We’ve finally arrived at the day Lady Gaga has been waiting for for a long time: Academy Award® nomination day. Early this morning, Kumail Nanjiani and Tracee Ellis Ross revealed the movies, actors, actresses, directors, songwriters and others who are up for the golden statue the evening of February 24 on ABC. And Gaga can breathe a sigh of relief, because she was indeed nominated for Leading Actress and Original Song for A Star is Born. The awards show itself is still without a host, and I’m beginning to wonder if they might just try running it without one. That idea would get my vote, as long as they give the various presenters less corny lines!
As always, since the nominations come after a slew of industry awards have already been doled out, there were a lot of expected films and names in each category. But there were also some surprises. A big one was Bradley Cooper being shut out of the Director category for A Star is Born, despite the romantic drama earning nods for Best Picture, Leading Actress, Leading Actor, Actor in a Supporting Role, Adapted Screenplay and Original Song.
So instead of it being A Star is Born leading the pack as many thought it would, the goofy dark comedy The Favourite and the black-and-white drama Roma are the front-runners with 10 nominations each. Other surprises Roma threw our way included both first-time actress Yalitza Aparicio and accomplished stage actress Marina de Tavira earning nods for Leading Actress and Actress in a Supporting Role, respectively. I had been pulling for Nicole Kidman to earn the fifth Leading Actress spot for her amazing turn in the gritty crime drama Destroyer, but it was not meant to be.
There were some exciting firsts, too: Black Panther became the first superhero movie to ever be nominated in the Best Picture category. And The Favourite is the first film to have a trio of actresses all nominated (Olivia Colman for Leading Actress, and both Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz for Actress in a Supporting Role). This is also the first year Spike Lee has ever been nominated in the Director category, believe it or not. And while Netflix has earned Oscar nominations in previous years, this was the first time it’s had a film (Roma) in the Best Picture category.
Here are the nominations for the major categories, and you can find the full list on Oscars.com.
BEST PICTURE
Black Panther
BlacKkKlansman
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Favourite
Green Book
Roma
A Star Is Born
Vice
DIRECTOR
Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman
Pawel Pawlikowski, Cold War
Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite
Alfonso Cuarón, Roma
Adam McKay, Vice
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Yalitza Aparicio, Roma
Glenn Close, The Wife
Lady Gaga, A Star Is Born
Olivia Colman, The Favourite
Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Amy Adams, Vice
Marina de Tavira, Roma
Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk
Emma Stone, The Favourite
Rachel Weisz, The Favourite
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Christian Bale, Vice
Bradley Cooper, A Star Is
Born
Willem Dafoe, At Eternity’s Gate
Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody
Viggo Mortensen, Green Book
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Mahershala Ali, Green Book
Adam Driver, BlackKKlansman
Sam Elliott, A Star Is Born
Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Sam Rockwell, Vice
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Free Solo
Hale County This Morning, This Evening
Minding the Gap
Of Fathers and Sons
RBG
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Incredibles 2
Isle of Dogs
Mirai
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
First Reformed
Green Book
Roma
The Favourite
Vice
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
BlacKkKlansman
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
If Beale Street Could Talk
A Star Is Born
ORIGINAL SCORE
Black Panther
BlacKkKlansman
If Beale Street Could Talk
Isle of Dogs
Mary Poppins Returns
ORIGINAL SONG
“All The Stars” – Black Panther
“I’ll Fight” – RBG
“Shallow” – A Star Is Born
“The Place Where Lost Things Go” – Mary Poppins Returns
“When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” – The Ballad of Buster Scruggs