How to stream 26 movies nominated for the 2020 Oscars – TechHive

Twentieth Century Fox

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

Netflix

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

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

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

PBS

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

Focus Features

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

Neon

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

Universal

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

Netflix

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

Netflix

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

Warner Bros.

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

Roadside Attractions

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

Disney/Pixar

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.

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