The latest round of Oscar nominations have finally been announced and film fans who were keeping their fingers crossed that they would be better than the ones announced for the Golden Globes and Baftas are somewhat disappointed.
This year’s ceremony, which – once again – won’t have a presenter, is set to take place in Los Angeles on 9 February. The nominations were announced by Issa Rae and John Cho.
Joker leads this year's pack with 11 nominations (the same number Ben-Hur, Titanic and The Lord of the Rings" The Return of the King were all nominated for) with The Irishman, 1917, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood all following close behind with 10.
Follow along with all the updates from the nominations announcement below.
Hello – we are on hand to present to you this year's round of Oscar nominations!
Yep, it's that time of year again – when the awards season hurtles towards its conclusion with the biggest ceremony of them all that hopefully doesn't end with as big an anti-climax as Green Book winning Best Picture in 2019.
We (well, me – Jacob) are on hand to run through predictions for all the big categories ahead of the announcement in just under three hours. Buckle up.
But first, some words of wisdom.
And also a special mention to Will for the enthusiasm.
Okay, let's dive in and start with Best Supporting Actor, which is otherwise known as: "The Easiest Category to Predict."
The Independent's predictions:
Tom Hanks – A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood
Al Pacino – The Irishman
Joe Pesci – The Irishman
Al Pacino – The Irishman
Joe Pesci – The Irishman
Song Kang-ho – Parasite
Brad Pitt – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Now, we're gonna go ahead and assume that, just like with Roma last year, the Academy will recognise Parasite in some of the acting categories – they actually have quite a good rep for highlight standout performances from world cinema.
In terms of a winner? There's no doubt that Brad Pitt will win his first ever acting Oscar for playing this guy.
Next up, we have Best Supporting Actress.
The Independent's predictions:
Kathy Bates – Richard Jewell
Laura Dern – Marriage Story
Florence Pugh – Little Women
Margot Robbie – Bombshell
Zhao Shuzhen – The Farewell
Margot Robbie – Bombshell
Zhao Shuzhen – The Farewell
One big possibility, though, is Jennifer Lopez for Hustlers, which would go down extremely well.
Also, a nomination for Pugh would be great considering A) she was snubbed at the Golden Globes and B) because Little Women is extremely great.
Eventual winner prediction? Let's go with Laura Dern, despite the fact she's been better in a handful of other roles. Classic Oscar season woes.
Now we move onto: Best Actress, which has another very obvious winner.
The Independent's prediction:
Cynthia Erivo – Harriet
Scarlett Johansson – Marriage Story
Saoirse Ronan – Little Women
Saoirse Ronan – Little Women
Charlize Theron – Bombshell
Renee Zellweger – Judy
Now, a few thoughts: if these come true, this means that Awkwafina (The Farewell), Lupita Nyong'o (Us) and Alfre Woodard (Clemency) have all been snubbed.
But they may as well etch Renee's name onto that trophy already, because she's 100 per cent winning.
You ready for our Best Actor predictions? Because they're incoming.
This is a very interesting one – an extremely crowded list of contenders, but The Independent's predictions:
Antonio Banderas – Pain & Glory
Robert De Niro – The Irishman
Leonardo DiCaprio – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Taron Egerton – Rocketman
Joaquin Phoenix – Joker
Taron Egerton – Rocketman
Joaquin Phoenix – Joker
The Academy Awards will take place on 9 February.
