Dark comic book tale “Joker” topped the Oscar nominations Monday, picking up 11 nods including best picture and best director, as women and ethnic minorities were largely shut out once again.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 take on the comic book villain starring Joaquin Phoenix, was just ahead of three films.WATCH: Penelope Poulou’s video report on ‘Joker’Sorry, but your player cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline. Embed” />CopyQuentin 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 as well as best director.South Korean class satire “Parasite,” from Bong Joon-ho, secured the final best director slot, meaning once again no female directors made the shortlist.Much of the focus so far this award season has been on the lack of women and ethnic minority filmmakers honored.Greta Gerwig’s acclaimed “Little Women” adaptation has been notably absent in several award nominations announcements, although it was one of nine films nominated for the best picture Oscar.”Unfortunately there are just five nominees” for best director in an “incredibly strong year,” one Academy voter who asked not to be named told AFP, pointing to the revered track records of the likes of Scorsese, Tarantino and Mendes.Controversy over those omissions, in an industry criticized for its lack of diversity, was fueled at last week’s BAFTA nominations, which were also condemned for overlooking ethnic minorities.Showbiz legendThe Oscars picked only one non-white actor — British star Cynthia Erivo, who plays U.S. anti-slavery icon Harriet Tubman in “Harriet.”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.”Last year, three of the four acting Oscars went to non-white performers.Voting for Oscar nominees ended last Tuesday, two days after the Golden Globes.But Taron Egerton’s Globe-winning turn as Elton John in “Rocketman” was not enough to earn an Oscar nomination in an outrageously competitive best actor field.Renee Zellweger, who has swept the best actress nominations so far during this awards season, headed the best actress Oscar shortlist thanks to her acclaimed turn as showbiz legend Judy Garland in “Judy.”Some 9,000 Academy members vote for the Oscars.In the nominations round of voting, members were asked to rank their top choices only for best picture, and for the categories corresponding with the specific Academy branch to which they belong.Voting for winners — in which members can vote in every category — begins January 30, closing five days later.The Oscars will be handed out in Hollywood on February 9. 
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The nominees for the Academy Awards have been announced in Los Angeles.
Issa Rae and John Cho announced nominees in 24 categories that honor the best achievements in films released in 2019.The nominees for best picture are: “Ford v. Ferrari”; “The Irishman”; “Jojo Rabbit”; “Joker”; “Little Women”; “Marriage Story”; “1917”; “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood”; “Parasite.”The nominees for best actor are: Antonio Banderas, “Pain and Glory”; Leonardo DiCaprio, “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood”; Adam Driver, “Marriage Story”; Jonathan Pryce, “The Two Popes”; Joaquin Phoenix, “Joker.”The nominees for best supporting actress are: Kathy Bates, “Richard Jewell”; Laura Dern, “Marriage Story”; Scarlett Johansson, “Jojo Rabbit”; Florence Pugh, “Little Women”; Margot Robbie, “Bombshell.”The nominees for best international film are: “Corpus Christi,” Poland; “Honeyland,” North Macdeonia; “Les Miserables,” France; “Pain and Glory,” Spain; “Parasite,” South Korea.The nominees for documentary feature are: “American Factory”; “The Cave”; “The Edge of Democracy”; “For Sama”; “Honeyland.”The nominees for best animated feature film: “How to Train a Dragon: The Hidden World”; “Toy Story 4”; “I Lost My Body”; “Klaus”; “Missing Link.”The nominees for best supporting actor are: Tom Hanks, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”; Anthony Hopkins, “The Two Popes,”; Brad Pitt, “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood”; Joe Pesci, “The Irishman”; Al Pacino, “The Irishman”.The nominees for best original score are: “Joker”; “Little Women”; “Marriage Story”; “1917”; “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.”The nominees for best visual effects: “Avengers: Endgame”; “The Irishman”; “The Lion King”; “1917”; “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.”The nominees for costume design are: “The Irishman;” “Jojo Rabbit;” “Joker;” “Little Women;” “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.”
 This year’s nominees will bring plenty of star power to the Feb. 9 ceremony – a good thing, too, since the show will for the second straight year go without a host.
The 92nd Academy Awards will take place Feb. 9 in Los Angeles at the Dolby Theatre. ABC will again broadcast the show, viewership for which last year rose 12% to 29.6 million. 
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Who will be celebrating Oscar morning? Brad Pitt for sure. Jennifer Lopez almost certainly. And very possibly the Obamas, too.
Nominations for the 92nd Academy Awards, which will begin at 8:18 a.m. EST Monday, should bring plenty of star power to the Feb. 9 ceremony – a good thing, too, since the show will for the second straight year  go without a host.Thankfully, this Oscar year isn’t lacking for drama. Netflix is gunning for its first best picture win, a year after Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” fell just short. It has not just one but at least two contenders led by Martin Scorsese’s elegiac crime epic “The Irishman” and Noah Baumbach’s intimate divorce drama “Marriage Story.”
But in the lead up to Monday’s nominations, much of the momentum has gone to  a pair of movies that exalt the big screen with showmanship and celebrity: Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood,” with Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, and Sam Mendes’ continuous World War I thrill ride, “1917.” Hollywood, in the midst of a streaming upheaval, has so far favored the traditionally released movies.
Still, no definite front-runner has emerged, and nominations morning could tip the scales anew in a rapid-paced awards season that, while not lacking for the usual battery of parties, screenings and Q&As, is more condensed than usual.
The nominations, to be read by Issa Rae and John Cho, will be live streamed on Oscar.com, Oscars.org and the academy’s digital social platforms. The second wave of nominees will begin at 8:30 a.m. EST and be carried live on “Good Morning America.”
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences select anywhere from five to 10 nominees for best picture, depending on how many first-placed votes a film gets. That’s usually meant eight or nine movies. This year, the precursor guild nominations  have suggested the sure things are “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood,”  “1917,” “The Irishman,” Taika Waititi’s “JoJo Rabbit” and Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite.”
That leaves a few slots to be battled out by “Joker,” “Little Women,” “Ford v Ferrari,” “Knives Out,” “Bombshell” and “The Farewell.”
“Parasite” will be the first Korean film ever nominated for an Oscar but it’s likely to land several nominations, including Bong for best director and possibly Song Kang Ho for best supporting actor.
The director category will be especially closely watched. Though Greta Gerwig (“Little Women”) is a possibility, the academy is expected to nominate an all-male field despite a year in which women made significant gains behind the camera.  The academy has nominated only men for best director in all but five years; Gerwig was the last woman nominated, two years ago.
In the acting categories, Renee Zellweger (“Judy”) has consistently led the best actress contenders. Should Awkwafina be nominated, she would be only the second woman of Asian descent nominated in the category. (The first, 1936 nominee Merle Oberon, hid her South Asian heritage.)
Pitt has a lock on the supporting actor Oscar, which would be his first ever. Laura Dern (“Marriage Story”) and Lopez have led the supporting actress nominees. A nomination would be the first for Lopez.
The best actor category, after a few lackluster years, has been especially competitive, with Joaquin Phoenix (“Joker”) and Adam Driver (“Marriage Story”) as the most entrenched nominees in a field including DiCaprio, Antonio Banderas (“Pain and Glory”), Christian Bale (“Ford v Ferrari”), Eddie Murphy (“Dolemite Is My Name”), Adam Sandler (“Uncut Gems”) and Robert De Niro (“The Irishman”).
While a similar result Monday is unlikely, the British Film Academy last week nominated an all-white field of acting nominees. Widely criticized, the BAFTAs pledged to review its awards process.
Beyonce will likely add an Oscar nomination to her many honors, for her “Lion King” song. “American Factory,” the first release from Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company, Higher Ground, is likely to be among the documentary nominees.
After the most dominant box-office year in Hollywood history, the Walt Disney Co. will have reasons to celebrate Monday, though their top films – including the record-setting Marvel blockbuster “Avengers: Endgame” – are expected to be largely relegated to categories like best visual effects. The studio, which has never won a best picture Academy Award, does have a few contenders via its acquisition in April of 20th Century Fox. Both “Ford v Ferrari” and “Jojo Rabbit” (released by specialty label Fox Searchlight) will compete in the top categories.
The 92nd Academy Awards will take place Feb. 9 in Los Angeles at the Dolby Theatre. ABC will again broadcast the show, viewership for which last year rose 12% to 29.6 million.     
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As part of a surprise announcement distancing themselves from the British royal family, Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, declared they will “work to become financially independent” — a move that has not been clearly spelled out and could be fraught with obstacles.The couple indicated in their statement Wednesday that they want to be free to work on their own terms while continuing to support the work of Queen Elizabeth II, Harry’s grandmother. And that could be a problem, some royal watchers say.”I don’t think it is going to work, to be honest,” said David McClure, a television producer and writer who examined the wealth of the royal family in his book “Royal Legacy.””How can you be half in, half out? Half the week perform public duties and the other half earn your own income with TV, lectures, books? It is fraught with dangers,” he said.And the plan appeared not to have been coordinated with the palace, which quickly issued its own statement saying discussions “were at an early stage” and there were “complicated issues that will take time to work out.”FILE – Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, and Meghan the Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry watch a flypast of Royal Air Force aircraft pass over Buckingham Palace in London, July 10, 2018.On Thursday, the 93-year-old queen moved to take control of the situation, ordering officials representing the monarch, her son Prince Charles, grandson Prince William, and Harry and Meghan to meet to find “workable solutions” within “days, not weeks,” Britain’s national news agency, Press Association, reported.Blurry financial linesMeanwhile, questions swirled about what the term “financial independence” might mean for the royal couple.Harry, 35, and Meghan, 38, have said they plan to cut ties to the taxpayer support given each year to the queen for official use, which currently covers 5% of the costs of running their office. But they may still continue to rely heavily on private funding provided by Harry’s father, Prince Charles, who controls a vast, lucrative estate known as the Duchy of Cornwall.Taxpayer support is provided by the Treasury to the queen each year through a fund called the Sovereign Grant. In the last fiscal year, the queen paid 329 million pounds ($429 million) into the Treasury from the Crown Estate and received 82 million pounds ($107 million) for official use — some of which went to fund Harry and Meghan’s office costs.But the majority of funding for the couple’s office comes from Charles, who uses the revenue from the Duchy of Cornwall to pay for many of his activities along with those of his wife, Camilla, and his sons Harry and William.The Duchy of Cornwall was established in 1337, and under its medieval charter, Charles is not allowed to sell any of its real estate or other assets — but he is entitled to the annual income it generates, which in the last year was roughly 21.6 million pounds ($28.2 million).Harry and Meghan may be able to credibly assert they are not relying on taxpayer money, which could be their definition of financial independence.They faced a barrage of stinging criticism recently for using more than 2 million pounds ($2.6 million) of taxpayer funds for the renovation of their home near Windsor Castle. They say they plan to continue using Frogmore Cottage as their U.K. base — if the queen agrees.Meghan as lifestyle influencer Harry and Meghan also have considerable assets of their own. Harry inherited an estimated 7 million pounds ($9.1 million) from his late mother, Princess Diana, that has grown with interest, as well as money from his great-grandmother. Meghan is a millionaire in her own right after a successful acting career on the popular TV show “Suits.”FILE – Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, pats a dog during a visit to a community picnic at Victoria Park in Dubbo, Australia, Oct. 17, 2018. Her Outland Denim jeans quickly sparked a buying fenzy.Before her 2018 marriage to Harry, Meghan was positioning herself as a lifestyle influencer like businesswomen Gwyneth Paltrow and Reese Witherspoon. Meghan’s blog was called The Tig, with a now-closed website and Instagram account.”I can see her relaunching The Tig in a different form. People want to know what she’s wearing, what she’s eating, how she’s living. She certainly has an understanding of the power of her appearance,” said Lauren Sherman, chief correspondent in New York for the London-based Business of Fashion news site.As the Duchess of Sussex, the clothes Meghan wears — as well as the ones she dresses her 8-month-old son Archie in — often sell out quickly and spike online searches.Last year, Meghan collaborated with her friend, designer Misha Nonoo, to create a line of office wear for women to benefit the U.K.-based women’s charity Smart Works, which provides office-appropriate clothing and work-skills training to disadvantaged women.But, Sherman also noted the potential pitfalls of any future involving fashion.”They’re going to have to be very, very careful,” Sherman said. “A lot of brands now are mission-based. She would need to partner with a brand that has a mission or has a charitable element and preaches transparency on a lot of different levels or is very entrepreneurial and female driven. There aren’t many brands that would sort of pass the muster.”Chris Addison, an Emmy Award-winning writer and director from Britain whose credits include “Veep,” is curious about Meghan and Harry’s future plans.”I’d love to know what they’re going to do … because they’ve clearly been thinking about it for a long time,” he said Thursday at a TV critics meeting in Pasadena.Asked if he could envision working with the couple to produce content — similar to Barack and Michelle Obama’s Netflix deal — Addison replied, “Never say never to anything.”Taxpayer-funded travel, securityThe royal couple will still be using British taxpayer money in some cases. Taxpayer funds are routinely used to pay for official overseas travel that the royals carry out, often at the request of the Foreign Office, which uses the family as goodwill ambassadors in many parts of the world, particularly Commonwealth countries.Harry and Meghan, who were vilified in the press for accepting rides on private jets while calling for positive action on climate change, say on their website that they will continue to use taxpayer money for official trips when carrying out royal duties in support of the queen and the government.They say they will pay for all trips taken on their own time.There is also a gray area concerning the costs of their personal security. The royals are protected by a special unit of the Metropolitan Police, also known as Scotland Yard, that is funded by taxpayers for a variety of roles, including leading Britain’s counter-terrorism efforts and keeping the streets safe.The British government does not provide a public breakdown of the cost of protecting the royal family for fear that would be useful to anyone considering an attack. There have been no indications that Harry or Meghan wish to give up this protection.
 
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Queen Elizabeth II has moved quickly to take control of the crisis surrounding the decision by Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, to distance themselves from the royal family, ordering royal courtiers to find a future role for the pair within days.Officials representing the most senior members of the family — the monarch, her son Prince Charles, grandson Prince William, and Prince Harry and Meghan — were meeting to sort out a workable solution for the couple within the royal family.In the meantime, Meghan has returned to Canada, where she and Harry spent the Christmas holidays, instead of with other royals at the queen’s estate in Sandringham, England. The former actress has longstanding ties to the country, having lived in Toronto while filming the TV show “Suits.”The talks come after the royal pair released a “personal message”  Wednesday evening that said they were stepping back from being senior members of Britain’s royal family, aimed to become financially independent and would “balance” their time between the U.K. and North America.FILE – Newspapers are seen for sale in London, Jan. 9, 2020.Harry and Meghan faced a barrage of criticism from the British press over their decision.The couple has long complained of intrusive media coverage and accused some British media commentators of racism. They slammed the country’s long-standing arrangements for royal media coverage and insisted that from now on they prefer to communicate directly with the public through social media.The monarch and other members of the family were said to be “hurt” by the announcement because they weren’t informed about the communique before it was released. News of the talks followed.The latest developments reveal more divisions within the British monarchy, which was rocked in November by Prince Andrew’s disastrous television interview about his relationship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew, the queen’s second son, has stepped away from royal duties and patronages after being accused by a woman who says she was an Epstein trafficking victim who slept with the prince.Personal assetsHarry, 35, is Elizabeth’s grandson and sixth in line to the British throne, behind his father, brother and his brother’s three children. The former British Army officer is one of the royal family’s most popular members and has spent his entire life in the public eye.Before marrying the prince in a wedding watched around the world in 2018, the 38-year-old Meghan was a star of the TV legal drama “Suits.” The couple’s son Archie was born in May 2019.The couple’s statement on Wednesday left many questions unanswered — such as what they plan to do and how they will earn private income without tarnishing the royal image. At the moment, they are largely funded by Harry’s father, Prince Charles, through income from his vast Duchy of Cornwall estate.They said they plan to cut ties to the taxpayer support given each year to the queen for official use, which currently covers 5% of the costs of running their office.Harry and Meghan also have considerable assets of their own. Harry inherited an estimated 7 million pounds ($9.1 million) from his late mother, Princess Diana, as well as money from his great-grandmother. Meghan has money from a successful acting career.
 
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Two award-winning documentaries capture death and destruction in the war-torn Syrian cities of Aleppo and Eastern Ghouta through the eyes of women. Waad al-Kateab’s film “For Sama,” and Feras Fayyad’s film “The Cave,” document civilians’ struggle to survive in devastated cities where doctors in makeshift hospitals tend to throngs of injured and dying people. VOA’s Penelope Poulou interviewed both filmmakers and has more.
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American comedian, writer and director Buck Henry, who was behind one of the most influential films in history, has died of a heart attack. He was 89.The Dartmouth-educated Henry first emerged in the late 1950s, playing a puritanical character who was offended by so-called naked animals and wanted them to wear clothes.Many in the media failed to realize it was a joke and booked Henry’s character on news and interview shows.FILE – Key members of NBC’s comedy, “The New Show,” from left, Dave Thomas, Steve Martin, Lorne Michaels, Valri Bromfield, Jeff Goldblum, and Buck Henry, hold a news conference announcing the show in New York, Dec. 31, 1983.In 1965, Henry co-created the television comedy Get Smart, a satire of James Bond. Instead of the smooth martini-drinking spy, the Get Smart lead character, Maxwell Smart, was a dense bumbler whose apologies to his boss of “Sorry about that, chief” became a national catch phrase.Three years later, Henry co-wrote and appeared in The Graduate, a film that influenced generations of young people. In it, Dustin Hoffman played a former college student who had no ambition or clear idea of what he wanted to do with his life and wound up having an affair with a woman twice his age.With a musical score by Simon and Garfunkel, Henry’s script for The Graduate earned him his first Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay. His second nomination came 10 years later for the hugely popular film Heaven Can Wait. Henry’s other hit films included Catch-22 and What’s Up, Doc?The short and bespectacled Henry, who died Wednesday in Los Angeles, also had appeared on numerous television comedy and variety shows.
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Emmy winner Niecy Nash, the groundbreaking cast of the hit TV series “Pose,” Grammy-winning music video director Melina Matsoukas and “Captain Marvel” actress Lashana Lynch will be honored at the 2020 Black Women in Hollywood Awards.Essence Communications, the media company dedicated to black women that hosts the annual pre-Oscars luncheon, announced Thursday that the event will take place Feb. 6 at the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills, California — three days before the 92nd Academy Awards.”Pose” writer-director-producer Janet Mock will be honored at the event alongside members of the show’s cast, including Mj Rodriguez, Indya Moore, Dominique Jackson, Angelica Ross and Hailie Sahar. Billy Porter, who won an Emmy for his role on “Pose” last year, will be a presenter at the awards luncheon.”ESSENCE is thrilled to commemorate the creative and critical achievements of Black women as originators, nurturers, makers and creators during our 13th Black Women in Hollywood awards luncheon,” MoAna Luu, the company’s chief content and creative officer, said in a statement. “Whether they’re reclaiming our culture or dismantling traditional gender ideas, each of our honorees uplift us as they present their unique gifts on the screen and behind the camera. As ESSENCE celebrates 50 years of the power of our presence, we are proud to salute them all.”Nash earned an Emmy nomination for her performance in last year’s “When They See Us” and won a Daytime Emmy for the home makeover show “Clean House.”Matsoukas made her directorial debut with the film “Queen & Slim” last year and won Grammys for directing videos for Rihanna and Beyonce. Lynch is set to appear in the James Bond film “No Time to Die,” to hit U.S. theaters on April 10.
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British actor Jeremy Irons will head the jury at the Berlin International Film Festival next month, organizers said Thursday.Irons will be jury president at the festival’s 70th edition, running from Feb. 20 to March 1. Other members of the jury haven’t yet been named.
Irons’ screen and stage career started in the 1970s. He won a best actor Oscar in 1991 for his role in “Reversal of Fortune” and had acclaimed performances in films including “the French Lieutenant’s Woman” and “The Mission” as well as the 1981 TV miniseries “Brideshead Revisited.”
Irons said in a statement released by festival organizers that he was taking on the festival role “with feelings of great pleasure and not inconsiderable honor.”
 “With his distinctive style, Jeremy Irons has embodied some iconic characters that have accompanied me throughout my journey in cinema, making me aware of the complexity of human beings,” Carlo Chatrian, the festival’s artistic director, said.
This year’s festival is the first under the leadership of Chatrian, who previously headed the Locarno film festival, and executive director Mariette Rissenbeek. The duo replaced Dieter Kosslick, who directed the event for 18 years.  
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