And the Nominees for the 92nd Academy Awards Are…
At 5:18am PST this morning the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominations for the 92nd Annual Academy Awards, which are set to air on ABC at their earliest date ever — February 9. There were some shocking snubs and surprise inclusions, but ultimately it played out largely as expected. Below I list the key takeaways and the nominees in the major categories, along with their Oscar history.
10 Key Headlines from This Morning’s Oscar Nominations
- Best Picture nominees Joker, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, The Irishman, and 1917 had an outstanding morning. As expected, the Academy went head over heels for Todd Phillips’s tepidly reviewed comic book blockbuster Joker (11 nominations including Best Picture and Best Director), Quentin Tarantino’s 1960s-set buddy comedy Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood (10 nominations including Best Picture and Best Director), Martin Scorcese’s long-gestating mafia epic The Irishman (10 nominations including Best Picture and Best Director), and Sam Mendes’s WWI epic 1917 (10 nominations including Best Picture and Best Director). All remain strong contenders for the win in the top category.
- Best Picture nominees Parasite, Marriage Story, Little Women, and Jojo Rabbit had a good enough morning. Four of the films that joined them in the Best Picture race had very good, but not spectacular, showings. Parasite got nominations for Director, Screenplay, International Feature, Editing, and Production Design, but was overlooked in the acting categories, as well as some technical ones where it should have popped up. And then there are three films that showed up in the acting and screenplay categories, but missed out on Best Director — Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story, Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, and Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit.
- Ford v. Ferrari surprises in Best Picture. Per the current rules, the Best Picture lineup has to have a minimum of five and a maximum of ten nominated films, with the final number of nominees determined by a complex preferential balloting system. This year there were nine thanks to the surprising addition of Ford v. Ferrari, a well-reviewed commercial smash that got into the category despite only having three additional nominations in technical categories and none for directing, acting, or writing. This is a big win for 20th Century Fox, as this was one of the first major films released following the merger with Disney.
- It’s an all-male Best Director lineup for the 87th time in 92 years. Some held out futile hope that numerous high profile films made by deserving women directors combined with an increasingly diverse voting membership might lead to a woman in the lineup for only the sixth time ever. But those people were wrong. It was an all male lineup with deserving contenders like Greta Gerwig, Lulu Wang (The Farewell), Marielle Heller (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood), Lorene Scafaria (Hustlers), and Celine Sciamma (Portrait of a Lady on Fire) missing from the category (and with the exception of Gerwig, missing everywhere). For the record, that means only 5 of the 451 nominations (1.1%) in this category over the past century have gone to women. The only women to be nominated are Lina Wetmuller (1976), Jane Campion (1993), Sofia Coppola (2003), Kathryn Bigelow (2009), and Gerwig (2017). Bigelow is the only one who has won. Thankfully the producing and screenwriting categories were slightly better. Nine of the twenty-four (38%) nominated producers for Best Picture were women and two of the ten (20%) nominated screenplays were written or co-written by women. It’s clear that there is still a long way to go.
- #OscarSoWhite, but it’s a slight improvement over the BAFTAs. There was very little racial and ethnic diversity among the acting nominees, although it wasn’t quite as bad as BAFTA’s all white acting lineup which drew outrage a week ago. The two exceptions were Cynthia Erivo, who is a British citizen of Nigerian descent and was nominated for Best Actress for her portrayal of Harriet Tubman in Harriett, and Spaniard Antonio Banderas, who was nominated for Best Actor for Pedro Almodovar’s Pain and Glory. Among the many overlooked performances that would have added some diversity to the nominations are Jennifer Lopez, Awkwafina, Eddie Murphy, Lupita Nyong’o, Shuzhen Zhao, and the cast of Parasite, all of whom garnered many precursor nominations but failed to be nominated by the Academy.
- Legendary actors are hugely represented, especially in Best Supporting Actor. Perhaps no category in the history of Oscars is as stacked with legends as this year’s Best Supporting Actor race. The most junior and least awarded of the five is Brad Pitt, who has six prior nominations (three for producing and three for acting) and one win (for producing 12 Years a Slave). He is facing off against nine-time nominee Al Pacino, who has his first nomination in 28 years; six-time nominee Tom Hanks, who has his first nomination in 19 years; five-time nominee Anthony Hopkins, who has his first nomination in 21 years; and three-time nominee Joe Pesci, who has his first nomination in 29 years. This morning’s nominations also included 14-time nominee Martin Scorcese, eight-time nominee Quentin Tarantino, seven-time nominee Leonardo DiCaprio, and five-time nominee Steven Zaillian in the main categories. A quartet of actors got their fourth acting nominations — Kathy Bates, Joaquin Phoenix, Renee Zellweger, and Saoirse Ronan. (Ronan managed to get her 4th by the age of 25, only a few months shy of Jennifer Lawrence’s record). And in the technical categories, legendary composer John Williams scored his 52nd nomination for Star Wars Episode IX, songwriter and composer Randy Newman received his 21st and 22nd for Marriage Story and Toy Story 4, cinematographer Roger Deakins scored his 15th for 1917, costume designer Sandy Powell scores her 15th for The Irishman, composer Alexandre Desplate scored his 11th for Little Women, and editor Thelma Schoonmaker scores her eighth nomination for The Irishman.
- Jennifer Lopez, Taron Egerton, Robert DeNiro, Awkwafina, and Lupita Nyong’o are the highest profile snubs. There were numerous high-profile snubs this morning. The two most glaring are Jennifer Lopez missing out on Best Supporting Actress for Hustlers and Taron Egerton missing out on Best Actor for Rocketman. Both performances were in commercially and critically successful films, both performances had been nominated at virtually every precursor, and both actors campaigned very hard. Additionally, Robert DeNiro missed out in Best Actor despite playing the titular role in a 10-time nominated film (he was nominated for producing it, however), Awkwafina was not nominated for Best Actress despite winning the corresponding Golden Globe a couple of weeks ago, prior nominee Lupita Nyong’o couldn’t convert her SAG nomination in the blockbuster Us into a second Oscar nomination, and Beyonce failed to make the cut for her original song from The Lion King.
- Dianne Warren, Thomas Newman, and Bradley Cooper can finally break their losing streaks. A trio of talents with astonishing losing records at the Oscars are up again this year. Composer Thomas Newman scored his 15th nomination for 1917, songwriter extraordinaire Diane Warren scored her 11th nomination for writing “I’m Standing With You” from The Breakthrough, and actor/producer/writer Bradley Cooper scored his 8th nomination for co-producing Joker. It will be interesting to see if any of them manage to end their losing streaks this year.
- For the second year in a row, the Academy defied the critics. Last year, three of the most nominated films were tepidly received by critics as indicated by their Metacritic scores — Bohemian Rhapsody (49/100), Vice (61/100), and Green Book (69/100). They went on to win a combined 8 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor. This year, we have something similar playing out with Jojo Rabbit and Joker doing extremely well despite poor notices from many critics (their Metacritic scores stand at 57/100 and 59/100, respectively). The Oscars also overlooked several films and performances that were anointed by critics groups this year, including Uncut Gems and Diane. For the record, the best reviewed Best Picture nominees per Metacritic are Parasite (96/100), The Irishman (94/100), Marriage Story (93/100), and Little Women (91/100).
- The Best Picture and Best Director races are still up in the air. More than ever, it is looking like the four acting categories are all locked up with Joaquin Phoenix, Renee Zellweger, Brad Pitt, and Laura Dern looking like they will continue their awards season domination. However, there still is not a clear consensus for Best Picture. Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood and 1917 have to be considered leading contenders for both awards given their recent Best Picture wins from the Critics’ Choice Awards and Golden Globes, respectively, but they have strong competitors in the Academy-adored Joker, critically-worshipped Parasite, and legend-fueled The Irishman. The winners of the Directors Guild and Producers Guild Awards should clarify this a bit in the next couple of weeks.
[Note on my predictions: Of the 44 nominees in the top eight categories (Best Picture, Best Director, the four acting categories, and the two screenplay categories) I correctly predicted 36 (82%) of them. Of the eight I missed, all were on my list of potential alternatives. This is a slightly poorer performance than last year, when I got 37 out of 43 (86%) correct.]
The Nominees in the Top 8 Categories
Best Picture:
Ford v. Ferrari (4 nominations)
The Irishman (10 nominations)
Jojo Rabbit (6 nominations)
Joker (11 nominations)
Little Women (6 nominations)
Marriage Story (6 nominations)
1917 (10 nominations)
Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood (10 nominations)
Parasite (6 nominations)
Best Director:
Bong Joon-Ho, Parasite (Prior Oscar Appearances: None; he is nominated for three Oscars this year for directing, co-producing, and co-writing)
Sam Mendes, 1917 (Prior Oscar Appearances: He won the Best Director Oscar in 1999 for American Beauty; he is nominated for three Oscars this year for directing, co-producing, and co-writing)
Todd Phillips, Joker (Prior Oscar Appearances: He was nominated in 2006 for co-writing the Sacha Baron Cohen satire Borat; he is nominated for three Oscars this year for directing, co-producing, and co-writing)
Martin Scorcese, The Irishman (Prior Oscar Appearances: He has been nominated for 12 Oscars and won for Best Director in 2006 for The Departed; he is nominated for two Oscars this year for directing and co-producing)
Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood (Prior Oscar Appearances: He has been nominated five times prior and has won twice for Best Original Screenplay for Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained; he is nominated for three Oscars this year for directing, co-producing, and co-writing)
Best Leading Actress:
Cynthia Erivo, Harriet (Prior Oscar Appearances: None; she is also nominated this year for Best Original Song)
Scarlett Johannson, Marriage Story (Prior Oscar Appearances: None; she is also nominated for Best Supporting Actress this year)
Saoirse Ronan, Little Women (Prior Oscar Appearances: she was nominated three times prior for 2007’s Atonement, 2015’s Brooklyn, and 2017’s Lady Bird; she is the second youngest actor to amass four nominations behind Jennifer Lawrence)
Charlize Theron, Bombshell (Prior Oscar Appearances: She won this category in 2003 for Monster and was also nominated in 2005 for North Country)
Renee Zellweger, Judy (Prior Oscar Appearances: She won Best Supporting Actress for 2003’s Cold Mountain and was nominated for Best Actress for 2001’s Bridget Jones’s Diary and 2002’s Chicago)
Best Leading Actor:
Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory (Prior Oscar Appearances: None; this is his first nomination)
Leonardo DiCaprio, Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood (Prior Oscar Appearances: He has been nominated six times prior, five for acting and once for producing; he won the Best Actor Oscar in 2015 for The Revenant)
Adam Driver, Marriage Story (Prior Oscar Appearances: He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor last year for BlacKkKlansman)
Joaquin Phoenix, Joker (Prior Oscar Appearances: He has been nominated three times prior for 2000’s Gladiator, 2005’s Walk the Line, and 2012’s The Master)
Jonathan Pryce, The Two Popes (Prior Oscar Appearances: None; this is his first nomination)
Best Supporting Actress:
Kathy Bates, Richard Jewell (Prior Oscar Appearances: She won the Best Actress Oscar for 1990’s Misery and was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for 1998’s Primary Colors and 2002’s About Schmidt)
Laura Dern, Marriage Story (Prior Oscar Appearances: She has two prior nominations for 1991’s Rambling Rose and 2014’s Wild)
Scarlett Johannson, Jojo Rabbit (Prior Oscar Appearances: None; she is also nominated for Best Actress this year)
Florence Pugh, Little Women (Prior Oscar Appearances: None; this is his first nomination)
Margot Robbie, Bombshell (Prior Oscar Appearances: She was nominated for Best Actress for 2017's I, Tonya)
Best Supporting Actor:
Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (Prior Oscar Appearances: he won Best Actor for 1993’s Philadelphia and 1994’s Forrest Gump, and was additionally nominated for 1988’s Big, 1998’s Saving Private Ryan, and 2000’s Cast Away)
Anthony Hopkins, The Two Popes (Prior Oscar Appearances: He won the Best Actor Oscar in 1991 for The Silence of the Lambs and was also nominated for 1993’s The Remains of the Day, 1996’s Nixon, and 1998’s Amistad)
Al Pacino, The Irishman (Prior Oscar Appearances: He won the Best Actor Oscar in 1991 for Scent of a Woman and has seven other prior acting nominations for 1972’s The Godfather, 1973’s Serpico, 1974’s The Godfather Part II, 1975’s Dog Day Afternoon, 1979’s …And Justice For All, 1990’s Dick Tracy, and 1991’s Glengarry Glenn Ross)
Joe Pesci, The Irishman (Prior Oscar Appearances: He won this category for 1990’s Goodfellas and was additionally nominated for 1980’s Raging Bull)
Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood (Prior Oscar Appearances: As a producer, he won the Best Picture Oscar for 2013's 12 Years a Slave and was nominated for 2011’s Moneyball and 2015’s The Big Short; as an actor he has three prior nominations for 1995’s Twelve Monkeys, 2008’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and 2011’s Moneyball)
Best Original Screenplay:
Noah Baumbach, Marriage Story (Prior Oscar Appearances: He was nominated in this category for 2005’s The Squid and the Whale; he is also nominated for co-producing his year)
Rian Johnson, Knives Out (Prior Oscar Appearances: None; this is his first nomination)
Bong Joon-Ho and Han Jin-won, Parasite (Prior Oscar Appearances: See above re: Joon-Ho; this is Jin-won’s first nomination)
Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns, 1917 (Prior Oscar Appearances: see above re: Mendes; this is Wilson-Cairns’ first nomination)
Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood (Prior Oscar Appearances: see above)
Best Adapted Screenplay:
Greta Gerwig, Little Women (Prior Oscar Appearances: she was nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for 2017’s Lady Bird)
Anthony McCarten, The Two Popes (Prior Oscar Appearances: He was nominated for writing and producing 2014’s The Theory of Everything and for producing 2017’s The Darkest Hour)
Todd Phillips and Scott Silver, Joker (Prior Oscar Appearances: See above re: Phillips; Silver was previously nominated for co-writing 2010’s The Fighter)
Taika Waititi, Jojo Rabbit (Prior Oscar Appearances: He was nominated for Best Live Action Short Film in 2004; this year he is also nominated for co-producing)
Steven Zaillian, The Irishman (Prior Oscar Appearances: He won in this category for 1993’s Schindler’s List and has additional nominations for 1990’s Awakenings, 2002’s Gangs of New York, and 2011’s Moneyball)
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Check out my articles about this awards season:
