In the year since an all-white crop of acting nominees brought heaps of criticism on the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs has redoubled efforts to diversify the academy’s membership.
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Cate Blanchett, as expected, is up for best actress for the lesbian love story Carol.
The 88th annual Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, Feb. 28, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
“Mad Max: Fury Road” is up for ten Oscars, including Best Director, Best Production Design and Best Picture. Last year’s show attracted a US audience of 37.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen data.
“The Revenant” also landed a best actor nomination for Leonardo DiCaprio, best director for Alejandro Inarritu and best supporting actor for Tom Hardy.
Inasmuch as both Rooney Mara and Alicia Vikander arguably had lead roles in “Carol” and “The Danish Girl” respectively, their inclusion in the supporting-actress category – along with Jennifer Jason Leigh (“The Hateful Eight”), Rachel McAdams (“Spotlight”) and Kate Winslet (“Steve Jobs”) – might be considered Oscar politics in action. George Miller – who co-wrote and directed the original Mad Max in 1979 – is up for two Academy Awards.
– Michael Skolnik (@MichaelSkolnik) January 14, 2016 Chris Rock is hosting during #OscarsSoWhite circa 2016 in the a year ago of Obama presidency.
Other supporting nominees are Christian Bale, “The Big Short”; surprise but deserving pick Tom Hardy, “The Revenant,” and Mark Rylance, “Bridge of Spies”.
The star of “The Martian”, Matt Damon, is up for Best Actor, his fourth nomination.
Charlotte Rampling, 69, secured a best actress nomination for 45 Years, as did Irish actress Saoirse Ronan, 21, for Brooklyn.
While NWA biopic Straight Outta Compton was nominated for best original screenplay – after being left out of the Golden Globes nominations – many on social media were quick to point out that the nominated screenwriters were actually white.
Sylvester Stallone, 39 years after his acting nomination for “Rocky”, was nominated again – for “Creed“, in which he plays the same character, Rocky Balboa.
A film can only be considered for an Oscar nomination if it has had a theatrical run or is nominated by a qualifying festival – a designation CIFF now holds along with big players like Cannes and Sundance.
Financial crisis drama The Big Short and Star Wars: The Force Awakens are in the running for five awards.
It’s hard to see the omission of Aaron Sorkin’s script for “Steve Jobs” in the adapted screenplay category as anything other than a dis, a possible spanking for an admired talent who some feel may have gotten too big for his britches.
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The tally also includes six nods for “Bridge of Spies”, which it shared with Walt Disney Co.
