The strong showing Thursday for “The Revenant”, including a best actor nod for Leonardo DiCaprio and best supporting actor for Tom Hardy, follows its win at the Golden Globes. 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.
Advertisement
Bryan Cranston for Trumbo, Matt Damon for The Martian, Michael Fassbender for Steve Jobs and Eddie Redmayne for The Danish Girl are also among the nominated for the actor in a leading role award.
Financial drama The Big Short, espionage thriller Bridge Of Spies and revenge epic The Revenant will compete with Spotlight, Room, The Martian, Brooklyn and Mad Max: Fury Road for best picture.
The Big Short’s director Adam McKay also received a nod, alongside George Miller for Mad Max: Fury Road, Spotlight director Tom McCarthy and Alejandro G Inarritu for The Revenant.
In the best actress category, previous Oscar winners Cate Blanchett and Jennifer Lawrence return to the race this year. In the Best Actress category, Saoirse Ronan will be joined by “Room’s” Brie Larson, whose performance in that harrowing film has already won her a Golden Globe.
And last night Charlotte Rampling was finally honoured with her very first Oscar nomination – at the age of 69.
Fury Road has scored the highest number of nominations for an Australian film since Moulin Rouge! was nominated for eight in 2002. And “The Revenant” was the most nominated film, with a total of 12; “The Martian” was the third-most nominated with seven.
The director nominees might be a sign that there’s no gold on the surface of The Martian, as Ridley Scott was somehow left off the list. They are: Jennifer Jason Leigh, “The Hateful Eight”; Rooney Mara, “Carol”; Rachel McAdams, “Spotlight”; Alicia Vikander, “The Danish Girl”; and Kate Winslet, “Steve Jobs”.
Nominations were announced shortly after the passing of Alan Rickman, famed for “Die Hard” and “Harry Potter” but never Oscar-nominated, at 69. Last year, the award was presented to Julianne Moore for Still Alice. “Straight Outta Compton“, which is about the roots of black hip-hop group NWA, nominated only for its original screenplay. Room, also a best picture contender, has four nominations, including best director for Lenny Abrahamson. The film’s nomination for best picture is Spielberg’s ninth in that category, the most for any individual producer.
“Also this is the second year in a row Oscar voters put forth an all-white field of acting nominees”.
Chris Rock will be hosting the 88th Academy Awards, airing on ABC at 7 p.m. EST, 4 pm PST on Sunday, February 28.
Advertisement
– Composer John Williams’ original score for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” was nominated for this year’s awards. Netflix had a solid chance of establishing itself as a major player with its narrative feature debut Beasts of No Nation, but the tale of a child soldier in West Africa was completely shut out of the Oscar noms – especially surprising for director Cary Fukunaga, and supporting star Idris Elba.
