The Irishman - 10 nominations

Best Achievement in Directing - Martin Scorsese

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role - Al Pacino

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role - Joe Pesci

Best Adapted Screenplay - Steven Zaillian

Best Achievement in Cinematography - Rodrigo Prieto

Best Achievement in Costume Design - Christopher Peterson, Sandy Powell

Best Achievement in Production Design - Bob Shaw, Regina Graves

Best Achievement in Film Editing - Thelma Schoonmaker

Best Achievement in Visual Effects - Pablo Helman, Leandro Estebecorena, Nelson Sepulveda, Stephane Grabli

Best Motion Picture of the Year - Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, Emma Tillinger Koskoff

Thank you, as always to IMDB, for making the awards listing much easier for me this year!

Ok, I'm ready for your feedback, because this one is going to be a rough one.

The Irishman follows the story of Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran who was enforcer, hit man and friend for Jimmy Hoffa, the President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.  Over time, as Hoffa becomes more paranoid and insane, Sheeran and his compatriots decide to "handle" the situation, and this film is an account of the Hoffa's killing and disappearance.  At 3 1/2 hours, this film is a commitment, one I found it to be arrogant, as though Scorcese fell in love with each and every scene that he shot and then insisted that they all go in the film.  (Please note that the editor is nominated for an Oscar, which leads me to ask... what editing?) It's an engaging film, to be sure, but I can't tell you how many times I thought, "does this move the story forward? Does this move the character forward?  What is this other than filmmaking masturbation?"

Joe Pesci is, by far, the standout in the film.  His performance is measured, emotional, and so connected.  It's Joe Pesci at his absolute best and when he was on the screen, I was involved.  But Al Pacino can't do a Chicago accent to save his life, and he only tried for about half the movie.  It was awkward and distracting.  Robert DeNiro was outstanding as he always is, and I found his character fascinating.

While I'm criticizing, I have to ask about the costumes nomination.  I'm game to be schooled but the majority of the costumes were suits.  Regular man suits.  Don't believe me?  Here are two photos from two different scenes in the film:

I have no doubt that the women's clothes were very historically accurate (nothing particularly memorable), but these suits are worthy of an Oscar nomination?  Admittedly, I'm an amateur, so if you have an insight on this being anything other than the Academy falling in love with this film and just showering it with nominations, then I'd be very interested to hear about it.

If you love gangster films (and I do), by all means, it's worth a watch - even if you have to put up with the overtelling of the story.  But it would not fall into a Best Picture category if I was a decider, and I wouldn't call this a must-see movie.

If you loved the movie (and because you are a reader you already know that movies aren't documentaries and have no obligation to the factual history), read the book upon which it is based! 
I Heard You Paint Houses: Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran and Closing the Case on Jimmy Hoffa

See the trailer: