Female filmmakers were shut out, "Parasite" made history and "Joker" edged out "The Irishman," "1917" and "Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood" in Monday's Oscar nominations.
Todd Phillips' R-rated superhero smash "Joker" topped all films with 11 nominations to the 92nd Academy Awards, while Martin Scorsese's elegiac crime epic "The Irishman," Quentin Tarantino's 1960s Los Angeles fairy tale "Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood" and Sam Mendes' continuous World War I tale "1917" all trailed close behind with 10 nods apiece.
Those four were among the nine films nominated for best picture by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. The others were: Greta Gerwig's Louisa May Alcott adaptation "Little Women," Noah Baumbach's divorce drama "Marriage Story," Taika Waititi's Nazi Germany romp "Jojo Rabbit," James Mangold's racing drama "Ford v Ferrari" and Bong Joon Ho's class satire "Parasite" -- the first Korean film to be nominated and only the 11th non-English best picture nominee.
"Joker," which gives the DC Comics villain an antihero spin cribbed from Scorsese, was expected to do well. But the academy's overwhelming support for a divisive movie that was far from a critical favorite was unexpected. Its nominations included best actor for Joaquin Phoenix and best director for Phillips.
Though a record 62 women (or about a third of nominees) were nominated Monday, the academy put the most weight behind a handful of swaggering male-driven movies predicated on virtuosity, spectacle and star power. For the 87th time, the academy selected all-male directing nominees.
"Congratulations to those men," said Issa Rae, who presented the nominees alongside John Cho.
Hollywood, in the midst of a streaming upheaval, also gave Netflix more nominations than ever before: 24. The 10 nominations for "The Irishman" tied the most for a Netflix film, following "Roma" last year. Scorsese, a one-time winner for "The Departed," was nominated for best director for the ninth time. The film also won nods for Al Pacino and Joe Pesci.
"1917" followed up its Golden Globes win and strong opening weekend at the box office with nominations not just for its technical achievement (including Mendes' directing and Roger Deakins' cinematography) but for best screenplay, too.
"Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood" was nominated in all the expected categories, including Tarantino for directing and screenplay, best actor for Leonardo DiCaprio and best supporting actor for Brad Pitt.
"It's a real love story to this industry," DiCaprio said by phone. "In this movie, Quentin got to do a movie that was a homage to Los Angeles and a place that I grew up in."
There were many surprises. Awkwafina, who was poised to become just the second Asian American nominated for best actress, wasn't nominated for her acclaimed leading performance in "The Farewell." Also overlooked for best animated film was "Frozen 2," the highest grossing animated film ever and Beyoncé, for her "Lion King" song.
Entertainment on 01/14/2020