The Academy announced the Oscar nominees yesterday, and “Joker” led the way with 11 nominations, followed by “The Irishman”, “1917”, and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”, which all got 10.
All four were nominated for Best Picture, along with “Ford v Ferrari”, “Jojo Rabbit”, “Little Women”, “Marriage Story”, and “Parasite”. For what it’s worth, “1917” and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” took home the top honors at the Golden Globes earlier this month.
Golden Globe winner Renée Zellweger got a Best Actress nomination for “Judy”. And she’s up against Scarlett Johansson (“Marriage Story”), Charlize Theron (“Bombshell”), Cynthia Erivo (“Harriet”), and Saoirse Ronan (“Little Women”).
Golden Globe winner Joaquin Phoenix got a Best Actor nomination for “Joker”. He’s up against Adam Driver (“Marriage Story”), Leonardo DiCaprio (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”), Antonio Banderas (“Pain and Glory”), and Jonathan Pryce (“The Two Popes”).
Two of the biggest “snubs” aren’t exactly your typical Oscar-caliber actors: Jennifer Lopez and Adam Sandler. J-Lo was denied a Best Supporting Actress nod for “Hustlers”, while Sandler was overlooked for his critically acclaimed role in “Uncut Gems”.
“Frozen” won the Best Animated Movie Oscar five years ago, but “Frozen 2” wasn’t even nominated. And Beyoncé didn’t get a nomination for writing the song “Spirit” for “The Lion King”. Robert De Niro wasn’t nominated for “The Irishman”, although Joe Pesci and Al Pacino were.
Rami Malek won Best Actor for playing Freddie Mercury last year, but this year, Taron Egerton’s portrayal of Elton John in “Rocketman” didn’t get a nomination. Even though Taron DID win a Golden Globe.
And speaking of Golden Globe winners, Awkwafina didn’t get a mention for “The Farewell”. In fact, “The Farewell” didn’t get a single nomination. Of course, the Globes have MORE acting winners overall since they recognize dramatic and comedic performances separately.
“The 92nd Academy Awards” will air February 9th on ABC. For the second straight year, there won’t be a host.
10 Oscar Fun Facts and Interesting Notes, Including Adam Sandler’s “Waterboy” Exchange with Kathy Bates
1. There was some talk that Adam Sandler might get a Best Actor Oscar nomination for “Uncut Gems”, but that didn’t happen. He took it in stride though, with an amusing “Waterboy” reference. He Tweeted, “Bad news: Sandman gets no love from the Academy. Good news: Sandman can stop wearing suits. Congrats to all my friends who got nominated, especially Mama.” That’s directed at Kathy Bates, who played his mom in “Waterboy”.
Kathy got a surprise Supporting Actress nomination for “Richard Jewell”, and she Tweeted back, “I love you my Bobby Boucher!!! You was robbed!! But Mama loves you!!! I learned a new urban slang word for you! You da GOAT!! Not the one we eat at home, Son.”
2. The Oscars continued their annual tradition of NOT nominating any female directors, even though some thought “Little Women” director Greta Gerwig deserved a spot. Others who could’ve been recognized include Lulu Wang (“The Farewell”), Marielle Heller (“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”), Lorene Scafaria (“Hustlers”) and Alma Har’el (“Honey Boy”).
3. That said, women scored a record 31% of the nominations overall. According to one count, 65 of the 209 people across all 24 competitive categories are women. That’s compared to 62 of 225 nominees last year (27.5%), 57 of 213 individual nominees in 2017 (26.8%), and 48 of 211 in 2016 (22.7%).
4. Speaking of annual traditions, the media is obsessing over how the Academy focused too much on WHITE MALES. #OscarsSoWhite is back!
5. Is Saoirse Ronan the next Meryl Streep? She’s only 25, but she scored her FOURTH nomination. This one is a Best Actress nomination for “Little Women”. She’s also had Best Actress nominations for “Lady Bird” and “Brooklyn”, plus a Best Supporting Actress nod for “Atonement”. She has yet to win.
By the way, Meryl was NOT nominated again this year. This is the first time she’s gone two consecutive years without a nomination since her massive three-year drought across 2004, 2005, and 2006. (???)
6. There’s a lot of talk about how the Academy is wishy-washy on Netflix, but Netflix led all studios with 24 nominations. The Disney empire picked up 23 nods, while Sony earned 20. Netflix had one nomination in 2014, one in 2015, two in 2016, three in 2017, then eight in 2018, 15 last year, and now 24.
7. Scarlett Johansson got TWO nominations: Best Actress for “Marriage Story” and Best Supporting Actress for “Jojo Rabbit”. That’s only happened 11 other times in Oscar history.
Some of the others to do it are: Cate Blanchett in 2008, Jamie Foxx in 2005, Julianne Moore in 2003, Holly Hunter in 1994, Emma Thompson in 1994, Al Pacino in 1993, Sigourney Weaver in 1989, and Jessica Lange in 1983.
8. If you’re still fired up about Oscar snubs, you’ll probably enjoy this POEM that singer Jenny Lewis wrote about the nominations.
9. Rudy Ray Moore’s Facebook page had a fun reaction after “Dolemite Is My Name” was snubbed. It’s a clip from the “Dolemite” sequel “The Human Tornado“ where he says, “[B-word], are you for real?!” (Here’s the UNCENSORED clip.)
10. Seven of the nine movies nominated for Best Picture have combined to earn $747.2 million domestically at the box office. That’s the second best total, behind last year’s group, which earned a collective $1.26 billion, mostly thanks to “Black Panther”. That’s seven of nine because there are no official numbers for the two Netflix movies, “The Irishman” and “Marriage Story”.
(“Rolling Stone“, “The Daily Beast“, “Deadline“, and “The Hollywood Reporter” have more “snubs and surprises.”)