“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.
