'Joker' leads BAFTA nominations, 'The Irishman' and 'Once Upon a Time...' follow

Joaquin Phoenix-starrer "Joker", one of the most controversial yet admired movies of 2019, is leading the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) nominations with 11 nods while "The Irishman" and 1960s-set "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" also feature prominently in the list.

The nominations are a major Oscar boost for "Joker", which was recognised at the just-concluded Golden Globes for the best actor-drama for Phoenix and best original score.

The film is nominated in almost all the key categories including the best picture, best director for Todd Phillips, actor, cinematography, score, adapted screenplay and editing.

In the best picture category the film will fight it out with Martin Scorsese's "The Irishman" and Quentin Tarantino's revisionist tale "Once Upon a Time..." besides Sam Mendes' Golden Globe-winner "1917" and South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon Ho's class satire "Parasite", which has also snagged nominations in categories such as best director, original screenplay and foreign film.

Both the directors and the actors nominees list is highly competitive this year, featuring the usual suspects in Mendes, Scorsese, Phillips, Tarantino and Bong.

In the best actor category, Phoenix will face a tough fight from Leonardo DiCaprio ("Once Upon a Time in Hollywood"), Adam Driver ("Marriage Story"), Taron Egerton ("Rocketman") and Jonathan Pryce ("The Two Popes").

Renee Zellweger, this year's best actress-drama Golden Globe winner for "Judy", will compete with Jesse Buckley ("Wild Rose"), Scarlett Johansson ("Marriage Story"),
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