If there's one thing to come out of all this, it's that "I've never even heard of these movies" can be resolved with a click of the remote.
2020 was an odd year for film fans, casual and cinephile, since for most of the year, movie theaters were either widely closed or weren't getting any major new releases. Festivals were canceled outright, or moved entirely online. Arthouse and indie theaters were forced to adopt a "Virtual Cinema" model in the interim, while drive-in theaters experienced a minor boom. Wide releases were either pushed back, sometimes repeatedly (and some still are!), or moved straight to streaming, some to bolster corporate newcomers and others just on demand.
While there is still a question of just how the industry will have been affected down the road, some things just go on, like the awards shows, like the Oscars. And given the unfortunate consequence of the COVID-19 outbreak, there is the small fortune that the Oscar noms are more accessible than they have ever been, most available from the comfort of your couch - or wherever you Netflix and chill.
Usually, movie theaters would reprogram the Oscar nominees leading up to the ceremony, but given everything and certain disagreements between theaters and streamers, who knows how that will look? So until these will possibly screen in theaters, here's where you can watch the nominees today....
Multi-nominates
MANK - Exclusively on Netflix
Discover the story of Herman Mankiewicz, the writer of "Citizen Kane".
10 Nominations; for Best Picture,
Best Director (David Fincher)
Best Actor (Gary Oldman)
Best Supporting Actress (Amanda Seyfried)
Best Production Design (Donald Graham Burt and Jan Pascale)
Best Cinematography (Erik Messerschmidt)
Best Costume Design (Trish Summerville)
Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Gigi Williams, Kimberley Spiteri, Colleen LaBaff)
Best Original Score (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross)
Best Sound (Ren Kylce, Jeremy Molod, David Parker, Nathan Nance and Drew Kunin)
THE FATHER - On demand and in theaters now
A family struggles as the patriarch ages with dementia.
6 Nominations; for Best Picture
Best Actor (Anthony Hopkins)
Best Supporting Actress (Olivia Colman)
Best Adapted Screenplay (Christopher Hampton & Floridan Zeller)
Best Production Design (Peter Francis and Cathy Featherstone)
Best Film Editing (Yorgos Lamprinos)
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH - On demand and in theaters now
The FBI sends an insider to help them shut down Fred Hampton and the Illinois Black Panthers.
6 Nominations; for Best Picture,
Best Supporting Actor (Daniel Kaluuya)
Best Supporting Actor (LaKeith Stanfield)
Best Original Screenplay (Will Berson and Shaka King; with Keith Lucas and Kenny Lucas)
Best Cinematography (Sean Bobbitt)
Best Original Song ("Fight for You" by D'Mile and H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas)
MINARI - On demand and select theaters now
A Korean-American family search for the American Dream as farmers in 1980s Arkansas.
6 Nominations; for Best Picture,
Best Director (Lee Isaac Chung)
Best Actor (Steven Yeun)
Best Supporting Actress (Youh Yuh-jung)
Best Original Screenplay (Lee Isaac Chung)
Best Original Score (Emile Mosseri)
NOMADLAND - In theaters and exclusively streaming on Hulu now
A 60-year-old woman communes with real-life nomads in the American West after losing everything in the Great Recession.
6 Nominations; for Best Picture,
Best Director (Chloe Zhao)
Best Actress (Frances McDormand)
Best Adapted Screenplay (Chloe Zhao)
Best Cinematography (Joshua James Richards)
Best Film Editing (Chloe Zhao)
SOUND OF METAL - Exclusively on Amazon Prime Video
A heavy metal drummer loses his hearing, shaking his entire world.
6 Nominations; for Best Picture,
Best Actor (Riz Ahmed)
Best Supporting Actor (Paul Raci)
Best Original Screenplay (Darius and Abraham Marder; with Derek Cianfrance)
Best Sound (Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés and Philip Bladh)
Best Film Editing (Mikkel E.G. Nielsen)
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 – Exclusively on Netflix
Seven protestors of clashing ideologies stand trial for mayhem at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
6 Nominations; for Best Picture,
Best Supporting Actor (Sacha Baron Cohen)
Best Original Screenplay (Aaron Sorkin)
Best Cinematography (Phedon Papamichael)
Best Original Song (“Hear My Voice” by Daniel Pemberton and Celeste)
Best Film Editing (Alan Baumgarten)
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN – On demand and in theaters now
A young woman seeks vengeance for her trauma.
5 Nominations; for Best Picture,
Best Director (Emerald Fennell)
Best Actress (Carey Mulligan)
Best Original Screenplay (Emerald Fennell)
Best Film Editing (Frederic Thoraval)
MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM – Exclusively on Netflix
Adapted from the August Wilson play, tensions rise during a recording session with the Mother of the Blues.
5 Nominations; for
Best Actor (Chadwick Boseman)
Best Actress (Viola Davis)
Best Production Design (Mark Ricker and Karen O’Hara and Diana Sroughton)
Best Costume Design (Ann Roth)
Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal, and Jamika Wilson)
NEWS OF THE WORLD – On demand now
A Civil War veteran agrees to return a young girl to her family on an arduous journey across Texas.
4 Nominations; for
Best Production Design (David Crank and Elizabeth Keenan)
Best Cinematography (Dariusz Wolski)
Best Original Score (James Newton Howard)
Best Sound (Oliver Tarney, Mike Prestwood Smith, William Miller and John Pritchett)
ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI… - Exclusively on Amazon Prime Video
Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, and Sam Cooke walk into a room...
3 Nominations; for
Best Supporting Actor (Leslie Odom, Jr.)
Best Adapted Screenplay (Kemp Powers)
Best Original Song (“Speak Now” by Sam Ashworth and Leslie Odom, Jr.)
BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM – Exclusively on Amazon Prime Video
Borat returns to America in 2020, this time with his daughter.
2 Nominations; for
Best Supporting Actress (Maria Bakalova)
Best Adapted Screenplay
EMMA. – On HBO Max and on demand now
Based on Jane Austen's novel, a wealthy young woman's life grows complicated with love and matchmaking.
2 Nominations; for
Best Costume Design (Alexandra Byrne)
Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Marese Langan, Laura Allen, and Claudia Stolze)
HILLBILLY ELEGY – Exclusively on Netflix
A Yale Law student returns home and faces his family history and future.
2 Nominations; for
Best Supporting Actress (Glenn Close)
Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Eryn Krueger Mekash, Patricia Dehaney, and Matthew Mungle)
MULAN – On Disney+ and on demand now
A young woman in Imperial China secretly takes her father's place in war.
2 Nominations; for
Best Costume Design (Bina Daigeler)
Best Visual Effects
PINOCCHIO – On demand now
A puppet boy falls into many misadventures in this passion project from director Matteo Garrone.
2 Nominations; for
Best Costume Design (Massimo Cantini Parrini)
Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Dalia Colli, Mark Coulier, and Francesco Pegoretti)
TENET – On demand now and on HBO MAX beginning May 1
The fate of the world is at stake in this time-centric action thriller where the future informs the past.
2 Nominations; for
Best Production Design (Nathan Crowley and Kathy Lucas)
Best Visual Effects
The unfortunate side effect of distribution and the privilege of the Academy is that some shorts and foreign entries are not readily accessible to members of the general public. However, arthouse theaters may present the shorts in a special showcase leading up to the ceremony, and over time, international films will become more readily available. However, this may occur after the ceremony in April.
Animation Nominees
features
SOUL - Exclusively on Disney+
A jazz musician/music teacher finally gets the opportunity for his big break... and promptly dies. Also nominated for Best Original Score and Best Sound.
ONWARD - On Disney+ and on demand now
Two elf brothers go a mythic quest/road trip to complete a resurrection ritual to spend one last day with their late father.
WOLFWALKERS - On Apple TV+ and select theaters
An apprentice hunter journeys to Ireland to wipe out the last wolf pack, until an unexpected friendship with a native girl introduces her to a tribe who may be shapeshifters.
A SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE: FARMAGEDDON - Exclusively on Netflix
The fantastic flock must help a friendly alien return home before the government captures her.
OVER THE MOON - Exclusively on Netflix
In this musical adventure, a young girl builds a rocket to the moon in hopes of meeting the mythical moon goddess she knows is real.
shorts
BURROW - Exclusively on Disney+
An anxious rabbit wants her new burrow exactly how she imagines it. But then there's neighbors....
IF ANYTHING HAPPENS I LOVE YOU - Exclusively on Netflix
Briefly a TikTok trend, this short follows two parents grieving their daughter.
YES-PEOPLE - Available for rental/purchase on Vimeo
Through one winter day, this short explores how our habits reveal us and how the day affects us back home.
GENIUS LOCI - currently unavailable
A loner sees urban chaos as a guiding mystical oneness in an experimental fever dream.
OPERA - currently unavailable
An allegorical observation of humanity at large and the systems and conflicts it adopts.
Documentary
features
COLLECTIVE - On Hulu and on demand now
Romanian journalists uncover corruption, dysfunction, and more when they investigate a major healthcare incident. Also nominated for Best International Film.
CRIP CAMP: A DISABILITY REVOLUTION - Exclusively on Netflix
A movement begins at a summer camp for teenagers with disabilities in 1971.
THE MOLE AGENT - On Hulu and PBS and on demand now
To help a private investigator and a concerned family, Sergio becomes a resident in a retirement home - and a mole on the inside!
MY OCTOPUS TEACHER - Exclusively on Netflix
Not to be confused with anime phenomenon Assassination Classroom, My Octopus Teacher features a filmmaker/diver who forms an extraordinary bond with an octopus in the South African kelp forest.
TIME - Exclusively on Amazon Prime
Fox Rich campaigns for the release of her husband from a 60-year prison sentence.
shorts
COLETTE - Free on YouTube with special Q+A presentation; originally featured in the unlockable documentary "Gallery" for the video game Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond, available on Oculus Rift and Steam VR
A former member of the WWII French Resistance returns to Germany for the first time since the war.
A CONCERTO IS A CONVERSATION - Free on YouTube, produced for the New York Times's Op-Docs series
29-year-old Black composer Kris Bowers follows the history of his grandfather Horace and his story of breaking barriers from the Jim Crow South to Los Angeles.
DO NOT SPLIT - Free on Vimeo
From 2019 to 2020, Hong Kong protests the Chinese government's bill to extradite criminal suspects to mainland China. This nomination resulted in the Oscar ceremony being banned in China.
HUNGER WARD - Available on Paramount+, through numerous virtual events, and Free on PlutoTV
Two women healthcare workers fight the spread of child starvation due to human-caused famine in Yemen in the wake of war.
A LOVE SONG FOR LATASHA - Exclusively on Netflix
The film revisits a forgotten catalyst for the 1992 Los Angeles riots - the death of Latasha Harlins.
International Film and Live-Action Shorts
international
ANOTHER ROUND (Druk) - On Hulu and on demand now
Representing Denmark. Also nominated for Best Director (Thomas Vinterberg).
Teachers test a theory that constant alcohol could improve every aspect of their everyday lives. Well....
BETTER DAYS (少年的你) - On Hoopla (check with your local library system) and on demand now
Representing Hong Kong. Based on a novel by Jiu Yuexi, a high school outcast and a criminal are suspected for the death of the student's rival.
THE MAN WHO SOLD HIS SKIN (الرجل الذي باع ظهره) - On demand now and on Hulu April 22 (3 days before Oscar ceremony)
Representing Tunisia. A refugee allows his body to become a living work of art.
QUO VADIS, AIDA? - On Hulu and on demand now
Representing Bosnia. A UN translator in Bosnia and her family are among thousands seeking shelter with the UN when the Serbian army invades her town.
shorts
A teen in need and a DeafBlind man form a connection at a bus stop.
THE LETTER ROOM - Available for purchase on Vimeo
Starring Oscar Isaac (Star Wars, Ex Machina), a corrections officer becomes engrossed in a prisoner's private life when he is transferred to the letter room.
THE PRESENT ( الهدية) - Exclusively on Netflix
A Palestinian father journeys with his daughter to buy an anniversary gift for his wife in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
TWO DISTANT STRANGERS - Exclusively on Netflix
A Black cartoonist tries to get to his dog at home but keeps reliving a deadly encounter with a police officer.
WHITE EYE - Currently unavailable; check local arthouse theaters, Oscar Showcase, and virtual cinema
In Israel, a man finds his stolen bicycle with a new owner.
Single Nominations
THE UNITED STATES VS. BILLIE HOLIDAY - Exclusively on Hulu
Nominated for Best Actress (Andra Day). Musical legend Billie Holiday is targeted by the U.S. Narcotics Department after an undercover sting led by a former fling.
PIECES OF A WOMAN - Exclusively on Netflix
Nominated for Best Actress (Vanessa Kirby). A woman reels from the fallout of a tragic home birth.
THE WHITE TIGER - Exclusively on Netflix
Nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay (Ramin Bahrani). The driver of a rich Indian family makes his way to the top.
DA 5 BLOODS - Exclusively on Netflix
Nominated for Best Original Score (Terence Blanchard). Four African-American veterans return to Vietnam to recover the remains of their fifth friend and the treasure they hid.
EUROVISION SONG CONTEST: THE STORY OF FIRE SAGA - Exclusively on Netflix
Nominated for Best Original Song ("Husavik" by Rickard Goransson, Fat Max Gsus and Savan Kotecha). Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams are two small-town musical artists who try their hand at a global music competition.
THE LIFE AHEAD - Exclusively on Netflix
Nominated for Best Original Song ("Io Si (Seen)" by Diane Warren and Laura Pausini). A Holocaust survivor bonds with the immigrant who robbed her.
THE MIDNIGHT SKY - Exclusively on Netflix
Nominated for Best Visual Effects. A lone scientist in the Arctic tries to make contact with astronauts returning to a catastrophe.
THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN - Exclusively on Disney+
Nominated for Best Visual Effects. A circus gorilla named Ivan attempts to escape captivity with the other animals.
LOVE AND MONSTERS - On demand now
Nominated for Best Visual Effects. A young man makes the 85-mile journey to reunite with his girlfriend. Just gotta get through some monsters first.
GREYHOUND - Exclusively on Apple TV+
Nominated for Best Sound (Warren Shaw, Michael Minkler, Beau Borders and David Wyman). Written by and starring Tom Hanks, an inexperienced Navy commander defends a merchant ship against Nazi submarines during the Battle of the Atlantic.