Where to Watch this Year's Best Picture Nominees

 

It's finally February 8th, and I woke up early to see the nominees for this year's Oscars!  For the past ten or so years, I've been trying to watch all of the Best Picture nominees before the ceremony.  That used to mean going to the theater 5-10 times in mid-January.  These past few years, it's become easier and easier to watch many of the nominees at home.  I figure since I'll be figuring this out for myself, it's worth doing a quick blog post so the 10 of you who frequent this page don't have to do your own Google searches.

Belfast:

I haven't seen this one yet, but it's got a ton of buzz.  It's currently available to rent for $19.99 on Google Play and Amazon.

CODA:

Short for Children of Deaf Adults, I also have not seen this one yet, but it's available on Apple TV

Don't Look Up:

This one I have seen.  It's a very heavy-handed allegory about Climate Change and COVID Denial.  If you're trying to see all the nominees, it's available on Netflix.

Drive My Car:

This Japanese film is not currently streaming.  The only theater it's playing near me is the Gateway Film Center, an arthouse theater in Columbus, Ohio.  I'm sure it will pop up somewhere in the next few weeks.

Dune(2021):

Hopefully you saw this in November when it was free on HBO Max.  If you missed it, it's available to rent on Amazon, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you prefer to rent films for $5.99.  Just make sure you're watching the 2021 version and not the 1984 version.  We reviewed both on the KendallCast Movie Round Table

King Richard:

This one was also free on HBO from mid-November to mid-December.  If you're like me and missed it, you'll need to pay $20-25 to rent it today.  It is getting released on DVD this week, which usually means the rental prices will drop shortly as well.

Licorice Pizza:

When I searched for this, for some reason Google thought I was searching for a movie called Wonder Park and I got excited for a minute because it was available for $2.99.  Unfortunately Licorice Pizza is still in theaters, so either brave the outside world or wait a few weeks on this one.

Nightmare Alley:

This one was just made available on HBO Max, Hulu, and YouTube TV this week!  I'm excited to watch it next!

The Power of the Dog:

With a ton of nominations, this is required viewing for any Oscar fan.  It's on Netflix and the second best western I've seen all year.  Do yourself a favor and watch this and The Harder They Fall, which really should have been nominated as well

West Side Story(2021):

This one will eventually be available on HBO Max and Disney+, but I wasn't able to find a specific date.  Until then it's only in theaters.  When searching for this movie, remember it's a remake of a classic, so be careful or you might accidentally end up watching one of the greatest movie musicals of all time.

So four of the nominees are available as part of streaming subscriptions, and another three are available to rent.  It's a long time until March 27th, so I expect the others to become more available before then.  I haven't seen enough of these to make a judgement yet on the quality of the nominees, but at least they seem pretty accessible.