The nominations for the 88th Academy Awards that were announced Thursday in many ways captured the cognitive dissonance of the past year in movies, a best-of-times, worst-of-times period when a panoply of diverse, vibrant characters and stories burst forth, while cinematic representation, on and off the screen, seemed to be stuck in a demographic rut.
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Road to Fury is the movie with the second highest nominations with eight nominations, coming behind The Revenant, which has 12 nominations.
The Revenant director, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, who was also nominated and won previous year for Birdman, is of Mexican descent.
The best actor nominees are “The Danish Girl” actor Eddie Redmayne, “Steve Jobs” actor Michael Fassbender, Leonardo DiCaprio of “The Revenant“, “The Martian” actor Matt Damon, and Bryan Cranston of “Trumbo”.
Nominees for the best actress award are Saoirse Ronan of “Brooklyn“, “45 Years” actress Charlotte Rampling, “Joy” actress Jennifer Lawrence, “Room” actress Brie Larson, and “Carol” actress Cate Blanchett.
Most urbanites thought that Straight Outta Compton, the movie about the meteoric rise and spectacular fall of the revolutionary rap group NWA would receive at least a few Oscar nods, one for Jason Mitchell for his incredible performance as the doomed don of drugs-turned-rap boss Eazy Z and one for either the film itself or the director F. Gary Gray.
Will Smith, who stars in football head-injury drama “Concussion”, and Idris Elba from “Beasts of No Nation” were among the black actors who were not nominated.
Also nominated for best supporting actor were Mark Rylance, best known for his stage work, for “Bridge of Spies” and Christian Bale (“The Big Short“). Once again, all of the major acting nominees are white, begging the question – is the Academy overlooking actors and filmmakers of color?
“I think the film will stand the test of time – whether it’s in the theaters or video on demand”.
What’s interesting is that for all the fuss made last year (when “Selma” was all but shut out) over the exclusion of what many believed were deserving African-American actors, this year was just as pale. Maria realized instantly what a brilliant screenplay Quentin had written for ‘The Hateful Eight, ‘ and she told me in no uncertain terms that I had to do it. I am so happy that I did.
In the best picture category, many expected the critically acclaimed “Carol” to get a nod, which it didn’t.
The nomination for Pixar (which also landed a best screenplay nod for “Inside Out”) restores its almost unblemished record of Oscar nominations, broken only by 2011’s “Cars 2” and 2013’s “Monsters University”.
Among the foreign films nominated were Hungarian Holocaust drama “Son of Saul”, Jordan’s “Theeb”, Colombia’s “Embrace of the Serpent” and “Mustang”, a French production about five Turkish sisters living in subjugation. “It is the most personal film I have ever done, the hardest one, too”.
Perhaps the least surprising nomination was in the animated feature film category, where Pixar’s “Inside Out” is the favorite. After all the names were read, the nominees took the opportunity to express their gratitude and excitement. Surprisingly left out was Alex Gibney’s incendiary “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief”.
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In another recent interview, the director actually shed some light on his next project, and it definitely sounds like quite a departure from Mad Max: Fury Road.
