The 92nd Academy Awards have been roundly criticized for nominating too many films by and about white men, and that’s true; there were certainly many opportunities this year to do otherwise. But part of the charm of the Oscars is forever complaining about their hideously awful choices, and celebrating when they actually get something right. There are quite a few great movie in this year’s batch, and a few others that are at least worth seeing. Here’s our guide to streaming 26 of this year’s nominees (listed in alphabetical order).
Nominees A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Bombshell, Frozen 2, Jojo Rabbit, Knives Out, Little Women, 1917, Richard Jewell, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker are not yet available as of this writing. The Cave and Ford v Ferrari are available for purchase only. Les Miserables is not yet available, but it will eventually have a home on Amazon Prime.
ABC will televise the Oscars awards show on Sunday, February 9, starting at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time. You can also watch the ceremony live at ABC.com or on the the ABC app after signing in with your TV provider, or via your TV streaming provider of choice.
Ad Astra
Brad Pitt stars as astronaut Roy McBride in Ad Astra.
James Gray’s austere, slow-moving space drama stars Brad Pitt as an astronaut who ventures into the vast expanse to find his father (Tommy Lee Jones) and hopefully save Earth. It somewhat fails to touch the heart, but at least it looks and sounds great.
Nominated for: Best Sound Mixing
Where to stream: Rent from Apple, Google Play, Prime Video, Vudu, YouTube, etc. ($5.99 and up)
American Factory
A scene from American Factory, which is nominated for Best Documentary Feature.
The first film from Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s production company, this very good but extremely uncomfortable documentary depicts life at an Ohio automobile factory after a Chinese company purchases and saves it. The film depicts the struggling, hopeful, and hopeless interactions between the new Chinese and American co-workers.
Nominated for: Best Documentary Feature
Where to stream: Netflix
Avengers: Endgame
Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) tries to save the universe in Avengers: Endgame.
The highest-grossing blockbuster of the year, and arguably the most entertaining, this three-hour superhero extravaganza doubtless features the most state-of-the-art effects, but it also transcends them; it’s one of the rare FX-driven movies that delves more into characters and story. We care about them as much as we care about characters on any great, long-running TV series.
Nominated for: Best Achievement in Visual Effects
Where to stream: Disney+
The Edge of Democracy
(L to R) Michel Temer, Dilma Rousseff, and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the documentary The Edge of Democracy.
Filmmaker Petra Costa delivers this personal exploration of the volatile political climate in Brazil, and the rise-and-fall careers of presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff.
Nominated for: Best Documentary Feature
Where to stream: Netflix
For Sama
Waad Al-Kateab films in war-torn Aleppo in the documentary For Sama.
Waad Al-Kateab tells her own harrowing story, living in Aleppo during the Syrian civil war. Her life is a constant battle between ensuring the safety of her daughter, Sama, and coping with the need for her doctor husband to remain in the danger zone to help the sick and wounded.
Nominated for: Best Documentary Feature
Where to stream: Amazon Prime Video, and for free on PBS
Harriet
Cynthia Erivo gives an Oscar-nominated performance as freedom fighter Harriet Tubman in Harriet.
This underrated biopic, directed by Kasi Lemmons, was criticized for not being as heavy or as punishing as other films about slavery. But its sense of heroism makes it a positive force in the world, without ever losing sight of the horror. Erivo is magnificent in the role of Harriet Tubman, burying her own personal losses and longings and channeling her energy into saving others.
Nominated for: Best Actress (Cynthia Erivo), Best Song
Where to stream: Rent from Apple, Google Play, Prime Video, Vudu, YouTube, etc. ($5.99 and up)
Honeyland
Hatidze Muratova demonstrates her method of harvesting honey in Honeyland.
Simultaneously nominated as a documentary and a fiction film, this story of Macedonian beekeeper Hatidze Muratova features some truly mesmerizing footage of her at work—it rarely ever even seems like a documentary—but it also provides a horrifying gut-punch as a family of obnoxious invaders moves in and begins to destroy everything Hatidze ever worked for.
Nominated for: Best Documentary Feature, Best International Feature Film
Where to stream: Hulu
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
The dragon Toothless and human Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) share a bonding moment in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.
The third installment of this animated series, about a boy named Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) who has learned to befriend dragons instead of hunting them, is much like the other two. It’s deliriously beautiful, with incredible sequences devoted to the feeling of flight, but rather blandly ordinary in the story department.
Nominated for: Best Animated Feature Film
Where to stream: Hulu
I Lost My Body
Naoufel (right) tries to figure out how to tell Gabrielle he likes her in I Lost My Body.
This hand-drawn animated feature from France starts, astonishingly, as a severed hand comes to life, wriggles its way out of some kind of lab (walking on fingertips), and heads out into the wide world, presumably, to find its owner. But the flashback story about the boy who belongs to the hand and the girl he loves is a bit more disappointingly traditional.
Nominated for: Best Animated Feature Film
Where to stream: Netflix
The Irishman
Crime boss Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci) meets with Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) in The Irishman.
Martin Scorsese’s masterful epic gangster movie, about a man who found a fleeting sense of greatness by being in the company of Jimmy Hoffa, certainly recalls his great, previous crime films, but it’s also something entirely new. It’s no longer about the thrill of becoming a gangster, but about the bittersweet aftermath. What does it all mean? Did it mean anything?
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Al Pacino), Best Supporting Actor (Joe Pesci), Best Director (Martin Scorsese), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Visual Effects
Where to stream: Netflix
Joker
Joaquin Phoenix plays Arthur Fleck, a clown pushed to the edge, in Joker.
An undeniably well-made, and alarmingly popular, but deeply troubling film, this one features an electrifying lead performance and a great, creepy score by cellist Hildur Guðnadóttir. It argues that we, as humans, ought to treat each other better. But it also owes a great deal to Martin Scorsese, and perhaps—as it comes from the maker of The Hangover Part III—lacks certain psychological and empathetic touches that would have enriched the discussion.
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Actor (Joaquin Phoenix), Best Director (Todd Phillips), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Original Score, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing
Where to stream: Rent from Apple, Google Play, Prime Video, Vudu, YouTube, etc. ($5.99 and up)
Judy
Renée Zellweger portrays Judy Garland on a London tour near the end of her career in Judy.
A blah biopic, this one lacks even a great centerpiece performance we might expect from a biopic. Inexplicable front-runner Zellweger is too much like herself (she frequently purses her lips) and simply can’t sing anything like the iconic Garland. The makeup sometimes makes her look a little like Garland, but only from a distance and in profile. The little girl (Darci Shaw) in the flashbacks is far more convincing.
Nominated for: Best Actress (Renée Zellweger), Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Where to stream: Rent from Apple, Google Play, Prime Video, Vudu, YouTube, etc. ($5.99 and up)
Kitbull
A small kitten finds an unlikely new friend in the animated short film Kitbull.
A rare hand-drawn short from Pixar, this beautiful 9-minute film—about a homeless cat and a Pit Bull, injured from an illegal fight, who become unlikely friends and make a euphoric escape—will absolutely make you cry.
Nominated for: Best Animated Short Film
Where to stream: Disney+
But wait! There’s more! Click here to read about Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and 13 other great films nominated for Oscars in 2020.
Klaus
Postman Jesper (voiced by Jason Schwartzman) inadvertently helps create many Christmas traditions in Klaus.
Whatever it lacks in its overly familiar screenwriting beats, this delightful Christmastime movie about one possible origin of Santa Claus makes up for in its gorgeous animation style, two-dimensional characters enriched by computer-aided shading and textures, and in its spirited voice performances.
Nominated for: Best Animated Feature Film
Where to stream: Netflix
Life Overtakes Me
A scene from the Oscar-nominated Documentary Short Life Overtakes Me.
Netflix describes this 40-minute documentary thusly: “In the grip of trauma, hundreds of refugee children in Sweden withdraw from life’s uncertainties into a coma-like illness called Resignation Syndrome.”
Nominated for: Best Documentary Short
Where to stream: Netflix
The Lighthouse
Wake (Willem Dafoe) and Thomas Howard (Robert Pattinson) are stuck in a lighthouse during a storm in The Lighthouse.
Horror films rarely get any love from the Oscars, and this one, from director Robert Eggers (The Witch) about two men who succumb to loneliness and insanity in a remote lighthouse, is about as intense and merciless as they come. But even non-horror fans can appreciate the stark, bold black-and-white here, stamped into a claustrophobically narrow frame.
Nominated for: Best Cinematography
Where to stream: Rent from Apple, Google Play, Prime Video, Vudu, YouTube, etc. ($4.99 and up)
The Lion King
Mufasa (voiced by James Earl Jones) and young Simba survey the kingdom in The Lion King.
This pretty slavish, wholly unnecessary remake failed to excite many people, but still made an absolute fortune at the box office. Everyone agrees that the photorealistic animals in the film were extremely impressive.
Nominated for: Best Visual Effects
Where to stream: Disney+
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) returns for more evilness in
I didn’t see this sequel to the 2014 movie, but critics and audiences split drastically. Critics called it pointless, but audiences paid plenty of money to, apparently, see its makeup and hairstyles.
Nominated for: Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Where to stream: Rent from Apple, Google Play, Prime Video, Vudu, YouTube, etc. ($4.99 and up)
Marriage Story
Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) and Charlie (Adam Driver) struggle with divorce and raising a son in Marriage Story.
Noah Baumbach is not the world’s most consistent filmmaker, but he really stepped up his game with this one, digging deep into his own experiences to come up with a complex, deeply emotional story of a messy divorce between two people who still like each other.
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Actor (Adam Driver), Best Actress (Scarlett Johansson), Best Supporting Actress (Laura Dern), Best Original Screenplay, Best Score
Where to stream: Netflix
Missing Link
Sir Lionel Frost (voiced by Hugh Jackman) meets Link (voiced by Zach Galifianakis) in Missing Link.
This stop-motion feature from Portland’s Laika Studios didn’t quite fare as well as its previous offerings, perhaps because of the weird-looking “Mr. Link” character (voiced by Zach Galifianakis). But the actual film, wherein Link recruits an intrepid explorer (voiced by Hugh Jackman) to help him find his people, is surprisingly delightful, charming, and hilarious, complete with Laika’s trademark mind-blowing animation work.
Nominated for: Best Animated Feature Film
Where to stream: Hulu
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Stuntman Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) shares a drink with actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Quentin Tarantino returned to Los Angeles and appeared refreshed as he delivered this layered, highly entertaining movie about movies, television, Westerns, violence, acting, unreliable narrators, history, the 1960s, storytelling, characters on the way up, and characters on the way out.
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio), Best Supporting Actor (Brad Pitt), Best Director (Quentin Tarantino), Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing
Where to stream: Rent from Apple, Google Play, Prime Video, Vudu, YouTube, etc. ($4.99 and up)
Pain and Glory
Film director Salvador Mallo (Antonio Banderas) re-examines his life in Pain and Glory.
Now in his 70s, Spanish director Pedro Almodovar takes a fictionalized, Fellini-like look back on his career; Antonio Banderas turns in an unexpectedly nuanced performance as a director who reunites with his estranged leading man for a 30th-anniversary restoration of a classic film. This unleashes a torrent of memories, loves and losses, and agonies, and the result is wonderfully moving.
Nominated for: Best Actor (Antonio Banderas), Best International Feature Film
Where to stream: Rent from Apple, Google Play, Prime Video, Vudu, YouTube, etc. ($3.99 and up)
Parasite
Park Dong-ik (Lee Sun-kyun) and his wife Yeon-gyo (Cho Yeo-jeong) wonder what’s going on with the people in their house in Parasite.
A flat-out masterpiece, South Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s seventh film caught on in a big way, not only with critics, but with audiences (who are normally averse to subtitles). Telling the story of how one struggling, lower-class family schemes their way into jobs in a wealthy household, it’s a scathing satire, constantly turning the tables on our expectations.
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Director (Bong Joon-ho), Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Production Design, Best International Feature Film
Where to stream: Rent from Apple, Google Play, Prime Video, Vudu, YouTube, etc. ($5.99 and up)
Rocketman
Taron Egerton plays rock star Elton John in Rocketman.
Elton John and Bernie Taupin wrote a new song, “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again,” for this Elton John biopic, so that it could qualify for Oscars. Elton John sings it in a duet with star Taron Egerton. People seem to like it. (Incidentally, John won an Oscar back in 1995 for “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” from the original The Lion King.)
Nominated for: Best Song
Where to stream: Rent from Apple, Google Play, Prime Video, Vudu, YouTube, etc. ($2.99 and up)
Toy Story 4
Woody (voiced by Tom Hansks) and Bo Peep (voiced by Annie Potts) seek help from stunt rider Duke Caboom (voiced by Keanu Reeves) in Toy Story 4.
While it was a fair question to wonder whether anyone needed another Toy Story movie, the answer was a resounding “yes.” This great sequel was every bit as funny and heart-rending as its predecessors (and creepy… those ventriloquist dummies!), but it also provides a much-needed finish to Woody’s character arc, showing that his worst fears realized are ultimately manageable.
Nominated for: Best Animated Feature Film, Best Song
Where to stream: Disney+ or rent from Apple, Google Play, Prime Video, Vudu, YouTube, etc. (rentals are $2.99 and up)
The Two Popes
Outgoing Pope Benedict XVI (Anthony Hopkins) and incoming Pope Francis (Jonathan Pryce) share a heart-to-heart in The Two Popes.
Essentially a feature-length discussion between an outgoing Pope and an incoming one, this movie could have worked upon the strength of its two great actors alone. Unfortunately, it balloons up to 126 minutes with too many explanatory flashbacks, and it’s wildly over-directed, with crazy cuts and camera angles desperately attempting to make a static piece more dynamic. That said, Pryce and Hopkins, and their actual conversation (and pizza!) make this well worth seeing.
Nominated for: Best Actor (Jonathan Pryce), Best Supporting Actor (Anthony Hopkins), Best Adapted Screenplay
Where to stream: Netflix
Author: Jeffrey M. Anderson, Freelance Contributor
Jeffrey has been a working film critic for more than 14 years. He first fell in love with the movies at age six while watching "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" and served as staff critic for the San Francisco Examiner from 2000 through 2003.