Netflix Biopics always have an edge in this race. After winning as Winston Churchill in “Darkest Hour,” Gary Oldman takes on charming alcoholic “Citizen Kane” screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz in David Fincher’s “Mank” (Netflix) — with no prosthetics, scoring Globe, SAG, and CCA slots, along with Chadwick Boseman, who’s sweeping the awards so far with Globe, CCA and SAG wins, and a BAFTA nod. Boseman is the favorite to win the second posthumous Best Actor Oscar (following Peter Finch of “Network”) for his incendiary performance as a trumpeter backing blues singer Ma Rainey (Viola Davis) in George C. Wolfe’s movie adaptation of August Wilson’s play “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (Netflix). It’s timely in the way it shows how anger can simmer and explode. And he gives his all in his last performance. He’ll be hard to beat. Contenders are listed in the order of the likeliest to win the Oscar. Frontrunner: Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) Anthony Hopkins (“The Father”) Contenders: Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”) Gary Oldman (“Mank”) Steven Yeun (“Minari”) Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
