Bright and early on March 15, Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas announced the 2021 Academy Award nominations and made something very clear: Last year may have been the weirdest one in history for film, but a lot of great movies still came out. (And also "Hillbilly Elegy.")
The only problem: Those great movies could be hard to find. Ironically, though a lot of movies were accessible right at home, without theaters as a central hub, it was difficult for even tapped-in movie nerds to keep track of when release dates were scheduled and which streaming services had what or for how long – leaving us with an honestly impressive (as well as diverse) slate of nominees that unfortunately many people haven't gotten their eyes on yet.
Conveniently, due to pandemic delays, the actual Oscars won't start handing out little gold men until Sunday, April 25 – so you've got plenty of time to catch up with all the exceptional nominees (plus "Mank") before showtime. And, best of all, we've made it as easy as possible with this handy guide to all of the nominated films and where to find them – whether in theaters, on a streaming service, available to rent online or somewhere in between. So there's no excuse to not binge through some of the best distractions 2020 had to offer (and boy, did we need them) and no excuse to say "who's even heard of these movies?" come Oscar night.
So get to chugging through the Academy's picks like Mank through a bottle of booze – and we'll see you amongst the stars on Hollywood's brightest night in a few weeks.
"A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon"
Nominations
- Best Animated Film
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on Netflix
"Another Round"
Nominations
- Best Director
- Best International Film
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on Hulu
- Available on DVD/Blu-ray
- Available to rent from Milwaukee Film's Sofa Cinema virtual cinema as well as iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, YouTube and Vudu
"Better Days"
Nominations
- Best International Film
Where you can find it
- Availably on Blu-ray
- Available to rent on iTunes, Amazon, YouTube, Google Play and Vudu
"Borat Subsequent Moviefilm"
Nominations
- Best Supporting Actress
- Best Adapted Screenplay
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on Amazon Prime Video
"Collective"
Nominations
- Best Documentary
- Best International Film
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on Hulu
- Available on DVD
- Available to rent on Milwaukee Film's Sofa Cinema virtual cinema as well as on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, YouTube and Vudu
"Crip Camp"
Nominations
- Best Documentary
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on Netflix
"Da 5 Bloods"
Nominations
- Best Score
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on Netflix
"Emma"
Nominations
- Best Costume Design
- Best Makeup/Hair
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on HBO Max
- Available on DVD/Blu-ray
- Available to rent on iTunes on June 1
"Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga"
Nominations
- Best Original Song
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on Netflix
"The Father"
Nominations
- Best Picture
- Best Actor
- Best Supporting Actress
- Best Adapted Screenplay
- Best Editing
- Best Production Design
Where you can find it
- Now showing at the Downer Theater
- Available to rent on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube
"Greyhound"
Nominations
- Best Sound
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on Apple TV+
"Hillbilly Elegy"
Nominations
- Best Supporting Actress
- Best Makeup/Hair
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on Netflix
"Judas and the Black Messiah"
Nominations
- Best Picture
- Best Supporting Actor (Daniel Kaluuya)
- Best Supporting Actor (LaKeith Stanfield)
- Best Original Screenplay
- Best Cinematography
- Best Original Song
Where you can find it
- Available on DVD/Blu-ray on May 4
- Available to rent on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, YouTube and Vudu
"The Life Ahead"
Nominations
- Best Original Song
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on Netflix
"Love and Monsters"
Nominations
- Best Visual Effects
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on Spectrum on Demand
- Available on DVD/Blu-ray
- Available to rent on iTunes, YouTube, Amazon, Google Play and Vudu
"Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"
Nominations
- Best Actor
- Best Actress
- Best Production Design
- Best Costume Design
- Best Makeup/Hair
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on Netflix
"The Man Who Sold His Skin"
Nominations
- Best International Film
Where you can find it
- Available to rent on Milwaukee Film's Sofa Cinema virtual platform
"Mank"
Nominations
- Best Picture
- Best Actor
- Best Supporting Actress
- Best Director
- Best Cinematography
- Best Production Design
- Best Costume Design
- Best Sound
- Best Score
- Best Makeup/Hair
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on Netflix
"The Midnight Sky"
Nominations
- Best Visual Effects
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on Netflix
"Minari"
Nominations
- Best Picture
- Best Actor
- Best Supporting Actress
- Best Director
- Best Original Screenplay
- Best Score
Where you can find it
- Available on DVD/Blu-ray on May 18
- Available to rent on iTunes, Amazon, YouTube, Google Play and Vudu
"The Mole Agent"
Nominations
- Best Documentary
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on Hulu and Hoopla
- Available to rent on iTunes, YouTube, Amazon, Google Play and Vudu
"Mulan"
Nominations
- Best Costume Design
- Best Visual Effects
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on Disney+
- Available on DVD/Blu-ray
"My Octopus Teacher"
Nominations
- Best Documentary
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on Netflix
"News of the World"
Nominations
- Best Cinematography
- Best Sound
- Best Score
- Best Production Design
Where you can find it
- Available on DVD/Blu-ray
- Available to rent on iTunes, YouTube, Google Play and Vudu
"Nomadland"
Nominations
- Best Picture
- Best Actress
- Best Director
- Best Adapted Screenplay
- Best Editing
- Best Cinematography
Where you can find it
- Now playing at the Downer Theater
- Available to stream on Hulu
"The One and Only Ivan"
Nominations
- Best Visual Effects
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on Disney+
"One Night in Miami"
Nominations
- Best Supporting Actor
- Best Adapted Screenplay
- Best Original Song
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on Amazon Prime Video
"Onward"
Nominations
- Best Animated Film
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on Disney+
- Available on DVD/Blu-ray
- Available to rent on iTunes, YouTube, Amazon, Google Play and Vudu
"Over the Moon"
Nominations
- Best Animated Film
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on Netflix
"Pieces of a Woman"
Nominations
- Best Actress
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on Netflix
"Pinocchio"
Nominations
- Best Costume Design
- Best Makeup/Hair
Where you can find it
- Available on DVD/Blu-ray
- Available to rent on iTunes, YouTube, Amazon, Google Play and Vudu
"Promising Young Woman"
Nominations
- Best Picture
- Best Actress
- Best Director
- Best Original Screenplay
- Best Editing
Where you can find it
- Available on DVD/Blu-ray
- Available to rent on iTunes, Amazon, YouTube, Google Play and Vudu
"Quo Vadis, Aida?"
Nominations
- Best International Film
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on Hulu
- Available to rent on iTunes, Google Play, Vudu, Amazon and YouTube
"Soul"
Nominations
- Best Animated Film
- Best Sound
- Best Score
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on Disney+
"Sound of Metal"
Nominations
- Best Picture
- Best Actor
- Best Supporting Actor
- Best Original Screenplay
- Best Editing
- Best Sound
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on Amazon Prime Video
"Tenet"
Nominations
- Best Production Design
- Best Visual Effects
Where you can find it
- Currently available on DVD/Blu-ray
- Available to stream on Spectrum on Demand
- Available to rent on iTunes, Amazon, YouTube, Vudu and Google Play
"Time"
Nominations
- Best Documentary
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on Amazon Prime Video
"The Trial of the Chicago 7"
Nominations
- Best Picture
- Best Supporting Actor
- Best Original Screenplay
- Best Editing
- Best Cinematography
- Best Original Song
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on Netflix
"The United States vs. Billie Holiday"
Nominations
- Best Actress
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on Hulu
"The White Tiger"
Nominations
- Best Adapted Screenplay
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on Netflix
"Wolfwalkers"
Nominations
- Best Animated Film
Where you can find it
- Available to stream on Apple TV+
As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.
When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.
