Oscars Snub Military Movies With 2021 Nominations

The Oscar nominations for movies (mostly) released in 2020 have finally been announced and there are some surprising omissions, especially when you consider military-themed films.

Vietnam veteran drama “Da 5 Bloods,” WWII movie “Greyhound,” Afghanistan war drama “The Outpost,” post-Civil War tale “News of the World,” War on Terror exposé “The Mauritanian” and Iran hostage crisis documentary “Desert One” were shut out in the major categories.

What did get nominated? “Mank,” David Fincher’s drama about the making of “Citizen Kane,” leads the pack with 10 nods. “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” Aaron Sorkin’s courtroom drama about the aftermath of anti-war protests at the 1968 Democratic Convention, got six nominations. Both movies are streaming on Netflix.

Related: Here Are the 10 Best Military Movies of 2020

“Nomadland,” Chloe Zhao’s tale of American migrant workers, also got six nominations, including Best Actress for Frances McDormand, Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Director. Zhao previously directed “The Rider,” a powerful film about living with traumatic brain injury, and she also helmed the upcoming Marvel movie “Eternals,” set for a November 2021 release. You can watch “Nomadland” on Hulu.

Related: Cowboy Brady Jandreau Portrays His Real-Life Brain Injury in 'The Rider'

Glenn Close got a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her performance as Mamaw in “Hillbilly Elegy.” Fans of Marine veteran J.D. Vance’s memoir might have expected the movie to portray how the Corps taught Vance the discipline that led to his later success, but Ron Howard’s movie glosses over his service with a brief flashback scene of Vance in uniform.

Related: Is Marine Corps Service a Path Out of Poverty? 'Hillbilly Elegy' Says Yes

This year marks Close’s eighth nomination. If she fails to take home the award, Close will tie Peter O’Toole for most nominations without a win. You can watch “Hillbilly Elegy” on Netflix.

How did Oscar get it wrong? Let’s break it down.

Da 5 Bloods

Do voters feel like they took care of Spike Lee when they gave him an Oscar for the screenplay to “BlacKkKlansman”? “Da 5 Bloods” is one of the finest movies made about the Vietnam War veteran experience, and Delroy Lindo’s performance as a man haunted by his wartime secret seemed a lock for a Best Actor nomination. Chadwick Boseman gave one of his most memorable performances as Stormin Norman Holloway but was overlooked in the Best Supporting Actor category. Boseman received a posthumous Best Actor nomination for “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”

It’s hard not to think that voters decided that they needed to choose between “Da 5 Bloods” and Black Panther historical drama “Judas and the Black Messiah” as their one Black Vietnam drama for 2020. “Judas” scored six nominations, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor nominations for Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield, who play the lead roles in the sprawling film.

Related: African American Vietnam Vets Deliver a Powerful Message in Spike Lee's 'Da 5 Bloods'

“Da 5 Bloods” received a single nomination for Terence Blanchard’s outstanding musical score. You can watch “Da 5 Bloods” for yourself on Netflix.

Greyhound

World War II drama “Greyhound” was a passion project for Tom Hanks. He wrote the screenplay based on C.S. Forester’s novel “The Good Shepherd” after picking up a copy because he liked its cover. The movie focuses on Capt. Ernest Krause and his first mission escorting troop convoys across the Atlantic. There’s no overview of the war. This movie is about one man and the crew that he commands.

“Greyhound” received a nomination for Best Sound but was shut out in major categories. You can watch “Greyhound” on Apple TV+.

News of the World

Maybe Hanks got dinged for having two movies in the conversation this year. “News of the World” reunites the actor with “Captain Phillips” director Paul Greengrass for a movie about a Civil War veteran who travels the plains sorting out his trauma after the war. After he’s roped into delivering an orphan immigrant to her distant relatives in Texas, both the veteran and the child find in each other a replacement for the family they lost.

Related: An Upcoming Tom Hanks Flick Follows a Civil War Vet Through the Wild West

“News of the World” received technical category nominations for Best Sound, Best Production Design and Best Cinematography. There’s also a Best Original Score nomination for composer James Newton Howard. You can buy or rent a digital copy of “News of the World” from Apple, Amazon and all the usual outlets. The film will be available on DVD and Blu-ray on March 23.

The Mauritanian

Director Kevin Macdonald’s real-life drama about Mohamedou Ould Salahi, a Muslim detained for over a decade at Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp on suspicion of terrorist ties, firmly asserts Salahi’s innocence and doesn’t paint a flattering portrait of U.S. policy in those turbulent years after 9/11.

While the film got zero Oscar nominations, “The Mauritanian” previously earned Jodie Foster a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture and Tahar Rahim a nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama. It’s also up for four awards at the upcoming BAFTA Awards in Britain, including Best Actor, Best Screenplay and Best British Picture.

Related: 'The Mauritanian' Revisits Gitmo's Enhanced Interrogation Disaster

“The Mauritanian” is available to rent from Apple, Amazon and most other on-demand platforms.

Desert One

Director Barbara Kopple has twice won Oscars for Best Documentary, and her film about the failed 1979 Iranian hostage rescue mission seemed a strong candidate to earn her another nomination this year. That nomination didn’t happen.

Made in an era where leaders proclaimed that only winners could be heroes, “Desert One” pays tribute to the team that planned and almost pulled off a daring rescue that likely would have changed the outcome of the 1980 presidential election.

Related: 'Desert One': New Film Shows Heroes Are the Ones With the Guts to Try

“Desert One” is streaming on Hoopla and available to rent or buy from Apple, Amazon and other digital outlets.

The Outpost

Granted, most of the Oscar buzz for “The Outpost” was generated here at Military.com, but it’s hard to imagine the film wouldn’t have gotten more attention if it had enjoyed a successful theatrical release in a normal year.

“The Outpost” is the best feature film so far about our almost two-decade war in Afghanistan. Based on journalist Jake Tapper’s book “The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor,” the film details the 2009 Battle of Kamdesh and focuses on the stories of Staff Sgts. Clint Romesha and Ty Carter. Both men were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions during the battle.

Caleb Landry Jones deserved recognition for his performance as Ty Carter. The film would have been a worthy Best Picture nominee and definitely deserved a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination for writers Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson. Both previously were Oscar-nominated for “The Fighter” and since have written Coast Guard classic “The Finest Hours” and are set to pen the upcoming WWII movie “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.”

Related: ‘The Outpost’ Powerfully Confronts the Contradictions of the War in Afghanistan

“The Outpost” is streaming on Netflix.

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