Interest and anticipation builds up to a fevered pitch, leading up to the Oscars telecast. This year, the Oscars will honor the best films released between January 1, 2020, and February 28, 2021. This year might be a little different for the Oscars because of Covid-19. Even though people thought back in June 2020, with the pandemic still raging on, that the Oscars might be canceled.  This caused the academy to push back the ceremony from February to April, in hopes the pandemic would improve. Nominations were announced the morning of March 15th live online from London by celebrity couple Nick and Priyanka Jonas.  In a historic nomination year, 70 women received a total 76 nominations, a record for any given year. This year, the Oscars ceremony itself will take place this Sunday, April 25th at 5:30 pm Central Standard Time.  The Sandscript has taken some time to preview some of the more well known awards of the show.

This year, “Best Actress” nominees include Frances McDormand, actress in the movie Nomadland, Carey Mulligan, actress in the movie Promising Young Woman, Viola Davis, actress in the movie Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Vanessa Kirby, actress in Pieces of Woman, and Andra Day, actress in The United States Vs. Billie Holiday. Also, “Best Actor” nominees are Chadwick Boseman, actor in the movie Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Anthony Hopkins, actor in the movie The Father, Riz Ahmed, actor in Sound of Metal, Steven Yeun, actor in Minari, and Gary Oldman, actor in Mank.

The next preview is for “Best Supporting Actor”. This year those nominees are Daniel Kaluuya, actor in the movie Judas and the Black Messiah, Sacha Baron Cohen, in the movie The Trial of the Chicago 7, Leslie Odom Jr. in the movie One Night in Miami, Paul Raci, in the movie Sound of Metal, and Lakeith Stanfield, in the movie Judas and the Black Messiah. The “Best Supporting Actress” nominees are Maria Bakalova, in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Olivia Colman, in The Father, Yuh-Jung Youn, in Minari, Amanda Seyfried, in Mank, and Glenn Close, in Hillbilly Elegy.

The 2021 “Best Picture” nominees are: Nomadland, Ben Browning, Ashley Fox, Emerald Fennell and Josey McNamara’s Promising Young Woman, Christina Oh’s Minari, Marc Platt and Stuart Besser’s The Trial of the Chicago 7, Shaka King, Charles D. King and Ryan Coogler’s Judas and the Black Messiah, Ceán Chaffin, Eric Roth and Douglas Urbanski’s Mank, Bert Hamelinck and Sacha Ben Harroche’s Sound of Metal, and David Parfitt, Jean-Louis Livi and Philippe Carcassonne’s The Father. 

Furthermore, the academy has nominated Chloe Zhao, director of Nomadland, Emerald Fennell, director of Promising Young Woman, David Fincher, director of Mank, Lee Isaac Chang, director of Minari, and Thomas Vinterberg, director of Another Round for the “Best Director” award. As for an award the children will enjoy, the nominees for “Best Animated Feature” are: Onward, directed by Dan Scanlon and Kori Rae, Over The Moon, directed by Glen Keane, Gennie Rim, and Peilin Chou, A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon, directed by Richard Phelan, Will Becher, and Paul Kewley, Soul, directed by Pete Docter and Dana Murray, and Wolfwalkers, directed by Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart, Paul Young, and Stephan Roelants.

Another aspect to film is the appearance of the actors in the film.  The people in charge of just that can be rewarded too at the Oscars.  So, in the “Costume Design” category, nominees are: Alexandra Byrne from Emma, Ann Roth from Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Trish Summerville from Mank, Bina Gaigeler from Mulan, Massimo Cantini Parrini from Pinocchio.  As for th “Makeup and Hairstyling” category, the academy chose Marese Langan, Laura Allen and Claudia Stolze, from Emma, Eryn Krueger Mekash, Matthew Mungle and Patricia Dehaney, from Hillbilly Elegy, Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson, from Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Gigi Williams, Kimberley Spiteri and Colleen LaBaff, from Mank, Mark Coulier, Dalia Colli and Francesco Pegoretti, from Pinocchio.

 The Oscar’s has always been a big thing here in the United States, so if it weren’t to happen, then a lot of people would be unhappy. Even though covid has made a big impact on the world, we should still find time to enjoy simple things like watching the Oscars. Even if it’s from a six feet distance with masks.  So, even if the Oscar’s are different this year, we are still able to watch it.  Tune in this Sunday at 5:30 to see if your favorite actor or actress will take home an award.