“The Revenant,” a gritty tale of frontier vengeance, led the Oscar nominations on Thursday, picking up a leading 12 nods for Best Picture, Best Director, and for the performances of stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy.
It was followed closely behind by another survivalist tale, the action adventure “Mad Max: Fury Road,” which earned ten nominations, including for Best Picture and Best Director for George Miller, the 70 year old Australian filmmaker who revived the post-apocalyptic franchise after a three decade break between installments.
Eight films were nominated for Best Picture, with “Spotlight,” “The Martian,” “Bridge of Spies,” “The Big Short,” “Room,” and “Brooklyn” rounding out the list.
As always, there were snubs and surprises when the fruits of Oscar voters deliberations were unveiled. The biggest shock was the exclusion of “The Martian” director Ridley Scott. The legendary filmmaker was considered to be a strong contender to not only get nominated, but to walk away with the prize.
Once again, Academy voters failed to select a diverse group of honorees, something that is bound to raise objections. None of the top acting or directing categories feature people of color despite strong work by the likes of Idris Elba in “Beasts of No Nation” and the “Creed” team of Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan. Last year, the Oscars were slammed for their lack of diversity when “Selma” director Ava DuVernay and star David Oyelowo failed to score nominations.
Despite becoming the highest-grossing domestic film in history, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” was shut out from the Best Picture race. It received five nominations in technical categories such as sound, editing, and visual effects. Also left out of the Best Picture race were “Carol,” a critically adored lesbian romance, and “Straight Outta Compton,” the hit story of the formation of rap group N.W.A.
After scoring an Oscar last year for “Theory of Everything,” Eddie Redmayne was once again nominated for his performance as a transgender artist in “The Danish Girl.” He will head off against Matt Damon’s stranded astronaut in “The Martian,” Bryan Cranston’s blacklisted screenwriter in “Trumbo,” Michael Fassbender’s egomaniacal Apple founder in “Steve Jobs,” and DiCaprio’s work as a mountain man.
Leading actress nominations include Cate Blanchett’s housewife struggling against Eisenhower era conformity in “Carol,” Brie Larson as a kidnapped mother in “Room,” Jennifer Lawrence as the creator of the Miracle Mop in “Joy,” Saoirse Ronan as an Irish immigrant in “Brooklyn,” and Charlottle Rampling as one half of a married couple in crisis in “45 Years.”
With Scott left out of the directing race, the nominees included “Spotlight’s” Tom McCarthy, “Room’s” Lenny Abrahamson, and “The Big Short’s” Adam McKay. Alejandro Inarritu, who won Best Director last year for “Birdman,” was nominated for his work overseeing “The Revenant.” The film’s strong showing is poetic justice for the Mexican filmmaker. The media feasted on reports of production problems on the film as the budget escalated from $90 million to $135 million and Inarritu drove cast and crew to the breaking point by shooting in remote locations while shooting using only natural light.
In the supporting categories, Sylvester Stallone will return to the Oscar race for the first time since “Rocky” made him a star in 1976. He is recognized for reprising his Rocky Balboa role in “Creed.” In addition to Stallone and Hardy’s work in “The Revenant,” the supporting actor category is rounded out by Christian Bale’s off-beat investor in “The Big Short,” Mark Ruffalo’s crusading reporter in “Spotlight,” and Mark Rylance’s Russian spy in “Bridge of Spies.”
After much debate about whether or not Alicia Vikander’s work as Redmayne’s sympathetic wife in “The Danish Girl” would be singled out in the lead category or the supporting one, Oscar voters opted for the latter. Vikander’s competition will come from Jennifer Jason Leigh’s criminal mastermind in “The Hateful Eight,” Kate Winslet’s performance as an Apple executive in “Steve Jobs,” Rooney Mara’s work as the object of Blanchett’s affections in “Carol,” and Rachel McAdams’ turn as a journalist in “Spotlight.”
The Oscars will air live on ABC on February 28. Chris Rock will return to host the program. He previously served as emcee for the 2005 show and the show’s producers are hoping he injects an edgier, irreverent energy to a program that has struggled in recent years to attract younger audiences. Last year’s broadcast, which was hosted by a tighty whities clad Neil Patrick Harris, saw its ratings plunge from 43 million viewers to 36.6 million.
This awards season has been one of the more unpredictable ones and a clear front-runner has yet to emerge going into Thursday’s Oscar nominations announcement. “Spotlight” secured many of the top critics prizes, but “The Revenant” and “The Martian” were the big winners at last weekend’s Golden Globes broadcast, bagging the best picture drama and best picture comedy statues.
Here is the full list of nominees for the 2016 Oscars:
Best motion picture of the year:
“The Big Short”
“Bridge of Spies”
“Brooklyn”
“Mad Max: Fury Road”
“The Martian”
“The Revenant”
“Room”
“Spotlight”
Performance by an actor in a leading role:
Bryan Cranston in “Trumbo”
Matt Damon in “The Martian”
Leonardo DiCaprio in “The Revenant”
Michael Fassbender in “Steve Jobs”
Eddie Redmayne in “The Danish Girl”
Performance by an actress in a leading role:
Cate Blanchett in “Carol”
Brie Larson in “Room”
Jennifer Lawrence in “Joy”
Charlotte Rampling in “45 Years”
Saoirse Ronan in “Brooklyn”
Performance by an actor in a supporting role:
Christian Bale in “The Big Short”
Tom Hardy in “The Revenant”
Mark Ruffalo in “Spotlight”
Mark Rylance in “Bridge of Spies”
Sylvester Stallone in “Creed”
Performance by an actress in a supporting role:
Jennifer Jason Leigh in “The Hateful Eight”
Rooney Mara in “Carol”
Rachel McAdams in “Spotlight”
Alicia Vikander in “The Danish Girl”
Kate Winslet in “Steve Jobs”
Achievement in directing:
“The Big Short” Adam McKay
“Mad Max: Fury Road” George Miller
“The Revenant” Alejandro G. Iñárritu
“Room” Lenny Abrahamson
“Spotlight” Tom McCarthy
Adapted screenplay:
“The Big Short” Screenplay by Charles Randolph and Adam McKay
“Brooklyn” Screenplay by Nick Hornby
“Carol” Screenplay by Phyllis Nagy
“The Martian” Screenplay by Drew Goddard
“Room” Screenplay by Emma Donoghue
Original screenplay:
“Bridge of Spies” Written by Matt Charman and Ethan Coen & Joel Coen
“Ex Machina” Written by Alex Garland
“Inside Out” Screenplay by Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley; Original story by Pete Docter, Ronnie del Carmen
“Spotlight” Written by Josh Singer & Tom McCarthy
“Straight Outta Compton” Screenplay by Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff; Story by S. Leigh Savidge & Alan Wenkus and Andrea Berloff
Best animated feature film of the year:
“Anomalisa” Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson and Rosa Tran
“Boy and the World” Alê Abreu
“Inside Out” Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera
“Shaun the Sheep Movie” Mark Burton and Richard Starzak
“When Marnie Was There” Hiromasa Yonebayashi and Yoshiaki Nishimura
Best documentary feature:
“Amy” Asif Kapadia and James Gay-Rees
“Cartel Land” Matthew Heineman and Tom Yellin
“The Look of Silence” Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen
“What Happened, Miss Simone?” Liz Garbus, Amy Hobby and Justin Wilkes
“Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom” Evgeny Afineevsky and Den Tolmor
Best foreign language film of the year:
“Embrace of the Serpent” Colombia
“Mustang” France
“Son of Saul” Hungary
“Theeb” Jordan
“A War” Denmark
Achievement in cinematography:
“Carol” Ed Lachman
“The Hateful Eight” Robert Richardson
“Mad Max: Fury Road” John Seale
“The Revenant” Emmanuel Lubezki
“Sicario” Roger Deakins
Achievement in costume design:
“Carol” Sandy Powell
“Cinderella” Sandy Powell
“The Danish Girl” Paco Delgado
“Mad Max: Fury Road” Jenny Beavan
“The Revenant” Jacqueline West
Best documentary short subject:
“Body Team 12” David Darg and Bryn Mooser
“Chau, beyond the Lines” Courtney Marsh and Jerry Franck
“Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah” Adam Benzine
“A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness” Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
“Last Day of Freedom” Dee Hibbert-Jones and Nomi Talisman
Achievement in film editing:
“The Big Short” Hank Corwin
“Mad Max: Fury Road” Margaret Sixel
“The Revenant” Stephen Mirrione
“Spotlight” Tom McArdle
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey
Achievement in makeup and hairstyling:
“Mad Max: Fury Road” Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega and Damian Martin
“The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared” Love Larson and Eva von Bahr
“The Revenant” Siân Grigg, Duncan Jarman and Robert Pandini
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score):
“Bridge of Spies” Thomas Newman
“Carol” Carter Burwell
“The Hateful Eight” Ennio Morricone
“Sicario” Jóhann Jóhannsson
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” John Williams
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song):
“Earned It” from “Fifty Shades of Grey”
Music and Lyric by Abel Tesfaye, Ahmad Balshe, Jason Daheala Quenneville and Stephan Moccio
“Manta Ray” from “Racing Extinction”
Music by J. Ralph and Lyric by Antony Hegarty
“Simple Song #3” from “Youth”
Music and Lyric by David Lang
“Til It Happens To You” from “The Hunting Ground”
Music and Lyric by Diane Warren and Lady Gaga
“Writing’s On The Wall” from “Spectre”
Music and Lyric by Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith
Achievement in production design:
“Bridge of Spies” Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Rena DeAngelo and Bernhard Henrich
“The Danish Girl” Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Michael Standish
“Mad Max: Fury Road” Production Design: Colin Gibson; Set Decoration: Lisa Thompson
“The Martian” Production Design: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Celia Bobak
“The Revenant” Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Hamish Purdy
Best animated short film:
“Bear Story” Gabriel Osorio and Pato Escala
“Prologue” Richard Williams and Imogen Sutton
“Sanjay’s Super Team” Sanjay Patel and Nicole Grindle
“We Can’t Live without Cosmos” Konstantin Bronzit
“World of Tomorrow” Don Hertzfeldt
Best live action short film:
“Ave Maria” Basil Khalil and Eric Dupont
“Day One” Henry Hughes
“Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut)” Patrick Vollrath
“Shok” Jamie Donoughue
“Stutterer” Benjamin Cleary and Serena Armitage
Achievement in sound editing:
“Mad Max: Fury Road” Mark Mangini and David White
“The Martian” Oliver Tarney
“The Revenant” Martin Hernandez and Lon Bender
“Sicario” Alan Robert Murray
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” Matthew Wood and David Acord
Achievement in sound mixing:
“Bridge of Spies” Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Drew Kunin
“Mad Max: Fury Road” Chris Jenkins, Gregg Rudloff and Ben Osmo
“The Martian” Paul Massey, Mark Taylor and Mac Ruth
“The Revenant” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Randy Thom and Chris Duesterdiek
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson
Achievement in visual effects:
“Ex Machina” Andrew Whitehurst, Paul Norris, Mark Ardington and Sara Bennett
“Mad Max: Fury Road” Andrew Jackson, Tom Wood, Dan Oliver and Andy Williams
“The Martian” Richard Stammers, Anders Langlands, Chris Lawrence and Steven Warner
“The Revenant” Rich McBride, Matthew Shumway, Jason Smith and Cameron Waldbauer
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan and Chris Corbould
