Adam Sandler continues race to the 2020 Oscars with Gotham Awards nomination

"Oscar-winner Adam Sandler" is one step closer to becoming a reality.

The nominations for the 2019 Gotham Independent Film Awards, the first major nominations of Oscar season, were announced Thursday, and although they aren't the most reliable Academy Awards predictors and focus on independent movies, IndieWire notes they "often play a key role in elevating films into the overall awards conversation." A group of experts, including film critics and curators, selects the nominees.

Among the nominees this year were Sandler for Uncut Gems, a film which was also nominated for Best Feature. The other Best Actor nominees were Willem Dafoe for The Lighthouse, Adam Driver for Marriage Story, Aldis Hodge for Clemency, and André Holland for High Flying Bird. Since 2013, three performers have won the Gotham Award for Best Actor and gone on to also either win or be nominated for the equivalent Academy Award: Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club, Michael Keaton for Birdman, and Casey Affleck for Manchester by the Sea.

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This isn't Sandler's first nomination at the Gotham Awards, having previously been nominated in 2017 for The Meyerowitz Stories. But Sandler at this point in the awards race has even more Oscar buzz than in 2017, with Gold Derby considering him to be one of the leading contenders to win Best Actor.

Then again, the Best Actor race this year is among the most competitive in recent memory, with other leading contenders including Driver for Marriage Story, Robert De Niro for The Irishman, Leonardo DiCaprio for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Joaquin Phoenix for Joker, Christian Bale and Matt Damon for Ford v Ferarri, and Eddie Murphy for Dolemite Is My Name to name a few. With such a stacked line-up, this year, it truly will be an honor just to be nominated.