Stream On Demand: Catching up with Oscar-nominated films at home

The Academy Awards will be handed out on Sunday. Are you caught up on the major nominees?

Eight films made the cut in the category of best picture and a few of them are still in theaters, notably the offbeat royal drama “The Favourite” (2018, R), which came away with 10 nominations, political commentary “Vice” (2018, R) which scored eight nomination, and “Green Book” (2018, PG-13), with five nominations in all.

Also still in theaters is “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” (2018, PG), the current favorite in the animated feature category.

A number of nominated films, however, are already available to watch at home. Here’s a guide to what you can see and how you can see them.

Best Picture

Two of the top nominees are currently available to stream on Netflix: “Roma” (Mexico, R, with subtitles) and “Black Panther” (PG-13).

“Roma” tied with “The Favourite” with 10 nominations and became the first Netflix film to get a nomination in the best picture category (it was released to theaters a couple of weeks before it arrived on Netflix and continues to play in some venues).

“Black Panther” received seven nominations, including best picture (the first comic book superhero movie so honored). If you don’t have Netflix account, you can also rent it on Cable On Demand, VOD or on disc.

Three more nominees are now on VOD and disc: “A Star Is Born” (R), with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, which weighs in with eight Oscar nominations; “BlacKkKlansman” (R) earned six nominations, including Spike Lee’s first ever nomination for best director; and “Bohemian Rhapsody” (PG-13), which received five nominations, including one for Rami Malek’s committed performance as Freddie Mercury.

Here’s where you can find other nominated films.

Pay-per-view / VOD / DVD

“The Wife” (R) earned Glenn Close her seventh acting nomination, and “At Eternity’s Gate” (PG-13) brings Willem Dafoe his fourth nomination but his first in the leading actor category. “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (R) received nominations for actress Melissa McCarthy, supporting actor Richard E. Grant, and its screenplay.

Also currently available on VOD is foreign language film “Shoplifters” (Japan, R, with subtitles), which took home the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival last year, “First Man” (PG-13) with Ryan Gosling, which was nominated for four craft awards (including sound, visual effects and production design), and “A Quiet Place” (PG-13), which earned a well-deserved nod for sound editing.

Netflix

Along with “Roma” and “Black Panther,” Netflix is currently streaming a number of films nominated in various categories, including the Coen Brothers’ “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” (not rated), which scored nominations for the original screenplay, original song and costume design, and animated feature nominee “The Incredibles 2” (PG).

You can also catch up with visual effects nominees “Avengers: Infinity War” (PG-13) and “Solo: A Star Wars Story” (PG-13) and with documentary short subjects “End Game” (not rated) and “Period. End of Sentence.” (not rated, with subtitles), a category that Netflix has supported for a few years now.

Amazon Prime Video

“First Reformed” (R), starring Ethan Hawke as a priest facing a crisis of faith, earned a nomination for Paul Schrader’s original screenplay.

Hulu

Two of the five nominated documentaries are now streaming on Hulu: “RBG” (PG), which also earned a nod for its original song, and “Minding the Gap” (not rated).

HBO

Wes Anderson’s “Isle of Dogs” (PG-13) earned nominations in the animated feature and original score categories, and you can also catch visual effects nominee “Ready Player One” (PG-13) from Steven Spielberg on HBO On Demand and streaming services.

Free Streams

“First Reformed” (R) is also available on Kanopy, the free streaming service offered by most major library systems across the country. Kanopy also presents the documentary nominee “Of Fathers and Sons” (not rated, with subtitles) and animated short “Weekends” (not rated).

Hoopla, another streaming service offered by many libraries, features the nominated documentary “RBG.”

And three documentary short subjects are streaming on the web:

“A Night at the Garden” (not rated) premiered on PBS and can be streamed from the website;

“Lifeboat” can be viewed on the website of the New Yorker;

“Black Sheep” is streaming on the website of the British newspaper The Guardian, with commissioned the short film.