The academy just announced the nominations for the Oscars 2020 that will be held soon in the month of February next month. Like every year there were some surprises and some shocks with this year’s nominations and some big snubs as well. While there were no women directors nominated in the Best director category which was a shock seeing how Greta Gerwig’s ‘Little women’s bagged 6 nominations in total including Best film, Taron Egerton who won the Golden Globe recently was not even nominated for the Oscar.
However, the films that dominated the academy award nominations for this year are Joker, once upon a time in Hollywood, the Irishman and 1917.
One film that took the maximum nominations however, was Todd Philips’s ‘JOKER’ starring the extremely talented Joaquin Phoenix. Joker has made history with maximum nominations at the Oscars by leading with 11 nominations. Joaquin Phoenix recently won the Golden globe for the Best Actor category and has been nominated for the same category for an Oscar. There is a big probability that the actor will take the Oscar home for his immensely moving and intense performance as the DC villain Arthur Fleck.
The 11 categories in which the film has bagged nominations are:
• Best Picture
• Best Director
• Best Actor
• Best Adapted Screenplay
• Best Cinematography
• Best Original Music Score
• Best Film Editing
• Best Makeup and Hairstyling
• Best Costume Design
• Best Sound Mixing
• Best Sound Editing
Earlier in 2019 when Joker released, it broke all records for a movie based on a comic book character and rightly so as Joker was not just yet another product out of the Marvel/DC factory but something that had never been seen before. The film created a lot of dialogue about not just the performance but the themes of the film that are socially relevant and significant. Mental illness is the biggest theme in the film and the writing and portrayal are extremely effective. Joaquin Phoenix is known for his method acting and this time as well he went through not only physical transformations for the role but also battled his inner demons to prepare for the character. Phoenix feels strongly about the subject as he himself has suffered through anxiety and depression.
Even though the film is in the lead as of now but it stands with some tough competitors that could actually sweep many of the awards from under its feet. The Irishman and Once upon a time in Hollywood are right behind and have a better claim at many of the categories that Joker is nominated in. It is true that Joker has already made history in many ways but if it actually wins Best picture it would be the first time a comic book movie would get the honour. The academy has known to have some bias against comic book movies till date but Joker is certainly something even they could not ignore as it is a real masterpiece for sure. The Oscars will be held on February 10, 2020 and we cannot wait to find out which films will be celebrated this year.
