The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released the year’s long awaited Oscar nominations early Jan. 21. Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Favourite” and Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” led all nominations at 10 a piece, including nominations in best picture and best director.
Along with Cuaron and Lanthimos, Spike Lee picked up his first best director nomination for “Blackkklansman,” while Adam Mckay and Pawel Pawlikowski earned nominations for “Vice” and “Cold War,” respectively.
“Vice” and “A Star is Born” trailed the lead with eight nominations. While Bradley Cooper didn’t earn a bid for best director for “A Star is Born,” he was nominated for best lead actor and the film itself earned a bid for best picture. “Vice” was nominated for most major categories, including Christian Bale for best lead actor, Sam Rockwell for best supporting actor, Amy Adams for best supporting actress, Adam Mckay for best director, and most importantly, a nomination for best picture.
“What VICE tries to do well is to help us understand how we got to where we are today, no matter what your politics may be,” Executive Producer Kevin Messick said to Inklings. “And the multiple nominations this morning were a great affirmation for the film.”
People were disappointed in the 2019 Oscar snubs. Besides the main controversy of Bradley Cooper’s failure to get a nomination for best director, there was also controversy surrounding the lack of nominations with Toni Colette for best lead actress in Hereditary and Michael B. Jordan for best supporting actor in “Black Panther.” Finally, Timothee Chalamet was shut out of Oscar contention for his supporting role in “Beautiful Boy”.
“Mixed reviews for the film, combined with the Academy’s tendency to snub performances by young male heartthrobs (just ask Leonardo DiCaprio about ‘Titanic’), may have hurt him,” Variety wrote.
The 2019 Oscars will definitely be different this year. For the first time in 80 years, there will be no host, and the majority of breaks in between awards will be musically focused with performances from including, but not limited to “A Star is Born” and “Bohemian Rhapsody.”