The 2020 Oscar Nominations Are In

Movies

The Oscar nominations for the 92^nd Annual Academy Awards were announced yesterday morning. Joker led the pack with 11 nominations, while Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, The Irishman, and 1917 had 10 each. The Oscar nominations were presented by actors John Cho and Issa Rae at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. Here’s the presentation:

Or, if you’d rather just read the nominees list, click here.

This is certainly a surprise. I’m glad Joker is nominated, but I’m astonished that it’s been getting as much recognition as it has been. The press waged war on this movie before it even released, declaring it an ode to incels and “angry white men,” or some such ignorant nonsense. Then director Todd Phillips said too many people find comedy offensive nowadays, and the same sticks in the mud to whom he was referring clutched their pearls and raced to be the first to prove him right. As the Academy Awards are typically highly politicized, I figured Joker would be buried, despite its resounding success both at the box office and in the cultural zeitgeist. But here we are, and the Clown Prince of Crime has run away with more Oscar nominations than his competitors. The usual suspects are angry, of course, and not just because of Joker. The Academy made a big no-no and nominated all men for Best Director this year, and Issa Rae was the first to make her displeasure known publicly (“Congratulations to those men”). I have to agree; it’s a sad state of affairs when the Academy stoops so low as to nominate talentless hacks like Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, and Sam Mendes just to keep women down. Much like when Adam McKay was nominated for The Big Short, there’s a director I never thought I’d see up for an Oscar in contention this year, and, like McKay, Todd Phillips absolutely deserves his recognition.

Another pleasant surprise was seeing Ford v. Ferrari get some Oscar nominations. Again, it was attacked as being a movie about men – the horror – and straight, white men at that (despite being a true story about real people; we’re doomed as a species, aren’t we?). Matt Damon and Christian Bale didn’t get nominated, nor did director James Mangold, but it’s a pretty stacked year, and I can’t fault them for that; it is, however, up for Best Picture, Best Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing. I’d love for it to win the sound awards, although my guess as of now is that those will go to 1917 (which I haven’t seen yet – my previous attempt was thwarted because it was still in limited release and there were no seats when we got to the theater – but I’m sure is excellent). Regardless, I’m delighted that it’s being included among the best movies of the year, which it certainly is. And that’s perhaps the happiest surprise of all for me; my favorite films of the year have all been nominated (Joker, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, The Irishman, and Ford v Ferrari – I’m anticipating 1917 rounding out the top five when I finally see it). It’s a good feeling; the Oscars have always been important to me, but the ramping up of politics in the ceremony has led me to stop watching them. Between the Academy bucking the woke demands of sewer-dwelling Twitter warriors and Ricky Gervais’ tone-setting fusillade at the Golden Globes, I may tune in again this year with a ballot filled out.

Are you happy with the Oscar nominations this year? Did your favorite movies get some love? Will you be boycotting in solidarity with Greta Gerwig? Let us know in the comments and stick around Geeks + Gamers for more movie news!