It was a good year for old white men at the 2020 Oscars nominations, as Joker picked up 11 nods, followed by 1917, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and The Irishman, which garnered 10 Oscar nominations apiece.
Todd Phillips's not-quite-superhero film had already broken records in 2019 when it became the first R-rated movie to make a billion dollars at the box office, and its commercial clout is now being matched by critical recognition, with nominations for Best Picture and Best Director, as well as Best Actor, for Joaquin Phoenix.
That category is sure to spark controversy, with the Academy nominating no black actors for its top male acting award. The same was true in the Supporting Actor category, which also found no room for anyone under 50, with Joe Pesci (76), Anthony Hopkins (82) and Al Pacino (79) pushing the average up to 71.2. #OscarsSoOld.
The Best Actress nominees were slightly less whitewashed, with Cynthia Ervio's stirring performance in Harriet earning a nomination, although the Best Supporting Actress category was also lacking in diversity, with Laura Dern, Margot Robbie, Florence Pugh, Scarlett Johansson and Kathy Bates all nominated.
One of the biggest surprises – or lack of surprises, perhaps, for students of Oscars history – was the lack of any women in the Best Director category. Even though Greta Gerwig earned a Best Adapted Screenplay nod for Little Women, which also got a Best Picture nomination, the Academy didn't deign to include her in its top directing award. What a surprise.
It did, at least, recognise Bong Joon Ho and his astonishing Parasite with a Best Director and Best Picture nomination, rather than relegating it to Best Foreign Language Picture as many had anticipated. That still doesn't make the slated English-language remake any easier to swallow, but at least it's something.
