Where To Stream This Year’s Oscar Winners

Usually, every week begins with a recap of the new titles to hit streaming on the previous weekend. However, this past weekend was the Academy Awards and the majority of the award winners are available on streaming. While the role of the Academy Awards has been in question in recent years, the Academy Awards are still how the professionals of the industry vote among themselves to decide which is the best movie in each of the relevant categories. Regardless of how someone feels about the circus that is a ceremony, where rich people give other rich people thousands of dollars in gifts and gold statues, the press release version of the awards is worth using as a short list of the best movies of the year from a technical standpoint. Here are a list of the movies and shorts that won the top prizes this year, what they are about, and where they can be streamed, ordered from most awards to least.

Dune (HBOMax): Dune took home the most hardware this year with six awards. They won Best Visual Effects, Best Production Design, Best Film Editing, Best Sound, Best Score, and Best Cinematography. At this point if someone hasn’t heard of Dune they probably are actively trying to avoid seeing it. It is a beautiful and meticulous recreation of the iconic work by Frank Herbert and the sequel is entering pre-production this week. If someone considers themselves a fan of science fiction, this is a must-watch movie.

CODA (Apple TV+): CODA was a surprise hit at the Oscars this year, winning all three of the awards it was nominated for. The awards it won are not small ones either, taking home the gold for Best Supporting Actor for a fantastic performance from Troy Kotsur, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Picture. Up until this week, CODA was a distant longshot among industry insiders and academy voters, however recent wins at the Screen Actors Guild Awards pushed it to the top of the race for Best Picture. It is a deeply intimate story about the daughter of a deaf family who is the only one who can hear and strives to leave the nest to go to college. All around it is a fantastic movie and worth the time to watch and it is included with the standard Apple TV+ subscription.

The Eyes of Tammy Faye (HBOMax): The Eyes of Tammy Faye took home two awards, one for Jessica Chastain’s performance as Tammy Faye Bakker and one for Best Makeup and Hairstyling for the outstanding job done behind the scenes to transform Jessica Chastain into the character. The movie is fine, nothing special, however the performances by both Chastain and Andrew Garfield make it memorable in the same way that Lady Gaga’s performance elevated House of Gucci and Kristen Stewart’s performance elevated Spencer. It is available to watch on HBOMax.

The Power of the Dog (Netflix): Jane Campion brought home the only win for The Power of the Dog in the category Best Director. The movie is a fantastic look at masculinity and sexuality during the ending of what is referred to as the “old west” in American pop culture. Benedict Cumberbatch, Kristen Dunst, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Jesse Plemmons all are fantastic in the movie and it is worth a watch if someone wants to see a well-made deconstruction of the Western genre. The Power of the Dog made its debut in December on Netflix and it is still available to watch there.

King Richard (HBOMax): Following a minor incident on stage at the ceremony, Will Smith took home his first Academy Award for Best Actor. He plays Richard Williams, father of Venus and Serena Williams in King Richard which is a perfectly serviceable biopic about the father of two of the greatest female athletes of all time. It was added to HBOMax this past weekend and is available to stream there.

West Side Story (HBOMax and Disney+): Ariana DeBose won Best Supporting Actress for her role in West Side Story which was also the movie’s only win. She had a strong performance in a depressingly timely update of the source material from sixty years ago. The movie is fine and shows that there is really nothing that Spielberg can’t do. Rachel Zegler is also fantastic in the lead as Maria and her and DeBose’s performances are the most memorable parts of the movie. If one wants to watch it they can either watch it on Disney+ or HBOMax.

Belfast (Amazon Premium VOD): As of right now, Belfast does not have a home at a streamer to watch included with a subscription, but it is available on Premium Video on Demand marketplaces like Apple or Amazon for an added fee. It is a pretty interesting exorcise in telling a story from the perspective of a child and the script does a lot to promote that, hence its win for Best Original Screenplay.

Encanto (Disney+): Encanto won Best Animated Feature which will come as a shock to very few. If one has children, they are probably somewhere between “loosely familiar with” and “can speak the movie from memory” with three of the nominees in this category to begin with (Raya and the Last Dragon and Luca were also nominated) and all three are on Disney+ to watch. Of these three, Encanto is the strongest.

Cruella (Disney+): Cruella was almost a guarantee to win Best Costuming with its gorgeous blend of high society and 1970s British Punk. It is a very well made movie and was a surprise favorite for a lot of people last year. Emma Stone and Emma Thompson are both wonderful in their roles and carry the movies to the great success it found. It is now included in Disney+ at no additional cost.

No Time To Die (Amazon Premium VOD): The latest James Bond movie No Time To Die won Best Original Song for Billie Eilish’s title track. The movie is serviceable, if not a little long, and does also deviate into weird plot threads. It is worth watching for the outstanding action sequences however. It is not available to stream included in a streamer as of yet but is available to purchase on a Premium Video on Demand store.

Summer of Soul (or When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (Hulu): Summer of Soul won Best Documentary Feature for its beautiful restoration of the audio and visuals of the Harlem Cultural Festival in 1969. It showcases a key turning point for music as an industry as the way music sounded shifted from the 1960s into the 1970s. It is available to stream on Hulu.

Drive My Car (HBOMax): Drive My Car shocked a great many people when it netted not just a nomination for Best International Feature (which it ended up winning) but also Best Director and Best Picture. It is a long movie, clocking in at over three hours, and is available to watch on HBOMax.

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