‘THE SHAPE OF WATER’ LEADS OSCAR NOMINEES; AUSTIN POLICE DOC GETS NOD

Guillermo del Toro’s lavish monster romance “The Shape of Water” fished out a leading 13 nominations, Greta Gerwig became just the fifth woman nominated for best director and “Mudbound” director of photography Rachel Morrison made history as the first woman nominated for best cinematography in nominations announced Tuesday for the 90th annual Acad- emy Awards.

Oscar voters put forward nine best-picture nominees: “The Shape of Water ,” Martin McDonaugh’s rage-fueled comic drama “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Gerwig’s nuanced coming-of-age tale “Lady Bird ,” Jordan Peele’s horror sensation “Get Out,” Joe Wright’s Winston Churchill drama “Darkest Hour,” Steven Spielberg’s timely news- paper drama “The Post,” Christopher Nolan’s World War II epic “Dunkirk,” Luca Guadagnino’s tender love story “Call Me By Your Name” and Paul Thomas Anderson’s twisted romance “Phantom Thread.”

“The Shape of Water” landed just shy of tying the record of 14 nominations by “All About Eve,” “Titanic”

and “La La Land.” Del Toro’s dark fantasy — a Cold War era ode to outsiders about a mute cleaning lady and an amphibious creature —

scored a wide array for nomi- nations for its cast (Sally Hawkins, Richard Jenkins, Octavia Spencer), del Toro’s direct-

ing, its sumptuous score (by Alexandre Desplat) and its technical craft.

Reached by phone Tuesday in Los Angeles, del Toro said he would celebrate by working and eating an extra chicken sausage for breakfast. “That will be my indulgence for the day.”

The Mexican filmmaker said “The Shape of Water” has resonated because it explodes “the myth of ‘us

and them.’” The cascading fallout of sexual harassment scandals throughout Hollywood put particular focus on the best director category, which for many is a symbol of gender inequality in the film indus- try. Gerwig follows only Lina Wertmuller, Jane Campion, Sofia Coppola and Kathryn Bigelow, the sole woman to win (for “The Hurt Locker”).

Also nominated for best director was Peele. He becomes the fifth black film- maker nominated for best director, and the third to helm a best-picture nomi- nee, following Barry Jenkins

last year for “Moonlight.” He’s also the third person to receive best picture, direc- tor and writing nods for his first feature film after Warren Beatty (“Heaven Can Wait”) and James L. Brooks (“Terms of Endearment”).

Though all of the acting front-runners — Fran- ces McDormand (“Three Billboards”), Gary Oldman (“Darkest Hour”), Allison Janney (“I, Tonya”), Sam Rock- well (“Three Billboards”) — landed their expected nominations, there were surprises.

Denzel Washington (“Roman J. Israel, Esq.”) was nominated for best actor, likely eclipsing James Franco (“Disaster Artist”). Franco was accused of sexual misconduct, which he denied, just days before Oscar voting closed. The catego- ry’s other nominees were a retiring veteran — Dan- iel Day-Lewis for what he’s said is his final performance (“Phantom Thread”) — and a pair of breakouts: Timothee Chalamet (“Call Me By Your Name”) and “Daniel Kaluuya (“Get Out”). Christopher Plummer, who replaced Kevin Spacey in Ridley Scott’s “All the Money in the World,” also sneaked into the best supporting actor category.

Perhaps most unexpected was the broad success of Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Phan- tom Thread,” which scored not only nods for Day-Lewis and Lesley Manville, for best supporting actress, but also nominations for best pic- ture, Anderson’s direction, costume design and Johnny Greenwood’s score.

Anderson likely displaced not only Steven Spielberg (“The Post”) but Martin McDonagh, the director of the film many have tapped to win best picture, “Three Billboards.” His absence is a major knock for a film that has endured the harshest backlash of the contenders, with many claiming it’s out of touch in matters of race.

Still, “Three Billboards” scored seven nominations Tuesday, behind only “The Shape of Water” and Chris- topher Nolan’s “Dunkirk,” with eight.

Though the favorites are largely independent films, a number of blockbusters fared well, including five nods for “Blade Runner 2049,” four for “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” three for “Baby Driver,” two for “Beauty and the Beast” and two for Pixar’s “Coco,” which is up for best animated feature.

Still, Patty Jenkins’ “Won- der Woman,” which became the highest grossing movie ever directed by a woman, failed to receive any Oscar nods despite an awards campaign.

The box-office hit that carved the most unlikely path to the Oscars was “Get Out.” It opened back in February on Oscar weekend, and went on to pocket $254.7 million worldwide. It scored four nominations.

Though many minorities were still absent from the acting categories, the film academy, which has worked to diversify its membership,

put forward a field of nominees almost as diverse as last year when “Moonlight,” “Fences” and “Hidden Figures” powered a rebuttal to

the “OscarsSoWhite” backlash of the two years prior. Four black actors — Washington, Kaluuya, Spencer and Mary J. Blige (“Mudbound”) — are among the 20 acting nominees.

Meryl Streep, who stars as Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham in “The Post,” notched her 21st Oscar nomination. She was joined for best actress by McDormand, Hawkins, Saoirse Ronan (“Lady Bird”) and Margot Robbie (“I, Tonya”).

“I am honored beyond measure by this nomination for a film I love, a film that stands in defense of press freedom, and inclusion of women’s voices in the movement of history,” Streep said.