2020 Oscar Nominations: ‘Joker’ Leads with 11 Nominations!

Posted on by DC Bolling

The time has arrived! The long-awaited nominations for the 92nd Academy Awards have been announced early Monday morning, where we get to witness what movies from 2019 honored in the categories to win the golden statue. But the most common aspect with every year around this time, there will be some surprises and snubs around the corner that most wouldn’t agree on.

Issa Rae and John Cho presented all 24 categories live at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles with some good banter between the two. At least it wasn’t pre-recorded like last year. Though when it comes with this year’s nominations? I can say I feel a bit satisfied with whom the Academy picked, even though there are several snubs.

In a surprise move, Joker leads the most nominations with 11 total, including Best Picture, Best Director for Todd Phillips (which won’t be controversial at all), and Joaquin Phoenix for Best Actor for his phenomenal portrayal of the classic comic book villain. I expected the film to get some Oscar love, but it’s cool to see it earned so many nominations, and this is coming from someone who loves Joker, despite those hating on a good movie like this. It even beats The Dark Knight‘s eight nominations. Not only that, but it joins Black Panther as a rare comic book movie to earn a spot in Best Picture.

We also got three movies tied with ten nominations each: 1917, The Irishman, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. All three earned slots in Best Picture, Best Director, and a screenplay nomination. For my money, I was expecting Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which won the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Picture the night before, would get the most nominations, but I’m happy to see it get more attention after it came out in the summer.

But just looking at who’s up for Best Picture (1917, Ford V Ferrari, The Irishman, Jojo Rabbit, Joker, Little Women, Marriage Story, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and Parasite), this is probably the best-looking list of movies that I can’t complain about. I personally enjoyed all nine nominees, and when Ford V Ferrari is perhaps the weakest out of the bunch, I knew this would be the right set that I can’t see anymore complain about.

Though one of the biggest problems with these nominations is that it’s another year the Academy doesn’t nominate any women for Best Director, including Greta Gerwig for Little Women, even though she got in for Best Adapted Screenplay. Not only that, but not a ton of diversity in the acting categories, besides Cynthia Erivo (Harriet). Kind of a bummer move on them for not showing more class for who they pick.

Just like last year, I’ll also do a post about the snubs and surprises that I took notice while watching the nominations.

In the meantime, check out the full list of nominations of the 24 categories below, and be sure to check back before the ceremony on ABC on February 9th to see who I think will win.

Best Picture:

Best Director:

Best Actor:

Best Actress:

Best Supporting Actor:

Best Supporting Actress:

Best Original Screenplay:

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Best Animated Feature:

Best International Feature Film:

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

Best Editing:

Best Cinematography:

Best Production Design:

Best Costume Design:

Best Makeup and Hairstyling:

Best Visual Effects:

Best Sound Mixing:

Best Sound Editing:

Best Original Score:

Best Original Song:

  • “I’m Standing With You”- Breakthrough
  • “Into the Unknown”- Frozen 2
  • “Stand Up”- Harriet
  • “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again”- Rocketman
  • “I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away”- Toy Story 4

Best Documentary Feature:

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

Best Documentary Short Subject:

  • In the Absence
  • Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl)
  • 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 Neighbors’ Window
  • Saria
  • A Sister

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Published by DC Bolling

DC Bolling is earned his B.A. in Communication and has been writing movie reviews on DC's Take since the summer of 2017. As of 2022, he also contributes as a writer for Indiana's Film Yap and is a member of the Online Film Critics Society.