Ladies and gentlemen, the Academy have spoken…

A frenetic awards season has already brought us plenty of ups and downs in terms of surprises and snubs with today being no exception!

Despite a diverse reaction upon its release, the comic-book drama Joker leads this year’s nominations with eleven. The film, which centres on a troubled comedian’s transformation into the sinister supervillain, is up for Best Picture with Todd Phillips acknowledged in both Best Adapted Screenplay AND Best Director. Unsurprisingly, Joaquin Phoenix (as the disturbed Arthur Fleck) is nominated for Best Actor and is a sure-fire favourite to win the category.

Elsewhere, three films share second place on the nominations front with ten; the war thriller 1917, the Netflix crime-epic The Irishman and the lengthy dramedy Once Upon a Time in…Hollywood.

All three features made it in the Best Picture line-up with directors Sam Mendes, Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino all acknowledged in their own category.

From The Irishman, veteran stars Al Pacino (as doomed union leader Jimmy Hoffa) and Joe Pesci (as crime boss Russell Bufalino) are both nominated in Best Supporting Actor. However, the favourite for that particular award is Hollywood’s Brad Pitt (as stuntman Cliff Booth) following his recent Golden Globe win.

Brad’s co-star Leonardo DiCaprio (as struggling actor Rick Dalton) is in contention for Best Actor which includes first-time nominees Antonio Banderas (as film director Salvador Mallo) in the Spanish drama Pain and Glory and British veteran Jonathan Pryce (as the liberal Cardinal Bergolio) in the biopic The Two Popes.

Pryce’s co-star Anthony Hopkins is on the shortlist for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the conservative Pope Benedict; his first Oscar nomination since 1998!

It was a day to remember for Scarlett Johansson as she finally ended her long wait for Oscar attention by landing Best Actress AND Supporting Actress nominations for her roles as ambitious TV star Nicole Barber and devoted mother Rose Betzler in two Best Picture contenders; the divorce-based drama Marriage Story and the WWII satire Jojo Rabbit.

Marriage Story also scored acting mentions for Scar-Jo’s co-stars Adam Driver (as theatre director Charlie Barber) and Laura Dern (as divorce attorney Nora Fanshaw); the latter is heavily tipped to win her own co-star to the Supporting Actress gong.

It was also a terrific day for the Korean thriller Parasite as it landed six nominations including Best Picture and Best International Feature Film with director Bong Joon-Ho also acknowledged.

The final films to round out the nine-field shortlist for Best Picture are the racing biopic Ford v Ferrari (four nods) and the newest adaptation of Little Women (six nods).

Despite a Best Director snub for Greta Gerwig, the latter film received two acting nods for stars Saoirse Ronan (as tomboy Jo March) and first-time British nominee Florence Pugh (as the manipulative Amy March).

Another Brit to enjoy the attention is Cynthia Erivo who receives double nods for her performance as real-life abolitionist Harriet Tubman in Harriet and for her song “Stand Up.”.

Having been ignored by the Academy since 2001, two-time winner Tom Hanks is finally nominated again for his portrayal of beloved television icon Fred Rogers in the biopic A Beautiful Day in the Neighorhood.

The other actors acknowledged by the Academy are Best Actress frontrunner Renée Zellweger (as legendary performer Judy Garland) in Judy, Kathy Bates (as Bobi Jewell, the mother of harassed security guard Richard Jewell) in Richard Jewell and Bombshell co-stars Charlize Theron (as real-life Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly) and Margot Robbie (as victimised Fox employee Kayla Popisil) in Bombshell.

Notable films in contention in the technical categories include the Marvel blockbuster Avengers: Endgame, Disney’s live-action remake of The Lion King, the sci-fi drama Ad Astra, the crime caper Knives Out and the Star Wars sequel The Rise of Skywalker; the latter film scored yet another nomination for legendary composer John Williams!

Elsewhere, Toy Story 4 is a strong contender to win Best Animated Film with its competition including How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World and the Golden Globe-winning Missing Link.

Unsurprisingly, there were the usual high-profile snubs in various categories especially on the acting side of things.

Despite his Golden Globe win last week, British star Taron Egerton was overlooked in Best Actor for his portrayal of Elton John in the musical fantasy Rocketman. The film itself underperformed with Sir Elton gaining the only nomination for his Golden Globe-winning ballad “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again”.

Additionally, Jennifer Lopez was ignored in Best Supporting Actress for her impressive turn in Hustlers with other big acting snubs including Robert De Niro (The Irishman), Christian Bale (Ford v Ferrari), Awkwafina (The Farewell), Lupita Nyong’o (Us), Jamie Foxx (Just Mercy), Song Kang-Ho (Parasite) and Nicole Kidman (Bombshell).

Frozen II and Apollo 11 were both surprisingly omitted in Best Animated Film and Best Documentary Film respectively while films that were completely overlooked include Aladdin, Booksmart, Captain Marvel, Dolemite is My Name, Downton Abbey, The Farewell, Motherless Brooklyn, Uncut Gems and Wild Rose!

The 92nd Academy Awards will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on 9 February.

The full list of Oscar nominations can be seen below (winner predictions in blue).

BEST PICTURE
1917
FORD V FERRARI
THE IRISHMAN
JOJO RABBIT
JOKER
LITTLE WOMEN
MARRIAGE STORY
ONCE UPON A TIME IN…HOLLYWOOD
PARASITE

BEST DIRECTOR
Bong Joon-Ho, PARASITE
Sam Mendes, 1917
Todd Phillips, JOKER
Martin Scorsese, THE IRISHMAN
Quentin Tarantino, ONCE UPON A TIME IN…HOLLYWOOD

BEST ACTOR
Antonio Banderas, PAIN AND GLORY
Leonardo DiCaprio, ONCE UPON A TIME IN…HOLLYWOOD
Adam Driver, MARRIAGE STORY
Joaquin Phoenix, JOKER
Jonathan Pryce, THE TWO POPES

BEST ACTRESS
Cynthia Erivo, HARRIET
Scarlett Johansson, MARRIAGE STORY
Saoirse Ronan, LITTLE WOMEN
Charlize Theron, BOMBSHELL
Renée Zellweger, JUDY

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Tom Hanks, A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Anthony Hopkins, THE TWO POPES
Al Pacino, THE IRISHMAN
Joe Pesci, THE IRISHMAN
Brad Pitt, ONCE UPON A TIME IN…HOLLYWOOD

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Kathy Bates, RICHARD JEWELL
Laura Dern, MARRIAGE STORY
Scarlett Johansson, JOJO RABBIT
Florence Pugh, LITTLE WOMEN
Margot Robbie, BOMBSHELL

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
1917, Sam Mendes & Krysty Wilson-Cairns
KNIVES OUT, Rian Johnson
MARRIAGE STORY, Noah Baumbach
ONCE UPON A TIME IN…HOLLYWOOD, Quentin Tarantino
PARASITE, Bong Joon-Ho & Han Jin-Wan

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
THE IRISHMAN, Steven Zallian
JOJO RABBIT, Taika Waititi
JOKER, Todd Phillips & Scott Silver
LITTLE WOMEN, Greta Gerwig
THE TWO POPES, Anthony McCarten

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
1917
THE IRISHMAN
JOJO RABBIT
ONCE UPON A TIME IN…HOLLYWOOD
PARASITE

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
1917
THE IRISHMAN
JOKER
THE LIGHTHOUSE
ONCE UPON A TIME IN…HOLLYWOOD

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
THE IRISHMAN
JOJO RABBIT
JOKER
LITTLE WOMEN
ONCE UPON A TIME IN…HOLLYWOOD

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
1917
BOMBSHELL
JOKER
JUDY
MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL

BEST EDITING
FORD V FERRARI
THE IRISHMAN
JOJO RABBIT
JOKER
PARASITE

BEST SOUND MIXING
1917
AD ASTRA
FORD V FERRARI
JOKER
ONCE UPON A TIME IN…HOLLYWOOD

BEST SOUND EDITING
1917
FORD V FERRARI
JOKER
ONCE UPON A TIME IN…HOLLYWOOD
STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
1917
AVENGERS: ENDGAME
THE IRISHMAN
THE LION KING
STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Alexandre Desplat, LITTLE WOMEN
Hildur Guðnadóttir, JOKER
Randy Newman, MARRIAGE STORY
Thomas Newman, 1917
John Williams, STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
BREAKTHROUGH, “I’m Standing With You”
FROZEN II, “Into The Unknown”
HARRIET, “Stand Up”
ROCKETMAN, “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again”
TOY STORY 4, “I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away”

BEST ANIMATED FILM
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD
I LOST MY BODY
KLAUS
MISSING LINK
TOY STORY 4

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
CORPUS CHRISTI (Poland)
HONEYLAND (North Macedonia)
LES MISERABLES (France)
PAIN AND GLORY (Spain)
PARASITE (South Korea)

BEST DOCUMENTARY
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 SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
BROTHERHOOD
NEFTA FOOTBALL CLUB
THE NEIGHBORS’ WINDOW
SARIA
A SISTER

BEST SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
DCERA (DAUGHTER)
HAIR LOVE
KITBULL
MEMORABLE
SISTER