Dark drama ‘Joker’ led the nominations for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards on Tuesday, earning 11 nods at the United Kingdom’s top movie honours.
Martin Scorsese’s gangster movie ‘The Irishman’ and Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ followed with 10 nominations each.
Immersive World War One drama ‘1917’ got nine nominations.
That movie, which uses a long-shot format to follow two young British soldiers sent on a mission across enemy lines, triumphed at Sunday’s Golden Globes ceremony where it picked up best drama and best director for Briton Sam Mendes.
The four movies will compete against South Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s darkly comic ‘Parasite’ for best film at the Feb. 2 awards in London as well as for best director.
Joaquin Phoenix’s turn in ‘Joker’, where he transforms from vulnerable loner into confident villain, won him a BAFTA leading actor nomination. He will compete against Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio for “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”, Adam Driver for Netflix divorce drama “Marriage Story”, Taron Egerton in Elton John musical biopic ”Rocketman’ and Jonathan Pryce in papal drama ‘The Two Popes’.
Nominees for leading actress featured Scarlett Johansson for ‘Marriage Story’, Saoirse Ronan for ‘Little Women’, Charlize Theron for ‘Bombshell’, Jessie Buckley for ‘Wild Rose’ and Renee Zellweger for ‘Judy’, in which she plays actress Judy Garland, a role which won her a Golden Globe on Sunday.
REUTERS