JOKER HAS LAST LAUGH WITH ELEVEN 2020 OSCAR NOMINATIONS

Who’s laughing now?

2019’s most talked-about anti-hero odyssey Joker emerged as the unlikely front-runner from this morning’s Academy Awards nominations announcement. A film that many analysts called dangerously subversive, split the critical community and caused a social media storm upon its release was welcomed with open arms by AMPAS voters, scoring 11 nominations including Best Picture, Best Lead Actor for Joaquin Phoenix and Best Director for Todd Phillips. Add the accolades to a $1billion global box office haul and there is a lot to smile about over at Warner Bros.

Also grinning from ear to ear are the team at Netflix, with the streaming platform leading the nomination tally with 24 Oscar mentions. Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman (pictured, right) with 10 nominations, Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story with six and Fernando Meirelles’ The Two Popes with three are flying the flag for Hollywood’s new kid on the block – a kid that is redefining the ‘mini/major’ studio system of old.

In the mix with 10 nominations apiece are Quentin Tarantino’s revisionist LA buddy pic Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood and Sam Mendes’ WW1 epic 1917. Alongside Marriage Story with 6 nominations each are Taiki Waititi’s anti-hate charmer Jojo Rabbit, Greta Gerwig’s literary adaptation Little Women and, continuing its extraordinary surge towards Oscar glory, South Korean superstar director Bong Joon-ho’s foreign film ‘blockbuster’ Parasite. The blackly funny home invasion romp will vie for both Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Oscars.

Those hoping to wrestle the trophy from Phillips for Best Director are Martin Scorsese (The Irishman), Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time…in Holywood), Bong Joon-ho (Parasite) and Sam Mendes (1917).

Vying for Lead Actor honours with Phoenix are Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory; pictured, right), Leonardo DiCaprio (Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood), Adam Driver (Marriage Story) and this year’s bolter, Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes). Those that missed out in a wildly competitive year include Golden Globe winner Taron Edgerton (Rocketman), Adam Sandler (Uncut Gems), Eddie Murphy (Dolemite is my Name) and Christian Bale (Ford vs Ferrari, which otherwise did well with four nominations, including Best Picture).

Lead Actress contenders stuck closely to recent award season form, with Renee Zellweger’s transformative turn as showbiz icon Judy Garland in Rupert Goold’s Judy considered the favourite. Also in the mix are Saorsie Ronan (Little Women), Charlize Theron (Bombshell), Cynthia Erivo (Harriet) and Scarlett Johansson (Marriage Story). Johansson is the ‘Golden Girl’ of this year’s Oscar season, earning a second nomination in the Supporting Actress category for Jojo Rabbit.

Those snubbed in this category point to a noticeable lack of diversity in this year’s nominations, with Golden Globe-winning Asian-American actress Awkwafina (The Farewell) and African-American star Lupita Nyong’o (Us) cast aside for their lead roles. Despite his film’s six nominations, Parasite leading man Kang-ho Song was left out, as was Latino superstar Jennifer Lopez for her supporting role in Lorene Scafaria’s Hustlers; across the four main acting categories, Cynthia Erivo (pictured, right) and Antonio Banderas are the only torchbearers for ethnicity. Little Women director Greta Gerwig was bumped from the Best Director race, despite her film earning six noms in total (she was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay).

Other notable omissions from the nomination roster are Disney/Pixar’s animated blockbuster, Frozen 2, which lost its place in the cartoon category to Netflix’s surprise hit Klaus; Beyonce, who’ll be home in her jammies on Oscar night due to her original song ‘Spirit’ from The Lion King missing out; Robert De Niro, the once perennial Oscar nominee, for The Irishman (despite co-stars Al Pacino and Joe Pesci earning Supporting Actor shots); writers Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Susanna Fogel and Katie Silberman, who penned the smartest teen film since Clueless, Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart; and, everyone but Supporting Actor nominee Tom Hanks for Marielle Heller’s brilliant but underseen gem, A Beautiful Day in Your Neighbourhood (pictured, above; Heller).

The complete list of 2020 Oscar nominations is listed below. The 92nd Academy Awards will be held Sunday, February 9:

Best Picture: “Ford v Ferrari” (Disney/Fox); “The Irishman” (Netflix); “Jojo Rabbit” (Fox Searchlight); “Joker” (Warner Bros.); “Little Women” (Sony); “Marriage Story” (Netflix); “1917” (Universal); “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood” (Sony); “Parasite” (Neon)

Best Director: Martin Scorsese (“The Irishman”); Todd Phillips (“Joker”); Sam Mendes (“1917”); Quentin Tarantino (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”); Bong Joon Ho (“Parasite”)

Best Actor: 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: Cynthia Erivo (“Harriet”); Scarlett Johansson (“Marriage Story”); Saoirse Ronan (“Little Women”; pictured, right); Charlize Theron (“Bombshell”); Renee Zellweger (“Judy”)

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”)

Supporting Actress: Kathy Bates (“Richard Jewell”); Laura Dern (“Marriage Story”); Scarlett Johansson (“Jojo Rabbit”); Florence Pugh (“Little Women”); Margot Robbie (“Bombshell”)

Adapted Screenplay: Taika Waititi (“Jojo Rabbit”); Steve Zaillian (“The Irishman”); Anthony McCarten (“The Two Popes”); Greta Gerwig (“Little Women”); Todd Phillips and Scott Silver (“Joker”)

Best Original Screenplay: Rian Johnson (“Knives Out”); Noah Baumbach (“Marriage Story”); Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns (“1917”); Quentin Tarantino (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”); Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won (“Parasite”)

Animated Feature: “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World”; “I Lost My Body”; “Klaus” (pictured, right); “Missing Link”; “Toy Story 4”

International Feature Film: “Corpus Christi”; “Honeyland”; “Les Miserables”; “Pain and Glory”; “Parasite”

Best Documentary: “American Factory”; “The Cave”; “Edge of Democracy”; “For Sama”; “Honeyland”

Best Cinematography: Rodrigo Prieto, “The Irishman”; Lawrence Sher, “Joker”; Jarin Blaschke, “The Lighthouse”; Roger Deakins, “1917”; Robert Richardson, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”

Best Costume Design: Sandy Powell and Christopher Peterson, “The Irishman”; Mayes C. Rubeo, “Jojo Rabbit”; Mark Bridges, “Joker”; Jacqueline Durran, “Little Women”; Arianne Phillip, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”

Film Editing: Michael McCusker and Andrew Buckland, “Ford vs. Ferrari”; Thelma Schoonmaker, “The Irishman”; Tom Eagles, “Jojo Rabbit”; Jeff Groth, “Joker”; Yang Jinmo, “Parasite”

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)

Original Score: Hildur Guðnadóttir, “Joker”; Alexandre Desplat, “Little Women”; Randy Newman, “Marriage Story”; Thomas Newman, “1917”; John Williams, “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”

Original Song: I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away, “Toy Story 4”; I’m Gonna Love Me Again, “Rocketman”; I’m Standing With You, “Breakthrough”; Into the Unknown, “Frozen 2”; Stand Up, “Harriet”

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” - Production Design: Lee Ha Jun, Set Decoration: Cho Won Woo

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 vs. 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)

Documentary (Short Subject): “In the Absence”; “Learning to Skateboard in a War Zone If You’re a Girl” (pictured, above); “Life Overtakes Me”; “St. Louis Superman”; “Walk Run Cha-Cha”

Short Film (Animated): “Daughter”; “Hair Love”; “Kitbull”; “Memorable”; “Sister”

Short Film (Live Action): “Brotherhood”; “Nefta Football Club”; “The Neighbor’s Window”; “Saria”; “A Sister”