Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie in Bombshell.
Margot Robbie’s performance as Kayla Pospisil, an associate producer at Fox News, in Bombshell has been nominated for the Academy Award for best supporting actress – her second nod after I,Tonya last year.
Charlize Theron is up for best lead actress for Bombshell but her co-star Nicole Kidman missed out. Another notable omission is Australian film editor Lee Smith, whose exceptional work on Sam Mendes’ 1917 was overlooked; Smith won last year for Dunkirk.
As Deadline commented: “But seriously, nothing for editing and Lee Smith for a harrowing film that appeared as one continuous shot? Seriously?”
Rodd Rathjen’s Buoyancy, Australia’s submission for best international film, didn’t make the cut. The nominees in that category are Jan Komasa’s Corpus Christi (Poland), Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov’s Honeyland (North Macedonia), Ladj Ly’s Les Misérables (France), Pedro Almodóvar’s Pain and Glory (Spain) and Boon Joon-ho’s Parasite (Korea).
Robbie won best supporting actress at the AACTA International Awards for Bombshell, which stars John Lithgow as Roger Ailes, the disgraced head of Fox News, and opens here on Thursday via Studiocanal.
Warner Bros’ subversive comic book film Joker leads the field with 11 nominations. Three movies each got 10: Netflix’s Martin Scorsese mobster pic The Irishman, Mendes’ World War I epic 1917 and Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood.
In addition to the above four, the contenders for best picture are James Mangold’s Ford V Ferrari, Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit, Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story and Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite.
While a record 62 women were nominated this year — almost a third of all nominees – there were none for best director, a snub to well-fancied contenders such as Gerwig and The Farewell’s Lulu Wang. Only five women in the history of the Oscars have been nominated for best director.
And following an outcry over lack of diversity in the BAFTA Awards and the Golden Globes, only one person of colour was nominated in the acting categories – Cynthia Erivo for best lead actress for Harriet.
Most pundits had expected nods for Jennifer Lopez (Hustlers), Lupita Nyong’o (Us) and Awkwafina (The Farewell) while Eddie Murphy’s performance in Dolemite Is My Name was widely considered to be his best in years.
In the studio race among all 24 categories, Netflix scored the most nominations with 24, followed by Sony Pictures Releasing with 20 and Disney with 16. Two distributors had 12 apiece: Warner Bros and Fox Searchlight.
Among the key nominees:
Best picture: Ford v Ferrari, The Irishman, Joker, Little Women, Marriage Story, 1917, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, Parasite and Jojo Rabbit.
Lead actor: Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory), Leonardo DiCaprio (Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood), Adam Driver (Marriage Story), Joaquin Phoenix (Joker) and Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes).
Lead actress: Cynthia Erivo (Harriet), Scarlett Johansson (Marriage Story), Saoirse Ronan (Little Women), Charlize Theron (Bombshell) and Renee Zellweger (Judy).
Director: Martin Scorsese (The Irishman), Todd Phillips (Joker), Sam Mendes (1917), Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood) and Bong Joon-ho (Parasite).
Supporting actor: Tom Hanks (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood), Anthony Hopkins (The Two Popes), Al Pacino (The Irishman), Joe Pesci (The Irishman) and 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) and Margot Robbie (Bombshell).
Animated feature: How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, I Lost My Body, Klaus, Missing Link and Toy Story 4.
Documentary feature: American Factory, The Edge of Democracy, Honeyland, For Sama and The Cave.
Final Academy voting begins on January 30 and wraps on February 4. The winners will be unveiled on February 10 Australian time at the 92nd Academy Awards at the Dolby Theater at Hollywood & Highland, screened live on the Seven Network.
For the full list of nominations go here