HOLLYWOOD─The awards train continues because the nominees for the 2020 British Academy of Film and Theatre Television Arts were announced on Tuesday, January 7. The BAFTA’s are considered the Brit’s equivalent of the Oscars. There were some surprises that left people to have scratching their heads. No love for Eddie Murphy in the leading actor race for “Dolemite is My Name.” Still not seeing any love for Robert De Niro for Lead Actor has me baffled.

Missing from the Lead Actress race include Cynthia Erivo for “Harriet,” Lupita Nyong’o for the thriller “Us,” as well as Awkwafina for “The Farewell.” I think I’m stunned the most by the absence of Jennifer Lopez in the Supporting Actress race for her role in “Hustlers.” Instead, Margot Robbie will compete against herself for her performances in “Bombshell” (well deserved) and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (not so much).

Back to the nominations, “Joker” earned an impressive 11 nods including Best Film. I seriously think this movie has a chance to make Oscar history people. “The Irishman” and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood are close behind with 10 nominations each. A partial list of this year’s nominees are listed below:

Best Film

-“1917”

-“The Irishman”

-“Joker”

-“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”

-“Parasite”

Best Director

-Sam Mendes “1917”

-Joker “Todd Phillips”

-Bong Joon Ho “Parasite”

-Martin Scorsese “The Irishman”

-Quentin Tarantino “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”

Lead Actress

-Jessie Buckley “Wild Rose”

-Scarlett Johansson “Marriage Story”

-Saoirse Ronan “Little Women”

-Charlize Theron “Bombshell”

-Renee Zellweger “Judy”

Lead Actor

-Joaquin Phoenix “Joker”

-Taron Egerton “Rocketman”

-Leonardo DiCaprio “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”

-Adam Driver “Marriage Story”

-Jonathan Pryce “The Two Popes”

Supporting Actor

-Brad Pitt “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”

-Al Pacino “The Irishman”

-Joe Pesci “The Irishman”

-Anthony Hopkins “The Two Popes”

-Tom Hanks “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”

Supporting Actress

-Laura Dern “Marriage Story”

-Scarlett Johansson “Jojo Rabbit”

-Florence Pugh “Little Women”

-Margot Robbie “Bombshell”

-Margot Robbie “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”

Original Screenplay

-Susanna Fogel, Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins and Katie Silberman “Booksmart”

-Quentin Tarantino “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”

-Bong Joon-Ho and Han Jin Won “Parasite”

-Noah Baumbach “Marriage Story”

-Rian Johnson “Knives Out”

Adapted Screenplay

-Steven Zaillian “The Irishman”

-Todd Phillips and Scott Silver “Joker”

-Taika Waititi “Jojo Rabbit”

-Greta Gerwig “Little Women”

-Anthony Mccarten “The Two Popes”

Outstanding British Film

-“Rocketman”

-“1917”

-“Sorry We Missed You”

-“Bait”

-“For Sama”

-“The Two Popes”

Film Not In The English Language

-“The Farewell”

-“Pain and Glory”

-“Parasite”

-“Portrait of a Lady on Fire”

-“For Sama”

Animated Film

-“Frozen 2”

-“A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmegeddon”

-“Klaus”

-“Toy Story 4”

Rising Star Award

-Michael Ward

-Kaitlyn Dever

-Awkwafina

-Jack Lowden

-Kelvin Harrison Jr.

The 2020 ceremony will be held on Sunday, February 2 at the Royal Albert Hall. A host for the ceremony has not yet been announced.