Are there any clear front runners for Oscar nominations?

There’s no secret that it’s been a bad year for filmmakers and a strange one for the industry. With a veritable flurry of exciting nominations and wins coming from a host of other award shows, it’s tempting to start sorting through the lists for hints and clues as to who will take the ultimate prize when Oscar nominations roll along. BLAKE & WANG P.A Entertainment Lawyer San Francisco sifts through what we know so far, so you don’t have to.

It’s certainly a difficult season to be an Academy member. With well over 215 films slated as potentials and no social interaction to bounce ideas and buzz off of other members, it’s been difficult to know where to focus their attention. And it shows, in the lack of current ‘sure favorites’. Searchlight’s Nomadland and Netflix’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 have definitely been tabled as must-views, but past that there seems to be little agreement or consistency.

From what we’ve heard from members, some have merely opted to watch what got uploaded first. Others, naturally, have focused on what meets the criteria for their specific niche, be that the foreign film nominees or whatever. Still, others seem to be steering away from watching the movies altogether for a bit. It seems a bit of a mess. 

With this in mind, it’s probably a godsend that other key awards- USC Scripter, AFI, NBR, and so on- seem to be focusing attention on some other key pictures, narrowing the field a little. All the same, we’ve seen some upsets there too, with Tenet, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, and several other expected contenders not receiving much attention.

Will this year’s Oscars be the most remarkable on record? With a strange and unstable year upsetting the apple cart completely even on what films got made, let alone put forward for award consideration, it’s going to be an intriguing season and a spectacular Oscars for black horses to shine, that’s for sure.