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Joker Sows His Signature Brand of Chaos by Sweeping the Oscar Nominations

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He’s got his eye on the prize.
He’s got his eye on the prize.
Image: Warner Bros.

When it comes to the Oscars, it’s always best to leave ‘em smiling. Todd Phillip’s Joker has made its presence known by securing a whopping 11 nominations at this year’s Academy Awards, including Best Picture. In addition, two of the biggest blockbusters of 2019—Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker—landed a few nominations for their technical feats.

Following its run at the Golden Globes, which included two wins for Best Original Score and Best Actor for Joaquin Phoenix, the Joker has come to the Academy Awards with 11 nominations across most of the major categories. This includes Best Picture, Best Director for Phillips, Best Adapted Screenplay, and of course, a Best Actor nomination for Phoenix. Taika Waititi’s Nazi satire Jojo Rabbit also got a few nominations, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actress for Scarlett Johansson.

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A few additional surprises include a Best Animated Film nod for Klaus, the Netflix project about the origin of Santa Claus, a Best Screenplay nomination for The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson’s murder mystery Knives Out (which has earned almost $200-million at the box office so far), and a Best Picture nomination for the South Korean class warfare film Parasite—in addition to it being named in the Best Foreign Film category.

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There were some disappointments too. Not only were there no women directors nominated, yet again, but only two actors of color were nominated in any of the acting categories. The Academy ignored Lupita Nyong’o’s performance in Jordan Peele’s Us, which was stellar. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and Avengers: Endgame only got a few awards for sound editing and visual effects, even though Disney was pushing hard for Robert Downey Jr. to get nominated for his final portrayal as Iron Man.

Finally, two of the biggest “we added a song into an existing thing” songs—Taylor Swift’s “Beautiful Ghosts” from Cats and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter’s “Spirit” from The Lion King—were nowhere to be found. Goes to show “Oscar Bait” can only take you so far. Here’s the full list of nominees below:


Best Picture

Ford V Ferrari
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Little Women
Marriage Story
1917
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Parasite

Best Director

Martin Scorcese, The Irishman
Todd Phillips, Joker
Sam Mendes, 1917
Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Bong Joon-ho, Parasite

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Best Actress

Cynthia Erivo, Harriet
Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story
Siorse Ronan, Little Women
Charlize Theron, Bombshell
Renee Zellweger, Judy

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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

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Best Supporting Actress

Kathy Bates, Richard Jewell
Laura Dern, Marriage Story
Scarlett Johansson, Jojo Rabbit
Florence Pugh, Little Women
Margot Robbie, Bombshell

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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

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Adapted Screenplay

Steven Zaillian, The Irishman
Taika Waititi, Jojo Rabbit
Todd Phillips, Scott Silver, Joker
Greta Gerwig, Little Women
Anthony McCarten, The Two Popes

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Original Screenplay

Rian Johnson, Knives Out
Noah Baumbach, Marriage Story
Sam Mendes, Krysty Wilson-Cairns, 1917
Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Bong Joon-ho, Han Jin Won; Story by Bong Joon-ho, Parasite

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Cinematography

Rodrigo Prieto, The Irishman
Lawrence Sher, Joker
Jarin Blaschke, The Lighthouse
Roger Deakins, 1917
Robert Richardson, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood

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Original Song

“I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away,” Toy Story 4
“(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again,” Rocketman
“I’m Standing With You,” Breakthrough
“Into The Unknown,” Frozen II
“Stand Up,” Harriet

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Original Score

Joker
Little Women
Marriage Story
1917
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Documentary Feature

American Factory
The Cave
The Edge of Democracy
For Sama
Honeyland

Documentary Short Subject

“In The Absence”
“Learning To Skateboard”
“Life Overtakes Me”
“St. Louis Superman”
“Walk, Run, Cha-Cha”

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Live Action Short Film

“Brotherhood”
“Nefta Football Club”
“The Neighbors’ Window”
“Saria”
“A Sister”

Animated Feature Film

How To Train Your Dragon
I Lost My Body
Klaus
Missing Link
Toy Story 4

Animated Short Film

“Dcera (Daughter)“
“Hair Love”
“Kitbull”
“Memorable”
“Sister”

Film Editing

Ford V Ferrari
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Parasite

Foreign Language Film

Corpus Christi
Les Miserables
Pain And Glory
Parasite

Production Design

The Irishmaan
Jojo Rabbit
1917
Once Upon a Time In Hollywood
Parasite

Costume Design

The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Little Women
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Visual Effects

Avengers: Endgame
The Irishman
The Lion King
1917
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Makeup and Hairstyling

Bombshell
Joker
Judy
Malificent: Mistress of Evil
1917

Sound Mixing

Ad Astra
Ford V Ferrari
Joker
1917
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Sound Editing

Ford V Ferrari
Joker
1917
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

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