Los Angeles (AFP)

The Oscar nominations were announced Monday at dawn in Los Angeles, with their usual batch of records, surprises and left behind. Here are five things to remember for this 92nd edition:

- Success for Scarlett and Saoirse -

Women are absent from the race for the "best director" but two actresses particularly stood out: Scarlett Johansson and Saoirse Ronan (pronounced "seur-sha").

Scarlett Johansson had never been selected for the Oscars until now. She has just won two nominations at once, for the drama on divorce "Marriage Story" (best actress) and for the quirky "Jojo Rabbit" (best supporting role) in which she plays a young mother hiding a young Jew in his attic in Nazi Germany.

For his part, Saoirse Ronan won the fourth nomination of his career, at only 25 years old. Only Jennifer Lawrence can claim to have done better.

- Morning not calm for South Korea -

"Parasite", Bong Joon-ho's black comedy, already sacred at the Cannes Film Festival, has become the first South Korean feature film to receive a nomination in the category of best foreign film and best film (all short) , flagship category of the Oscars.

Only six foreign films have achieved this feat, including "Roma" by Mexican Alfonso Cuaron last year.

Will "Parasite" be able to defeat the Indian sign, knowing that none of its predecessors has won the Oscar for best film?

Rewarded with the Golden Globes, Bong Joon-ho in any case urged the American public to "overcome the barrier of two or three centimeters of subtitles" to discover "brilliant films".

- Netflix once again in the lead -

The Netflix video-on-demand platform has spent billions of dollars tying up Hollywood's biggest names and making its way alongside traditional studios, and it's starting to pay off.

The streaming giant tops the Oscar nominations this year with 24 candidates, compared to 23 at Disney / Fox, yet the world number one in entertainment, and 20 at Sony.

This does not mean that the harvest of statuettes will be there on February 9. Netflix enjoyed overwhelming dominance over its competitors in the Golden Globes race but ultimately had to settle for two small prizes, one for Laura Dern ("Marriage Story") for film and another for Olivia Colman ("The Crown ") for television.

- John Williams' irresistible rise? -

Composer John Williams, 87, already has a constellation of nominations to his name and added one more Monday for the music for "Star Wars: Skywalker's Ascension", the 52nd.

Except exceptional longevity, it should not however be able to equal the record held by the legendary Walt Disney with 59 nominations.

The last episode of the Star Wars saga started in 1977 is also in the running in two technical categories (sound editing and visual effects).

- Zero for J-Lo and De Niro -

Two of the biggest stars given for these nominations left empty-handed on Monday.

Jennifer Lopez had never before been selected for the Oscars but many believed that her supporting performance in "Queens" could justify an appointment.

The honor escaped him, as did veteran Robert De Niro, shunned by members of the Academy of Cinema Arts and Science for "The Irishman".

De Niro is certainly satisfied with having already won two Oscars, but his last golden statuette nonetheless dates back to 1980 and "Raging Bull".

He will nevertheless be in the running on February 9, as co-producer of "The Irishman", candidate for the prize for "best film".

© 2020 AFP