The 2019 Oscar Nominations: No Love For ‘Crazy Rich Asians’; One S’porean Is Up For Two Awards    

Let’s cut to the chase: Crazy Rich Asians has zero Oscar nods.

Despite being nominated for two Golden Globes and winning the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Comedy at the Broadcast Film Critics Association early this month, the Singapore-set rom-com was completely shut out of the nominations for the 91st Academy Awards, which were announced on Monday (Jan 22) night. (I was actually gunning for Michelle Yeoh in the Best Supporting Actress category.)

Instead, members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences showed their appreciation for Roma, the Spanish coming-of-age drama (now streaming on Netflix), and The Favourite (out Feb 14), a period comedy about 18th-century monarch, Queen Anne. They lead the race with the 10 nominations each, including Best Picture and Best Director.

Elsewhere, Black Panther becomes the first superhero movie to be nominated for Best Picture. More good news for Marvel fans: Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is in the running for Best Animated Feature, while Avengers: Infinity War is contesting for Best Visual Effects.

Closer to home, Singaporean sound effects editor Ai-Ling Lee is nominated for Sound Editing and Sound Mixing for the Neil Armstrong biopic First Man. She was previously nominated in the same categories for the musical La La Land two years ago.

The 91st Academy Awards will take place on Feb 25 (Singapore time, 9am), with no host attached. Kevin Hart was originally picked for the coveted job but quit shortly following a controversy over homophobic jokes.

At press time, there's no word on which channel will show the Oscars live from the Dolby Theatre in LA. But that’s another story for another time. Meanwhile, here are the nominations in the major categories.

Best Picture

Black Panther

BlacKkKlansman

Bohemian Rhapsody

The Favourite

Green Book

Roma

A Star Is Born

Vice

Best Director

Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman)

Pawel Pawlikowski (Cold War)

Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite)

Alfonso Cuarón (Roma)

Adam McKay (Vice)

Best Actor

Christian Bale (Vice)

Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born)

Willem Dafoe (At Eternity’s Gate)

Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)

Viggo Mortensen (Green Book)

Best Actress

Yalitza Aparicio (Roma)

Glenn Close (The Wife)

Olivia Colman (The Favourite)

Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born)

Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)

Best Supporting Actor

Mahershala Ali (Green Book)

Adam Driver (BlacKkKlansman)

Sam Elliott (A Star Is Born)

Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)

Sam Rockwell (Vice)

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams (Vice)

Marina de Tavira (Roma)

Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk)

Emma Stone (The Favourite)

Rachel Weisz (The Favourite)

Best Foreign Language Film:

Capernaum (Lebanon)

Cold War (Poland)

Never Look Away (Germany)

Roma (Mexico)

Shoplifters (Japan)

Best Animated Feature

Incredibles 2

Isle of Dogs

Mirai

Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

For complete list of nominations, click here.