The Alternative 2021 Oscar Nominations, Made Up Entirely of Snubs and Omissions!

The nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards are in and… well, to be honest, I’m mostly pretty satisfied? I know, right? This is a curious feeling. I was sort of expecting the worst because Oscars gonna Oscars, but by and large, the nominations were rather solid. It was a mixture of the Academy playing it safe, as it loves to do, and being forced out of its comfort zone thanks to COVID-related industry changes.

So, we saw pioneering moments like nominations for Steven Yeun and Riz Ahmed contrasted with the somewhat overblown love for Mank. Hey, TWO whole women got nominated for Best Director… and also Trial of the Chicago 7 was there. No Jared Leto! But also no love for Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods. It wasn’t all moonlight and roses, of course. There were notable omissions a-plenty, some of which stung more than other. Seriously, did the Academy just not realize that Spike Lee released a new film and that it was one of his best?

Every year, we could fill out an alternate ballot of Oscar nominees made up entirely of the snubbed films, so we’re doing it today! OK, I didn’t go deep on every category because even as an Oscar nerd I can’t say I have an encyclopedic knowledge of the most overlooked sound editors in the business. But what we have here are some of the major categories all reimagined with names we would have loved to have heard uttered by the Chopra-Jonases on that fine morning.

Which Oscar omissions were you the most disappointed by? Let us know in the comments.

BEST PICTURE

Another Round
Birds of Prey
Da 5 Bloods
First Cow
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
One Night in Miami…
The White Tiger

BEST DIRECTOR

Eliza Hittman — Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Regina King — One Night in Miami…
Spike Lee — Da 5 Bloods
Kelly Reichardt — First Cow
Florian Zeller — The Father

BEST ACTOR

Kingsley Ben-Adir — One Night in Miami…
Delroy Lindo — Da 5 Bloods
John Magaro — First Cow
Mads Mikkelsen — Another Round
Tahar Rahim — The Mauritanian

BEST ACTRESS

Radha Blank — The 40 Year Old Version
Sidney Flanigan — Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Julia Garner — The Assistant
Han Ye-ri — Minari
Elisabeth Moss — Shirley

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Chadwick Boseman — Da 5 Bloods
Bo Burnham — Promising Young Woman
Alan S. Kim — Minari
Clarke Peters — Da 5 Bloods
Thomas Bo Larsen — Another Round

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Candice Bergen — Let Them All Talk
Toni Collette — I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Dominique Fishback — Judas and the Black Messiah
Dianne Wiest — I Care a Lot
Helena Zengel — News of the World

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Da 5 Bloods
First Cow
I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Night of the Kings
Tenet

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

A Sun
Dear Comrades!
I’m No Longer Here
La Llorona
Night of the Kings

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Another Round
Da 5 Bloods
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Palm Springs
Wolfwalkers

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

First Cow
I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Shirley
The True History of the Kelly Gang

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

City Hall
Dick Johnson is Dead
MLK/FBI
The Painter and the Thief
The Truffle Hunters