Oscar Winners And Nominated Films At Home!!

Wow – what a finish to the Academy Awards show!  After La La Land is announced as best picture of the year to great fanfare, with the producer, director, cast, et al already celebrating on stage, everyone is astonished to discover that Moonlight was the actual winner!  La La Land was fake news. But this was an accident.

Me – I'm happy that Moonlight took the prize. My view was that it was pretty much a tie between that film and Manchester By The Sea. I leaned a little in favor of Moonlight, because it was a more socially meaningful movie, and because, to my way of thinking, it is a positive thing for a film by black writers, with a black director and an all black cast, about the coming-of-age of an African-American gay person to win the biggest prize … especially following the "Oscars-so-white" controversy, and especially now. 

In other respects, I was pleased overall with the Academy Awards results.  Casey Affleck deserved the best actor prize, even if Denzel Washington disagreed. Emma Stone was the stand out among the five best actress nominees, although I am still disappointed that Amy Adams was not on that list. La La Land also got the awards for best director, song, score, and cinematography – all deserved.   Mahershala Ali certainly merited his Best Supporting Actor for Moonlight (even if Jeff Bridges was also deserving for his role in Hell or High Water); similarly, Viola Davis was outstanding and her prize for Fences was warranted (although Michelle Williams in Manchester by the Sea was also brilliant). Moonlight and Manchester by the Sea each deservedly received awards for their terrific screenplays.  The Salesman won the Best Foreign Language Oscar, not for political reasons, but simply because it is an amazing movie.

Now that the event is concluded, I’m wondering how many of the Academy Award winners and other nominees you have actually seen? Most people are not as committed (okay, obsessed) as I am in trying to catch all or most of the movies on the Oscars’ slate. If you watched the show or have been paying attention to the buzz, you may be more interested and motivated now to see some of these movies.  And this is good thing because - winners and “losers” alike – most are movies truly worth your while.

But how? Where? It’s true that a few of the most recently released pictures still are only available in theaters – Hidden Figures, Fences and Lion, for example. La La Land has been out since Christmas, but Lionsgate is in no hurry to release it on DVD/Blu-ray or to streaming services, because it continues to sell a lot of tickets. Yet a surprising number of the Oscar nominees and winners are available for home viewing right now.

So as a public service, here is my guide (as of late February 2017) to your home viewing options for 2016 Oscar-nominated movies.

[Note that whenever I refer to a movie being available on "disc" or DVD, this also includes Blu-ray.]

Let’s start with the nine Best Picture nominees.

Moonlight, the surprise winner (and the nominee that has been seen by the fewest number of Americans so far), is now available streaming on Amazon, Google Play, Vudu and elsewhere – but not yet streaming on Netflix. It will be available on DVD (including from Netflix) beginning February 28.

Manchester by the Sea has recently become available on DVD and as a Netflix DVD. It is also already streaming via Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, iTunes and others, but not on Netflix (which, as will become evident, is usually late to the streaming party on new releases).

Arrival has been out for some time on DVD and you can get the disc from Netflix. It is also available on several streaming services, including Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, and iTunes – though not yet on Netflix.

Fences, released in theaters on December 25, 2016, is not yet available on streaming services; but it is slated for DVD release on March 14 and the DVD should be available on the same date through Netflix. I expect most of the video streaming services, except Netflix, will also have it on that date.

Hacksaw Ridge is available on DVD from Netflix and elsewhere, and is currently streaming on Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, iTunes and elsewhere, but not on Netflix.

Hell or High Water is available on DVD, including from Netflix and is also on most streaming services excepting Netflix, but including Amazon, Google Play, iTunes and others.

La La Land, Lion and Hidden Figures are still in theaters, but are not yet available for home viewing, but are slated for release later in the spring or early summer.

In the Foreign Language category:

The Salesman, the Oscar winner from Iran, is currently in limited release in US theaters, and not yet available for home viewing. If you can find it – go see it; otherwise, put it on your list and keep an eye out.

A Man Called Ove from Sweden is available on DVD, including from Netflix. It is also widely available for streaming (except from Netflix) from Amazon, Google Play, iTunes and others.

Tanna - from Australia and Vanuatu (a small Pacific Island nation west of Australia), never really got released in the USA.  But the film is currently available for streaming from Amazon and Vudu. The DVD  is set for release on March 7, and the disc should also be available from Netflix on that date.

Land of Mine, from Denmark, is slated for its US release beginning March 3, but is not yet available for home viewing; and as far as I can tell, a date has not been set.

Toni Erdmann, from Germany - a huge hit in that country, on the international film festival circuit  and with a lot of film critics -  is currently in limited release in US theaters, and not yet available for home viewing.

Do you enjoy Animated Films?

Zootopia, the Oscar winner from Disney Animation, is available pretty much everywhere for home viewing – even streaming on Netflix. Also on Amazon, GooglePlay, iTunes, etc.; and it’s also on DVD.

Kubo and the Two Strings, an equally wonderful yet more imaginative animated feature, 

is also available streaming pretty much everywhere (except Netflix), and on DVD too (including Netflix).

Moana, also from Disney, is scheduled for its DVD release on March 7, and will be available in that format from Netflix. I presume it will be available for streaming from most providers on that date as well. (The law of averages suggests it may not be streaming from Netflix so soon).

The Red Turtle, from the esteemed Studio Ghibli, Is currently being rolled out in select theaters around the US.  No DVD or streaming release dates have been set, but the estimate is sometime in May.

My Life As A Zucchini (great title, isn’t it?) comes from France, and also has no release date for home viewing at this time.

Documentaries:

O.J.: Made in America won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. There was a controversy over whether it is really a “movie" or a television miniseries, having originally been broadcast on ESPN; but there is little question that it is pretty awesome.  Its five episodes, taken together, add up to nearly 8 hours of viewing. In large measure, it’s about American society from the mid Sixties through the Nineties, viewed through the lens of the rise and fall of O.J. Simpson.  The movie/miniseries is available to stream on Hulu, WatchESPN, Comcast/Xfinity OnDemand, and possibly on other cable or satellite TV on demand services.

13^th, by Ava Duvernay, acclaimed director of Selma, takes its name from the 13th amendment to the U.S. Constitution (which banned slavery) arguing that large numbers of people have been subjected to what amounts to involuntary servitude through unjust, racially motivated manipulation of the US justice system, particularly over the last half century. The film is currently only available through streaming on Netflix.

Fire at Sea, an Italian – French coproduction, about life on an Italian island in the Mediterranean, which has become a frontline in the European immigration crisis. The film is available on most streaming services (other than Netflix). The DVD is set to arrive on March 21, and will be available in that format from Netflix.

Life, Animated documents the uplifting true coming-of-age story of an extremely autistic child who is touched by, even obsessed with, Disney animated movies. It is available for streaming from Amazon, iTunes and most other streaming services. Also on DVD, including from Netflix.

I Am Not Your Negro, like 13^th, is a film about America's original sin: racism, expressed through the experience and words of the great James Baldwin. This picture has only recently arrived in select theaters, and does not have a DVD or streaming release date.

Other Categories:

Best Actress:  Emma Stone, of course, won the Best Actress award for La La Land, which is not yet available for home viewing. But Loving (Ruth Negga) and Florence Foster Jenkins (Meryl Steep) can be streamed via Amazon, iTunes and other services (but not Netflix), and are also on DVD; the latter film is available on Netflix DVD now, while Loving should be there starting March 7.  Elle (Isabelle Huppert) should be out on DVD on March 14, including via Netflix; and is likely to appear on streaming services at that time (although, as per usual, not likely to stream on Netflix).

Best Actor: The only nominee in this category that’s not in a Best Picture nominated movie is Viggo Mortenson for his role in Captain Fantastic. That film is widely available streaming, though not yet on Netflix, as well as on DVD (including Netflix).

Best Supporting Actor:  The only nominee in this category not in a Best Picture nominated movie is Michael Shannon for Nocturnal Animals – available streaming on most services not named Netflix, also on DVD, and soon on Netflix DVD (March 21).

Screenplay:  The quirky, funny, provocative movie The Lobster, can be streamed from most services (except Netflix) and is available on DVD, including from Netflix.  20^th Century Women is not yet available, but will be released on DVD (including Netflix DVD) and presumably also for streaming (but not on Netflix) on March 28.  The other nominees in this category have all been from films discussed above.

So there you have it, fans. Happy viewing!

[above info is current as of 2/27/2017]