Oscar Nomination Predictions 2021

Here we are once again, awaiting the announcement of the coveted Oscar nominations. It's hard to believe it's been a whole year since the last one, but that's probably because it hasn't been. The elongated 2020 season has accordingly created a slightly abbreviated 2021 season. But there was still plenty of time for filmmakers to release some entertaining and award-worthy movies.

I've still got a lot to catch up on, but my favourites so far include Being the Ricardos, CODA and Tick, Tick... Boom, all three of which could quite reasonably see their names on the Best Picture contenders list (and potentially several other categories) come Tuesday. Another film I really enjoyed this season is The Harder They Fall, though I expect that may struggle to get nominated for anything. Its best shot is Best Original Song, but even I haven't predicted it securing that nod.

Dune and The Power of the Dog are poised to be the nomination leaders and my predictions reflect that. West Side Story and Belfast will likely see a strong showing, too. As for the rest of my guesses, we'll see how it all pans out. If you're interested in assessing my powers of Oscar prognostication, here are my nomination predictions for the 94th Academy Awards.

Before I sign off, though, here's something to look out for when the nominees are announced in a little over 24 hours. For the last two years running, one of the Best International Feature (formerly Best Foreign Language Film) nominees has also found itself on the Best Documentary Feature shortlist - Honeyland in 2019 and Collective in 2020. Surprisingly, it had never happened prior to that, and perhaps even more surprisingly, it's likely to happen for a third year in a row, thanks to Denmark's Flee. And although I've only pegged it for those two nominations, there's a decent chance it'll pull a third citation for Best Animated Feature, which would make it the first film to receive nods in all three of those categories. Never thought I'd get this excited about a Danish animated documentary, but that's the effect the Oscars have on me, I guess.