Academy president on lack of Oscar diversity: ‘Of course I am disappointed’

The contenders for Best Picture include Bridge of Spies, Brooklyn, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Room, Spotlight, The Big Short, The Martian, and The Revenant.

The speculation is that the Academy voters want only one big, noisy blockbuster on the list of works and felt that the single spot should go to Australian auteur George Miller, for road carnage flick Mad Max: Fury Road, a crowd-pleasing action movie which gained 10 nominations, including Best Picture.

Following its victory at the Golden Globe Award, The Revenant was nominated for Best Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio).

As a testament to just how good of a movie it is, the seventh episode of the sci-fi franchise recently received 5 Academy Award nominations. Others were quick to point out that Straight Outta Compton, the NWA biopic helmed by a black director and predominantly black producers, was nominated only for its white screenwriters.

The nomination for the 69-year-old English actress came for her part in the drama 45 Years. Stallone, who received his first Acting nomination in 1976 for “Rocky”, is the sixth person nominated for playing the same role in two different films.

He took to Twitter to vent his frustration, writing: “As a sign of solidarity with their breathren (sic), I suggest all nominees turn up to this year’s Oscars ceremony in blackface”.

The nominees for best actor are DiCaprio (“The Revenant“), Matt Damon (“The Martian”), Michael Fassbender (“Steve Jobs”), Bryan Cranston (“Trumbo”) and Eddie Redmayne (“The Danish Girl”).

“The Revenant” also landed nominations for lead actor for Leonardo DiCaprio, supporting actor for Tom Hardy and director for Mexican filmmaker Alejandro Inarritu, whose “Birdman” won the best picture Oscar a year ago. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, the latest installment in the space saga that has been setting box office records, was nominated for five Oscars, but missed the cut in the top categories including for best picture.

The 86th Academy Awards was heralded as a “game changing” moment at the Oscars, in that it saw 12 Years A Slave, an unwavering account of American slavery, win three awards including Best Picture.

Will Smith (“Concussion”), Idris Elba (“Beasts of No Nation”), and Michael B. Jordan (“Creed“) were among those thought to be in the running for a nomination but left out.

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Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the Academy’s president, described the film as a “cinematic masterpiece”. “Straight Outta Compton”, which is about the roots of black hip-hop group NWA, nominated only for its original screenplay. “Sorry, brightest.” It’s likely that Chris Rock, the host of 2016’s edition, will be one of the few people of colour to grace the stage.