LOS ANGELES: Dark comic book tale “Joker” topped the Oscar nominations on Monday, picking up 11 nods, including for best picture and best director.
The pre-dawn Academy Award announcement capped months of ceaseless campaigning by A-listers and studios, revealing which stars and movies have a shot at Hollywood’s ultimate prize next month.
Todd Phillips’s “Joker,” a bleak, arthouse origin story about Batman’s nemesis, starring Joaquin Phoenix, was just ahead of three films.
Quentin Tarantino’s 1960s Tinseltown homage “Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood,” Sam Mendes’s World War I odyssey “1917” and Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” each earned 10 nominations, including best picture and director.
South Korean class satire “Parasite,” from Bong Joon-ho, secured the final best director slot.
The acclaimed “Little Women” was acknowledged in several of the major categories, including best picture, but Greta Gerwig was snubbed for best director.
In an industry criticised for its lack of diversity, the Oscars picked only one non-white acting nominee – British star Cynthia Erivo, who plays US anti-slavery icon Harriet Tubman in “Harriet.”
“This is more than a dream come true,” said Erivo, who was also nominated for performing the movie’s rousing anthem “Stand Up.”
Notable snubs included Eddie Murphy for blaxploitation biopic “Dolemite Is My Name,” Jennifer Lopez for “Hustlers,” Awkwafina for “The Farewell” and Lupita Nyong’o for “Us.”
But in a possible sign of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ increasingly international outlook, “Parasite” became just the sixth non-English language movie nominated for both best international feature and best picture.
Robert De Niro was the biggest star overlooked in the best actor category for “The Irishman,” although Scorsese’s nod makes him the most-nominated living director at the Oscars, with nine nods.
“The Irishman” helped Netflix to 24 nominations – the first time it has ever topped the studio count.
Adam Sandler shrugged off his omission for playing a compulsive New York jeweller, joking that he would no longer have to campaign for the acclaimed “Uncut Gems.”
Acting frontrunners Renee Zellweger and Phoenix headed the Oscar shortlists for their star turns in Judy Garland drama “Judy” and “Joker” respectively.
Documentary “American Factory” – which follows a US Rust Belt factory reopened by a Chinese billionaire – picked up a nomination for its well-known producers.
“It’s the kind of story we don’t see often enough and it’s exactly what Michelle and I hope to achieve,” tweeted former US president Barack Obama, adding he was “glad” to see the nomination.
“So thrilled,” wrote Michelle Obama.
Some 9,000 Academy members vote for the Oscars. Voting for winners begins on Jan 30, closing five days later.
The Oscars will be handed out in Hollywood on Feb 9. - AFP