Roll out the red carpet because award season is finally here.
The Academy unveiled this year’s Oscar nominations on Tuesday morning with “The Favourite” and “Roma” taking the lead with a tie of 10 nominations each. Both films will compete for the best picture, best director and best screenplay categories.
Alongside the two powerhouse films, the best picture category holds other blockbusters — “BlacKkKlansman,” “Green Book,” “A Star is Born,” “Vice,” “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Black Panther.”
Marvel’s “Black Panther” made history as the first superhero movie to be nominated for best picture, and production designer Hannah Beachler is the first African American to be nominated for best production design.
Bradley Cooper’s directing debut and singer-songwriter Lady Gaga’s acting debut paved the way for “A Star is Born,” receiving eight nominations from the Academy. “Vice” also received eight nominations, followed by “Black Panther” with seven and “BlacKkKlansman” with six. “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Greenbook” finish the front-runners, each receiving five nominations.
There isn’t a clear shoo-in for best picture as each topped box office records, and they are all fan-favorites. “Bohemian Rhapsody” took home the Golden Globe for best picture, while “Roma” was named the best film of 2018 at the Critics’ Choice Awards and took home more awards than any other film from the last year. It is also the first Netflix film to be nominated for an academy award. Best Film could really be anybody’s game.
Many are excited to see the runoff for best actress between Glenn Close (“The Wife”) and Lady Gaga (“A Star is Born”). While Close won the Golden Globe equivalent, The Critics’ Choice Awards ended in a tie for Best Actress with Gaga and Close sharing the spotlight. Since this was Gaga’s first appearance in a major film, it is a huge honor to be nominated alongside of such notable actresses.
Yalitza Aparicio (“Roma”), Olivia Colman (“The Favourite”) and Melissa McCarthy (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”) were also nominated for Best Actress. Many believe Emily Blunt was snubbed from this nomination for her performance in “Mary Poppins Returns.”
Speaking of major snubs, Cooper, unfortunately, must sit out of the running for Best Director for his work on “A Star is Born.” Although this is his directing debut, many were surprised to not see Cooper’s name, since he was nominated for Best Director at both the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards.
Meanwhile, Spike Lee finally earned a nomination for Best Director for his work on “BlacKkKlansman” more than 30 years after his directing debut. In 2016, Lee received his first Oscar award, an honorary Academy Award. Considering his extensive repertoire of considerable works — such as “Do the Right Thing” and “Malcolm X” — his recognition for the directing category has been long overdue.
In the directing category, Lee is joined by Paweł Pawlikowski (“Cold War”), Yorgos Lanthimos (“The Favourite”), Alfonso Cuarón (“Roma”) and Adam McKay (“Vice”).
Always a bloodbath category, this year’s Best Actor race is no exception. The five men nominated — Christian Bale (“Vice”), Cooper, Willem Dafoe (“At Eternity’s Gate”), Rami Malek (“Bohemian Rhapsody”) and Viggo Mortensen (“Green Book”) — each had phenomenal performances, embodying their respective characters.
The fan favorite seems to be Rami Malek for his performance as Queen frontman Freddie Mercury (he took home the Golden Globe). However, Bale, who won the Critics’ Choice Award and made a shocking transformation to Dick Cheney in “Vice,” also has a shot at the title. Mortensen’s performance would also not be a surprising choice by the Academy.
