Roma, The Favourite lead Oscar nominations with 10 each

Alfonso Cuaron'sRomaand Yorgos Lanthimos'sThe Favouritelead nominations announced today for the 91st Academy Awards, scoring 10 nods each, including for best picture.

The best-picture nomineesannounced Tuesday from Beverly Hills, Calif., are:

• A Star Is Born.
• Roma.
• Green Book.
• The Favourite.
• Black Panther.
• BlacKkKlansman.
• Bohemian Rhapsody.
• Vice.

WithRoma,Netflix has scored its first best-picture nomination, something the streaming giant had dearly sought. Marvel, too, joined the first-time club, withBlack Panther, which became the onlysuperhero movie ever nominated for best picture.

Romais a black-and-white autobiographical drama based on director Alfonso Cuaron's memories of growing up in Mexico City's Roma neighbourhood.The Favourite presents its version of Queen Anne's court in the early 1700s, and the rivarly between her close friend Lady Sarah Churchill and a new servant, Abigail.

Spike Lee was nominated for best director forBlacKkKlansman,his first Oscar nod in that category, 30 years after getting a writing nomination for 1989's Do the Right Thing.Notably left out of the directorcategory was Bradley Cooper, whose A Star Is Bornlanded eight nominations, including for himself for best actor and for Lady Gaga for best actress.

The other best-director nominees are Cuaron, Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite), Pawel Pawlikowski (Cold War) and Adam McKay (Vice).

Along with Cooper, best-actor nominees are Christian Bale (Vice), Willem Dafoe (At Eternity's Gate), Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) and Viggo Mortensen (Green Book).

Upfor best actress are Yalitza Aparicio (Roma), Glenn Close (The Wife), Lady Gaga (A Star is Born), Olivia Colman (The Favourite)and Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?). For Close, it was her seventh acting nod from theAcademy of Motion PictureArts and Sciences.

The nominees for best supporting actress are Amy Adams (Vice), Marina De Tavira (Roma), Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk), Emma Stone (The Favourite) and Rachel Weisz (The Favourite). Tavira's nod is considered somewhat ofa surprise, while Claire Foy of First Manwas left out.

Up for best supporting actor are: Mahershala Ali (Green Book), Adam Driver (BlacKkKlansman), Sam Elliott (A Star Is Born), Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) and Sam Rockwell (Vice). Notably snubbed was Timothy Chalamet (Beautiful Boy).

The nominations, announced by Kumail Nanjiani and Tracee Ellis Ross from the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre in Beverly Hills, Calif.,included plenty of surprises.

In a banner year for documentaries, the Fred Rogers documentaryWon't You Be My Neighborwas snubbed despite more than $22 million US in ticket sales (a huge sum for a doc). Instead the nominees wereFree Solo,Hale County This Morning, This Evening,Minding the Gap,Of Fathers and Sonsand the Ruth Bader Ginsberg portraitRBG.

Some Oscar regulars were honoured again. Joel and Ethan Coen notched their seventh screenwriting nomination. Paul Schrader, the 72-year-old Taxi Driverscribe, was nominated for his first Oscar for the script to his religious thriller First Reformed.

The lead-up to Tuesday's nominations was rocky for both the film academy and some of the contending movies. Shortly after being announced as host, Kevin Hart stepped away over years-old homophobic tweets that the comedian eventually apologized for. That left the Oscars, one month before the Feb. 24 ceremony, without a single host, and it is expected to stay that way.

Some film contenders, like Peter Farrelly's Green Bookand the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody,have suffered backlash, even as their awards tallies have mounted. On Saturday, Green Bookwon the top award from the Producers Guild, an honour that has been a reliable Oscar barometer. In the 10 years since the Oscars expanded its best-picture ballot, the PGA winner has gone on to win best picture eight times.

The season's steadiest contender Cooper's A Star Is Born looked potentially unbeatable until it got beat. Despite an enviable string of awards and more than $400 million US in worldwide box office, Cooper's lauded remake was almost totally ignored at the Golden Globes. Still, A Star Is Bornwas the sole film to land top nominations from virtually every guild group.

The academy is reportedly planning to go hostless following Hart's exit, something it has tried only once before in an infamous 1989 telecast that featured a lengthy musical number with Rob Lowe and Snow White.

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The Oscars last year hit a new ratings low, declining 20 per cent and averaging 26.5 million viewers. Though ratings for award shows have generally been dropping, the downturn prompted the academy to revamp this year's telecast. Though initial plans for a new popular film category were scuttled, the academy plans to present some awards off-air and keep the broadcast to three hours.

Canadian nominations

Several Canadians have landed Oscar nominations.

The category for best animated short includes the Pixar production Bao by Toronto-raised Domee Shi. The eight-minuteBaois the story of an older Chinese woman who gets another chance at motherhood when one of her steamed dumplings comes to life.

Also on that list is Animal Behaviour by Vancouver's David Fine and Alison Snowden, and Weekends by Canadian-born director Trevor Jimenez.

Fine and Snowden are a husband-and-wife filmmaking team who won an Oscar in 1994 for best animated short forBob's Birthday.

Animal Behaviourwas produced at the National Film Board of Canada and gives a comedic look at animals in a group therapy session.

Jimenez has been a story artist for more than 10 years, at companies including Disney Feature Animation and Pixar, where he currently works.

His filmWeekendsis set in 1980s Toronto and features hand-drawn animations.

The live action short film category has two finalists from Montreal Jeremy Comte forFauveand Marianne Farley forMarguerite.

Other Canadians up for the golden statuette this year include sound mixer Paul Massey forBohemian Rhapsodyand set decorator Gordon Sim forMary Poppins Returns.

Sim won a best-production design Oscar in 2003 forChicagoand was nominated in the category in 2010 forNine.