“Joker,” director Todd Phillips’ “origin” tale about Batman’s greatest foe scored a total of 11 Academy Award nominations today, leading all films this year. The film earned nods in several major categories, including Best Picture, Best Director (for Phillips) and Best Actor for Joaquin Phoenix. “1917” and “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood” tied for second place with 10 nominations each.
This year saw an amazing batch of first time nominees, many who have done award-worthy work in the past and have never been recognized. They include Antonio Bandares (“Pain and Glory”) and Jonathan Pryce (“The Two Popes”) for Best Actor and Florence Pugh (“Little Women”) for Best Supporting Actress. Scarlett Johansson earned her first two nominations this year, scoring nods for Best Actress (“Marriage Story”) and Best Supporting Actress (“Jo Jo Rabbit”). But no less than eight of the acting nominees have Oscars already on their mantle while others, like Brad Pitt and Phoenix, have been nominated several times in the past. The South Korean film “Parasite” also did well, earning six nominations, including Best Picture and Best International Feature Film (formerly Best Foreign Film).
Composer John Williams received his 52nd nomination for his score the “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” Here are the nominees in the major categories:
BEST PICTURE
FORD v FERRARI
THE IRISHMAN
JOJO RABBIT
JOKER
LITTLE WOMEN
MARRIAGE STORY
1917
ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD
PARASITE
BEST DIRECTOR
Martin Scorsese – THE IRISHMAN
Todd Phillips – JOKER
Sam Mendes – 1917
Quentin Tarantino – ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD
Bong Joo Ho – PARASITE
BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Antonio Banderas – PAIN AND GLORY
Leonardo DiCaprio – ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD
Adam Driver – MARRIAGE STORY
Joaquin Phoenix – JOKER
Jonathan Pryce – THE TWO POPES
BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Cynthia Erivo – HARRIET
Scarlett Johansson – MARRIAGE STORY
Saoirse Ronan – LITTLE WOMEN
Charlize Theron – BOMBSHELL
Renee’ Zellwegger – JUDY
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Tom Hanks – A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Anthony Hopkins – THE TWO POPES
Al Pacino – THE IRISHMAN
Joe Pesci – THE IRISHMAN
Brad Pitt – ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Kathy Bates – RICHARD JEWELL
Laura Dern – MARRIAGE STORY
Scarlett Johansson – JOJO RABBIT
Florence Pugh – LITTLE WOMEN
Margot Robbie – BOMBSHELL
This year ushers in a few things that you may be able to use when you play Trivia in a few years. Should Phoenix win, he would become the second actor, following the late Heath Ledger, to win an Oscar by portraying the Joker. This achievement has only been done once before, when both Marlon Brando (“The Godfather”) and Robert DeNiro (“The Godfather Part II”) each won Academy Awards for portraying Vito Corleone. Also, this year marks the first time that a husband and wife were both nominated separately in writing categories. Noah Baumbach is nominated for his original screenplay for “Marriage Story” while his wife, Greta Gerwig, is nominated for her adaptation of “Little Women.”
For a complete list of nominees, click HERE.
The Academy Awards will be presented on Sunday, February 9th.