22 January, 2019
Netflix's movie "Roma" and British historical film "The Favourite" lead the Academy Award race with 10 nominations each.
Nominees for the Academy Awards, or Oscars, were announced Tuesday.
"Roma" and "The Favourite" will compete with six other films for the best picture Oscar. Among them is "Black Panther," which became the first superhero movie nominated for the Oscar's top honor. It earned seven nominations in all.
Other best picture possibilities are "A Star is Born," "Green Book," "BlacKkKlansman," "Vice" and "Bohemian Rhapsody."
"Roma" is partly based on the life of its Mexican director, Alfonso Cuaron. It earned nominations in every major category.
Filmed in Spanish and an indigenous Mexican language, it will also compete in the foreign language field. Yalitza Aparicio, who plays a domestic worker for a family living in Mexico City's Colonial Roma neighborhood, also earned a best actress nomination. "Roma" was 25-year-old Aparicio's first film.
"The Favourite" is a humorous period film set in the court of 18th-century British monarch Queen Anne. It earned nominations for British star Olivia Colman and supporting actresses Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz. Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos also was nominated.
Many of the films nominated for this year's best picture Oscar were among the top earners at the box office. That is different from most years; members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences often favor smaller films.
"A Star is Born," starring best actress nominee Lady Gaga, earned eight total nominations, including one for Gaga's hit song "Shallow." Bradley Cooper, who starred in and directed "A Star is Born," will compete in the best actor category for the movie. But he will not compete in the race for best director. The omission surprised both fans and film experts.
Another surprise omission was the humorous movie "Crazy Rich Asians." The all-Asian film was popular around the world but did not receive a single nomination.
Rock musical "Bohemian Rhapsody" was nominated for five awards, including best actor for Rami Malek for his role as late Queen singer Freddie Mercury.
Longtime actress Glenn Close, who has yet to win an Oscar, will compete for the seventh time. She earned a nomination this year for her lead role in "The Wife."
In the lead actor field, Malek and Cooper will take on Christian Bale, who plays former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney in "Vice," Willem Dafoe for playing artist Vincent van Gogh in "At Eternity's Gate," and Viggo Mortensen for "Green Book."
"Green Book" also won a nomination for supporting actor Mahershala Ali.
The Oscars ceremony will take place on February 24 in Hollywood, California.
I'm Jonathan Evans.
The Reuters news agency reported this story. Ashley Thompson adapted it for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.
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Words in This Story
indigenous - adj. living or existing naturally in a particular region or environment
category - n. a group of people or things that are similar in some way
omission - n. something that has not been included or done