movie. I can imagine my eyes glazing over at the idea of trying to parse through hours of footage of characters wearing the same outfits and trying to keep it all in my head, regarding which moments belong to which days. It’s hard work and it might be even tougher to edit the film in a way that feels monotonous enough to convey the mundanity of reliving the same day perpetually, while also giving it enough propulsion to move along at a clip that does not languish in the novelty of idea. Considering Palm Springs belongs on the same tier as Groundhog Day, I’d say the editing is more than worthy of some hardware here.
Previous Winners: Nicholas D. Johnson and Will Merrick for Searching, Monica Salazar for Honey Boy
Best Costume Design
Bina Daigeler for Mulan
Francine Jamison-Tanchuck for One Night in Miami
Phoenix Mellow for Sylvie’s Love
Michael O’Connor for Ammonite
Anna B. Sheppard for Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
I’m a sucker for costumes that do a lot. I practically awarded Poppins off the sheer brilliance of the Easter egg-colored costumes adorned by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Emily Blunt when they jump into the bowl. Whether it’s tackling an alternate period or an alternate culture, flashy costumes are the way to go for me. Sylvie’s Love doesn’t quite exist in this lineage as strongly as, say, Eurovision does. But it does make the most of its time period and the fact that Tessa Thompson looks beautiful in absolutely everything. The dress above is just one example of Phoenix Mellow absolutely crushing this category.
Previous Winners: Sandy Powell for Mary Poppins Returns, Noma Moriceau for Aladdin
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Julie Atkins for The Personal History of David Copperfield
Anna Cash for Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
Tina Fabulic for Happiest Season
Carla Farmer and Linda Villalobos for Sylvie’s Love
Thomas Kolarek for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
While Tessa Thompson is also clearly rocking a top-notch hairstyle above, I had to award the Eurovision makeup and hair team for pulling off looks that posit decidedly non-Icelandic actors as looking practically like natives of the country, had we not had a decade and a half of experience with Elf and Mean Girls. Hell, even look to the immaculate beauty enhancements provided to Dan Stevens and the entire crew brought back for the Song-Along. There’s not a character that went without proper attention paid to the shoulders and above.
Previous Winners: Kimberly Kimble for A Wrinkle in Time, Frida Aradottir for Little Women
Best Cinematography
Nigel Bluck for Tigertail
Stéphane Fontaine for Ammonite
Philippe Le Sourd for On the Rocks
Ethan Palmer for Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions
Dariusz Wolski for News of the World
It takes some brilliant cinematography to find new and interesting ways to film eighteen different songs that are performed in the same location and twenty different conversations that are held in four different locations. Yet, Ethan Palmer managed to pull it off in an engaging way that highlights the music and the singularity of Swift’s talents (pulling back for some attention paid to the collaborators at key moments, like when the beat drops in the denouement of “August”), while also continuing a visual vocabulary of isolation and restraint established by the music video for “Cardigan.” Some of the angles Palmer finds are just remarkable, providing enormity to an intimate space and capturing a small stare as Swift glares while crooning, “I’ve come too far to watch some name-dropping sleaze tell me what are my words worth.”
Previous Winners: Alfonso Cuaron for Roma, Yorick Le Saux for Little Women
Best Production Design
Rick Carter for The Trial of the Chicago 7
Jason Kisvarday for Palm Springs
Mark Ricker for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Barry Robison for One Night in Miami
Seamus Tierney for Hubie Halloween
This one was tricky to think about. Ma Rainey and Miami both make immaculate use of their near-single-set production locations. Not a single piece of Carter’s work for Trial feels out of place. And Hubie Halloween is so evocative of Salem/New England during the Halloween season that I could cry. Still, for similar reasons to Palm Springs’ award for editing, I have to give the nod to the sci-fi rom-com. Every piece of the movie’s production design had to be intricately conceived in a way that would enhance the story being told. The actors have to move at paces that position them exactly where they need to be in an evocation of the routine they’ve settled into. The scenery has to be inviting while also coming across as oppressive with too much indulgence. It’s a tricky balance to strike, as all of Palm Springs is. But the creative team behind it excelled at every turn.
Previous Winners: John Myhre for Mary Poppins Returns, Barbara Ling for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Best Sound Design
Andrea Bella for Happiness Continues
Coya Elliott for Soul
Jonathan Greber for The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart
Craig Jackson for Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
Max Phillips for Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions
In the past, the Academy Awards separated this category into Sound Mixing and Sound Editing. I couldn’t begin to understand the difference between the two, so I would always give the trophy to the same team on both, meaning that Uncut Gems and A Quiet Place were able to pad their stats a bit. No more, though! Now, the real Oscars has said this will be just one category going forward, meaning I can now — in good conscience — move ahead with the notion that it is just one category: Sound Design. Sorry, Craig Jackson, but your smooth work illustrating the necessary bombast of the European mega-event and the small chirps of a nymph-laden country side will only receive one award this year. It’s a deserved one, though. It’s the sound that initially hooked me into this movie, one of my top two favorites of 2020.
Previous Winners: Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn for A Quiet Place, Warren Shaw for Uncut Gems
Best Original Score
Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor, and Atticus Ross for Soul
Volker Bertelmann and Dustin O’Halloran for Ammonite
Alexandre Desplat for The Midnight Sky
Harry Gregson-Williams for Mulan
Daniel Pemberton for The Trial of the Chicago 7
All the scores here are pretty great, but only Soul’s score managed to combine the brilliance of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ more traditional movie backings with Jon Batiste’s jazzy piano stylings that believably position Joe Gardner as a talented musician. This was almost considered ineligible for the Oscars because of the unconventional conceptions from the pairing, but it was always going to be eligible here because I’m the one making the rules. And as far as I can tell, Soul’s score immediately skyrocketed to the list of the best Pixar scores. Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Up, Ratatouille, Inside Out. It resides with the best of them.
Previous Winners: Marc Shaiman for Mary Poppins Returns, Alan Silvestri for Avengers: Endgame
Best Original Song
“Carried Me with You” by Brandi Carlile from Onward
“Double Trouble” by Arnthor Birgisson, Savan Kotecha, and Rami Yacoub from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
“Húsavík (My Hometown)” by Fat Max Gsus, Rickard Göransson, and Savan Kotecha from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
“Only the Young” by Taylor Swift from Miss Americana
“X” by Karol G, Joe Jonas, Kevin Jonas, and Nick Jonas from Happiness Continues
If there was one nomination I could have at the real Oscars, it would be for “Húsavík” to receive attention from the awards show. (I mean, aside from an actual Best Picture turn from Long Pond.) Fortunately, it has been shortlisted for the nominations (announced on March 15), but the jury’s out. Frankly, this category isn’t close. Yes, I have the Eurovision soundtrack on a loop, as well as any new tunes from Swift and the Jonas Brothers. But “Húsavík” is not only an amazing song that could exist at the real Eurovision, but it is also intrinsic to the movie itself. “X,” for example, comes in the credits and has nothing to do with the story at the heart of Happiness Continues. “Húsavík,” though, is the centerpiece of the entire film. It’s not just the best original song of any movie this year; it’s the most important song. It’s the clear winner and it should continue picking up honors like this through to the end of April.
Previous Winners: “All the Stars” by Kendrick Lamar from Black Panther, “Some Things Never Change” by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez from Frozen II
Best Documentary
The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart (Warner Brothers)
Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (Disney)
Happiness Continues (Amazon)
Howard (Disney)
Miss Americana (Netflix)
This one should be obvious. All of these docs were great. Hell, I even had to cut off Letter to You and it’s not often I have to narrow down the documentary category. But it’s a fairly easy genre to go along with during a pandemic; they’re not necessarily built for theaters. Now, I’d still love to see Long Pond on the big screen, but for now, Disney Plooos will do. No-brainer. It’s the best movie of the year, so it’s clearly the best documentary of the year, too.
Previous Winners: Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (Focus), Chasing Happiness (Amazon)
Best Animated Feature Film
The One and Only Ivan (Disney)
Onward (Pixar)
Scoob! (Warner Brothers)
Soul (Pixar)
Wolfwalkers (Cartoon Saloon)
Look, I know The One and Only Ivan is technically just half-animated, but we had to get to five somehow and I really didn’t want to watch another Trolls movie. As it was, Scoob! is one of the two worst movies I saw in 2020 and it earns a spot here for the sheer fact that animation was largely shuttered this year. At least, on the big screen. (Bob’s Burgers chugs along on the small one.) Fortunately, though, Pixar’s two entries this year and Wolfwalkers were all superb films, so the category isn’t a total wash. Considering Soul might just be the most thoughtful (and, admittedly, existential) of the bunch, I think it makes sense to give it the win here. Pete Docter never could be stopped, so pairing him with Kemp Powers is almost unfair to everyone else in the work of animation. More on that duo later.
Previous Winners: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Sony), Toy Story 4 (Pixar)
Best Adapted Screenplay
Jesse Armstrong, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash for Downhill
Charlie Kaufman for I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Kemp Powers for One Night in Miami
Simon Rich for An American Pickle
Ruben Santiago-Hudson for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Yes, Kemp Powers was just adapting his own already-written work for the screen when he turned in the screenplay for One Night in Miami. But it’s a fucking awesome script to begin with, so it should win Oscars and Tonys at a minimum. Seriously, the script for One Night in Miami should EGOT. I don’t know how this would be possible, but I am serious about it. Heed this. There are moments of near-surrealism and always a nuanced take on the conflicting perspectives between the “Black Avengers,” as Powers referred to Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, Sam Cooke, and Malcolm X. Every word mattered and left me utterly rapt.
Previous Winners: David Lowery for The Old Man and the Gun, Greta Gerwig for Little Women
Best Original Screenplay
Pete Docter, Mike Jones, and Kemp Powers for Soul
Clea DuVall and Mary Holland for Happiest Season
Will Ferrell and Andrew Steele for Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
Andy Siara for Palm Springs
Aaron Sorkin for The Trial of the Chicago 7
Look, I’m a sucker for Sorkin always. Eurovision was phenomenal, but the screenplays was not its highlight. Happiest Season had a number of stunning moments, as well as silly ones. Soul is as well-written as any Pixar movie, if not occasionally moreso. Palm Springs probably comes the closest to touching Trial, but I can’t help but side with Sorkin here. I wanted every conversation in this movie to last for, essentially, forty-five minutes each. It is my opinion that the judge should’ve allowed the characters to bounce off one another in the courtroom, since that was the only time they were all in the same room. Really, though, Sorkin is one of the best living screenwriters we have (the best?), so Trial earns its long-gestating place here.
Previous Winners: Drew Goddard for Bad Times at the El Royale, Rian Johnson for Knives Out
Best Supporting Actor
Chadwick Boseman for Da 5 Bloods
Colman Domingo for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Bill Murray for On the Rocks
Leslie Odom, Jr. for One Night in Miami
Jeremy Strong for The Trial of the Chicago 7
You won’t be seeing too many of these people at the Oscars, even though they are all truly supporting roles (except for my winner, who is in slightly dicey territory, but I’ll allow it). It’s hard to say if theatrical runs would have changed anything, in the minds of the Academy, but they’ve been pretty dead set on people from Nomadland and Sound of Metal for a while, it seems. Still, while each of these actors are wholly gripping for various reasons and experiences I’ve had with them, this is Odom’s win in a walk. His rendition of Sam Cooke feels so fully lived-in that one might consider reincarnation as a possibility. Plus, Odom pulls multiple singing duties, with his turn of “A Change Is Gonna Come” providing one of the year’s best movie scenes.
Previous Winners: Tim Blake Nelson for The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Brad Pitt for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Best Supporting Actress
Maria Bakalova for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Aubrey Plaza for Happiest Season
Saoirse Ronan for Ammonite
Amanda Seyfried for Mank
Helena Zengel for News of the World
Talk about unconventional! I had no idea who Bakalova and Zengel were when 2020 began and Seyfried and Plaza seemed destined to be beloved performers who never quite broke into the big time. But 2020 provided all sorts of wonderful surprises and the four of them are chief among them. Still, though, Saoirse Ronan deserves an Oscar and, for the second consecutive year, I’m giving her my own version of one. It might seem like bias at this point (there’s surely bias involved in the decision), but of these five, I really felt she was the best actor. It’s too bad Ammonite has faded from the awards discussion because people found it plodding. I think some of the year’s most moving moments stem from it and Ronan is a huge credit to that!
Previous Winners: Claire Foy for First Man, Ana de Armas for Knives Out
Best Actor
Sacha Baron Cohen for The Trial of the Chicago 7
Kingsley Ben-Adir for One Night in Miami
Chadwick Boseman for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Seth Rogen for An American Pickle
Andy Samberg for Palm Springs
I hope Chadwick Boseman doesn’t go through the same treatment many posthumous winners do, where people feel that they only won because they died too soon. Boseman is clearly the standout from all five of these nominees. Samberg, Cohen, and Rogen always do great work and Ben-Adir is the year’s ace breakout star across all mediums. But Boseman runs the entire gamut of emotion and ambition (August Wilson requisites, of course), stealing Ma Rainey from the actor behind Ma Rainey herself, Viola Davis. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that, in terms of Wilson adaptations, Boseman gives the best performance of anyone. Even topping Denzel and Davis in Fences! Throughout Ma Rainey, Boseman is a motor mouth to be reckoned with; it’s a heartbreaking reminder of all he still had left to give and do.
Previous Winners: Robert Redford for The Old Man and the Gun, Adam Sandler for Uncut Gems
Best Actress
Jessie Buckley for I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Rachel McAdams for Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
Cristin Milioti for Palm Springs
Elisabeth Moss for The Invisible Man
Tessa Thompson for Sylvie’s Love
2020 may have been terrible for many reasons, but I really do appreciate how insane some of these categories got to be. Like, you’ll never see these five actors together again. Each of them are doing such wildly different things! Buckley has to portray a mind consistently folding against itself. McAdams laps circles around every one of her Eurovision co-stars. Milioti provides the emotional, audience anchor for Palm Springs. Thompson provides one of the best romantic turns in the entire year! But really, Moss had this locked up as soon as The Invisible Man dropped, roughly one year ago. Moss killed it in 2020 (she also brought Shirley to life) and showed that her portrayal of a survivor of a domestic abuse, mixed with a “final girl”-esque horror role could be revelatory indeed.
Previous Winners: Emily Blunt for Mary Poppins Returns, Saoirse Ronan for Little Women
Best Director
Sofia Coppola for On the Rocks
Pete Docter and Kemp Powers for Soul
Regina King for One Night in Miami
Taylor Swift for Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions
Leigh Whannell for The Invisible Man
This was an interesting category to consider. Regina King’s direction is exceptional, but understated and more brimming with potential as to what she can unleash next. Sofia Coppola’s direction for On the Rocks is similarly understated (still patently hers, though), but far from her best work. Leigh Whannell provides exceptional visions for The Invisible Man, but I’m not sure the direction is the piece that makes the movie work ultimately. And Taylor Swift is a flawless human being in all respects, but I’m not quite sure she’s the pick for this category. She made a perfect movie, but the direction is more acclaim-worthy in other films. Namely, I kept coming back to Soul when contemplating the winner. Animated films are not typically revered for their direction, but what could Pete Docter and Kemp Powers have done better here? It’s the best Pixar collaboration this side of Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina with each perspective blending together to create a uniquely gorgeous journey through a new Disney pocket. Powers is a bit newer to the movie fray (but crushing it this year) and Docter has an impeccable Pixar track record (Monsters, Inc., Up, Inside Out), but together they made magic. Worthy win here.
Previous Winners: David Lowery for The Old Man and the Gun, Greta Gerwig for Little Women
The Robert Redford Award for Lifetime Achievement
Chadwick Boseman
It’s really not ideal to give out the Lifetime Achievement award to someone who was just forty-three years old when he died. Ideally, it wouldn’t go to people who die at all! Instead, it should be bestowed upon people like past winners Robert Redford and Richard Curtis, who both claimed to be retiring from the industry. Sadly, that’s not the case this year, as the honor goes to Chadwick Boseman. He passed away from colon cancer back in August and it still hurts so much that he’s not around anymore; he was truly one of our best movie stars and someone who only felt like he was just getting started in Hollywood. He starred in biopics like 42, rewatchable classics like Draft Day, and this year’s one-two punch of Da 5 Bloods and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Of course, Boseman was probably best known for his role as T’Challa across the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I wrote more about him here, but it’s such a massive loss that it hardly feels like enough. It’s only right to attach his name to this award (frivolous as it may be) forever.
Previous Winners: Robert Redford, Richard Curtis
Best Scene
Nyles Apologizes in Palm Springs (Neon)
Sam Cooke Sings “A Change Is Gonna Come” in One Night in Miami (Amazon)
Song-Along in Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (Netflix)
Taylor Swift and Justin Vernon Sing “Exile” in Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (Disney)
Tom Hayden Lets Abbie Hoffman Take the Stand in The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)
Moving into more joyous territory, it’s the final category of the whole shebang! The apology Nyles delivers at the end of Palm Springs is a masterclass in Samberg-delivered hilarity (with some stunningly prescient reflections on the silver linings of the pandemic). I turn into a jet plane and soar into the sky forever whenever I hear the live version of “Exile.” I turn into an emotional jet plane and soar into the sky forever whenever I hear Odom sing Cooke. And, of course, there’s nothing like an Aaron Sorkin-penned revelation scene. But the honor for the year’s best scene has to go to the scene I’ve watched more times than any other this year (and, at this rate, it’ll be more than any other scene, sans the piano moment in Big). The song-along in Eurovision is glorious euphoria that transcends our human plane of existence. It’s what the movies are for! You should watch it!
Previous Winners: Thanos Snaps in Avengers: Infinity War (Marvel), Portals in Avengers: Endgame (Marvel)
Well, like I said, it was an unconventional year. But unconventional years allow for interesting winners to occur who might not have topped the categories otherwise. Would we have seen an animated movie win Best Director or a Taylor Swift concert documentary win Best Picture without a weird year? Perhaps not. I embrace the chaos, though. It’s more fun that way.
Most Nominations
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (10)
One Night in Miami, The Trial of the Chicago 7 (9)
Soul (8)
Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, Palm Springs (7)
Ammonite, Happiness Continues, The Invisible Man, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Onward (4)
An American Pickle, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Happiest Season, Miss Americana, Mulan, On the Rocks, Sylvie’s Love (3)
The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart, Hubie Halloween, I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Mank, The Midnight Sky, News of the World, The One and Only Ivan, Wolfwalkers (2)
Clouds, Da 5 Bloods, Dolphin Reef, Downhill, Howard, The Personal History of David Copperfield, Scoob!, Tigertail (1)
Most Wins
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, Soul (4)
Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (3)
The Invisible Man, One Night in Miami, Palm Springs, The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2)
Ammonite, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Sylvie’s Love (1)
