Netflix's Roma and period-comedy The Favourite lead with 10 Oscar nominations each

Alfonso Cuaron's Roma, an ode to his childhood in 1970s Mexico City, and offbeat royal romp The Favourite on Tuesday topped the Oscar nominations with 10 each.

Popular musical romance A Star Is Born and Dick Cheney biopic Vice finished with eight nominations each, while superhero blockbuster Black Panther finished with seven.

So far, the awards season has been a bit surprising, with prizes sprayed among a variety of films. So Tuesday's announcement gives the race to the Academy Awards on Feb 24 a bit more clarity.

The sweeping success of Roma is history-making for streaming giant Netflix, marking its first nomination for best picture, and also first in other top categories like best director and best actress.

The black and white film snatched up nods for best supporting actress, best foreign film and a swirl of other nominations.

But The Favourite scored a bit of a surprise with its stellar haul. While nominations for its trio of stars - Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz - were a near-lock, its flight to the top of the list was not.

Director Yorgos Lanthimos took a nod - instead of Cooper.

A Star Is Born, the latest iteration of the classic musical romance, scored in most big categories, with nominations for three of the four acting prizes - Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga and their co-star Sam Elliott.

Surprisingly, Cooper was denied a nod for his directing debut, despite earning nominations at the Golden Globes and from the Directors Guild.

READ: Bohemian Rhapsody, Roma, Gaga: The full list of Golden Globe 2019 winners

In all, there are eight films vying for best picture: Roma, The Favourite, A Star Is Born, Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman, Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, satirical Dick Cheney biopic Vice, civil rights dramedy Green Book and Black Panther.

Panther also made a bit of history, as the first superhero flick ever nominated in the category.

Green Book earned five Oscar nominations and moved up in the Academy Award conversation at the weekend when it won best film at the Producers Guild of America awards.

Twenty times out of 29, the PGA award winner has gone on to take the best picture Oscar, including The Shape of Water last year.

CONTROVERSY

Last year, the awards season was marked by the Harvey Weinstein scandal, and the birth of the #MeToo and Time's Up movements against sexual misconduct and harassment in the workplace.

This year, multiple controversies are plaguing the Oscars - none of them related to last year's bombshell.

In August, the Academy - under fire for being too elitist - announced it would add a best popular film award. But many saw the new category as a booby prize for blockbusters like Black Panther that would keep them out of contention for top honours.

The plan was scrapped a month later.

Then actor-comedian Kevin Hart had perhaps the briefest tenure ever as Oscars host - a few days. He withdrew after homophobic tweets he had written years ago sparked a crippling backlash on social media.

By all accounts, with many stars reportedly unwilling to grasp the poisoned chalice, the Academy has opted to go forward without a host.

Of course, on Oscars night, the focus will revert to the nominees, and the red carpet glamour.

In the best actor category, Christian Bale looks to be the frontrunner for his uncanny portrayal of Cheney in Vice.

But Rami Malek's Golden Globe win for his work as Freddie Mercury in Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody put him into the conversation. Viggo Mortensen (Green Book) and Cooper (Star) are also contenders, with Willem Dafoe (At Eternity's Gate) rounding out the field as a dark horse.

For best actress, Glenn Close's momentum is soaring after her twin Globe and Critics' Choice wins for The Wife, in which she plays a woman author whose marriage boils over when her writer husband wins the Nobel Prize.

But Gaga and Olivia Colman, who plays Queen Anne in The Favourite, are expected to give her a fight, along with breakout Roma star Yalitza Aparicio and dark house Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?).

In the supporting actor category, Elliott will go head-to-head with Green Book star Mahershala Ali, who took home a Golden Globe. For best supporting actress, Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk) will battle with Stone and Weisz.

Roma is the pre-emptive favorite for best foreign language film. It will compete with Capernaum (Lebanon), Cold War (Poland), Never Look Away (Germany) and Shoplifters (Japan).

The nominations were announced on Tuesday in the pre-dawn hours in Hollywood by actors Tracee Ellis Ross and Kumail Nanjiani.

Here are the nominees in key categories for the 91st Academy Awards.

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 Cuaron, 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

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: 

Free Solo

Hale County This Morning, This Evening

Minding the Gap

Of Fathers and Sons

RBG

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The Favourite - Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara

First Reformed - Paul Schrader

Green Book - Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie and Peter Farrelly

Roma - Alfonso Cuaron

Vice - Adam McKay

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs - Joel and Ethan Coen

BlacKkKlansman - Spike Lee, Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott

Can You Ever Forgive Me? - Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty

If Beale Street Could Talk - Barry Jenkins

A Star Is Born - Bradley Cooper, Eric Roth and Will Fetters

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Black Panther - Ludwig Goransson

BlacKkKlansman - Terence Blanchard

If Beale Street Could Talk - Nicholas Britell

Isle of Dogs - Alexandre Desplat

Mary Poppins Returns - Marc Shaiman

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

All The Stars from Black Panther

I'll Fight from RBG

The Place Where Lost Things Go from Mary Poppins Returns

Shallow from A Star Is Born

When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

FILMS WITH MORE THAN FIVE NOMINATIONS:

Roma - 10

The Favourite - 10

A Star Is Born"- 8

Vice - 8

Black Panther - 7

BlacKkKlansman - 6

Green Book - 5

Bohemian Rhapsody - 5