The 88th Annual Oscar nominations were revealed overnight in Los Angeles by Guillermo del Toro, Ang Lee, John Krasinski and Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs, and like the
Globes earlier this week, there were plenty of surprises. Aussie flick Mad Max: Fury Road, and Spielberg drama Bridge of Spies likely sit atop that pile, receiving 10 and 6 nominations respectively. But it’s The Revenant that enjoys the position at the top of the tally, with 12 nominations including Best Picture, Director, Actor (DiCaprio) and Supporting Actor (Hardy) and an impressive array of technical mentions.
Spotlight swept up plenty of love in the non-technical categories, with six nominations – including supporting acting nods for Ruffalo and McAdams. The Martian enjoyed 7, including one for Globe winner Damon – thought Ridley Scott missed out on a nomination. Meanwhile, box office juggernaut Star Wars: The Force Awakens enjoyed five nominations in the technical categories. Carol has six – including Best Actress for Cate Blanchett and supporting for Rooney Mara – though missed out on Best Picture. Only 8 of the possible 10 nominations were deemed eligible for the final list.
The Big Short – which arrives in Australian cinemas this week – has five nominations, though only Christian Bale received an acting nod. Many may suspect that McKay’s directing addition came at the expense of Scott’s – though it’s hardly undeserving. You can bet we’ll be cheering for George Miller to take the trophy, however. Also taking out a Best Picture nomination, Mad Max dominates the technical categories alongside The Revenant.
And for the other additions we didn’t expect? Straight Outta Compton – which actor Jamie Foxx joked had won best score at the Globes this week – was a surprise inclusion in the best original screenplay category. A spot many may have expected to go to Quentin Tarantino, who also missed out on a Directorial nod. The Hateful Eight did pick up 3 nominations, however, including Supporting Actress Jennifer Jason Leigh, Cinematography (an incredibly competitive category this year), and Score (which it won at the Globes). Charlotte Rampling’s inclusion for 45 Years was a pleasant surprise, as were the three technical nominations for Sicario, a film which was expected to be forgotten amongst the more recently released films.
Even though The Good Dinosaur missed out (a rarity for the company), Pixar would be happy with their three nominations – two for Inside Out and one for the short Sanjay’s Super Team – as would the team behind Ex-Machina who picked up two, for Best Original Screenplay and Best Visual Effects. Room‘s four – including film, director, screenplay and Globe winning actress Brie Larson – should give the film a good push, as it should with The Danish Girl‘s four and Brooklyn‘s three, the latter including best picture. And it seems everyone will once again be rooting for Stallone after he picked up Creed‘s only nomination as supporting actor.
Among the noticeable snubs were Love & Mercy – already disqualified for best original song, but sadly missing from the deserving screenplay and acting categories. Joy missed out on all categories bar the nomination for Globe winner Jennifer Lawrence. Spectre missed out on any of the technical categories, and Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay for Steve Jobs – which won the Globe – was absent from the nominations here. Jobs did, however, see two nominations for Fassbender and Globe winner Winslet.
An outside favourite for some nominations, the brilliant 99 Homes, was also ignored, as were festival favourites like Me and Earl and the Dying Girl and Grandma – which many were hoping would garner Lily Tomlin a nomination.
Youth – a widely acclaimed film – only saw one nomination, for best original song. Sadly, 50 Shades of Grey can call itself “Oscar Nominated” by sitting in the same category. Sam Smith’s song for Spectre sits as the likely favourite, after winning the Globe, and is the only nomination for the latest Bond film. This will see Smith ever closer to EGOT territory. But the feature that has plenty of people talking is the lack of diversity. All the acting nominees are white, while there are no female Directors to be seen. Expect that to be a talking point in the weeks to come.
The winners will be revealed on Monday, February 29th (Australian time), with Chris Rock hosting the show.
Here’s the full list of nominations:
Best Picture
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Spotlight
Best Director
Adam McKay, The Big Short
George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, The Revenant
Lenny Abrahamson, Room
Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
Best Actor
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Matt Damon, The Martian
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl
Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room
Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale, The Big Short
Tom Hardy, The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
Sylvester Stallone, Creed
Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara, Carol
Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
Best Original Screenplay
Bridge of Spies
Ex Machina
Inside Out
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compton
Best Adapted Screenplay
The Big Short
Brooklyn
Carol
The Martian
Room
Best Animated Feature
Anomalisa
Boy and the World
Inside Out
Shaun the Sheep Movie
When Marnie Was There
Best Foreign Language Film
Embrace of the Serpent
Mustang
Son of Saul
Theeb
A War
Best Documentary Feature
Amy
Cartel Land
The Look of Silence
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom
Best Cinematography
Carol
The Hateful Eight
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Sicario
Best Film Editing
The Big Short
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Spotlight
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best Production Design
Bridge of Spies
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Best Costume Design
Carol
Cinderella
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Best Original Score
Bridge of Spies
Carol
The Hateful Eight
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best Original Song
“Earned It,” 50 Shades Of Grey
“Manta Ray,” Racing Extinction
“Simple Song #3,” Youth
“Til It Happens to You,” The Hunting Ground
“Writing’s on the Wall,” Spectre
Best Visual Effects
Ex Machina
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best Makeup & Hairstyling
Mad Max
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out a Window and Disappeared
The Revenant
Best Sound Mixing
Bridge of Spies
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best Sound Editing
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best Documentary Short
Body Team 12
Chau Behind the Lines
Claude Lanzman
A Girl in the River
Last Day of Freedom
Best Live Action Short Film
Ave Maria
Day One
Everything Will Be Okay
Shok
Stutterer
Best Animated Short Film
Bear Story
Prologue
Sanjay’s Super Team
We Can’t Live Without Cosmos
World of Tomorrow
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