In one highly specific sense, the Academy is lucky the coronavirus struck this year, as this winter’s offerings were actually slightly better than most. (Had it hit five years earlier, we would have been in for the Mortdecai Oscars.) By my count, just over 50 films were released before the shutdown, which means that, just by existing, any one of them has a slightly less than 20 percent chance of winding up a Best Picture nominee.
