Winners and Losers: The 2019 Oscar Nominees

The nominees for the 91st annual Academy Awards were announced Tuesday, and for an awards season already marked by so much controversy, it’s only fitting there were quite a few surprises. 

“Roma” and “The Favourite” led the way with 10 nominations each, with “A Star Is Born” followed closely behind with eight and “Black Panther” with seven. 

The Lady Gaga-led juggernaut, once predicted to sweep the show’s five major categories, was most notably missing from the Best Director competition. While seven nominations is nothing to hang your head over, Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut was expected to compete with Alfonso Cuarón and “Roma.” It’s not a good sign that the film’s momentum has seemed to be slowing significantly the deeper we get into awards season. 

“Green Book” may be riding high after Best Picture wins at the Golden Globes and the Producers Guild of America Awards, but it’s a film marred by controversy, which will hopefully open the door for another film to take home the hardware. It looks like the Best Picture race will likely end up a showdown between “The Favourite” and “Roma.” Just please, dear god, don’t let it be “Green Book.”

Here’s a full list of the winners and losers of Tuesday’s nominations. 

Winner: Superhero movies

Coming 10 years after “The Dark Knight,” arguably the greatest superhero movie ever, was snubbed of a Best Picture nom, Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther” finally carried comic book movies to the cinematic mountain top. 

Plus, “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” is the frontrunner to take home Best Animated Feature. Both of these films prove that superhero movies are capable of being far more than spandex and explosions, but instead, cinematically and culturally-relevant works of art.

Winner: “The Favourite”

Ten nominations is no easy task, and “The Favourite” earned each one. After only one win at the Globes, it’ll be interesting to see if it can gather momentum heading into February. Best Lead Actress nominee Olivia Colman will be facing stiff competition with Glenn Close (“The Wife”) and Lady Gaga, while Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz will have to duke it out against each other, and Regina King (“If Beale Street Could Talk”), to take home Best Supporting Actress. 

Loser: 2017 Rematch

It looked as if history would repeat itself and directors Barry Jenkins and Damien Chazelle would be facing off once again for Best Director and Best Picture. The two collided in 2017 with Chazelle’s “La La Land” and Jenkins’ “Moonlight,” while this year featured “First Man” and “If Beale Street Could Talk,” respectively. Instead, both were snubbed from each category, leaving fans of last-minute reversals disappointed. 

Winner: Alfonso Cuarón

Cuarón crafted a deeply personal story inspired by his own upbringing in “Roma,” and offered it to people in a way everyone could enjoy – Netflix. At one point, critics worried not enough people would see “Roma,” so it’s nice to see Cuarón’s masterpiece get the respect it deserves and earn 10 nominations. Now that Cooper isn’t standing in his way for Best Director, it looks like Cuarón has a clear path to the win. 

Loser: The horror genre

After the critical success of “Get Out” last year, it seemed the horror genre had finally broken through and would no longer be overlooked when it came to awards season recognition. Well, it’s one step forward and two steps back as this year saw the likes of “Hereditary” and “A Quiet Place” go unrecognized, save for a Sound Editing nod for the latter. Toni Collette delivered one of the year’s best performances in “Hereditary,” but because of the Academy’s genre discrimination against horror films, it will never get the appreciation it warrants.

@zach_goins