Oscar nominations: Joker, The Irishman NJ favorites for Academy Awards

The nominees for the 92nd Academy Awards are here, and all eyes will be on New Jersey at this year's Oscars.

That's because two locally-shot films, "Joker" and "The Irishman," are among the year's most-nominated movies.

Nominees for the 92nd Academy Awards will be announced starting at approximately 8:18 a.m. Monday morning. You can watch the nominations announcement live here:

An origin story for Batman's arch-nemesis, "Joker" topped the Oscar contenders announced Monday morning, earning 11 nominations including Best Picture, Best Actor for Joaquin Phoenix in the title role and Best Director for Todd Phillips.

A dark and gritty villain's saga that was shot in Jersey City and Newark in 2018, the film also earned a Best Cinematography nomination for Teaneck native Lawrence Sher. The executive producer was Ocean Township native Michael Uslan.

[ The trusted place to find the best home service providers. Find local pros. ]

In September, "Joker" won the top prize at the 76th Venice International Film Festival, the Golden Lion Award.

Previous Golden Lion winners, including Laurence Olivier's "Hamlet" (1948) and Guillermo del Toro's "The Shape of Water" (2017) went on to win the Best Picture Oscar.

Earlier this month, "Joker" won a pair of Golden Globes: Best Actor in a Drama for Joaquin Phoenix in the title role and Best Original Score for Hildur Gudnadottir's music, also nominated for an Oscar.

[ Download our mobile app or purchase a digital subscription for all the latest entertainment news. ]

Martin Scorsese's Netflix crime epic "The Irishman," named one of the best films of 2019 by the Asbury Park Press, is also a local contender with 10 nominations. The film — starring a once-in-a-lifetime ensemble of Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel and Bobby Cannavale — was partially filmed in Paterson.

Newark native Pesci, who owns a home in Lavallette, earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination for the film. Scorsese previously directed him to Oscar gold in that category for 1990's "GoodFellas."

While it tied with Sam Mendes' "1917" and Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood" for second-most nominations at 10 apiece, sailing hasn't exactly been smooth on the way to the Oscars for "The Irishman." It didn't take home any of the five Golden Globes it was nominated for. It did, however, earn Best Film honors from the likes of the National Board of Review and the New York Film Critics Circle.

The local shoot on "The Irishman" is part of a filmmaking boom in Paterson that's also included Steven Spielberg's upcoming re-telling of "West Side Story" and the upcoming series "Hunters" executive-produced by Jordan Peele and starring Pacino.

Film production has been booming across New Jersey since lawmakers in Trenton approved tax credits to draw movie and television production back to New Jersey in 2018.

Find out all about the tax-incentivized return of the film and television industries to New Jersey in our 2019 report.

Other New Jersey-connected Oscar contenders on Monday morning included studio Sony Pictures Classics, where the co-founder and co-president is Tom Bernard of Middletown. Their "Pain and Glory" by Spanish auteur Pedro Almodovar earned a Best International Feature nomination, as well as a Best Actor nod for Antonio Banderas.

Ocean Township's Robert Legato, a three-time winner, earned a Best Achievement in Visual Effects nomination for Disney and director Jon Favreau's re-telling of "The Lion King."

The Oscars smiled on New Jersey last year, as Best Picture winner "Green Book" chronicled a chapter in the life of the late Frank Anthony Vallelonga Sr. of Paramus, also known as Tony Lip, played in the film by Oscar nominee Viggo Mortensen.

The 92nd Academy Awards will air, once again host-free, on ABC on Sunday, Feb. 9.

Before the big night, the Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre at the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank will be screening several of this year's nominated films.

The Basie's Award Season Screenings series is sponsored by World Subaru and the Asbury Park Music and Film Festival. Screenings start at 7 p.m. and tickets are $5, or included with $50 annual membership in the Basie's Cinema Society.

Screenings include:

"Ford v. Ferrari," Sunday, Jan. 19

"Toy Story 4," Tuesday, Jan. 21

"Honeyland," Wednesday, Jan. 22

"American Factory," Sunday, Jan. 26

"Judy," Monday, Jan. 27

"Marriage Story," Thursday, Jan. 30

"Parasite," Monday, Feb. 3

"The Lighthouse," Tuesday, Feb. 4

"The Two Popes," Wednesday, Feb. 5

"Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood," Thursday, Feb. 6

Nominations for the 92nd Academy Awards

Performance by an actor in a leading role

Antonio Banderas in “Pain and Glory”

Leonardo DiCaprio in “Once upon a Time...in Hollywood”

Adam Driver in “Marriage Story”

Joaquin Phoenix in “Joker”

Jonathan Pryce in “The Two Popes”

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

Tom Hanks in “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”

Anthony Hopkins in “The Two Popes”

Al Pacino in “The Irishman”

Joe Pesci in “The Irishman”

Brad Pitt in “Once upon a Time...in Hollywood”

Performance by an actress in a leading role

Cynthia Erivo in “Harriet”

Scarlett Johansson in “Marriage Story”

Saoirse Ronan in “Little Women”

Charlize Theron in “Bombshell”

Renée Zellweger in “Judy”

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

Kathy Bates in “Richard Jewell”

Laura Dern in “Marriage Story”

Scarlett Johansson in “Jojo Rabbit”

Florence Pugh in “Little Women”

Margot Robbie in “Bombshell”

Best animated feature film of the year

“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” Dean DeBlois, Bradford Lewis and Bonnie Arnold

“I Lost My Body” Jérémy Clapin and Marc du Pontavice

“Klaus” Sergio Pablos, Jinko Gotoh and Marisa Román

“Missing Link” Chris Butler, Arianne Sutner and Travis Knight

“Toy Story 4” Josh Cooley, Mark Nielsen and Jonas Rivera

Achievement in cinematography

“The Irishman” Rodrigo Prieto

“Joker” Lawrence Sher

“The Lighthouse” Jarin Blaschke

“1917” Roger Deakins

“Once upon a Time...in Hollywood” Robert Richardson

Achievement in costume design

“The Irishman” Sandy Powell and Christopher Peterson

“Jojo Rabbit” Mayes C. Rubeo

“Joker” Mark Bridges

“Little Women” Jacqueline Durran

“Once upon a Time...in Hollywood” Arianne Phillips

Achievement in directing

“The Irishman” Martin Scorsese

“Joker” Todd Phillips

“1917” Sam Mendes

“Once upon a Time...in Hollywood” Quentin Tarantino

“Parasite” Bong Joon Ho

Best documentary feature

“American Factory” Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert and Jeff Reichert

“The Cave” Feras Fayyad, Kirstine Barfod and Sigrid Dyekjær

“The Edge of Democracy” Petra Costa, Joanna Natasegara, Shane Boris and Tiago Pavan

“For Sama” Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts

“Honeyland” Ljubo Stefanov, Tamara Kotevska and Atanas Georgiev

Best documentary short subject

“In the Absence” Yi Seung-Jun and Gary Byung-Seok Kam

“Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl)” Carol Dysinger and Elena Andreicheva

“Life Overtakes Me” John Haptas and Kristine Samuelson

“St. Louis Superman” Smriti Mundhra and Sami Khan

“Walk Run Cha-Cha” Laura Nix and Colette Sandstedt

Achievement in film editing

“Ford v Ferrari” Michael McCusker and Andrew Buckland

“The Irishman” Thelma Schoonmaker

“Jojo Rabbit” Tom Eagles

“Joker” Jeff Groth

“Parasite” Yang Jinmo

Best international feature film of the year

“Corpus Christi” Poland

“Honeyland” North Macedonia

“Les Misérables” France

“Pain and Glory” Spain

“Parasite” South Korea

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling

“Bombshell” Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan and Vivian Baker

“Joker” Nicki Ledermann and Kay Georgiou

“Judy” Jeremy Woodhead

“Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” Paul Gooch, Arjen Tuiten and David White

“1917” Naomi Donne, Tristan Versluis and Rebecca Cole

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

“Joker” Hildur Guðnadóttir

“Little Women” Alexandre Desplat

“Marriage Story” Randy Newman

“1917” Thomas Newman

“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” John Williams

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

“I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away” from “Toy Story 4," music and lyric by Randy Newman

“(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again” from “Rocketman,” music by Elton John; lyric by Bernie Taupin

“I'm Standing With You” from “Breakthrough,” music and lyric by Diane Warren

“Into The Unknown” from “Frozen II,” music and lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez

“Stand Up” from “Harriet,” music and lyric by Joshuah Brian Campbell and Cynthia Erivo

Best motion picture of the year

“Ford v Ferrari” Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping and James Mangold, Producers

“The Irishman” Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Producers

“Jojo Rabbit” Carthew Neal and Taika Waititi, Producers

“Joker” Todd Phillips, Bradley Cooper and Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Producers

“Little Women” Amy Pascal, Producer

“Marriage Story” Noah Baumbach and David Heyman, Producers

“1917” Sam Mendes, Pippa Harris, Jayne-Ann Tenggren and Callum McDougall, Producers

“Once upon a Time...in Hollywood” David Heyman, Shannon McIntosh and Quentin Tarantino, Producers

“Parasite” Kwak Sin Ae and Bong Joon Ho, Producers

Achievement in production design

“The Irishman” Production Design: Bob Shaw; Set Decoration: Regina Graves

“Jojo Rabbit” Production Design: Ra Vincent; Set Decoration: Nora Sopková

“1917” Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

“Once upon a Time...in Hollywood” Production Design: Barbara Ling; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh

“Parasite” Production Design: Lee Ha Jun; Set Decoration: Cho Won Woo

Best animated short film

“Dcera (Daughter)” Daria Kashcheeva

“Hair Love” Matthew A. Cherry and Karen Rupert Toliver

“Kitbull” Rosana Sullivan and Kathryn Hendrickson

“Memorable” Bruno Collet and Jean-François Le Corre

“Sister” Siqi Song

Best live action short film

“Brotherhood” Meryam Joobeur and Maria Gracia Turgeon

“Nefta Football Club” Yves Piat and Damien Megherbi

“The Neighbors' Window” Marshall Curry

“Saria” Bryan Buckley and Matt Lefebvre

“A Sister” Delphine Girard

Achievement in sound editing

“Ford v Ferrari” Donald Sylvester

“Joker” Alan Robert Murray

“1917” Oliver Tarney and Rachael Tate

“Once upon a Time...in Hollywood” Wylie Stateman

“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” Matthew Wood and David Acord

Achievement in sound mixing

“Ad Astra” Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson and Mark Ulano

“Ford v Ferrari” Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Steven A. Morrow

“Joker” Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic and Tod Maitland

“1917” Mark Taylor and Stuart Wilson

“Once upon a Time...in Hollywood” Michael Minkler, Christian P. Minkler and Mark Ulano

Achievement in visual effects

“Avengers: Endgame” Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Matt Aitken and Dan Sudick

“The Irishman” Pablo Helman, Leandro Estebecorena, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser and Stephane Grabli

“The Lion King” Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Elliot Newman

“1917” Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler and Dominic Tuohy

“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” Roger Guyett, Neal Scanlan, Patrick Tubach and Dominic Tuohy

Adapted screenplay

“The Irishman” Screenplay by Steven Zaillian

“Jojo Rabbit” Screenplay by Taika Waititi

“Joker” Written by Todd Phillips & Scott Silver

“Little Women” Written for the screen by Greta Gerwig

“The Two Popes” Written by Anthony McCarten

Original screenplay