By Canadian Press

‘Joker’ leads Oscar noms; ‘1917,’ ‘Irishman’ close behind

Jan 13, 2020 | 2:54 PM

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 favourite 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.

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“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.

Most glaringly, Jennifer Lopez, long considered a supporting actress front-runner for her performance in “Hustlers,” was also denied her first Oscar nomination.

Those oversights left the Oscars with their least diverse field since the fallout of #OscarsSoWhite pushed the film academy to diversify its membership. The only actor of colour nominated was British actress Cynthia Erivo for her Harriet Tubman in “Harriet.”

Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite,” however, made history for South Korea. Along with the country’s first nomination for best international film, “Parasite” also scored nods for Bong’s direction, best editing and best production design.

No filmmaking couple has had an Oscar nominations morning quite like Gerwig and “Marriage Story” director Noah Baumbach. Their movies were each nominated for best picture, best screenplay (adapted for Gerwig; original for Baumbach) and six nominations in total.

Nominations for “Marriage Story” included nods for its leads, Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, and Laura Dern for best supporting actress. Johansson, also nominated for her supporting turn in “Jo Jo Rabbit,” became the first two-time acting nominee since Cate Blanchett managed the feat in 2007.

Also nominated for best actress was Renée Zellweger, considered the front-runner for her Judy Garland in “Judy”; Charlize Theron (“Bombshell”); and Soairse Ronan (“Little Women”). Just 25 years old, Ronan now has four Oscar nominations.

Joining Driver, DiCaprio and Phoenix for best actor were Jonathan Pryce, who stars as Pope Francis in “The Two Popes”; and Antonio Banderas, who plays a semi-fictionalized version of director Pedro Almodóvar in “Pain and Glory.”

No category was more competitive this year. Those left out were themselves a formidable group: Eddie Murphy (“Dolemite Is My Name”), Robert De Niro (“The Irishman”), Christian Bale (“Ford v Ferrari”) and Adam Sandler (“Uncut Gems”).

Sandler on Twitter responded: “Bad news: Sandman gets no love from the academy. Good news: Sandman can stop wearing suits.”

Tom Hanks received his first Oscar nomination in 19 years for playing Mister Rogers in “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.” But Pitt, who is heading toward his first acting Academy Award, is the overwhelming favourite among the supporting actor nominees.

“American Factory,” the first film from Barack and Michelle Obama’s recently launched production company, Higher Ground, was nominated for best documentary.

“Honeyland,” about a wild bee keeper in rural Macedonia, became the first film ever nominated for both best documentary and best international film.

Also up for best documentary are: “For Sama,” “The Edge of Democracy” and the Syrian Civil War film “The Cave.”

The other nominees for best international film were “Pain and Glory” from Spain, “Les Miserables” from France and “Corpus Christi” from Poland.

After the most dominant box-office year in Hollywood history, the Walt Disney Co.’s top films — including the record-setting Marvel blockbuster “Avengers: Endgame” — were largely relegated to categories like best visual effects. The studio has never won a best picture Academy Award but does have a few contenders via its acquisition in April of 20th Century Fox: “Ford v Ferrari” and “Jojo Rabbit.”

The 92nd Academy Awards, which will again go hostless, will be held Feb. 9 in Los Angeles and broadcast live on ABC.

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AP Entertainment Writers Jonathan Landrum Jr. in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP

Jake Coyle, The Associated Press