The Oscars are in the books, but it's always Awards Season on Sling, where we have hundreds of Oscar-nominated films available to watch both live and on demand. Here's a brief sampler of 10 Oscar-winning films now available on Sling; to subscribe to Sling Orange + Blue using the link at the bottom of this page.
Nomadland
At the 2021 Academy Awards ceremony, Nomadland took home three Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for Chloé Zhao, whose next project, Marvel's Eternals, just got a much more interesting marketing campaign. It's worthy of all the honors. Nomadland is quietly transgressive; it feels authentic in a way that films aren't supposed to. The brilliant Frances McDormand also won for Best Actress (her third Academy Award), slipping into a cast of non-actors like clouds blend in with the yawning blue skies captured by cinematographer Joshua James Richards. With themes around grief and perserverance, Nomadland feels like a fitting pick for Best Picture in 2020. Its legacy will endure well beyond. - Mark Schiff
Available to Rent on Sling beginning Tuesday, April 25
Titanic
While this film needs no introduction, I previously wrote on it for our 10 MTV Movie of the Year Winners on Sling. At the 1997 Academy Awards, it picked up a record-tying 14 nominations. It went on to win 11 of them including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Song (who could forget Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On"?). On top of Titanic's numerous accolades, it's also the third ranked highest-grossing film of all time, behind only another James Cameron film, Avatar, and Avengers: Endgame. - Peyton Lombardo
Watch now on Starz
Inside Out
Thanks to the studio’s remarkable consistency, ranking all 23 Pixar movies is a difficult (some might say pointless) task. But Rotten Tomatoes crunched the numbers and placed 2015’s Inside Out at #4 on their list, with a 98% fresh score. Like 10 other Pixar films, including last night's winner Soul, Inside Out won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, and with its mix of adventure, humor, and heart, it’s Pixar’s most emotional movie, both figuratively and literally. Inside Out’s clever premise—the story is set inside the mind of an 11-year-old girl, and its main characters are her feelings—also earned it an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. - Mark Schiff
Juno
First-time screenwriter Diablo Cody picked up a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for her tale about a wise-cracking teen girl who decides to give her unplanned baby up for adoption to a fracturing couple (played by Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner). Directed by Jason Reitman and starring Elliot Page and Michael Cera, the movie delighted the late Roger Ebert. The Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic couldn’t get enough of Cody’s witty dialogue and Page’s “extraordinary” performance and didn’t try to hide it. That seal of approval almost outmatches the Academy’s accolades. - Janine Schaults
Watch now on Starz
The Revenant
This movie—seemingly created for Leonardo DiCaprio to finally win his first Oscar—is quite the watch. With a run time of over more than 2 and a half hours, we see a lot of Mr. DiCaprio as he tries to navigate back to civiliation after nearly everything goes wrong on a fur trading expedition. At times slightly disturbing (yes I'm talking about that carcass scene), it's a mind-boggling but entertaining watch. And the best news: DiCaprio was successful in his Best Actor bid. Along with this win, it also took home Best Director and Best Cinematography. - PL
Watch now on FXM
The Godfather
There are two types of people in this world: Those with a dad whose favorite movie is The Godfather and dads. Almost 50 years after its release, Francis Ford Coppola’s epic on crime and family remains one of the most influential films ever made. Best Actor winner Marlon Brando is magnetic as the family patriarch struggling to hold onto power, and a young Al Pacino proves why he’s now considered one of the all-time film greats. With exquisite tension, iconic performances, memorable dialogue, and a story rich in symbolism, The Godfather truly is one of the greatest movies ever made. Don’t take our word for it; go ask your dad. - MS
Watch now on Showtime
The Godfather Part II
What’s truly crazy about the Godfather phenomena is that two years after the original film’s release, the cast and crew got together for a another Best Picture-winning crime epic that many consider even better than the first. The movie intercuts the origin story of Vito Corleone (played this time by Robert DeNiro in his first Oscar-winning performance) and his rise to power, with the struggles of his family under Michael a generation later. If the first film focused on the bonds and limitations within our families, The Godfather Part II expands the scope to explore these themes within the larger framework of the American dream. - MS
Watch now on Showtime
Selma
Ava DuVernay’s historical drama depicting the 1965 voting rights marches from Selma to Montgomery led by Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis failed to garner a Best Picture win in 2015 despite a tour de force performance by David Oyelowo as King, but the significance of the movie’s message rings out even stronger in 2021. Common, who also stars in the movie as James Bevel, and John Legend collaborated on the protest anthem “Glory,” which did win Selma a Best Original Song Oscar and provided that year’s telecast with a deeply moving live rendition – especially in the wake of the Ferguson protests. - JS
Watch now on FXM
A Fish Called Wanda
Comedy rarely impresses the voting members of the Academy. When it comes to collecting the golden statues, it’s all tears, war and psychopaths. Every now and then a truly laugh-out-loud physical display of comedic prowess receives the recognition it deserves. One of these moments happened back in 1989 when Kevin Kline took home the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his fish-devouring role in A Fish Called Wanda. Written by John Cleese and director Charles Crichton, the farcical movie goes to extremes for a script littered with jokes and awkward scenarios. Kline’s win also wouldn’t be possible without scene partner Jamie Lee Curtis who, I discovered much later, does not play the titular Wanda. - JS
Watch now on Showtime
Promising Young Woman
Promising Young Woman has easily become one of the most talked-about movies this award season. Writer-director Emerald Fennell took home the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and the film was nominated for four other awards (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Film Editing). The twisty, provocative screenplay was definitely worthy of recognition and the tone is completely unique; the comedy thriller with a serious underlying message holds a 91% Rotten Tomatoes score. Check out our full review of Promising Young Woman here. - PL
Promising Young Woman is now available to rent
