Films that have flown under the radar can see a big box-office boost from all the free marketing from the nominations and the awards ceremony itself.
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The actor looked dapper in a white shirt and patterned tie which he teamed with a large black overcoat and leather gloves as he arrived to hundreds of screaming fans who lined the red carpet outside the Empire cinema in London’s Leicester Square.
The Revenant features what by all accounts is a DiCaprio performance built by months of hardship, spent in freezing corners of Canada and Argentina, eating raw animal and sleeping in horse carcass. “I am certainly grateful to the artists and collaborators who helped make it possible”. “I realized how special that is and I didn’t expect that to happen to me”, he said.
Chris Rock will host the awards show Sunday night, February 28th on ABC.
Despite leading the Golden Globe nominations and being a critics’ darling, “Carol” failed to earn a best picture nod or a nomination for director Todd Haynes.
Also nominated in a fiercely competitive year are: Bryan Cranston for “Trumbo”; Matt Damon, “The Martian”; Michael Fassbender, “Steve Jobs”; and “Eddie Redmayne, “The Danish Girl”.
The nominations were announced by Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs, actor John Krasinski and directors Guillermo Del Toro and Ang Lee at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills.
A snub off the bat was the omission of Wiz Khalifa and his collaborators on the Paul Walker tribute “See You Again” from “Furious 7” for best song.
A similar situation for The Martian – where is Ridley Scott’s Best Director nomination?
“Fury Road” also picked up those same nominations of best picture and best director nods; they got 10 nominations in all, but a lot of those were in the technical areas.
Among the Best Actress candidates is Charlotte Rampling, nominated for her subtle and devastating turn as a wife who discovers her husband has been harboring deep secrets in “45 Years”. In the supporting role category I believe Sylvester Stallone’s lovable portrayal of the timeless Rocky Balboa in Creed will win him his first Oscar after nearly forty years of not even being nominated.
Netflix’s first original feature, Cary Fukunaga’s “Beasts of No Nation”, was shut out.
The nominees for best supporting actor are Christian Bale (“The Big Short”), Mark Ruffalo (“Spotlight”), Mark Rylance (“Bridge of Spies”), Stallone (“Creed”) and Hardy (“The Revenant”).
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“All white Oscar nominations are another example of the lack of diversity in Hollywood”, the Rev. Al Sharpton said via Twitter shortly after the nominations were revealed. This year’s best director list includes Miller (“The Martian”), Inarritu (“The Revenant”), Lenny Abrahamson (“Room”), Tom McCarthy (“Spotlight’), and Adam McKay, for “The Big Short”. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and hip-hop movie “Straight Outta Compton” were among those not making the cut. “Anomalisa” has to be the most out-there movie ever nominated in the best-animated-film slot.
