After the 2015 nominations, #OscarSoWhite, became a popular hashtag on Twitter when actor David Oyelowo and director Ava DuVernay from “Selma” were excluded.
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Other notable names who missed out on nominations: screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, whose screenplay for “Steve Jobs” was overlooked; Quentin Tarantino, who received neither a directing nor a screenwriting nomination for “The Hateful Eight”; and Helen Mirren, who didn’t make the cut for best supporting actress.
Adding to the Australian Oscar haul was Cate Blanchett, nominated for best actress for her romantic-drama Carol, a lesbian love story set in 1950s NY and based on a book by American author Patricia Highsmith.
Sam Smith has been nominated for the best original song Oscar for Writing’s On The Wall, the theme to James Bond film Spectre. It is the first nomination for Rampling in a long, distinguished career. Rounding out the list of best picture nominees: “Spotlight” from indie distributor Open Road Films, which drew six nominations,”Room” from indie distributor A24, Paramount’s “The Big Short” and “Bridge of Spies”, from Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks, distributed by Disney’s Buena Vista here in the US and by Fox overseas.
The 25-year-old actress was first nominated in 2011 for best actress for “Winter’s Bone”.
The Oscar nominees for actor have been announced in Beverly Hills, California.
Should Inarritu win again this year for “The Revenant”, he will be joining just two other directors – Joseph Mankiewicz and John Ford – who won the award for two consecutive years.
Many also expressed regret that the highly admired N.W.A biopic “Straight Outta Compton” failed to score a best picture nod, despite being recognized in other contests.
Cranston’s fellow best-actor nominees: Damon; DiCaprio; Michael Fassbender, for “Steve Jobs”; and “Danish Girl” actor Eddie Redmayne, who won the category previous year for his “Theory of Everything” performance. It’s pretty incredible to see Mad Max: Fury Road, the fourth entry in what has been until now a cult franchise, receive so much recognition for the fantastic piece of cinema that it is.
On the flip side, a film that critics liked and that has proved to be the most popular film on the planet – “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” (currently at $812 million at the box office) – garnered four nominations, mostly in minor, technical categories. It’s his 50th nomination, extending his record as the most-nominated person alive. Both were left out of the screenplay nominations.
The 88th annual Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, Feb. 28, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. His stiffest competition is seen as Mark Rylance, best known for his legendary stage work, for “Bridge of Spies”. Instead, Lenny Abrahamson for “Room” was the unexpected addition along with Adam McKay, known best for his broader Will Ferrell comedies, for “The Big Short”. “Anomalisa” comes in at 2-1, followed by “Shaun the Sheep” at 3-1, “Boy and the World” at 6-1, and “When Marnie Was There” at 7-1.
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It should be fun to hear how all this filters through the mind of Chris Rock when he hosts the show.
