How to Watch This Year’s Oscar-Nominated Movies Without Leaving Your House

​Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things)

This is the second directing nomination for the idiosyncratic Greek filmmaker. His first was for another collaboration with Emma Stone, 2018’s The Favourite.

Watch it: Rent or buy Poor Things on Apple TV, Prime Video

​Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)

Despite a 25-year career filled with outstanding movies, this is only Nolan’s second time being nominated for director (the other was for 2017’s Dunkirk). Will he win? Let’s consult our Magic 8 Ball. … The answer is cloudy, try again later (although he did nab the Golden Globe this year).

Watch it: Stream Oppenheimer on Peacock

​Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon)

This marks the 10th time that Scorsese has been nominated for directing (he has only won once, for 2006’s The Departed). There’s certainly a lot of love for the elder statesman, but Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer) could be tough to beat.

Watch it: Stream Killers of the Flower Moon on Apple TV+

​Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall)

Much to the chagrin of Greta Gerwig partisans, France’s Triet (director of 2019’s Sybil) is the only female nominee in the directing category this year, perhaps not a total shock since Anatomy of a Fall edged out Barbie at the Golden Globes. Triet is also a contender for original screenplay.

Watch it: Rent Anatomy of a Fall on iTunes, Prime Video, YouTube

​​Best actor in a leading role

​Bradley Cooper (Maestro)

Cooper not only stars as Leonard Bernstein in Maestro, he’s the film’s director, cowriter and producer. Needless to say, it’s a labor of love — and that passion and immersion comes across in every scene. He previously received acting nods for 2012’s Silver Linings Playbook, 2013’s American Hustle, 2014’s American Sniper and 2018’s A Star Is Born.

Watch it: Stream Maestro on Netflix

Colman Domingo (Rustin)

Until now, Domingo, 54, has been best known for his excellent work on the stage. But his fierce, fiery and occasionally fun turn as real-life civil rights activist Bayard Rustin should certainly lead to a lot more movie offers.

Watch it: Stream Rustin on Netflix

Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers)

Giamatti and The Holdovers director Alexander Payne are clearly a good team — just watch their previous collaboration, 2004’s Sideways (which, by the way, is always worth watching again). But while Sideways won for screenplay and his costars got Oscar noms, Giamatti didn’t — his only previous nomination came for 2005’s Cinderella Man. He's doing better with The Holdovers, having won the Golden Globe for best actor in a musical or comedy for this performance.

Watch it: Stream The Holdovers on Peacock

​Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)

This is the first Oscar nomination for the Irish chameleon, although he is the only actor in his category who’s been nominated for a Fangoria Chainsaw Award (for 2002’s cult favorite 28 Days Later). He nabbed the Golden Globe this year for his role as physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer.

Watch it: Stream Oppenheimer on Peacock

Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction)

Amazingly, this is Wright’s first acknowledgment from the academy. But the actor already has a Tony and an Emmy on his mantle. If he wins the Oscar for American Fiction, he needs to get busy on recording an album — the coveted EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony) will be within reach.

Watch it: Buy American Fiction on iTunes, Prime Video

​Best actress in a leading role

​Annette Bening (Nyad)

Bening, 65, got her first Oscar nod in 1990 for The Grifters. Since then, she has been nominated four times — the latest for her tenacious and prickly turn as real-life marathon swimmer Diana Nyad, who made it from Cuba to Florida at the age of 64. Shockingly, Bening has yet to win.

Watch it: Stream Nyad on Netflix

Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon)

Before her quietly strong, star-is-born performance as Mollie in Killers of the Flower Moon, Gladstone was probably best known for the 2016 indie film Certain Women. Raised on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana, she is the first Indigenous actress to be nominated for an Oscar – she already nabbed this year’s Golden Globe.

Watch it: Stream Killers of the Flower Moon on Apple TV+

Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall)

Hüller is mesmerizing as a wife and mother suspected of murdering her husband in Anatomy of a Fall. The German actress, who first appeared on most moviegoers’ radars in the delightful 2016 import Toni Erdmann, stars in another of this year’s awards contenders, The Zone of Interest. This is her first Oscar nomination.

Watch it: Rent Anatomy of a Fall on iTunes, Prime Video, YouTube

Carey Mulligan (Maestro)

Bradley Cooper’s portrait of American composer Leonard Bernstein is not a solo. It’s a duet. As Felicia Montealegre, the other half of what can only be called a complicated marriage, Mulligan is mesmerizing, whether she’s trading rat-a-tat quips with her costar or suffering in silence, using just her eyes to convey her loneliness. She was previously nominated for 2009’s An Education and 2020’s Promising Young Woman.

Watch it: Stream Maestro on Netflix

Emma Stone (Poor Things)

With a statuette already under her belt for 2016’s La La Land, Stone stands a decent chance of walking out of the Dolby Theatre with a matching bookend on Oscar night thanks to her wonderfully twisted and touchingly childlike turn as Bella Baxter, a young woman who’s brought back to life by a mad scientist. Stone was also nominated for 2014’s Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) and 2018’s The Favourite.

Watch it: Rent or buy Poor Things on Apple TV, Prime Video

Best actor in a supporting role

​Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction)

As Cliff, the divorced, out-of-the-closet brother of Jeffrey Wright’s repressed writer, Brown plays a character unlike anything he’s tried before, but he also does something he manages to do so often: steal scenes by the sheer force of his charisma. He’s been nominated for an Emmy three times for This Is Us, but this is his first Oscar nod.

Watch it: Buy American Fiction on iTunes, Prime Video

Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon)

There’s nothing quite as watchable as De Niro in hissable villain mode. In the latest of his many collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he plays a doozy — the greedy, amoral schemer William Hale. This marks De Niro’s eighth acting nomination. He’s won twice, for 1974’s The Godfather Part II and 1980’s Raging Bull.

Watch it: Stream Killers of the Flower Moon on Apple TV+

Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer)

A lot of critics acted surprised when they saw the Iron Man star deliver such a nuanced performance as the less-than-trustworthy naval officer Lewis Strauss in Christopher Nolan’s A-bomb epic. Which prompts the question: Who have they been watching for the past four decades? Downey, 58, has always been a first-rate actor — he was just trapped in the planet’s biggest franchise for a while. In Oppenheimer, he proved that he’s back and better than ever, snagging this year’s Golden Globe for the role. He was previously nominated for 1992’s Chaplin and 2008’s Tropic Thunder.

Watch it: Stream Oppenheimer on Peacock

​Ryan Gosling (Barbie)

He’s Ken. Man, is he ever. With his dim, vapid expressions and bleach-blond locks, Gosling adds a blast of laughing gas to the box office sensation of the year. As always, he makes something very, very hard look exceedingly easy. Gosling previously received Oscar nominations for his performances in 2006’s Half Nelson and 2016’s La La Land.

Watch it: Stream Barbie on Max

​Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things)

Caught between the eccentric poles of Emma Stone’s herky-jerky Bella Baxter and Willem Dafoe’s hideously scarred Dr. Baxter, Ruffalo, 56, does what he always does best — he anchors absurdity in reality. The actor has made a career out of his knack for realism and believability. This is Ruffalo’s fourth nomination, following 2010’s The Kids Are All Right, 2014’s Foxcatcher and 2015’s Spotlight (he should have nabbed a fifth for 2000’s You Can Count on Me).

Watch it: Rent or buy Poor Things on Apple TV, Prime Video

Best actress in a supporting role

​Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer)

There isn’t a ton of room for women in Oppenheimer, but what space there is, Blunt fills to perfection. As Kitty, the scientist wife of the man behind the bomb, Blunt brings the character’s complexities and flaws to the surface in a touchingly raw performance. Hard as it is to believe, this is her first Oscar nomination.

Watch it: Stream Oppenheimer on Peacock

Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple)

Although she appeared in 89 episodes of Orange Is the New Black, this year’s musical update of The Color Purple was the first time that many moviegoers got a chance to see what Brooks could do. Needless to say, they were wowed. As Sofia (played by Oprah Winfrey in Steven Spielberg’s 1985 version of the film), Brooks is a revelation — tough, touching and ready to take on all comers. This is her first Oscar nod.

Watch it: Stream The Color Purple on Max

America Ferrera (Barbie)

Although it’s Margot Robbie, with her sunny, plastered-on smile, who plays (and playfully subverts) the title character, there are actually several Barbies in the film. But the actress who gives her a real run for her money goes by a different name — Gloria. Beautifully played by Ferrera, Gloria is a Mattel employee and single mom who has sympathy for the deliciously delusional naif in pink. She remembers what it was like to be a kid and get lost in a make-believe world of play and Malibu Dreamhouses. She gives the movie warmth. This is Ferrera’s first Oscar nomination.

Watch it: Stream Barbie on Max

Jodie Foster (Nyad)

It’s been a pretty sensational year for the sorely missed Foster, 61, what with her starring role in the latest installment of True Detective and her terrific turn as Diana Nyad’s best friend and coach, Bonnie. Bening’s abrasive swimmer doesn’t make being close to her very easy, but Foster not only gives as good as she gets, her ride-or-die willingness to buy into her pal’s dream gives the movie its heart. Foster already has two Oscars (for 1988’s The Accused and 1991’s The Silence of the Lambs) and has been nominated as an actor five times.

Watch it: Stream Nyad on Netflix

Da‘Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)

As the head cook at a snooty New England prep school, Randolph’s Mary Lamb is a portrait of grief amidst all of the pettiness and privilege. Having recently lost her son in Vietnam, she’s a walking wound that will take a long time to heal. Paul Giamatti may be the film’s center of gravity, but it’s Randolph’s gorgeous, hauntingly layered performance that gives the film its emotional heft, and it has already snagged Randolph a Golden Globe, Critic’s Choice Award and BAFTA Award. This is her first Oscar nomination.

Watch it: Stream The Holdovers on Peacock

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