20th Century Fox/Warner Bros
Oscar Nominations: 'The Revenant' & 'Mad Max' Lead Way; Leo Is In, Ridley Scott Is Not
Fox’s Leonardo DiCaprio frontier thriller The Revenant and Warner Bros/Village Roadshow’s wild ride Mad Max: Fury Road led nominations this morning for the 88th Oscars. The list revealed at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had a healthy mix of the expected and surprises as the awards season has officially hit its peak.
The Revenant earned a leading 12 noms, including Best Director for Alejandro G. Iñárritu, who is back in both the Best Picture and Director race for the second year in a row after winning both categories for Birdman in 2015. This year’s director race is as interesting for who didn’t make the list as for who did: The Martian‘s Ridley Scott and Bridge Of Spies‘ Steven Spielberg are major names absent, though both of their films are up for Best Picture.
Also on the Best Pic list: Mad Max, which roared to 10 noms overall including Best Director for George Miller and a host of craft categories. That movie seemed to get the most applause from the crowd at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater where the noms were unveiled, though nobody got more love in the room than Sylvester Stallone, who picked up a Supporting Actor nom for playing Rocky in Creed — his first Oscars noms since being up for Best Actor and Original Screenplay for Rocky in 1977.
The rest of the Best Picture noms: Paramount’s The Big Short, Disney/DreamWorks’ Bridge Of Spies, Fox Searchlight’s Brooklyn, A24’s Room and Open Road’s Spotlight. The latter had been considered a front-runner most of the season and picked up six noms today, including Supporting Actor and Actress for Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams, Director for Tom McCarthy and Original Screenplay for McCarthy and co-writer Josh Singer.
Brooklyn‘s Saoirse Ronan and Room‘s Brie Larson landed Best Actress noms along with Cate Blanchett for Carol, Jennifer Lawrence for Joy and Charlotte Rampling 
for 45 Years. On the Best Actor side: Trumbo‘s Bryan Cranston, The Martian‘s Matt Damon, Steve Jobs‘ Michael Fassbender, defending champ Eddie Redmayne of The Danish Girl and DiCaprio’s Revenant — he is cemented as the front-runner after talking Best Actor at the Golden Globes on Sunday.
Missing this year, as it was last year, was a nomination for any minority actor. That’s sure to be a concern of the Academy, which has sought to expand its membership base to embrace greater diversity. Deadline’s Pete Hammond reports that already there are whispers of a new catchphrase to match last year’s #OscarsSoWhite Twitter trend: “We Dream In White,” a play on the Oscars’ slogan this year “We Dream In Gold.”
As for Star Wars: The Force Awakens? The top-grossing movie in U.S. history snagged five noms: for Film Editing, John Williams’ score, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Visual Effects.
Here’s the full list of nominees:
Best Picture
The Big Short
Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Producers
Bridge of Spies
Steven Spielberg, Marc Platt and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers
Brooklyn
Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
Mad Max: Fury Road
Doug Mitchell and George Miller, Producers
The Martian
Simon Kinberg, Ridley Scott, Michael Schaefer and Mark Huffam, Producers
The Revenant
Arnon Milchan, Steve Golin, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Mary Parent and Keith Redmon, Producers
Room
Ed Guiney, Producer
Spotlight
Michael Sugar, Steve Golin, Nicole Rocklin and Blye Pagon Faust, Producers
Best Actor
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Matt Damon, The Martian
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl
Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room
Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale, The Big Short
Tom Hardy, The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
Mark Rylance, Bridge Of Spies
Sylvester Stallone, Creed
Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara, Carol
Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
Directing
The Big Short, Adam McKay
Mad Max: Fury Road, George Miller
The Revenant, Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Room, Lenny Abrahamson
Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
Film Editing
The Big Short
Hank Corwin
Mad Max: Fury Road
Margaret Sixel
The Revenant
Stephen Mirrione
Spotlight
Tom McArdle
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey
Foreign Language Film
Embrace of the Serpent (Colombia)
Mustang (France)
Son of Saul (Hungary)
Theeb (Jordan)
A War (Denmark)
Original Score
Bridge of Spies
Thomas Newman
Carol
Carter Burwell
The Hateful Eight
Ennio Morricone
Sicario
Jóhann Jóhannsson
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
John Williams
Production Design
Bridge of Spies
Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Rena DeAngelo and Bernhard Henrich
The Danish Girl
Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Michael Standish
Mad Max: Fury Road
Production Design: Colin Gibson; Set Decoration: Lisa Thompson
The Martian
Production Design: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Celia Bobak
The Revenant
Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Hamish Purdy
Visual Effects
Ex Machina
Andrew Whitehurst, Paul Norris, Mark Ardington and Sara Bennett
Mad Max: Fury Road
Andrew Jackson, Tom Wood, Dan Oliver and Andy Williams
The Martian
Richard Stammers, Anders Langlands, Chris Lawrence and Steven Warner
The Revenant
Rich McBride, Matthew Shumway, Jason Smith and Cameron Waldbauer
Star Wars: The Force Awakens” Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan and Chris Corbould
Adapted Screenplay
The Big Short
Screenplay by Charles Randolph and Adam McKay
Brooklyn
Screenplay by Nick Hornby
Carol
Screenplay by Phyllis Nagy
The Martian
Screenplay by Drew Goddard
Room
Screenplay by Emma Donoghue
Original Screenplay
Bridge of Spies
Written by Matt Charman and Ethan Coen & Joel Coen
Ex Machina
Written by Alex Garland
Inside Out
Screenplay by Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley; Original story by Pete Docter, Ronnie del Carmen
Spotlight
Written by Josh Singer & Tom McCarthy
Straight Outta Compton
Screenplay by Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff; Story by S. Leigh Savidge & Alan Wenkus and Andrea Berloff
Animated Feature Film
Anomalisa
Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson and Rosa Tran
Boy and the World
Alê Abreu
Inside Out
Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera
Shaun the Sheep Movie
Mark Burton and Richard Starzak
When Marnie Was There
Hiromasa Yonebayashi and Yoshiaki Nishimura
Cinematography
Carol
Ed Lachman
The Hateful Eight
Robert Richardson
Mad Max: Fury Road
John Seale
The Revenant
Emmanuel Lubezki
Sicario
Roger Deakins
Costume Design
Carol
Sandy Powell
Cinderella
Sandy Powell
The Danish Girl
Paco Delgado
Mad Max: Fury Road
Jenny Beavan
The Revenant
Jacqueline West
Documentary Feature
Amy
Asif Kapadia and James Gay-Rees
Cartel Land
Matthew Heineman and Tom Yellin
The Look of Silence
Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Liz Garbus, Amy Hobby and Justin Wilkes
Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom
Evgeny Afineevsky and Den Tolmor
Documentary Short Subject
Body Team 12
David Darg and Bryn Mooser
Chau, Bbeyond the Lines
Courtney Marsh and Jerry Franck
Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah
Adam Benzine
A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
Last Day of Freedom
Dee Hibbert-Jones and Nomi Talisman
Makeup and Hairstyling
Mad Max: Fury Road
Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega and Damian Martin
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared
Love Larson and Eva von Bahr
The Revenant
Siân Grigg, Duncan Jarman and Robert Pandini
Original Song
“Earned It” from Fifty Shades of Grey
Music and Lyric by Abel Tesfaye, Ahmad Balshe, Jason Daheala Quenneville and Stephan Moccio
“Manta Ray” from Racing Extinction
Music by J. Ralph and Lyric by Antony Hegarty
“Simple Song #3” from Youth
Music and Lyric by David Lang
“Til It Happens To You” from The Hunting Ground
Music and Lyric by Diane Warren and Lady Gaga
“Writing’s On The Wall” from Spectre
Music and Lyric by Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith
Animated Short Film
Bear Story
Gabriel Osorio and Pato Escala
Prologue
Richard Williams and Imogen Sutton
Sanjay’s Super Team
Sanjay Patel and Nicole Grindle
We Can’t Live without Cosmos
Konstantin Bronzit
World of Tomorrow
Don Hertzfeldt
Live Action Short Film
Ave Maria
Basil Khalil and Eric Dupont
Day One
Henry Hughes
Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut)
Patrick Vollrath
Shok
Jamie Donoughue
Stutterer
Benjamin Cleary and Serena Armitage
Sound Editing
Mad Max: Fury Road
Mark Mangini and David White
The Martian
Oliver Tarney
The Revenant
Martin Hernandez and Lon Bender
Sicario
Alan Robert Murray
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Matthew Wood and David Acord
Sound Mixing
Bridge of Spies
Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Drew Kunin
Mad Max: Fury Road
Chris Jenkins, Gregg Rudloff and Ben Osmo
The Martian
Paul Massey, Mark Taylor and Mac Ruth
The Revenant
Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Randy Thom and Chris Duesterdiek
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson
Jennifer Lawrence: the youngest 4 times nominee of ALL TIME.
And deservedly so.
LOL.
Yes. And if the Oscars hadn’t become so dominated by Oscar-bait dramas, she’d have been nominated for her spectacular performance in Hunger Games.
Like Meryl Streep, she gets nominated every year whether she deserves it or not. If she went a year without making a movie, they’d just nominated her for some CCTV footage of her leaving a Starbucks. FACT.
This sucks. No Compton? No Creed? No best song for Chi-Raq? No people of color???? NONE!!!! Wow, how more white can the Oscars get?
Compton was a fun nostalgic pic, but best picture? Same with Creed, it was pretty by the numbers, good, nostalgic, but nothing new or exceptional. Unless you are outright advocating affirmative action at the Oscars. If so, then go ahead and race bait away!
I would say creed should have gotten a nomination for writing or directing. To rejuvenate a franchise, and establish a new one, while being tight and tense and very well made makes it worthy of nomination.
Creed was an excellent movie regardless of any franchise connection. It has my vote for best picture, nomination or not.
Clearly there already is affirmative action, Einstein. That’s all the race baiting you need to worry about. Brush up on those deflecting skills, thanks.
Why are you surprised? Have you already forget about what happened to Selma last year? When your voting base is made of 90% old white people, your nominations reflect that.
And did you already forget what movie won for Best Picture the year before last? A movie that won despite more than one academy voter admitting that they never saw the movie when they voted for it?
And if Selma got a nomination for every major category and won, the regressive left would still complain saying “they only like seeing us struggling.” That’s what was said with The Help and 12 Years a Slave. Actually, this was even said with Selma as well. Want better movies that don’t depict minorities as stereotypes or struggling? Go after the minority producers and directors who usually cast white people in the lead roles or make movies about racial struggles.
Grow up. It’s an issue for people of other backgrounds too (which the media never elaborates on or explains). Where are the Asian actors? Where was Michelle Yeoh when Crouching Tiger came out? Where are Indian actors? Latinos? Remember this is a business and people’s careers (executives and filmmakers) and livelihoods are on the line when it comes to box office, potential revenue and bankable talent. Mexicans have certainly been representing in Best Director, but they’ve very much reflected these values in their casting.
glad someone thinks Jennifer Lawrence is so great. its the same performance
Yes, it is incredible how Jennifer Lawrence keeps getting nominated for her mediocre performances. Joy was ridiculous and she was unbelievable in the role.
Totally agree. She is very overrated.
She gives dynamic performances. Hate on her personally if you like but deny this womans’ impressive acting skills makes your credibility something of a sham.
It’s AMAZING how films like “Bridge of Spies” and “The Martian” somehow manage to direct themselves!
Which directors would you have pulled out to put Spielberg and Scott in?
Actually all of them. THE REVENANT was a Terrence Malick ripoff and for all it’s ‘authenticity’ wasn’t historically authentic and MAD MAX was a second unit masterpiece without a story.The others are simply not Oscar worthy.
Exactly right.
I’m sorry, but in no way do Spielberg or Scott deserve a nomination, nor do their films. The Martian and Bridge of Spies are both above-average but pale in comparison to the enormity and emotional resonance of “The Revenant” and “Room.” “The Revenant” was certainly inspired by the aesthetic and spiritual existentialism of recent Malick films, but forges an identity all its own. It’s a simple survival/revenge tale classically told without having to rely on a sci-fi/fantasy hook to bring in audiences, unlike crushingly insipid studio fare like “Avengers” and “Star Wars.”
Additionally, “Mad Max” is about as old school as one can get. No story? It’s a madcap Buster Keaton actioner that utilizes the most pure and essential components of storytelling to build a universe without resorting to banal exposition. It didn’t even need dialogue. It’s a silent film with a heavy metal soundtrack that is perhaps the most energetic, rambunctiously creative and relentlessly kinetic storytelling experience ever committed to film.
If we’re talking true snubs, where is Michael Shannon for the amazing “99 Homes”? Where is Sarah Silverman for “I Smile Back”? Where is Paul Dano for “Love and Mercy?” Where is Ben Mendelsohn for “Mississippi Grind”? Of course, being that smaller distributors put these films out, they never stood a chance of breaking through the clutter. The point is, vanilla Oscar bait with studio distributors is ALWAYS nominated because they can afford to mount massively expensive campaigns. This has been one of the best years for cinema in recent memory, but not for the collection of films people think.
Nonsense.
Happy that Shaun The Sheep, The Big Short and Spotlight made it through.
Surprised The Martian made it through for Best Picture, even thought I truly enjoyed it.
No shock Fury Road made it through. Might be the weakest of the Best Picture nominees IMO.
Bridge of Spies, Room and Brooklyn I’d never thought would make it. Though Straight Outta Compton or Creed would make it.
It seems like they nominated Jennifer Lawrence by default at this point either that or they did just because.
Overall, not that much going on for the Oscars this year.
Couldn’t be happier for George Miller! He pulled off one of the most difficult challenges in genre filmmaking ever. It might not be the best film, but I think its hard to argue there was a bigger directing achievement this year.
I can agree with that.
And unlike certain other directors that also took on difficult challenges this year, George Miller made it look effortless and graceful. Truly a miracle of cinema.
Two nominations for Sandy Powell in COSTUME DESIGN, but not one for the wonderful work in BROOKLYN?
Going in, I audibly exclaimed, “If Jacob Tremblay gets a tough snub, I WILL scream into my pillow.” Scream I did, gents. How is he going to look everyone in the eye this morning in his first grade class? Next, I took a shower whilst nibbling on a piece of sourdough bread before I digested the rest of the nom nom noms (hehe). Some takeaways: Where in the hell is Jason Eisenberg from Superman? No Trainwreck love? Trainyuck! No Lady Gaga? No Amy Adams? No Bradley Coop Dreams from Burned? No Daisy Ridley or her father Scott Ridley? God DAMN this list! I’m going back to bed and dreaming of the real list of noms aka list of numbs because every actor was a corpse onscreen this year minus Tom Hanks.
Your posting might have actually been funny if you got the facts right. It’s Jesse Eisenberg, it’s Batman vs Superman and the film doesn’t come out until this spring.
Wow, The Danish Girl was seriously snubbed. No Best Picture, no Director, not even Makeup & Hairstyling, but The Revnant does. Pathetic. I’m Completely disgusted.
Hey, you think you can just walk into Outdoor Man and find parkas? ;-)
Stallone over Idris Elba is a travesty. Jennifer Lawrence has to be the most overrated actress in history at this point. Also would have liked to seen some Love and Mercy get best sound design, maybe a nod for Paul Dano. Tara tine deserved a best original screenplay nom.
So happy that Earned it got nominated for best song — such a great mix of old and new style of music. Very happy for Charlotte Rampling! Too bad there were not nominations for Truth and 99 homes– two very great films
I simply do NOT get the Revenant being nominated for anything but cinematography. It’s a travelogue, not a movie. It is, as a story, terrible.
I know I’m the only one but I have to say it. Best Actor – Bryan Cranston.
Hmmm, now let’s see, which name doesn’t belong here?
Christian Bale
Tom Hardy
Mark Ruffalo
Mark Rylance
sylvester stallone
If either Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Mark Ruffalo or Mark Rylance wins the Oscar, it will be a GREAT day for REAL actors everywhere. Those are four great actors who also take risks in making movies that make a difference and don’t just rehash the same story over and over and over with zero regard for originality. Those four actor’s are REAL risk-takers who by doing their parts keep the heart of REAL cinema alive. Oh, I almost forgot to mention stallone….gee, what a beautiful family he brought to show off at the Golden Globes, eh?
They really picked Sylvester Stallone over Idris Elba and Michael Shannon. Sad. And Jennifer does it again. Its clear everyone loves her personality. They love that she gives great interviews. She charms her way into getting nominated. She has fantastic publicists. However I consider her Kardashian. All hype and no substance.
I’d like to know what everyone has been smoking when they watch Mad Max. IMO, it was a tedious film that went nowhere. Tom Hardy was a big zero as Max. If it wins Best Picture it would be the worst pick since Crash.
I’m so tired of getting told by awards which movies are the best when most are disappointing when eventually the majority of people attend it would have had bigger box office if it’s so great, Small movies that are great and deserve awards. Not an award just because a movie is strange and weird.
Congrats everybody! Y’all deserve it!! :D ESPECIALLY YOU ADAM MCKAY! :D I mean, to present such a seemingly beyond-dull topic in such an incredibly gripping way is a feat in itself! Amazinggg film. And one that I’m so grateful for as well. What Wall St. & our politicians have been up to is insane!!! A democracy is a form of gov. by & for the people. It’s not going to maintain itself. And there’s nothing more dangerous than people be not caring (or remaining ignorant) about what’s going on. And so, thank you, Mr. McKay, for making a movie to help us regular peeps understand what’s up. (You’re my hero!!)
But what about Kristen Stewart? Didnt she had….like… that… Cesar thing? ))))))))
Perhaps the actors weren’t nominated because their performances were not up to par in the estimation of the voters…without regard for political correctness? Is that not a possibility? Also, most of those films nominated for Best Picture had severe shortcomings.
What’s as asinine as the clowns at HFPA positioning “The Martian” and “The Big Short” in the Golden Globes’ Best Comedy or Musical category? “The Danish Girl’s” lead actress, Alicia Vikander, and “The Hateful Eight’s” lead female, Jennifer Jason Leigh, unbelievably and inexcusably being categorized by Oscar as supporting.
In “The Danish Girl” Vikander is by her spouse’s side every minute, every step of the way, from the first frame, to the Danish girl’s dying, last breath. While “The Hateful Eight” is a true ensemble, it’s Jennifer Jason Leigh’s character being front and center, since the whole point is Kurt Russell’s character getting her to the gallows and her buddies doing everything to prevent that. This female outlaw is significant and evident, every step of the way, in each of the many (designated) acts.
I offer no suggestions as to whom of the five worthy announced candidates in lead actress they’d replace. Just that: 1) the Academy appears blind, 2) the categories are easily manipulated, 3) there’s too many stupid people in this process, with no one equipped with brains to step in and prevent this.
Ask anyone — general public or those in the industry — exiting the theaters where “The Danish Girl” and “The Hateful Eight” are screening if these front-and-center characters played by Alicia Viikander and Jennifer Jason Leigh are supporting roles and the answer will be “Do I look stupid?! No way!” IMO.
I want sci-fi all the way. Miller for best director, Ridley for best picture, Garfield for best original screenplay. How often do you get a solid list of genre work to honor…by the frickin’ Academy?! C’mon guys.
Tarentino needs to learn one of the essential skills in screenwriting – KNOWING WHAT TO CUT. That’s why he got dissed.
Compton – four assholes write a song called “Fuck the police.” And that’s the sanitized version. PASS.
Concussion. If there is one thing I hate more than awards bait, art-house cinema that no one remembers two days after Oscar night, it’s “activist cinema.” “Oh dear me, football is bad! Stop playing, stop watching!” UP YOURS. I’ll throw Carol, Danish Girl, and Spotlight on this list too. Gay marriage is legal, get your license and shut up. Transgenders are gross, and BRUCE JENNER in drag at the ESPYS is a publicity stunt gone wrong. As for Spotlight, the news media is just as slimy as a horny priest.
As for The Revenant and that over-rated prima-donna Iñárritu, if I want to watch strange visions I’ll watch Terrence Malik. If I want to see an animal gutted so someone can crawl inside to stay warm, I got The Empire Strikes Back on DVD. “as a director, if I identify a violin that is out of tune, I have to take that from the orchestra.”
Oh god, what a dick.
R.I.P. Alan Rickman – the TRUE best supporting actor for the TRUE best film of 1988 – Die Hard.
Yippie-ki-yay, motherfucker.
DiCaprio deserves this nomination and I hope he wins. He should have won a “Best Actor” oscar long before now!