This year’s Not Oscars are really not the Oscars, because the Oscars aren’t happening for another three months and there’s still six weeks left in the eligibility window for new contenders to pop up. I’ve seen all the likely nominees from 2020 and several more yet to be officially released, but some buzzed about performances from 2021 aren’t reflected here, since I cut my list off at the end of the calendar year instead of following the Academy’s lead. It’s unusual to be so out of sync with the Oscars, but it’s an offbeat year all around.
There are some great performances here, of course. But — even moreso than my Top Ten — this crop suffers from an Oscar season that extends well into 2021, with some major players still to come. Movies like Judas And The Black Messiah and Malcolm & Marie won’t appear on my lists until the end of 2021 — a lifetime away from now. I would have preferred the Academy Awards to stand their ground, rather than drag 2020 out even longer than necessary. It would be nice if we could put all of 2020 in hindsight right about now.
Still, there’s plenty of good stuff to celebrate, even in a weird, muted year — giving me a chance to highlight a lot of performances that almost certainly will be crowded out of the awards conversation by late April. Here’s to the small fries!
BEST ACTRESS
Carrie Coon – The Nest
Elisabeth Moss – The Invisible Man
Nicole Beharie – Miss Juneteenth
Viola Davis – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Haley Bennett – Swallow
Honorable Mentions:
Stephy Tang – My Prince Edward
Anne Hathaway – The Last Thing He Wanted
BEST ACTOR
Anthony Hopkins – The Father
Hugh Jackman – Bad Education
John Boyega – Red, White And Blue
Jude Law – The Nest
Leslie Odom Jr. – One Night In Miami
Honorable Mentions:
Delroy Lindo – Da 5 Bloods
Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Yuh-Jung Youn – Minari
Amanda Seyfried – Mank
Allison Janney – Bad Education
Olivia Colman – The Father
Candice Bergen – Let Them All Talk
Honorable Mentions:
Agata Kulesza – The Hater
Marisa Tomei – The King Of Staten Island
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Arliss Howard – Mank
Stephen McHattie – Come To Daddy
Charles Dance – Mank
Steve Toussaint – Red, White And Blue
Chu Pak-hong – My Prince Edward
Honorable Mentions:
Tom Pelphrey – Mank
Harris Dickinson – Matthias & Maxime
BEST DIRECTOR
Chloe Zhao – Nomadland
Steve McQueen – Lovers Rock
David Fincher – Mank
Lee Isaac Chung – Minari
Carlo Mirabella-Davis – Swallow
Honorable Mentions:
Jan Komasa – The Hater
Regina King – One Night In Miami
*
BEST ENSEMBLE
Mank
Minari
One Night In Miami
Nomadland
Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Bad Education – Mike Makowsky
One Night in Miami – Kemp Powers
The Father – Christopher Hampton & Florian Zeller
The Invisible Man – Leigh Wannell
Martin Eden – Maurizio Braucci
*
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Mank – Jack Fincher
The Nest – Sean Durkin
Swallow – Carlo Mirabella-Davis
Miss Juneteeth – Channing Godfrey Peoples
Minari – Lee Isaac Chung
WORST AT BEING RICH
Tom Hardy – Capone
Haley Bennet – Swallow
Hugh Jackman & Allison Janney – Bad Education
Jude Law – The Nest
Oliver Jackson-Cohen – The Invisible Man
*
BEST AT BEING POOR
Frances McDormand – Nomadland
Nicole Beharie – Miss Juneteenth
Kris Hitchen & Debbie Honeywood – Sorry We Missed You
Steven Yuen – Minari
Sidney Flanigan – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
BEST SCORE
Last And First Men – Jóhann Jóhannsson
Minari – Emile Mosseri
Martin Eden – Marco Messina and Sacha Ricci
The Nest – Richard Reed Parry
Capone – El-P
*
BEST MUSICAL MOMENT
“Kung Fu Fighting” & “Silly Games” – Lovers Rock
“Always On My Mind” – Matthias & Maxime
“Small Town Boy” – The Nest
The Audition – And Then We Danced
“A Change Is Gonna Come” – One Night In Miami
*
REAL NOBODY 