Film academy skips Spike Lee, Regina King in Oscar nominations

Director Spike Lee, wearing a coat with the number 24 in memory of NBA player Kobe Bryant, poses on the red carpet during the Oscars arrivals at the 92nd Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S., Feb. 9, 2020. Image: Reuters/Mike Blake

LOS ANGELES — Directors Spike Lee and Regina King were left off the list of this year’s Academy Awards contenders, though voters made history by nominating two women in the directing category for the first time.

Lee’s Vietnam War film “Da 5 Bloods,” which is vying for the top movie honor at the upcoming Screen Actors Guild awards, was nearly absent from this year’s Oscar nominees. It earned one Academy Award nomination for best original score.

King’s directorial debut, “One Night in Miami,” earned three nominations, including best supporting actor for Leslie Odom Jr. and best screenplay. But King was not nominated as a director, and the movie about a meeting between Black civil rights leaders in 1964 did not make the best picture list.

The five nominated directors included Chloé Zhao for “Nomadland,” the story of modern van dwellers in recession-era America, and Emerald Fennell for her first film, the #MeToo revenge drama “Promising Young Woman.” In an unexpected choice, voters added Thomas Vinterberg to the mix for Danish film “Another Round.”

Among actors, Lakeith Stanfield was a surprise supporting actor nominee for his role as an FBI informant who betrays Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton in “Judas and the Black Messiah.”

Glenn Close was nominated for supporting actress for “Hillbilly Elegy,” a tale of poverty in the U.S. Midwest, though the film itself was widely panned.

Academy voters did not recognize Emmy winner Zendaya’s critically praised role in “Malcolm & Marie,” a drama about a quarreling couple.

Two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks, an Academy favorite, failed to win support for his portrayal as a Civil War veteran in “News of the World.” The movie landed four nominations in technical categories. JB

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