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Ranking 2020 Best Picture Nominees

2020 was the pandemic year, so the Academy decided to include some early 2021 movies in this year’s Best Picture roster as well. Even though it was a difficult time for the entire world, there have been enough great movies to populate this list, which the Academy obviously did not do. They did pick three stupendous movies, but the rest five range from middling to just good. The period piece obsession is very strong this time around. Without further ado, this is my ranking of all eight Best Picture Nominees.

8. Nomadland

Unlike last year, this year’s slate surprisingly doesn’t have any bad or mediocre movies nominated for Best Picture. The worst one is this okay film that easily gets this last spot here. Most of the other lists will have it on top, but for me this was an insufferable film to sit through. There is no denying that its cinematography is astonishing and its score is beautiful. As an audio-visual experience, it’s artistic and gorgeous. But as a feature film, it is a misfire as it never knows whether it is a documentary or not. This is the flaw with Chloe Zhao’s documentarian approach at storytelling, which personally rubs me the wrong way. The lack of bigger ideas and themes as it relates to the nomadic lifestyle also cemented this film’s ranking here.

7. Judas and the Black Messiah

Judas and the Black Messiah is so similar to ‘The Departed’ in its central theme of betrayal that it’s weird that most people did not make this connection. It has a strong third act and a powerhouse performance from Lakeith Stanfield who stole the show from everybody else in an intriguing role. But most of the others were far less interesting, and although the film deals with an important historical event, it mostly failed to garner my attention because the pacing is off and there were too many boring speeches that stopped the momentum in its tracks.

6. The Trial of the Chicago 7

This is another period piece in this uninspired slate that is full of them. The movie depicts the 1968 riots that happened in Chicago and it is surprisingly centrist in its approach by showcasing not just the incompetence and horrendous bias of the judge, but also how the agitating and riotous protests are never the answer, however noble the cause is. Langella, Rylance and Cohen are all excellent in this very well acted, stupendously written film with reliably strong dialogue from Aaron Sorkin. However, this is his first directorial work and he is poor as a director. The movie felt cheap and small while the ending was overly triumphant and cheesy.

5. Minari

This is yet another period piece about a Korean-American family moving to Arkansas in the eighties to follow the American Dream. It’s a sweet slice of life tale that is never particularly great in anything that it does, but just good. The acting is good, but far from great with the nominations being a bit of a push for me. The film’s subplot with the interactions with the Americans felt rushed as it clearly focused most of the time just on this family. It’s a film that has a lot of heart, but in trying to be this epic family tale, its success at that was middling.

4. Mank

This is the final placement for a period piece on my list that clearly favors movies set in the present this time around. Mank is a film that at first really appealed to me as a huge fan of the Golden Age of Hollywood. However, it’s one of those movies that evaporates from your as well as the public’s conscience rather quickly, thus showing you that it’s not all that great, but just fine. The politics in this movie are interesting and clear parallels and differences to the current era can be drawn, but more emphasis should have been put on the films themselves and not just the Hollywood machinery. The score, the black-and-white cinematography, the acting and the dialogue – everything here looked and sounded like a genuine 30s picture. It’s a shame then that the movie had nothing of substance to say really.

3. The Father

The third place goes to what was by far the biggest surprise for me among these movies. The Father is a film about dementia, but unlike so many other movies before it, this one actually puts you in the shoes of the protagonists as you witness his confusion together with him. The disorienting narrative full of illogical scenarios and twists and turns was truly incredible to witness. The dialogue, the script and the direction from Florian Zeller are all excellent, but it’s the multilayered performance from Anthony Hopkins at the center of this drama that is truly something special. It is his career-best performance for sure and the movie is important viewing for everybody.

2. Sound of Metal

The second great movie to be nominated this year is Sound of Metal. This is also a film about a condition, this time around about hearing loss. It’s the ultimate film that deals with the deaf and again essential viewing for everyone who doesn’t really know what it is like suddenly not being able to hear anything. We get to see, or better yet hear or not hear, that on our own through many scenes of incredible sound editing and mixing. The main turn from Riz Ahmed is the year’s greatest actor performance. He is terrific in his every scene while Paul Raci is wonderful in the beautiful supporting role. The film is intense at first, but calm and reassuring later down the line in its calm silence, leading to that unforgettable, moving final scene.

1. Promising Young Woman

Yes, I actually went with the entertaining movie for the first spot as movies should be engaging first and foremost, and this one is beyond fun as it flies by. The movie is wildly riveting, intense and truly a new masterpiece in the thriller genre, but it’s also so much more than its pulpy thrills as it has an excellent story that deals with rape and trauma stemming from it in a surprisingly sophisticated manner. Carey Mulligan is instantly iconic in a career-best turn for her. Another highlight is that finale. Wow, was this scene insane at capturing both happiness and sadness from audiences. It’s a rare crazy twist ending that truly works and it lifted this already great movie to even greater heights.

Films That Should Have Been Nominated:

Soul – How in the hell did the Academy not nominate this masterpiece? Well, that is because they hate the animation medium with their snobbish outlook on cinema. This Pixar gem was clearly the greatest movie of the year that features the most important message of them all – the importance of living. It’s also gorgeously scored, animated and very moving.

The White Tiger – The first couple of months in 2021 were eligible for the Academy due to the pandemic and the best of the movies released in that window of time was this Netflix dramedy. It’s a great look into the many harsh realities of India while its acting, direction and writing are all superb. The fact that it mixes humor and tragedy so well is admirable.

Malcolm & Marie – This is another Netflix outing in early 2021 that deserved better reviews and more nominations from the Academy. Zendaya was robbed as her acting here is outstanding. It is one of those chamber dramas full of interesting discussions and arguments, and I live for this type of filmmaking. It’s so underrated.