JOKER HAS LAST LAUGH WITH ELEVEN 2020 OSCAR NOMINATIONS

Who’s laughing now?

2019’s most talked-about anti-hero odyssey Joker emerged as the unlikely front-runner from this morning’s Academy Awards nominations announcement. A film that many analysts called dangerously subversive, split the critical community and caused a social media storm upon its release was welcomed with open arms by AMPAS voters, scoring 11 nominations including Best Picture, Best Lead Actor for Joaquin Phoenix and Best Director for Todd Phillips. Add the accolades to a $1billion global box office haul and there is a lot to smile about over at Warner Bros.

Also grinning from ear to ear are the team at Netflix, with the streaming platform leading the nomination tally with 24 Oscar mentions. Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman (pictured, right) with 10 nominations, Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story with six and Fernando Meirelles’ The Two Popes with three are flying the flag for Hollywood’s new kid on the block – a kid that is redefining the ‘mini/major’ studio system of old.

In the mix with 10 nominations apiece are Quentin Tarantino’s revisionist LA buddy pic Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood and Sam Mendes’ WW1 epic 1917. Alongside Marriage Story with 6 nominations each are Taiki Waititi’s anti-hate charmer Jojo Rabbit, Greta Gerwig’s literary adaptation Little Women and, continuing its extraordinary surge towards Oscar glory, South Korean superstar director Bong Joon-ho’s foreign film ‘blockbuster’ Parasite. The blackly funny home invasion romp will vie for both Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Oscars.

Those hoping to wrestle the trophy from Phillips for Best Director are Martin Scorsese (The Irishman), Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time…in Holywood), Bong Joon-ho (Parasite) and Sam Mendes (1917).

Vying for Lead Actor honours with Phoenix are Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory; pictured, right), Leonardo DiCaprio (Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood), Adam Driver (Marriage Story) and this year’s bolter, Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes). Those that missed out in a wildly competitive year include Golden Globe winner Taron Edgerton (Rocketman), Adam Sandler (Uncut Gems), Eddie Murphy (Dolemite is my Name) and Christian Bale (Ford vs Ferrari, which otherwise did well with four nominations, including Best Picture).

Lead Actress contenders stuck closely to recent award season form, with Renee Zellweger’s transformative turn as showbiz icon Judy Garland in Rupert Goold’s Judy considered the favourite. Also in the mix are Saorsie Ronan (Little Women), Charlize Theron (Bombshell), Cynthia Erivo (Harriet) and Scarlett Johansson (Marriage Story). Johansson is the ‘Golden Girl’ of this year’s Oscar season, earning a second nomination in the Supporting Actress category for Jojo Rabbit.

Those snubbed in this category point to a noticeable lack of diversity in this year’s nominations, with Golden Globe-winning Asian-American actress Awkwafina (The Farewell) and African-American star Lupita Nyong’o (Us) cast aside for their lead roles. Despite his film’s six nominations, Parasite leading man Kang-ho Song was left out, as was Latino superstar Jennifer Lopez for her supporting role in Lorene Scafaria’s Hustlers; across the four main acting categories, Cynthia Erivo (pictured, right) and Antonio Banderas are the only torchbearers for ethnicity. Little Women director Greta Gerwig was bumped from the Best Director race, despite her film earning six noms in total (she was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay).

Other notable omissions from the nomination roster are Disney/Pixar’s animated blockbuster, Frozen 2, which lost its place in the cartoon category to Netflix’s surprise hit Klaus; Beyonce, who’ll be home in her jammies on Oscar night due to her original song ‘Spirit’ from The Lion King missing out; Robert De Niro, the once perennial Oscar nominee, for The Irishman (despite co-stars Al Pacino and Joe Pesci earning Supporting Actor shots); writers Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Susanna Fogel and Katie Silberman, who penned the smartest teen film since Clueless, Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart; and, everyone but Supporting Actor nominee Tom Hanks for Marielle Heller’s brilliant but underseen gem, A Beautiful Day in Your Neighbourhood (pictured, above; Heller).

The complete list of 2020 Oscar nominations is listed below. The 92nd Academy Awards will be held Sunday, February 9:

Best Picture: “Ford v Ferrari” (Disney/Fox); “The Irishman” (Netflix); “Jojo Rabbit” (Fox Searchlight); “Joker” (Warner Bros.); “Little Women” (Sony); “Marriage Story” (Netflix); “1917” (Universal); “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood” (Sony); “Parasite” (Neon)

Best Director: Martin Scorsese (“The Irishman”); Todd Phillips (“Joker”); Sam Mendes (“1917”); Quentin Tarantino (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”); Bong Joon Ho (“Parasite”)

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”; pictured, right); Charlize Theron (“Bombshell”); Renee Zellweger (“Judy”)

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”)

Supporting Actress: Kathy Bates (“Richard Jewell”); Laura Dern (“Marriage Story”); Scarlett Johansson (“Jojo Rabbit”); Florence Pugh (“Little Women”); Margot Robbie (“Bombshell”)

Adapted Screenplay: Taika Waititi (“Jojo Rabbit”); Steve Zaillian (“The Irishman”); Anthony McCarten (“The Two Popes”); Greta Gerwig (“Little Women”); Todd Phillips and Scott Silver (“Joker”)

Best Original Screenplay: Rian Johnson (“Knives Out”); Noah Baumbach (“Marriage Story”); Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns (“1917”); Quentin Tarantino (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”); Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won (“Parasite”)

Animated Feature: “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World”; “I Lost My Body”; “Klaus” (pictured, right); “Missing Link”; “Toy Story 4”

International Feature Film: “Corpus Christi”; “Honeyland”; “Les Miserables”; “Pain and Glory”; “Parasite”

Best Documentary: “American Factory”; “The Cave”; “Edge of Democracy”; “For Sama”; “Honeyland”

Best Cinematography: Rodrigo Prieto, “The Irishman”; Lawrence Sher, “Joker”; Jarin Blaschke, “The Lighthouse”; Roger Deakins, “1917”; Robert Richardson, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”

Best Costume Design: Sandy Powell and Christopher Peterson, “The Irishman”; Mayes C. Rubeo, “Jojo Rabbit”; Mark Bridges, “Joker”; Jacqueline Durran, “Little Women”; Arianne Phillip, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”

Film Editing: Michael McCusker and Andrew Buckland, “Ford vs. Ferrari”; Thelma Schoonmaker, “The Irishman”; Tom Eagles, “Jojo Rabbit”; Jeff Groth, “Joker”; Yang Jinmo, “Parasite”

Makeup and Hairstyling: “Bombshell” (Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan and Vivian Baker); “Joker” (Nicki Ledermann and Kay Georgiou); “Judy” (Jeremy Woodhead); “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” (Paul Gooch, Arjen Tuiten and David White); “1917” (Naomi Donne, Tristan Versluis and Rebecca Cole)

Original Score: Hildur Guðnadóttir, “Joker”; Alexandre Desplat, “Little Women”; Randy Newman, “Marriage Story”; Thomas Newman, “1917”; John Williams, “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”

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 2”; Stand Up, “Harriet”

Production Design: “The Irishman” - Production Design: Bob Shaw, Set Decoration: Regina Graves; “Jojo Rabbit” - Production Design: Ra Vincent, Set Decoration: Nora Sopková; “1917” - Production Design: Dennis Gassner, Set Decoration: Lee Sandales; “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” - Production Design: Barbara Ling, Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh; “Parasite” - Production Design: Lee Ha Jun, Set Decoration: Cho Won Woo

Sound Editing: “Ford v Ferrari” (Donald Sylvester); “Joker” (Alan Robert Murray); “1917” (Oliver Tarney and Rachael Tate); “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” (Wylie Stateman); “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” (Matthew Wood and David Acord)

Sound Mixing: “Ad Astra” (Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson and Mark Ulano); “Ford vs. Ferrari” (Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Steven A. Morrow); “Joker” (Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic and Tod Maitland); “1917” (Mark Taylor and Stuart Wilson); “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” (Michael Minkler, Christian P. Minkler and Mark Ulano)

Visual Effects: “Avengers: Endgame” (Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Matt Aitken and Dan Sudick); “The Irishman” (Pablo Helman, Leandro Estebecorena, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser and Stephane Grabli); “The Lion King” (Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Elliot Newman); “1917” (Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler and Dominic Tuohy); “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” (Roger Guyett, Neal Scanlan, Patrick Tubach and Dominic Tuohy)

Documentary (Short Subject): “In the Absence”; “Learning to Skateboard in a War Zone If You’re a Girl” (pictured, above); “Life Overtakes Me”; “St. Louis Superman”; “Walk Run Cha-Cha”

Short Film (Animated): “Daughter”; “Hair Love”; “Kitbull”; “Memorable”; “Sister”

Short Film (Live Action): “Brotherhood”; “Nefta Football Club”; “The Neighbor’s Window”; “Saria”; “A Sister”

ROMA, THE FAVOURITE LEAD 91ST ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS.

Alfonso Quaron’s Roma and Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite lead the pack of nominees for the 91^st Academy Awards, with each film to compete in 10 categories when the awards are announced on February 24. The full list of nominees were announced this morning in Los Angeles by Tracee Ellis Ross, star of the TV series black-ish, and Kumail Nanjiani, a nominee in 2018 for The Big Sick.

Roma and The Favourite are frontrunners in the Best Film category, though will not have it all their own way, with Peter Farrelly’s Green Book (5 nominations) on a roll in the wake of Golden Globe and PGA top honours. Other Best Picture nominees are Black Panther (7 nominations), BlackkKlansman (6), Bohemian Rhapsody (5), A Star is Born (8) and Vice (8).

The Academy’s embrace of Roma signifies a major turning point in the industry’s acceptance of streaming service Netflix, which has emerged as the third most nominated ‘studio’ this year. Also nominated in three categories is The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, the content provider’s collaboration with Oscar favourites Joel and Ethan Coen. (Pictured, right; Quaron directs his lead actress Yalitza Aparicio on the set of Roma) 

Netflix’s nomination tally sees it behind Walt Disney Studios (16) and Fox Searchlight (15), while outpacing mini-major Annapurna Pictures (11), Universal (9), Warner Bros (9), Focus Features (8), 20^th Century Fox (5) and Sony Pictures Classic (4).

Oscar’s embrace of Quaron’s stylised account of his upbringing in Mexico’s middle-class extended to the Best Actress category, where Yalitza Aparicio earned a nomination for her stoic turn as the household’s nanny/maid. Award bodies have so far largely ignored her central performance, citing the writer/director’s contribution as key to the film’s success. She will compete against Glenn Close (The Wife), Olivia Colman (The Favourite), Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) and Lady Gaga (A Star is Born). (Pictured, left; Nominees Rachel Weisz, left, and Olivia Colman from The Favourite)

Bradley Cooper’s directing prowess on the musical remake was strangely snubbed in favour of his lead actor skills, which have largely taken a backseat to his work behind the camera in the awards season race. The other Best Actor nominees are otherwise as expected, with Cooper to face off against Christian Bale (Vice), Willem Dafoe (At Eternity’s Gate), Viggo Mortensen (Green Book) and Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody).

Cooper’s slot in the Best Director race is likely to have been filled by Polish auteur Pawel Pawlikowski, whose tragic romance Cold War (the second monochromatic feature in contention, alongside Roma) earned three nominations. The great iconoclast Spike Lee (pictured, right; with Topher grace, centre, and Supporting Actor nominee Adam Driver) has finally been taken into Oscar’s inner sanctum with his first nomination, for BlacKkklansman; fellow nominees are Lanthimos, Cuaron and Adam Mckay (Vice).

The list of those that could not catch Oscar’s eye include lead actress Elsie Fischer and original screenplay hope Bo Burnham for Eighth Grade; SAG-nominated Emily Blunt, for either lead actress in Mary Poppins (which did earn four other nominations) or supporting actress for A Quiet Place; Ethan Hawke for his lead acting in First Reformed (although Paul Schrader’s original script was shortlisted); Damian Chazelle’s astronaut saga First Man, which earned four tech nods but missed Picture, Actor (Ryan Gosling), Supporting Actress (Claire Foy) and Score; Toni Collette for her wild lead turn in Hereditary; the year’s most acclaimed and successful documentary, Won’t You Be My Neighbour?;  and, Nicole Kidman, for either Destroyer or Boy Erased, both of which had award season momentum. The absence, again, of any female Best Director nominees has been noted, with Lynne Ramsay (You Were Never Really Here), Debra Granik (Leave No Trace), Tamara Jenkins (Private Life), Karyn Kusama (Destroyer), Mimi Leder (On the Basis of Sex), Josie Rourke (Mary Queen of Scots) and Chloe Zhao (The Rider) all considered serious contenders. 

The full list of 2019 Academy award nominees are:

Best Picture: Black Panther; BlacKkKlansman; Bohemian Rhapsody; The Favourite; Green Book; Roma; A Star Is Born; Vice.

Lead Actor: Christian Bale, Vice; Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born; Willem Dafoe, At Eternity’s Gate;  Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody; Viggo Mortensen, Green Book.

Lead Actress: Yalitza Aparicio, Roma; Glenn Close, The Wife; Olivia Colman, The Favourite; Lady Gaga, A Star Is Born; Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali, Green Book; Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman; Sam Elliott, A Star Is Born; Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?; Sam Rockwell, Vice.

Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, Vice; Marina de Tavira, Roma; Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk; Emma Stone, The Favourite; Rachel Weisz, The Favourite.

Director: Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman; Pawel Pawlikowski, Cold War; Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite; Alfonso Cuarón, Roma; Adam McKay, Vice.

Animated Feature: Incredibles 2; Isle of Dogs; Mirai; Ralph Breaks the Internet; Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

Animated Short: Animal Behaviour; Bao; Late Afternoon; One Small Step; Weekends.

Adapted Screenplay: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs; Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott and Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman; Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty, Can You Ever Forgive Me?; Barry Jenkins, If Beale Street Could Talk; Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper, Will Fetters, A Star Is Born.

Original Screenplay: Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara, The Favourite; Paul Schrader, First Reformed;  Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly, Green Book; Alfonso Cuarón, Roma; Adam McKay, Vice.

Cinematography: Lukasz Zal, Cold War; Robbie Ryan, The Favourite; Caleb Deschanel, Never Look Away; Alfonso Cuarón, Roma; Matthew Libatique, A Star is Born

Best Documentary Feature: Free Solo; Hale County This Morning, This Evening; Minding the Gap; Of Fathers and Sons; RBG.

Best Documentary Short Subject: Black Sheep; End Game; Lifeboat; A Night at the Garden; Period. End of Sentence.

Best Live Action Short Film: Detainment; Fauve; Marguerite; Mother; Skin.

Best Foreign Language Film: Capernaum (Lebanon); Cold War (Poland); Never Look Away” (Germany); Roma (Mexico); Shoplifters (Japan).

Film Editing: Barry Alexander Brown, BlacKkKlansman; John Ottman, Bohemian Rhapsody; Patrick J. Don Vito, Green Book; Yorgos Mavropsaridis, The Favourite; Hank Corwin, Vice.

Sound Editing: Benjamin A. Burtt, Steve Boeddeker, Black Panther; John Warhurst, Bohemian Rhapsody; Ai-Ling Lee, Mildred Iatrou Morgan, First Man; Ethan Van der Ryn, Erik Aadahl, A Quiet Place; Sergio Diaz, Skip Lievsay, Roma.

Sound Mixing: Black Panther; Bohemian Rhapsody; First Man; Roma; A Star Is Born.

Production Design: Black Panther; First Man; The Favourite; Mary Poppins Returns; Roma.

Original Score: Terence Blanchard, BlacKkKlansman; Ludwig Goransson, Black Panther; Nicholas Britell, If Beale Street Could Talk; Alexandre Desplat, Isle of Dogs; Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman, Mary Poppins Returns

Original Song: “All The Stars” from Black Panther by Kendrick Lamar, SZA; “I’ll Fight” from RBG by Diane Warren, Jennifer Hudson; “The Place Where Lost Things Go” from Mary Poppins Returns by Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman; “Shallow” from A Star Is Born by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando, Andrew Wyatt and Benjamin Rice; “When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch.

Makeup and Hair: Border; Mary Queen of Scots; Vice.

Costume Design: Mary Zophres, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs; Ruth E. Carter, Black Panther; Sandy Powell, The Favourite; Sandy Powell, Mary Poppins Returns; Alexandra Byrne, Mary Queen of Scots.

Visual Effects: Avengers: Infinity War; Christopher Robin; First Man; Ready Player One; Solo: A Star Wars Story.

THE ACTRESSES WHO SPUN OSCAR CACHE INTO STUDIO PAYDAYS

Hollywood boardrooms court established brands to soften the ‘no one knows anything’ nature of studio hit-making. And next to money-spinners like Iron Man, Captain America and now, Black Panther, the brand Hollywood loves most is the little golden guy, Oscar. So Oscar Cred-plus-Pop Culture Icon would seem like a sure box office thing, right? With Supporting Actress darling Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl, 2015) about to debut as gamer-babe Lara Croft and 2015 Best Actress Brie Larson’s MCU shot Captain Marvel in production, we look at four Academy Award winners, each of them a Hollywood leading lady, who banked blockbuster bucks in the wake of Oscar glory. The question is, “Was it worth it…?

ANJELINA JOLIE
HER OSCAR WIN: Best Supporting Actress, GIRL INTERRUPTED (Dir: James Mangold; 1999)
HER FRANCHISE SHOT: As Lara Croft in Paramount Pictures’ LARA CROFT TOMB RAIDER (Dir: Simon West; 2001)
THE VERDICT: When Paramount poured US$115million into a female-led action film in a marketplace with a patchy track record for vidgame adaptations, the studio was banking that the red-hot Oscar winner’s penchant for publicity and four-quadrant appeal would pay dividends. A prime June 15 summer slot opened the door to a US$131million gross (a further US$144million internationally), spinning Jolie’s Supporting Actress cache into box office traction. The hastily cobbled-together 2003 sequel, overseen by Speed director Jan de Bont, killed off Croft’s bigscreen life until 2018’s reboot. (Pictured, right; Anjelina Jolie, with Daniel Craig, in 2001's Lara Croft Tomb Raider)
WORTH IT?: Yes

HALLE BERRY
HER OSCAR WIN: Best Actress, MONSTER’S BALL (Dir: Marc Forster; 2001)
HER FRANCHISE SHOT: As Patience Phillips/Catwoman in CATWOMAN (Dir: Pitof; 2004)
THE VERDICT: Warner Bros had been trying to greenlight a Catwoman feature since Michelle Pfeiffer set screens alight as the feline femme in Tim Burton’s Batman Returns, twenty years prior (both Ashley Judd and Nicole Kidman came close to donning the leather garb). When Halle Berry lifted the Best Actress trophy for Monster’s Ball, stardom beckoned in the form of DC Comic’s most complex female character; Warners sniffed a Batman-sized smash. Instead, the US$100million pic sulked to a US$60million worldwide gross, sunk by a wave of scathing reviews. In his New York Times review, A.O. Scott summed up the disaster that was Catwoman when he stated, “It made me think back fondly on ‘Garfield’”; the late Roger Ebert calls it one of the movies he hates the most. Berry took the response in her professional stride, even accepting in person the Worst Actress trophy at the infamous Golden Raspberry ceremony.
WORTH IT?: God, no.

CHARLIZE THERON
HER OSCAR WIN: Best Actress, MONSTER (Dir: Patty Jenkins; 2003)
HER FRANCHISE SHOT: As Aeon Flux in Paramount Pictures’ ÆON FLUX (Dir: Karyn Kusama; 2005)
THE VERDICT: Paramount sensed a new female-led action tentpole in Æon Flux, the long-in-development adaptation of MTV’s iconic 90s anime heroine; in Charlize Theron, the South African model-turned-Oscar winner due her studio blockbuster breakthrough, they had their dystopian future action lead. But the arthouse audience and critical community who warmed to her as serial killer Aileen Wournos in Patty Jenkin’s Monster (domestic gross, US$34million) showed little interest in her sci-fi action franchise gamble; nor did mainstream audiences, who largely turned their backs on the US$62million flop. An untested blockbuster director (Girlfight’s Karyn Kusama) and a studio regime change that took creative control of the film and dumped it into the early December multiplexes with little fanfare meant that Theron’s Oscar’s glow had long since faded. (Pictured, above; Theron as Aeon Flux)
WORTH IT?: It’s slowly developing the cult following (that it perhaps unconsciously courted), but ask the Paramount bean counters and…no, not worth it.

ANNE HATHAWAY
HER OSCAR WIN: Best Supporting Actress, LES MISERABLES (Dir: Tom Hooper; 2012)
HER FRANCHISE SHOT: As Selina Kyle/Catwoman in the stalled CATWOMAN reboot.
THE VERDICT: This one’s a mystery for the ages. When her take on Catwoman brightened up Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises (2012), the industry buzzed about the potential for a spinoff starring the Les Miserables trophy winner. She took the supporting role of ‘Fantine’ for its prestige value and was weighing up whether Catwoman would be her first post-Oscar leading part (that took another three years, in 2015’s The Intern). In 2012, Nolan stirred the casting pot when asked if Hathaway could carry her own Selina Kyle story. “I certainly think she deserves it,” he told The Gaurdian, “Anne is incredibly precise and articulate about the psychology of the character." As recently as 2016, Hathaway was keeping the dream alive; she told Variety, “I think the Chris Nolan chapter of the Batman story has been wrapped up and I’m part of that, but I love the DC Universe and it would be fun to take a trip back.”
WORTH IT?: We’ll see…

OSCAR SPLASHES OUT: THE SHAPE OF WATER, DUNKIRK LEAD 2018 NOMINATIONS

Nine films will vie for the Best Picture Oscar at the 90^th annual Academy Awards ceremony, to be held March 4 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Guillermo Del Toro’s love letter to the Hollywood horror films of yore, The Shape of Water firmed as favourite to take home the top honour on the back of its 13 nominations.

Other nominees in the race for Best Picture are Dunkirk (8 nominations), Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (7), Darkest Hour (6), Phantom Thread (6), Lady Bird (5), Get Out (4), Call Me By Your Name (4) and The Post (2). Award season contenders that failed to make the Best Picture shortlist include The Florida Project, The Disaster Artist and Mudbound.

A late season surge by Paul Thomas Anderson’s dressmaker drama Phantom Thread (pictured, right), which had trouble finding traction early in the awards race, appears to have scuppered the chances of several films who were once considered ‘sure things’. Both director Steven Spielberg and star Tom Hanks were overlooked for The Post (it’s only other nomination was for perennial Best Actress nominee Meryl Streep, her 21st); actor/director James Franco and his tribute to ‘never-say-die’ filmmaking, The Disaster Artist were shunted, earning just a single nod for Adapted Screenplay.

The Hollywood men’s club that was the Best Cinematography category is no more, with Mudbound DOP Rachel Morrison becoming the first woman to be nominated in the category; it was one of four nominations for director Dee Rees’ slave story and represents the first non-documentary showing for streaming giant Netflix.

Greta Gerwig became the fifth woman to be nominated for Best Director for her coming-of-age drama Lady Bird, while first-time nominees in the major categories include Margot Robbie (Best Actress) and Allison Janney (Best Supporting Actress) for I, Tonya; Christopher Nolan for his direction on Dunkirk; Jordan Peele (Best Director) and Daniel Kaluuya (Best Actor) for Get Out; and legendary French New Wave figure Agnes Varda, who earns here first nomination at the age of 89 for her documentary Faces Places (pictured, below; Varda with Faces Places co-director, JR). While nothing came the way of Hugh Jackman for either Logan or The Greatest Showman, Margot Robbie's Best Actress mention and the nomination of director Derin Seale and star and co-writer Josh Lawson for their short The Eleven O'Clock meant Australian talent gets a look-in once again on the world of film's biggest night.   

Spielberg, Hanks and Franco were not the only high-profile talent to go home empty-handed. The blockbuster Wonder Woman, directed by Patty Jenkins, failed to earn a single nomination; also on the no-show list, Battle of The Sexes, for which last year's Academy darling Emma Stone seemed destined for re-recognition; despite seven nominations in total, Three Billboards… director Martin McDonagh missed a Best Director slot (though did earn an Original Screenplay nod); Bret Morgan’s Jane, a profile of the great scientist Jane Goodall, seemed a certainty for the Best Documentary category; scene stealers Tiffany Haddisch (Girls Trip) and Holly Hunter (The Big Sick) in the Supporting Actress race; and, Fatih Akin’s In The Fade, which earned a Golden Globe for Foreign Language film and a Cannes trophy for leading lady, Diane Kruger.

The full list of nominees for the 90^th Academy Awards are:

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE: TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET,Call Me by Your Name; DANIEL DAY-LEWIS, Phantom Thread; DANIEL KALUUYA, Get Out; GARY OLDMAN, Darkest Hour; DENZEL WASHINGTON, Roman J. Israel, Esq.

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: WILLEM DAFOE, The Florida Project; WOODY HARRELSON, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri; RICHARD JENKINS, The Shape of Water; CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER, All the Money in the World; SAM ROCKWELL, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE: SALLY HAWKINS, The Shape of Water; FRANCES MCDORMAND, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri; MARGOT ROBBIE, I, Tonya; SAOIRSE RONAN, Lady Bird; MERYL STREEP, The Post

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: MARY J. BLIGE, Mudbound; ALLISON JANNEY, I, Tonya; LESLEY MANVILLE, Phantom Thread; LAURIE METCALF, Lady Bird; OCTAVIA SPENCER, The Shape of Water

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM: THE BOSS BABY; THE BREADWINNER; COCO; FERDINAND; LOVING VINCENT

CINEMATOGRAPHY: BLADE RUNNER 2049, Roger A. Deakins; DARKEST HOUR,Bruno Delbonnel; DUNKIRK, Hoyte van Hoytema; MUDBOUND, Rachel Morrison; THE SHAPE OF WATER, Dan Laustsen

COSTUME DESIGN: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, Jacqueline Durran; DARKEST HOUR, Jacqueline Durran; PHANTOM THREAD, Mark Bridges; THE SHAPE OF WATER, Luis Sequeira; VICTORIA & ABDUL, Consolata Boyle

DIRECTING: DUNKIRK, Christopher Nolan; GET OUT, Jordan Peele; LADY BIRD, Greta Gerwig; PHANTOM THREAD, Paul Thomas Anderson; THE SHAPE OF WATER, Guillermo del Toro

DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE): ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL; FACES PLACES; ICARUS; LAST MEN IN ALEPPO; STRONG ISLAND

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT): EDITH+EDDIE; HEAVEN IS A TRAFFIC JAM ON THE 405; HEROIN(E); KNIFE SKILLS; TRAFFIC STOP

FILM EDITING: BABY DRIVER, Paul Machliss and Jonathan Amos; DUNKIRK, Lee Smith; I, TONYA, Tatiana S. Riegel; THE SHAPE OF WATER, Sidney Wolinsky; THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI, Jon Gregory

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: A FANTASTIC WOMAN, Chile; THE INSULT, Lebanon; LOVELESS, Russia; ON BODY AND SOUL, Hungary; THE SQUARE, Sweden

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING: DARKEST HOUR, Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski and Lucy Sibbick; VICTORIA & ABDUL, Daniel Phillips and Lou Sheppard; WONDER, Arjen Tuiten

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE): DUNKIRK, Hans Zimmer; PHANTOM THREAD, Jonny Greenwood; THE SHAPE OF WATER, Alexandre Desplat; STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI, John Williams; THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI, Carter Burwell

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG): MIGHTY RIVER from Mudbound;; MYSTERY OF LOVE from Call Me by Your Name; REMEMBER ME from Coco; STAND UP FOR SOMETHING from Marshall; THIS IS ME from The Greatest Showman

BEST PICTURE: CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, Peter Spears, Luca Guadagnino, Emilie Georges and Marco Morabito, Producers; DARKEST HOUR, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony McCarten and Douglas Urbanski, Producers; DUNKIRK, Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers; GET OUT, Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Edward H. Hamm Jr. and Jordan Peele, Producers; LADY BIRD, Scott Rudin, Eli Bush and Evelyn O'Neill, Producers; PHANTOM THREAD, JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson, Megan Ellison and Daniel Lupi, Producers; THE POST, Amy Pascal, Steven Spielberg and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers; THE SHAPE OF WATER, Guillermo del Toro and J. Miles Dale, Producers; THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh, Producers

PRODUCTION DESIGN: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST; BLADE RUNNER 2049; DARKEST HOUR; DUNKIRK; THE SHAPE OF WATER

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED): DEAR BASKETBALL; GARDEN PARTY; LOU; NEGATIVE SPACE; REVOLTING RHYMES

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION): DEKALB ELEMENTARY; THE ELEVEN O'CLOCK; MY NEPHEW EMMETT; THE SILENT CHILD; WATU WOTE/ALL OF US

SOUND EDITING: BABY DRIVER, Julian Slater; BLADE RUNNER 2049, Mark Mangini and Theo Green; DUNKIRK, Richard King and Alex Gibson; THE SHAPE OF WATER, Nathan Robitaille and Nelson Ferreira; STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI, Matthew Wood and Ren Klyce

SOUND MIXING: BABY DRIVER, Julian Slater, Tim Cavagin and Mary H. Ellis; BLADE RUNNER 2049, Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill and Mac Ruth; DUNKIRK, Mark Weingarten, Gregg Landaker and Gary A. Rizzo; THE SHAPE OF WATER, Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern and Glen Gauthier; STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI, David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Stuart Wilson

VISUAL EFFECTS: BLADE RUNNER 2049; GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2; KONG: SKULL ISLAND; STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI; WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY): CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, Screenplay by James Ivory; THE DISASTER ARTIST, Screenplay by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber; LOGAN, Screenplay by Scott Frank & James Mangold and Michael Green, Story by James Mangold; MOLLY'S GAME, Written for the screen by Aaron Sorkin; MUDBOUND, Screenplay by Virgil Williams and Dee Rees

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY): THE BIG SICK, Written by Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani; GET OUT, Written by Jordan Peele; LADY BIRD, Written by Greta Gerwig; THE SHAPE OF WATER, Screenplay by Guillermo del Toro & Vanessa Taylor, Story by Guillermo del Toro; THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI, Written by Martin McDonagh

LIVE! THE SCREEN-SPACE 2013 OSCAR BLOG

Welcome to the first ever SCREEN-SPACE Academy Awards Blog. As the 85th ceremony unfolds under the guidance of director Don Mischer and host Seth MacFarlane at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre, SCREEN-SPACE will follow all the winners, presenters and performers attending the film industry's biggest night of the year. Bookmark this page then watch our Twitter feed for Oscar updates as they happen.

  

LIVE FROM THE DOLBY THEATRE: LOS ANGELES 5.30pm PT.

Welcome everyone to the 2013 Oscars!

Seth McFarlane opens with a "Make Tommy Lee Jones laugh" gag. 

The traditional monologue so far very 'industry-centric' - profit/loss accounting joke, where's Jean Dujardin?. Usual nominee jokes, enlivened by Rhinna/Chris Brown shot, 'n-word' Django reference. Crowd not thrilled.

Nerds rejoice when William Shatner, in a pre-recorded piece, looks back at press coverage of MacFarlane's first gig - from the future. Cute idea; meagre pay-off. Leads to tacky 'Boobs' song, outlining films with topless actress; will play well with the 'Ted' audience. 

Charlize Theron and Channing Tatum class things up with old-school dance number; follow-up skit, 'Flight with sock puppets', funnier than it sounds. JGL and Harry Potter join MacFarlane for half-hearted soft-shoe number.

Sally Field proves a good sport, committing to pre-recorded 'Flying Nun' SNL-lite bit. Opening starting to feel long...

Lots of irony in final dance number, though understated and fun.

5:47pm - Octavia Spencer to announce Best Supporting Actor. 

WINNER - Christolph Waltz, Django Unchained.

Paul Rudd and Melissa McCarthy stumble through some good-on-paper schtick about animated voice work. Thought she'd offer up more... Nominees for Best Short Film.

WINNER - Paperman, John Kahrs

Segues quickly into Best Animated Feature Film nominess.

WINNER - Brave, Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman.

MacFarlane, after lame George Clooney gag, introduces The Avengers stars Robert Downey Jr, Jeremy Renner, Samuel Jackson, Chris Evans and Mark Rufalo to announce Cinematography award.

WINNER - Claudio Miranda, Life of Pi

6.10pm - Did these five rehearse at all? They look like they only just met, let alone star together in a blockbuster. Special FX Oscar goes to...

WINNER - Life of Pi, Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott.

Fun idea to play off chatty acceptance speech with Jaws theme backfires when speech turns serious, imploring industry to embrace floundering FX houses such as Rhythm and Hues.

Channing Tatum and Jennifer Aniston, after awkward body-waxing routine, work through nominees for Costume Design.

WINNER - Jacqueline Durran, Anna Karenina. 

Good speech is a quick speech. Nominees for hair and make-up...

WINNER - Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell, Les Miserables.

6.20pm - Halle Berry introduces video tribute to 50 years of Bond. Grand entrance of Dame Shirley Bassey, belting out the iconic Goldfinger song. Show takes on old showbiz feel for first time, crowd responds. Appears the rumoured Bond reunion not a goer.

Some back-slapping for Oscars behind the scene gurus, then Django's married couple, Jamie Foxx and Kerry Washington. Awkward banter (worse than usual award show presenter inanity, it must be said) leads to best live-action short film nominees.

WINNER - Curfew, Shawn Christensen.

Best Documentary Short nominees...

WINNER - Inocente, Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine.

Emotional quartet of winners, including films subject, get audience sympathy and rousing response. 

Liam Neeson presents Best Film nominee clips for Argo, Lincoln and Zero Dark Thirty. MacFarlane dies with yet another 'Lincoln in a theatre' joke, but gets a murmur of giggles for Kardashian face-hair gag.

Ben Affleck introduces Best Documentary Feature contenders.

WINNER - Searching For Sugarman, Mallik Bendjelloul and Simon Chinn.

Jennifer Garner and Jessica Chastain announce Best Foreign Film nominess; their presentation suitably respectful and refreshingly professional.

WINNER - Amour (Austria), Michael Haneke.

6.50pm - Acceptance speech refined, as expected. First glimpse of film's star, Emmanuelle Riva.

MacFarlane then chickens out, refusing to have a shot at well-publicised troubles faced by the next presenter, John Travolta. Star of Grease and Saturday Night Fever introduces vast musical number celebrating the genres impact on film. First up, Catherine Zeta-Jones recreating her Chicago showstopper, All That Jazz; next, Jennifer Hudson belts out her Dreamgirls hit, And I am Telling You; finally, the principal cast of Les Miserables (including Russell Crowe) stages One Day More. Highpoint of proceedings so far.

Star Trek's Chris Pine and Zoe Saldana recount their hosting gig at recent Scientific and Technical Oscars ceremony.

Mark Wahlberg and his Ted co-star, Ted, work the crowd with Hollywood sex-orgy routine ("It's at Jack Nicholson's house") before launching into Best Sound Mixing nominees.

WINNER - Les Miserables, Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes.

'Jews own Hollywood' schtick before Sound Editing nominees...which lead to VERY big surprise. A tie!

WINNERS - Paul NJ Ottoson for Zero Dark Thirty and Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers for Skyfall. 

MacFarlane follows up Ted's Jew joke with Nazi/The Sound of Music visual gag (he's tanking on a Letterman level). Christopher Plummer honours Best Supporting Actress nominees with heartfelt, erudite introduction.

WINNER - Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables.

Academy president Hop Koch (?) pre-sells soon-to-open AMPAS Museum and introduces 'trophy interns'. This is new. Sandra Bullock runs through Best Film Editing nominess...

WINNER - William Goldenberg, Argo.

Ahead of what is suring as an Oscar winner, Jennifer Lawrence introduces Adele and an extravagantly-staged rendition of her Skyfall theme. For not the first time, some audio problems rob the performer and the performance.

Nicole Kidman runs through last of the Best Film nominees, Silver Linings Playback, Django Unchained and Amour. Daniel Radcliffe and a hobbly Kristen Stewart speed through the Best Production Design nominees...

WINNER - Lincoln, Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson

Salma Hayek introduces the winners of the Governor's Awards, announced previously at a star-studded industry event - Hal Needham, George Stevens Jr., DA Pennebaker and Jean Herscholdt Award honouree, Jeffery Katzenberg.

8.00pm - George Clooney introduces the always popular, very moving In Memoriam sequence. The final image, of the late Marvin Hamlisch, is followed by Brabara Streisand, recalling their 'Memories' with a rendition of their classic song.

The cast of Chicago reunited for Best Musical Score award announcement.

WINNER - Life of Pi, Mychael Danna.

Rolling straight into Best Song category, the Chicago quartet introduce the remaining nominees from Les Miserables, Chasing Ice, Life of Pi and Ted (performed live by Norah Jones).

WINNER - Skyfall, Music and Lyrics by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth.

Dustin Hoffman, towered over by co-presenter Charlize Theron, review the origins of the Best Adapted Screenplay nominees.

WINNER - Argo, Chris Terrio.

Best Original Screenplay nominees...

WINNER - Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino. 

8.25PM - Tarantino shouts down orchestra to have his say on strength of writing amongst all 2013 nominees.

Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas, now apparently symbolic of the 'old Hollywood of the 80s' (jeez...), introduce Best Director nominees. 

WINNER - Life of Pi, Ang Lee.

The first truly surprising win of the night, reflected upon the faces of everyone at the Dolby Theatre. 'Thank you to the movie gods!," Lee exclaims. "Namaste."

Jean Dujardin gets all French on everyone, charming the crowd in advance of the Best Actress nominees. Little Q gets a big laugh with her muscle arms, before...

WINNER - Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook.

Meryl Streep takes the stage (with a minor wardrobe malfunction) to praise the Best Actor nominees.

WINNER - Daniel Day Lewis, Lincoln.

8.48pm - Lewis gets the biggest laugh of the night, suggesting he swapped with Meryl Streep for the Lincoln role when he was cast as Margaret Thatcher. MacFarlane introduces Jack Nicholson for the nights final award, the Best Picture, who surprises all by throwing to the White House, where Michelle Obama delivers an 'artists are crucial to national health' speech. A first time event that represents a major coup for the Academy. She announces...

WINNER - Argo; Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck and George Clooney, Producers.

Lot of genuine emotion in Affleck's speech. MacFarlane insinuates there's more to come, which would break with tradition; no doubt, everyone just wants to go home, but MacFarlane is not going to let this audience go without further showmanship, for want of a better term. (Australian audiences will never know - local broadcaster leaves feed before we can find out.)

Thanks for joining SCREEN-SPACE for our Oscars 2013 coverage.