It’s Academy Awards season, which means it’s time to try and see as many of the nominated movies as we can before the big night. if you want to make it a family affair, check out this list. Which ones have you seen and which ones do you still need to check out?
Kubo and the Two Strings
Nomination: Best Animated Feature and Best Visual Effects
Rating: PG
In this stunning stop-motion film by Laika Entertainment, a young boy searches for a magical suit of armor in order to defeat an evil spirit from the past.
Nomination: Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song
Rating: PG
Moana, the main character and namesake of this Disney animated musical, goes on a seafaring adventure with the demigod Maui to try to save her island. The film not only received a nomination for Best Animated Feature but a nod for Lin-Manuel Miranda’s original song “How Far I’ll Go.”
Nomination: Best Animated Feature
Rating: PG-13
A nine-year-old boy named Icarus (but who prefers the name Zucchini) suddenly becomes an orphan in this French-Swiss stop-motion animated feature that’s both touching and visually attractive (and better for teens and tweens rather than younger children).
Nomination: Best Animated Feature
Rating: PG
The Red Turtle (a coproduction between France’s Wild Bunch and Japan’s Studio Ghibli) is a dialogue-less feature film about a man deserted on far-flung island, but he isn’t alone for long after magical things happen.
Nomination: Best Animated Feature
Rating: PG
All is not right in the utopian society of Zootopia and Judy Hopps (a rookie bunny police officer) and Nick Wilde (a sly con artist fox) set out to uncover the conspiracy that’s plaguing the city.
Nomination: Best Animated Short
Not Rated
Vaysha, the title character of this animated short, can’t see the present but rather one eye sees the future and the other sees the past.
Nomination: Best Animated Short
Not Rated
Pixar’s beautiful and simple short takes watchers to the beach where a baby bird learns to forage for food.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Nomination: Best Production Design
Rating: PG-13
The newest installment in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is a stunningly beautiful and intricate look at wizards in 1920s America.
Nomination: Best Original Song
Rating: PG
If you couldn’t stop humming the songs from Trolls, you’re not alone. The Justin Timberlake tune “Can’t Stop the Feeling,” featured in the whimsical film about oh-so-happy Poppy and the grumpy Branch as they try to rescue their friends, is up for the award.
Doctor Strange
Nomination: Visual Effects
Rating: PG-13
Doctor Strange, the newest member of the Marvel movie gang, was given an elaborate and awe-inspiring debut in this visual effects-heavy film.
Nomination: Visual Effects
You’d never know by looking at it that the gorgeous reboot of Disney’s classic film, The Jungle Book, was shot entirely in downtown Los Angeles. Mowgli interacts with very real looking (but totally computer-generated) characters such as Baloo, Bagheera and Shere Khan.
Nomination: Visual Effects
The first Star Wars stand-alone feature took over theaters nationwide with battles, droids and characters new and old. One thing that was familiar to all are stylized visual effects, which are, per the nomination, Oscar worthy.
