'Joker' Leads the Way to This Year's Oscars with 11 Nominations

The clown prince of crime is dancing all the way to the Oscars, with Joker topping the pool at this year's Academy Award nominations. It's the second year in a row that a comic book film has featured among the most prolific nominees, after Black Panther earned seven nods in 2019. As well as being the most-nominated movie in 2020 with 11 nominations, Joker is now the most-nominated superhero flick of all time — with the Joaquin Phoenix-starring movie beating the eight received by The Dark Knight, including Heath Ledger's posthumous Best Supporting Actor statuette for playing the same character.

Remember when, back in 2018, the Oscars wanted to introduce a new Academy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Popular Film? When that was announced, the backlash was fast and furious, causing it to be scrapped — and if Joker's prominence this year and Black Panther's last year prove anything, it's that such a category really isn't needed. Plenty of other popular films sit alongside Joker in the 2020 nominations, with The Irishman, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and 1917 each nabbing ten apiece, and Little Women, Marriage Story and Jojo Rabbit earning six each. Also ratcheting up a half-dozen: the best movie of 2019, aka Bong Joon-ho's Parasite.

Nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best International Feature Film, Film Editing and Production Design, Parasite's big showing is historic — amazingly, it's the first South Korean movie to ever earn a nomination in the Oscars' 92-year history, including in the foreign-language category. Alas, while the film's recognition might seem like an important step forward, much of this year's major categories show little in the way of diversity among their nominees.

When the winners are announced on Monday, February 10, Australian and New Zealand time, no female filmmaker will be crowned the year's best director thanks to the field's all-male nominees. As Issa Rae noted as she read the nominations alongside John Cho, "congratulations to all those men". Greta Gerwig's Little Women apparently directed itself, for example, although the actor-turned-filmmaker did receive a nod for Best Adapted Screenplay.

And, when the acting prizes are handed out, it's highly likely that they'll be given to a white performer. While the nominees don't quite repeat the #OscarsSoWhite controversy of four years ago, when no people of colour were recognised, only two earned nods this year: Antonio Banderas for his sublime performance in Pain and Glory, and Cynthia Erivo for biopic Harriet. Fancied contenders such as Hustlers' Jennifer Lopez, The Farewell's Golden Globe-winner Awkwafina, Us' Lupita Nyong'o and Dolemite Is My Name's Eddie Murphy were all shut out — as was The Farewell in general. Plus, while there was plenty of love of Parasite, that didn't extend to any of the movie's actors.

Of course, the Oscars always serve up snubs and surprises. Another big shock: Adam Sandler missing out on a Best Actor nomination for fantastic thriller Uncut Gems. Sandler and the Academy Awards mightn't seem like obvious bedfellows, but the actor is in career-best form as a diamond jeweller and compulsive gambler.

On the local front, Aussie Margot Robbie scored a nod for Best Supporting Actress for Bombshell, playing a reporter caught up in the sexual harassment scandals at Fox News, while New Zealander Taika Waititi received a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination for Jojo Rabbit.

The 92nd Academy Awards will take place on Monday, February 10, Australian time. Here's the full list of nominations:

OSCAR NOMINEES 2020

BEST MOTION PICTURE

• The Irishman
• Ford v Ferrari
• Jojo Rabbit
• Joker
• Little Women
• Marriage Story
• 1917
• Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
• Parasite

BEST DIRECTOR

• Martin Scorsese, The Irishman
• Bong Joon Ho, Parasite
• Sam Mendes, 1917
• Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
• Todd Phillips, Joker

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

• Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story
• Saoirse Ronan, Little Women 
• Charlize Theron, Bombshell
• Renee Zellweger, Judy
• Cynthia Erivo, Harriet

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

• Adam Driver, Marriage Story
• Leonardo DiCaprio, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
• Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
• Jonathan Pryce, The Two Popes
• Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• Laura Dern, Marriage Story
• Scarlett Johansson, Jojo Rabbit
• Margot Robbie, Bombshell
• Kathy Bates, Richard Jewell
• Florence Pugh, Little Women

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood
• Anthony Hopkins, The Two Popes
• Al Pacino, The Irishman
• Joe Pesci, The Irishman
• Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• 1917
• Marriage Story
• Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
• Parasite
• Knives Out

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• Jojo Rabbit
• Joker
• Little Women
  
• The Irishman
• The Two Popes

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

• Joker
• Little Women
• Marriage Story
• 1917
• Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker

BEST 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

BEST FILM EDITING

• Ford v Ferrari
• The Irishman
• Jojo Rabbit
• Joker
• Parasite

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

• Corpus Christi (Poland)
• Honeyland (North Macedonia)
• Les Miserables (France)
• Pain and Glory (Spain)
• Parasite (South Korea)

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

• How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
• I Lost My Body
• Klaus
• Missing Link
• Toy Story 4

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

• American Factory
• The Cave
• The Edge of Democracy
• For Sama
• Honeyland

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• The Irishman
• Joker
• The Lighthouse
• 1917
• Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

• The Irishman
• Jojo Rabbit
• 1917
• Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
• Parasite

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

• Avengers: Endgame
• The Irishman
• The Lion King
• 1917
• Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

• The Irishman
• Jojo Rabbit
• Joker
• Little Women
• Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

• Bombshell
• Joker
• Judy
• Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
• 1917

BEST SOUND MIXING

• Ad Astra
• Ford v Ferrari
• Joker
• 1917
• Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

BEST SOUND EDITING

• Ford v Ferrari
• Joker
• 1917
• Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
• Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

• In the Absence
• Learning to Skateboard In A Warzone
• Life Overtakes Me
• St Louis Superman
• Walk Run Cha-Cha

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

• Dcera (Daughter)
• Hair Love
• Kitbull
• Memorable
• Sister

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

• • Brotherhood
  • Nefta Football Club
  • The Neigbour's Window
  • Saria
  • A Sister