The Geek was up with the other press this morning to watch the nominations for the 92nd Academy Awards which will air February 9 on ABC. What can we tell you, that you don’t know already. The highly divisive Joker, the origin story of the iconic mentally ill Batman villain, led all Oscar nominations with 11. This is the most EVER for a comic book film. Take that, Marty.
Close behind with 10 nominations each were Sam Mendes’ epic war drama about two soldiers on what could be a suicide mission, 1917 , Quentin Tarantino’s 9th film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Martin Scorsese’ Philly gangster epic, The Irishman.
Little Women came in third with six nominations, alongside Noah Baumbach’s devastating look at divorce in Marriage Story, Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit and Boon Jong Ho’s Parasite. James Mangold’s Ford v. Ferrari was nominated four times, while Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Bombshell and The Two Popes received three nominations.
The Directing Category once again lacks any female representation. The 2020 nominees were Martin Scorsese (The Irishman), Todd Phillips (Joker), Sam Mendes (1917), Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) and Bong Joon-Ho (Parasite).
Issa Rae, who read off the Oscar nominations this morning with John Cho, had this sarcastic observation: “Congratulations to all those men.”
Her commentary is not unfounded as it’s important to note that there were several highly-acclaimed films besides Gerwig’s Little Women that were helmed by female directors – Lulu Wang’s The Farewell, Marielle Heller’s A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Lorene Scafaria’s Hustlers and Melina Matsoukas’ Queen & Slim.
Also overlooked for an Oscar were any African American male actors in the Best and Supporting categories. Eddie Murphy, who garnered rave reviews for his portrayal of 70s comedian Rudy Ray Moore in Dolemite is My Name, was not nominated. Also missing were either Jamie Foxx or Michael B. Jordan for the powerful Just Mercy.
Hustlers’ Jennifer Lopez was skipped over, however Cynthia Erivo was nominated for her portrayal of Harriet Tubman in Harriet. Awkwafina did not make the cut for The Farewell. Watch the Oscar nomination video below:
ALSO READ: Three female directors among DGA nominations
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
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
- 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
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
- CYNTHIA ERIVO Harriet
- SCARLETT JOHANSSON Marriage Story
- SAOIRSE RONAN Little Women
- CHARLIZE THERON Bombshell
- RENÉE ZELLWEGER Judy
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
- KATHY BATES Richard Jewell
- LAURA DERN Marriage Story
- SCARLETT JOHANSSON Jojo Rabbit
- FLORENCE PUGH Little Women
- MARGOT ROBBIE Bombshell
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
- HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLDDean DeBlois, Bradford Lewis and Bonnie Arnold
- I LOST MY BODY
- KLAUSSergio Pablos, Jinko Gotoh and Marisa Román
- TOY STORY 4Josh Cooley, Mark Nielsen and Jonas Rivera
- MISSING LINKChris Butler, Arianne Sutner and Travis Knight
CINEMATOGRAPHY
- THE IRISHMAN Rodrigo Prieto
- JOKER Lawrence Sher
- THE LIGHTHOUSE Jarin Blaschke
- 1917 Roger Deakins
- ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD Robert Richardson
COSTUME DESIGN
- THE IRISHMAN Sandy Powell and Christopher Peterson
- JOJO RABBIT Mayes C. Rubeo
- JOKER MarkBridges
- LITTLE WOMEN Jacqueline Durran
- ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD Arianne Phillips
DIRECTING
- THE IRISHMAN Martin Scorsese
- JOKER Todd Phillips
- 1917 Sam Mendes
- ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD Quentin Tarantino
- PARASITE Bong Joon Ho
DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)
- AMERICAN FACTORY Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert and Jeff Reichert
- THE CAVE Feras Fayyad, Kirstine Barfod and Sigrid Dyekjær
- THE EDGE OF DEMOCRACY Petra Costa, Joanna Natasegara, Shane Boris and Tiago Pavan
- FOR SAMA Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts
- HONEYLAND Ljubo Stefanov, Tamara Kotevska and Atanas Georgiev
DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)
- IN THE ABSENCE Yi Seung-Jun and Gary Byung-Seok Kam
- LEARNING TO SKATEBOARD IN A WARZONE (IF YOU’RE A GIRL) Carol Dysinger and Elena Andreicheva
- LIFE OVERTAKES ME John Haptas and Kristine Samuelson
- ST. LOUIS SUPERMAN Smriti Mundhra and Sami Khan
- WALK RUN CHA-CHA Laura Nix and Colette Sandstedt
FILM EDITING
- FORD V FERRARI Michael McCusker and Andrew Buckland
- THE IRISHMAN Thelma Schoonmaker
- JOJO RABBIT Tom Eagles
- JOKER Jeff Groth
- PARASITE Yang Jinmo
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
- CORPUS CHRISTI Poland
- HONEYLAND North Macedonia
- LES MISÉRABLES France
- PAIN AND GLORY Spain
- PARASITE South Korea
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
- BOMBSHELL Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan and Vivian Baker
- JOKER Nicki Ledermann and Kay Georgiou
- JUDY Jeremy Woodhead
- MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL Paul Gooch, Arjen Tuiten and David White
- 1917 Naomi Donne, Tristan Versluis and Rebecca Cole
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
- JOKER Hildur Guðnadóttir
- LITTLE WOMEN Alexandre Desplat
- MARRIAGE STORY Randy Newman
- 1917 Thomas Newman
- STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER John Williams
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
- I CAN’T LET YOU THROW YOURSELF AWAY from Toy Story 4; Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
- (I’M GONNA) LOVE ME AGAIN from Rocketman; Music by Elton John; Lyric by Bernie Taupin
- I’M STANDING WITH YOU from Breakthrough; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
- INTO THE UNKNOWN from Frozen II; Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
- STAND UP from Harriet; Music and Lyric by Joshuah Brian Campbell and Cynthia Erivo
BEST PICTURE
- FORD V FERRARI Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping and James Mangold, Producers
- THE IRISHMAN Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Producers
- JOJO RABBIT Carthew Neal and Taika Waititi, Producers
- JOKER Todd Phillips, Bradley Cooper and Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Producers
- LITTLE WOMEN Amy Pascal, Producer
- MARRIAGE STORY Noah Baumbach and David Heyman, Producers
- 1917 Sam Mendes, Pippa Harris, Jayne-Ann Tenggren and Callum McDougall, Producers
- ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD David Heyman, Shannon McIntosh and Quentin Tarantino, Producers
- PARASITE Kwak Sin Ae and Bong Joon Ho, Producers
PRODUCTION DESIGN
THE IRISHMAN Production Design: Bob Shaw; Set Decoration: Regina Graves
JOJO RABBIT Production Design: Ra Vincent; Set Decoration: Nora Sopková
1917 Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales
ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD Production Design: Barbara Ling; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
PARASITE Design: Lee Ha Jun; Set Decoration: Cho Won Woo
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
- DCERA (DAUGHTER ) Daria Kashcheeva
- HAIR LOVE Matthew A. Cherry and Karen Rupert Toliver
- KITBULL Rosana Sullivan and Kathryn Hendrickson
- MEMORABLE Bruno Collet and Jean-François Le Corre
- SISTER Siqi Song
SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
- BROTHERHOOD Meryam Joobeur and Maria Gracia Turgeon
- NEFTA FOOTBALL CLUB Yves Piat and Damien Megherbi
- THE NEIGHBORS’ WINDOW Marshall Curry
- SARIA Bryan Buckley and Matt Lefebvre
- A SISTER Delphine Girard
SOUND EDITING
- FORD V FERRARI Donald Sylvester
- JOKER Alan Robert Murray
- 1917 Oliver Tarney and Rachael Tate
- ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD Wylie Stateman
- STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER Matthew Wood and David Acord
SOUND MIXING
- AD ASTRA Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson and Mark Ulano
- FORD V FERRARI Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Steven A. Morrow
- JOKER Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic and Tod Maitland
- 1917 Mark Taylor and Stuart Wilson
- ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD Michael Minkler, Christian P. Minkler and Mark Ulano
VISUAL EFFECTS
- AVENGERS: ENDGAME Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Matt Aitken and Dan Sudick
- THE IRISHMAN Pablo Helman, Leandro Estebecorena, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser and Stephane Grabli
- THE LION KING Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Elliot Newman
- 1917 Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler and Dominic Tuohy
- STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER Roger Guyett, Neal Scanlan, Patrick Tubach and Dominic Tuohy
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
- THE IRISHMAN Screenplay by Steven Zaillian
- JOJO RABBIT Screenplay by Taika Waititi
- JOKER Written by Todd Phillips & Scott Silver
- LITTLE WOMEN Written for the screen by Greta Gerwig
- THE TWO POPES Written by Anthony McCarten
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
- KNIVES OUT Written by Rian Johnso
- MARRIAGE STORY Written by Noah Baumbach
- 1917 Written by Sam Mendes & Krysty Wilson-Cairns
- ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD Written by Quentin Tarantino
- PARASITE Screenplay by Bong Joon Ho, Han Jin Won; Story by Bong Joon Ho
Looking at the major Oscar nominations, I do believe Oscar could benefit from borrowing a little bit from the Spirit Awards and DGA Awards by instituting a “First Film” category. This may garner more diverse Oscar nominations. The 92nd Academy Awards will air on ABC on February 9.
The Geek is a working screenwriter, director and screenplay instructor.
