Oscar nominations 2020: Biggest surprises and snubs

Greta Gerwig, Taron Egerton and Jennifer Lopez all got snubbed in their respective categories

The 2020 Oscars nominations have been announced, bringing with them their annual lot of snubs and surprises.

Female filmmakers once again were overlooked in the Best Director category – with Greta Gerwig getting notably snubbed for her lauded adaptation of Little Women.

The Farewell, Taron Egerton and Jennifer Lopez also failed to secure nominations in their respective categories.

Meanwhile, Tom Hanks has scored his first Academy Award nomination in years for his turn as Fred Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.

Please read on for an overview of the most high-profile surprises and snubs of the 2020 Oscars nominations:

Netflix is having a great year

The streaming platform missed out on Best Picture last year, despite a rather successful awards campaign for Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma. It’s certainly not giving up this year, with Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman and Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story landing in several key categories. Both films are now in competition for Best Picture and the cast of Marriage Story has scored nominations in the Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress categories, while The Irishman is up for Best Director as well as Best Supporting Actor (times two, with Joe Pesci and Al Pacino competing against each other). (CM)

Tom Hanks scores his first Oscar nomination in nearly 20 years

It might be hard to believe, given that he’s barely ever put a foot wrong, but this is Tom Hanks’s first Oscar nomination in almost two decades. Despite stellar work in the likes of Catch Me If You Can (2002), The Terminal (2004), Captain Phillips (2013), Saving Mr Banks (2013) and The Post (2017), the 63-year-old international treasure hasn’t been recognised by the academy since 2001’s Cast Away. (AP)

Parasite makes history

Parasite, Bong Joon-ho’s razor-sharp social satire, is the first South Korean film ever to be nominated for Best Picture. It’s swept the board elsewhere, too, with Bong getting a Best Director nod (the only non-white person in an all-male category). It would have been nice to see some of the actors getting recognised – particularly Song Kang-ho, who gave one of the best performances of his already-illustrious career as the wiley patriarch – but it seems that was a dream too big. (AP)

Greta Gerwig gets overlooked for Best Director

Gerwig’s acclaimed adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel is up for Best Picture, but Gerwig herself was entirely deserving of a nomination in the Best Director category. Besides, including her would have been a wonderful way to infuse some diversity into the overwhelmingly male list of nominees. Which brings us to… (CM)

Where are the female filmmakers?

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, once again, a major awards ceremony has only put forward male filmmakers in the race for Best Director. This is unforgivable at any given time, but it seems especially unfair given that female filmmakers put out some of the best releases of the past 12 months – just look at Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, Lorene Scafaria’s Hustlers, Alma Har'el’s Honey Boy, Marielle Heller's A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and Lulu Wang's The Farewell. (CM)

Jennifer Lopez deserved a shot at Best Actress

In order to prepare for her role in Hustlers, Lopez learnt an entire new skill (pole dancing, which, in case you’re wondering, is far from easy) – and that’s just the cherry on top of her very strong acting performance as veteran stripper Ramona Vega. She certainly deserved a prime spot on the list of Best Actress nominees, but alas, the Academy decided otherwise. (CM)

Will Brad Pitt finally get an Oscar?

The actor has been a favourite as Best Supporting Actor this awards season, and now he’s officially got a shot at an Oscar in that category. His performance as Cliff Booth in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood could earn the 56-year-old the first Academy Award of his career, after being nominated for Best Actor in Moneyball (2012) and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2009), and for Best Supporting Actor in 12 Monkeys (1996). (CM)

There's still some hope for Little Women

While Gerwig was snubbed for Best Director, her film is officially up for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Costume Design and Best Original Score. Saoirse Ronan is up for Best Actress for her turn as Jo March, while Florence Pugh is in the running for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Amy. (CM)

Taron Egerton misses out on a slot for Best Actor

The English actor took home a Golden Globe in the Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his performance as Elton John, but didn’t secure a similar nomination on the Oscars side. In fact, Rocketman is nominated in just one category: Best Original Song for “I’m Gonna Love Me Again”. (CM)

Antonio Banderas scores his first Oscar nomination

The 59-year-old actor is in the running for Best Actor for his celebrated performance in Pain and Glory. This is the first Academy Award nomination of his career, and it puts him in competition with Leonardo DiCaprio, Adam Driver, Jonathan Pryce and Joaquin Phoenix. (CM)

No love for Uncut Gems

Adam Sandler was considered a strong contender for a Best Actor nomination after his acclaimed performance in Uncut Gems, but the Academy has expressed different views by keeping him out of the category. Fans are furious. (CM)

What happened to The Farewell?

Lulu Wang’s film has distinguished itself on several occasions this awards season – including when Awkwafina won Best Actress – Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globes. Nevertheless, The Farewell as well as its stars (Zhao Shuzhen and Awkwafina had both generated some Oscar chatter) weren’t recognised by the Academy. (CM)

The 2020 Oscars will take place on 9 February. You can see a full list of nominations here.