Oscar 2020: ‘Joker’ leads nominations with 11 nods, ‘Parasite’ creates history

“Joker” trumped critically-acclaimed titles to emerge as the front-runner at the 92nd Academy Award nominations with the Joaquin Phoenix-starrer leading the pack with 11 nods.

For the second spot, there was a tie among three most talked-about movies of the year: Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”, Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” and Sam Mendes’ “1917” with 10 nominations.

Bong Joon Ho-helmed “Parasite”, the most buzzed international movie of the year, scripted history by becoming the first South Korean film to bag a best picture nomination.

The film, which earned six nods, was also recognised in the international feature film, director and original screenplay categories. Another foreign language title that claimed spot in category other than international feature was Spanish film “Pain and Glory”.

The Pedro Almodovar-directed movie earned Antonio Banderas the best actor nod. “Joker”, which earned praise for Phoenix’s role as a man’s descent into madness and divided many for its portrayal of gun violence, dominated not just the main categories but also the technical nominations.

Some of the key categories where the film bagged nods are best picture, actor, director for Todd Phillips, original score and adapted screenplay.

The Oscars will air on February 9 and without a host again