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| Here we go again! |
On March 15, 2021, Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas announced the year's Oscar nominations remotely from a random studio somewhere in London. That's not how it normally happens, but it was the most normal I had felt since the beginning of COVID: sitting on my couch, watching two celebrities fake enthusiasm and struggle through names and categories. The feeling didn't last, but shortly thereafter I realized it was feasible - maybe for the first time - for me to watch every nominee before the ceremony aired. Not just Best Picture (my usual goal), but everything across all 23 categories. The ceremony had been pushed to the end of April and most films were getting digital releases as cinemas were either still shuttered or hobbling along with reduced seating and dodgy air filtration promises. I hadn't set foot in a movie theater for over a year, and this seemed like a decent way to fill the hole in my movie-loving heart.