It’s Oscar season Chiefs! The nominees were announced on January 22. As the February 24th date for the Oscars approaches, there are some major firsts and a controversy regarding the host this year. The race is on to see all the movies and performances nominated.

CONTROVERSY

When the nominees were announced by Tracy Ellis Ross and Kumail Nanjiani early Tuesday morning, there is still no host for the show. Kevin Hart was supposed to be hosting the Oscars but stepped down after refusing to make an apology for his homophobic tweets from roughly 10 years ago. He has made an apology, but still stands by his decision not to host. However, this isn’t the first time the Oscar’s will go without a host; the last time was the 1989 Oscars.

OSCAR FIRSTS

For the first time, a superhero movie was nominated for Best Picture: Black Panther.  This also makes it the first nomination for any Marvel movie.

Two Mexican-born actresses are nominated in two award categories simultaneously. Actresses Yalitza Aparicio and Marina de Tavira are nominated for both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress  for Alfonso Cuarón’s Netflix film Roma.

Alfonso Cuarón is the first person be nominated for Best Director, Best Cinematography, and Original Screenplay all in the same year.

The first Latin American woman to be nominated for producing a Best Picture is Gabriela Rodriguez also for Roma.

The first Black person to be nominated for Best Production Design is Hannah Beachler for Black Panther.

The first Black person to ever be nominated for Best Costume Design for the third time is Ruth E. Carter. Her 3rd nomination was with her work in “Black Panther.” Her second being “Malcolm X” (2002) and her 1st nomination being “Amistad” (1997).

Netflix has received its first nomination for Best Picture with the film Roma.

Hulu received it’s first Oscar nomination under Best Documentary with the documentary Mind The Gap about skateboarding.

After decades making movies, director Spike Lee received his first nomination for “BlacKkKlansman.”

Lady Gaga, in her debut movie, has been nominated for Best Lead Actress and Best Original Song with Shallow for the movie A Star Is Born. Some fans were disappointed that Bradley Cooper was snubbed for best director for A Star is Born, even though he was nominated for Best Lead Actor.