Warner Bros. Put on a happy face: the Oscar nominations have been announced, and Joaquin Phoenix has been nominated for Best Actor for Joker.
The 45-year-old has been blazing a victorious trail through awards season, picking up gongs at the Critics’ Choice Awards and Golden Globes.
Joker has also been very successful. After picking up the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, it was always destined for some sort of glory – and it could be a formidable Oscar contender on the night.
Warner Bros.The film, directed by Todd Phillips, looks at the story of Arthur Fleck (Phoenix), a wannabe stand-up comedian who unwittingly kickstarts a dangerous social moment with an act of violence. From here, we see Arthur’s rise (or descent) to become the Clown Prince of Crime.
After winning the Golden Globe, Phoenix told reporters about the process of becoming the Joker:
I think the way I worked on this was quite erratic. I didn’t attack it linearly. I was most curious about the medication that he was taking and the effects and side effects of the medication. That led us to realize that we had to have this fluctuation of weight.
I dug into understanding medication and the side effects of what he was taking so that was the beginning. I read several books about political assassins that share a similar personality type.
Warner Bros. Joker struck a chord with audiences – but it also broke records, becoming the first R-rated movie of all time to gross more than $1 billion, beating the likes of Deadpool and The Matrix Reloaded. The fallout of its release has caused quite the stir online, with intense opinions colliding nearly every day for months.
Phoenix’s Oscar win is all but confirmed, however the Academy Awards are known for the odd upset here and there (for example, Green Book‘s Best Picture win last year took many in the industry by surprise). His biggest competition is Adam Driver for Marriage Story, a remarkably different but no less incredible performance worthy of acclaim.
Warner Bros.UNILAD called Joker ‘a mesmerising, incendiary portrait of villainy’ and our film of 2019. However, it’s got some brilliant competition for the biggest prize, with the likes of 1917, The Irishman and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood all vying for the Oscar. The full nominations will be added below as they are announced.
The full nominations for Best Picture are:
1917
The Irishman
Joker
Marriage Story
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Parasite
Little Women
Le Mans ’66 (Ford v Ferrari)
Jojo Rabbit
The full nominations for Best Director are:
Bong Joon Ho, Parasite
Sam Mendes, 1917
Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Martin Scorsese, The Irishman
Todd Phillips, Joker
The full nominations for Best Actor are:
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
The full nominations for Best Actress are:
Cynthia Erivo, Harriet
Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story
Saoirse Ronan, Little Women
Charlize Theron, Bombshell
Renee Zellweger, Judy
The full nominations for Best Supporting Actor are:
Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood
Al Pacino, The Irishman
Joe Pesci, The Irishman
Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Anthony Hopkins, The Two Popes
The full nominations for Best Supporting Actress are:
Laura Dern, Marriage Story
Florence Pugh, Little Women
Kathy Bates, Richard Jewell
Margot Robbie, Bombshell
Scarlett Johansson, Jojo Rabbit
The full nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay are:
Steven Zaillian, The Irishman
Todd Phillips and Scott Silver, Joker
Greta Gerwig, Little Women
Taika Waititi, Jojo Rabbit
Anthony McCarten, The Two Popes
The full nominations for Best Original Screenplay are:
Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Noah Baumbach, Marriage Story
Bong Joon Ho and Jin Won Han, Parasite
Rian Johnson, Knives Out
Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns
The full nominations for Best Costume Design are:
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Little Women
Joker
Jojo Rabbit
The Irishman
The full nominations for Best Sound Mixing are:
Ad Astra
Le Mans ’66 (Ford v Ferrari)
Joker
1917
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
The full nominations for Best Sound Editing are:
Le Mans ’66 (Ford v Ferrari)
Joker
1917
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
The full nominations for Best Original Score are:
Thomas Newman, 1917
Hildur Guðnadóttir, Joker
Randy Newman, Marriage Story
Alexandre Desplat, Little Women
John Williams, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
The full nominations for Best Original Song are:
I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away, Toy Story 4
(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again, Rocketman
I’m Standing With You, Breathrough
Into the Unknown, Frozen 2
Stand Up, Harriet
The full nominations for Best Documentary Feature are:
The Edge of Democracy
American Factory
For Sama
Honeyland
The Cave
The full nominations for Best Cinematography are:
Roger Deakins, 1917
Robert Richardson, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Lawrence Sher, Joker
Rodrigo Prieto, The Irishman
Jarin Blaschke, The Lighthouse
The full nominations for Best Visual Effects are:
Avengers: Endgame
The Lion King
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
The Irishman
1917
The full nominations for Best International Film are:
Parasite
Pain and Glory
Les Miserables
Corpus Christi
Honeyland
The full nominations for Best Animated Feature are:
Toy Story 4
Klaus
Missing Link
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
I Lost My Body
The full nominations for Best Makeup and Hairstyling:
Bombshell
Joker
Judy
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
1917
The 92nd Academy Awards will take place on February 9.
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.