lisadoris

Official Rules
-ANY movie that has been NOMINATED or WON an Academy Award counts

-There is NO time limit, meaning it doesn't matter how long or short the item in question is, as long as it has been nominated or won an Academy Award

-You can watch a movie once then count it again if you watch the same film with a commentary

-There WILL BE a separate thread for LISTS ONLY created shortly before the challenge begins.

-You can count the actual Academy Awards Ceremony to be televised on Sunday April 25, 2021 as an entry if you'd like.

-There will be an "In Memoriam" Wild Card option. You can select up to 10 films to watch featuring a celebrity that died since the last Oscar Ceremony. But only ONE movie per celebrity. For example: You can watch “Bustin’ Loose” to honor Cecily Tyson but you cannot watch another Cecily Tyson movie that did not win or was not nominated for an Oscar unless another celebrity that died during the time period. If that makes sense... The celebrity has to have died in 2019/20.

-The challenge begins at dawn local time Monday, March 15, 2021 at and will end at 11:59 pm on Sunday, April 25.

LISTS THREAD

Past Challenges
2020 Rules & Discussion Thread
2020 List Thread
2019 Rules & Discussion Tread
2019 List Thread
2018 Rules & Discussion Thread
2018 List Thread
2017 Rules & Discussion Thread
2017 List Thread
2016 Rules & Discussion Thread
2016 List Thread
2015 Rules & Discussion Thread
2015 List Thread
2014 Rules & Discussion Thread
2014 List Thread
2013 Rules & Discussion Thread
2013 List Thread
2012 Rules & Discussion Thread
2012 List Thread
2011 Rules & Discussion Thread
2011 List Thread
2010 Rules & Discussion Thread
2010 List Thread
2009 Rules & Discussion Thread
2009 List Thread
2008 Rules & Discussion Thread
2008 List Thread
2007 Rules & Discussion Thread
2007 List Thread

External Links
This Year's Nominees
TCM's 31 Days of Oscar Schedule
Academy Award Database - to check if a movie has been nominated or won (link still won't work with Safari)
2020 In Memoriam via Entertainment Weekly
2021 In Memoriam via Entertainment Weekly

Checklist
Watch a film winner from the following decades:

• 1927-1937:
• 1938-1947:
• 1948-1957:
• 1958-1967:
• 1968-1977:
• 1978-1987:
• 1988-1997:
• 1998-2007:
• 2008-2017:
• 2018-

Watch a winner from the following categories:

• Actor in a Leading Role
• Actor in a Supporting Role
• Actress in a Leading Role
• Actress in a Supporting Role
• Animated Feature Film
• Cinematography
• Costume Design
• Directing
• Documentary (Feature)
• Documentary (Short Subject)
• Film Editing
• International Feature Film
• Makeup and Hairstyling
• Music (Original Score)
• Music (Original Song)
• Best Picture
• Production Design
• Short Film (Animated)
• Short Film (Live Action)
• Sound Editing
• Sound Mixing
• Visual Effects
• Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
• Writing (Original Screenplay)

lisadoris

It's that time again (though later than usual). Oscar nominations will be announced on the 15th and that means it's time to put together your Oscar Challenge viewing list. The Oscar Database still won't work with Safari for unknown reasons so sorry about that.

Is there anything folks want to see in this year's Challenge? I was thinking about adding sequel exemption. Say you watch Ghostbusters (which was nominated for 2 Oscars) but you also want to watch Ghostbusters 2 because why not (but it wasn't nominated for anything). Should we count the sequel? Or say you want to watch Terminator 2 (which won 4 Oscars) but can you watch the sequel without the original (which was nominated for nothing)? Just a thought, what does everything think?

Travis McClain

I can understand wanting to follow a nominee with something related, but not nominated. I wouldn't include such content in my numbered totals, but I could see including it in the list. For instance:

1. Ghostbusters
   Ghostbusters II
2. Casablanca

Unless we're competing against one another for anything based on our raw numbers, though, I'm entirely indifferent to how anyone else formats their lists.

Also, here's a potentially helpful resource: A Letterboxd list of Every Film Ever Nominated For An Academy Award In Any Category, curated by NeverTooEarlyMP. It's current through last year's awards. Unfortunately, there are no notes to indicate which awards a film was up for or which ones won. But what makes the list potentially helpful is that you can filter by Service to display which films are presently available via Fandango, Amazon (disc sales), Amazon Prime, or iTunes. Letterboxd Pro members can further filter by a whole host of streaming services, including:

Amazon Prime (400 films)
Criterion Channel (202)
Crackle (21)
Disney+ (139)
Filmrise (11)
Google Play
HBO Max (355)
HBO Now (138)
Hulu (87)
IMDb TV (22)
Mubi (28)
Netflix (107)
Paramount+ (64)
Peacock (38)
Peacock Premium (51)
Redbox (1038)
The Roku Channel (75)
Shout! Factory TV (10)
Tubi (224)
Vudu Free (40)

Darkgod

I feel we just keep it to Oscar Nominated films.

lisadoris

I like the idea of including non-nominated sequels but not counting them.

I keep hoping that one year I'll be able to complete most of the checklist with black nominees/winners but I'm still a few categories short.

The list thread will go up on Thursday or Friday.

shadokitty

Just a reminder, that there is a decent amount of overlap between the two challenges running in March this year.

lisadoris

Yes, get your double-counting on. I started a Hitchcock box set for the Action/Adventure Challenge this week and will continue it for the Oscar Challenge.

Darkgod

The real challenge will be the april crossover. what constitutes a drive in/exploitation that was also nominated for an Oscar. I know Caged(1950) definitely does.

pacaway

Unfortunately, I am now preview screening for an international festival so I'm not sure how many other films I can squeeze in. The quota for the screening is 7 films a week, so that's already a substantial load. I love this challenge though so I'll do my best to watch the announced nominees at least.

As for drive in/exploitation crossovers, The Stepmother (1972) had a nomination. It shows up on many b movie/exploitation collections.

lisadoris

List thread is up and running

Travis McClain

There's a promotion for Sundance Now: 98¢ per month (not applicable for an annual membership), down from $4.99/mo. Use promo code SUNDANCENOW99. There are presently eleven challenge-eligible movies. I've noted wins where applicable.

Seven Beauties (1975)
The War at Home (1979)
American Dream (1990 winner: Documentary [Feature])
Madame Bovary (1991)
The Weather Underground (2002)
Encounters at the End of the World (2007)
Trouble the Water (2008)
The Young Victoria (2009 winner: Best Costume Design)
Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)
The Lady in Number 6 (2013 winner: Documentary [Short Subject])
Embrace of the Serpent (2015)

lisadoris

Cool, thanks Travis

The fun begins tomorrow! I'll post a link to the nominations as soon as they're available.

lisadoris

Nominations are here

pacaway

Also the Hammer film When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970)

Mao

How To See The 2020 Oscar Nominees At Home Before The Big Night:

Another Round (DVD/Blu / Digital Rental / Purchase / Hulu)

Better Days (Blu / Digital Rental / Purchase)

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (Amazon Prime Video)

Collective (DVD / Digital Rental / Purchase / Hulu)

Crip Camp (Netflix)

Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)

Emma. (DVD/Blu / Digital Purchase / HBO Max, HBO, DirectTV)

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (Netflix)

The Father (Digital Rental)

Greyhound (AppleTV+)

Hillbilly Elegy (Netflix)

Judas And The Black Messiah (Digital Rental)

The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se) (Netflix)

Love And Monsters (DVD/Blu/4K / Digital Rental / Purchase / Spectrum On Demand)

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (Netflix)

The Man Who Sold His Skin (Digital Rental / Purchase)

Mank (Netflix)

The Midnight Sky (Netflix)

Minari (Digital Rental)

The Mole Agent (DVD/Blu / Digital Rental / Purchase / Hulu / Hoopla / Kanopy)

Mulan (DVD/Blu/4K / Digital Purchase / Disney+)

My Octopus Teacher (Netflix)

News Of The World (DVD/Blu/4K / Digital Rental / Purchase)

Nomadland (Hulu)

The One And Only Ivan (Disney+)

One Night In Miami... (Amazon Prime Video)

Onward (DVD/Blu/4K / Digital Rental / Purchase / Disney+)

Over The Moon (Netflix)

Pieces Of A Woman (Netflix)

Pinocchio (2020) (DVD/Blu / Digital Rental / Purchase)

Promising Young Woman (DVD/Blu / Digital Rental / Purchase)

Quo Vadis, Aida (Digital Rental / Purchase / Hulu)

A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (Netflix)

Soul (DVD/Blu/4K / Digital Purchase / Disney+)

Sound Of Metal (Amazon Prime)

Tenet (DVD/Blu/4K / Digital Rental / Purchase) / Spectrum On Demand)

Time (Amazon Prime Video)

The Trial Of The Chicago 7 (Netflix)

The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Hulu)

The White Tiger (Netflix)

Wolfwalkers (AppleTV+)

*************************************************************************************

Oscar Nominated Shorts:

Digital Rentals through the Eventive App (Virtual Tin Pan Theater Bundle gives you 14 days to watch all 3 programs)

Detroit Institute of Arts Rental through the Eventive App (DIA Bundle gives you 30 days to watch all 3 programs)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

or....

Documentary Short Subject:

Colette
A Concerto Is A Conversation
Do Not Split

Hunger Ward https://pluto.tv/on-demand/movies/hunger-ward

A Love Song For Natasha (Netflix)

****************************************************************************************

Animated Short Film:

Burrow (Disney+)

If Anything Happens I Love You (Netflix)

Yes-People
****************************************************************************************

Live Action Short Film:

Feeling Through
The Letter Room (Digital Purchase / Topic)

The Present (Netflix)

Two Distant Strangers (Netflix)

****************************************************************************************

lisadoris

I started the challenge with some based on a true story titles. I, Tonya, Judy, and Bombshell.

Hadn't seen any of them before and really wasn't that impressed with any of them. For me, I, Tonya was the best of the bunch though that might just be because I was interested in the real life events that transpired.

Travis McClain

I started with three of this year's nom's. If Anything Happens I Love You felt like a commercial to me, like at any moment a graphic was going to pop up and tell me to contact a particular company for grief counseling or maybe just to drink Coke. I feel bad about that reaction because it's such a serious and sensitive subject matter and the short is entirely respectful of it, but it just didn't work for me.

I'd heard Mank was disappointing for people who'd been hyped for a dramatization of the showdown between Mankiewicz and Welles over Citizen Kane. I get why they felt cheated, because that's not what the movie is. It is instead a dramatization of the case for why Mankiewicz deserved screen credit, and how the screenplay came at a personal and professional cost to him; costs that Welles didn't pay, because he hadn't moved in those circles and didn't have personal relationships with Hearst, Davies, et al. In that, I think the film was effective. But I think it was undermined by its flashback structure. Gary Oldman's performance is solid. I think it's easy to take his work as burnt out professionals for granted, because he's so good at that archetype. I can understand how he got nominated, but it doesn't feel like a winning performance.

I didn't know Ma Rainey's Black Bottom was based on a stage production, but I caught on fairly early that was the case. Its stage-iness took me out of the movie several times, most often during the soliloquies. Still, it was engaging enough to keep me invested. Chadwick Boseman's performance in particular was compelling, and I also appreciated the band members. I completely bought their camaraderie and the notion that they were seasoned veterans who knew how to play what was asked of them, keep their heads down, and collect their pay. If Boseman's Levee is the unstoppable object, then Viola Davis's Ma Rainey is the unmovable object of the picture. It's Viola Davis, so of course she's solid. Ma herself is actually kind of a small figure. I read where she's only onscreen for 26 minutes. It feels like more because everyone is constantly talking about her. Davis did Ma justice, I think, but I'm not sure the film did. I didn't learned much more about Ma Rainey than I knew going into the film, and almost all of what I know about her came from the liner notes of two CD box sets (Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues and Club Verboten). To a certain extent, I'm sure that's because the film inherited its scope from the stage production, but I've also read that the stage production runs more than three hours so clearly a lot of its content was cut for the film and for all I know, they sacrificed sections that did expound upon who she was. Then again, maybe every single line she has in the stage show is in the movie. I haven't had time to dive further. I did love the entire passage in which Ma insists she get the Coca-Cola she requested. For one thing, I completely understood what she was actually doing by making that into a power play. But also, power dynamics aside, I completely understand how sometimes there's a particular itch that just has to be scratched and it was probably the moment in which I most identified with her.

It's still early, but right now I'm up on Boseman and Ma Rainey costume designer Ann Roth for their respective categories. If Boseman wins, I don't want to hear anything about how it's some kind of publicity gesture. It's a genuinely compelling performance, full stop. As for Roth, it was revealed in Netflix's half-hour making-of featurette that she researched costumes so thoroughly that she personally went around to every extra in the opening tent show sequence to explain the back story of each element of their attire. That's amazing, and I respect that.

mrcellophane

It's been one year and and one week since I was last in a movie theater (to see Disney's Onward), and I'm been really depressed about losing that pastime and connection with movies. So depressed that last week I contemplating sitting out this Oscars. However, as soon as the nominations were out, I started to get excited about the movies and the upcoming ceremony! I even got a bit of a charge from rolling my eyes at the amount of inevitable Mank love!

My movie group decided to watch Sound of Metal for this week's virtual Movie Night, and I really enjoyed it. I'll parrot the much deserved love that Riz Ahmed's cagey performance and the incredible sound design have garnered. Ahmed is a favorite of my movie group; one of the first films we watched was Four Lions, and we've also watched Nightcrawler, The Sister Brothers, and even the music video for Charli XCX's "Boys". He's such a great actor. I'm happy the movie is nominated for Original Screenplay. It takes a deft hand to examine addiction, suicidal ideation, and desperation without falling into tired tropes or pure melodrama.

lisadoris

The stage production is much longer but if memory serves, the bulk of Ma Rainey's portion is in the film. Even though her name is in the title, the story was never meant to be about her. That's true of a lot of August Wilson's work: it's never about what you think it's going to be about. In this case, Rainey is more of a McGuffin in that she's what brings the characters together. The trick in playing that roll is to not simply let Rainey fade into the background and Davis certainly does that. When I saw it, Whoopi Goldberg was in the roll and she did that effectively too.

Yesterday I made my way through Silverado, Nomadland, and Mulan (2020). They were all serviceable with Nomadland being the best of the bunch. It's a subdued film that feels quite appropriate for the times we're living in now though it's not about any of that. The original Mulan is certainly better than the remake but the remake isn't that bad. Who knew the presence of Eddie Murphy could really make or break a film!

Mao

I always come into this challenge wide open with ideas.

I always get through the last of the feature and shorts nominees for the year. I always screen all the year's Best Picture nominees. I also avoid films I've screened for past year's challenges. I like to pull from my personal physical/digital library before streaming.

But then I choose films randomly to fill in the rest.

I have decided this year to screen films from my collection that have 7 or more competitive nominations, but won none! Found 14 of them from the AMPAS list.

This should be fun.

lisadoris

Oh, that means you're probably watching The Color Purple and Shawshank Redemption. I love those films. I found the list and that's a really interesting group of films. I recommend the new cut of Godfather III. It doesn't make the film materially better (though I like it but I know I'm in the minority), it does flow a bit better.

I watched Parasite yesterday and while it is a great film on a technical level, it didn't speak to me.

Mao

I watched "The Color Purple" already during a past challenge, but "The Shawshank Redemption" is absolutely on the list to watch! And I already own and have watched the new Godfather III cut. I agree. Much better viewing experience (and it looks amazing!).

Giles

I'm a fan of Big Sky animation (R.I.P by the way) and I watched 'Ferdinand' last night on Disney+ I liked the animation, but the forced humor was a bit much. John Cena's voicing Ferdinand oddly worked.

shadokitty

Been preoccupied with things lately, so haven’t been watching much of anything. Decided to start this challenge today though, as I actually quite enjoy it. Started out small with a kind of spooky Disney short from Disney+, called ‘The Old Mill’. I imagine I can get quite a bit of use from that subscription for this challenge.

lisadoris

Yeah I started going through some Disney+ stuff the other day: Mary Poppins Returns, Saving Mr. Banks, Maleficent 2 (and a side trip to Falcon and Winter Soldier).

One of my goals for this challenge is to write letterboxd reviews for every feature-length film I watch and so far, I'm keeping up. Fingers crossed.