Netflix Gets Two Shots at Top Oscar; Women Directors Snubbed

(Bloomberg) -- “The Irishman” and “Marriage Story” were nominated for the Academy Award for best picture, giving Netflix Inc. its best chance yet to win Hollywood’s most coveted prize.

In all, nine films will vie for best picture, including “Ford v Ferrari,” “Little Women,” “Jojo Rabbit,” “Joker,” “Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood,” “Parasite” and “1917,” which won the top film award at the Golden Globes on Jan. 5. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced the nominees Monday morning online.

Last year, Netflix’s “Roma” was seen as a favorite to win the top Oscar but lost to “Green Book,” from Comcast Corp.’s Universal Pictures. This year, Netflix’s “The Two Popes” was seen as a potential best-picture nominee but didn’t make the cut.

By winning in 2020, Netflix would prove it has ascended into rarefied Hollywood air that it has at times struggled to reach. Its direct-to-consumer model has ruffled the industry, with major theater chains refusing to play its titles. The online service, now the largest movie studio in the world by volume, has also been mostly shut out of the biggest prizes. Earlier this month Netflix was the most nominated studio at the Golden Globe Awards but lost in all the major categories, including best drama and best director.

Women were nearly absent from the top awards categories, after being overlooked at both the Golden Globes and the U.K.’s top film prizes, known as the Baftas. All the best-director nominees are male -- “Congratulations to those men,” announcement co-host Issa Rae said pointedly -- and the story lines of most of the top films are driven by male characters.

The acting and directing awards contenders are largely white, although Cynthia Erivo was nominated for the title role of Harriet Tubman in “Harriet.” Jennifer Lopez, widely discussed as a likely nominee for her supporting role in “Hustlers,” missed out. Also not nominated were Lupita Nyong’o, who played a double role in “Us,” and Awkwafina, who won the Golden Globe for best dramatic actress in “The Farewell.”

Major awards shows have come under fire for failing to recognize work from women and people of color. Ricky Gervais, who hosted this year’s Golden Globes for the fifth time, skewered the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for failing to diversify. “There’s a lot of controversy about our next category because no female directors were nominated this year. Not one. I mean, that’s bad,” he said.

Once a showcase for emcees such as Johnny Carson, Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg, the Oscars won’t have a host for this year, for the second time in a row. Last year, Kevin Hart stepped down as host after old, homophobic tweets surfaced and he declined to apologize. Hart later said he acted “immature.”The major nominations include:

To contact the reporter on this story: Kelly Gilblom in Los Angeles at kgilblom@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, John J. Edwards III

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