Well, that was interesting. The Academy Awards nominations were announced this morning by Guillermo del Toro, Ang Lee, Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs, and John Krasinski. While many of my predictions were correct, there were definitely some surprises this morning.
While it was obvious that Alicia Vikander would receive a nomination for her role in The Danish Girl, the question became which category would she be nominated in? The roll was a substantial one and would normally be considered for the Lead Actress category. However, the film’s production company has been pushing for her to be nominated in the Supporting Actress category. The production company won out and Vikander was placed in the Supporting Actress category. The surprise nomination in that category was Rachel McAdams for her role as an investigative journalist in Spotlight. Most of the buzz has been given to her other two costars, Michael Keaton and Mark Ruffalo, so it was quite a shock to see her mentioned here.
With Vikander vacating a spot in the Best Lead Actress category, 69 year old Charlotte Rampling was able to receive her first ever Oscar nomination for 45 Years. This is an independent film that has not generated much in the way of award buzz, so Rampling’s nomination is a pleasant surprise.
For my money, the biggest surprise announcement was in the Supporting Actor category. While critics have praised Tom Hardy’s villainous turn in The Revenant, he has not been included on many of the pre Oscar award lists. However, he was triumphant, receiving his first nomination. If I were to hazard a guess, this is mainly due to the kind of year Hardy has had. He starred in three films this year, two of which are nominated for Best Picture (The Revenant and Mad Max: Fury Road), so this nomination is likely in recognition of that. The other major surprise in this category was the fact that Idris Elba was snubbed for his role in Beasts of No Nation. Elba received nominations from the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs, and the SAG awards, so this is an unfortunate surprise.
In the Best Director category, many were surprised at the omission of Ridley Scott for directing The Martian. Much like Elba, Scott has been consistently nominated during this award season, including a nomination from the Directors Guild of America. The slot that he would have occupied was given to Lenny Abrahamson for his direction of Room. Room is performing in much the same way that Beasts of the Southern Wild did in 2013. Beasts received surprise nominations for Best Picture, Best Lead Actress (Quvenzhané Wallis), Best Director (Benh Zeitlin), and Best Adapted Screenplay. Room has been gaining a lot of ground throughout this awards season, but no one really thought it would perform as well as it has. Along with the nomination for Best Director, Room received nominations for Best Picture, Best Lead Actress (Brie Larson), and Best Adapted Screenplay.
While none of the Best Picture nominees was a shock, the lack of nomination for Carol was stunning. Carol has long been thought of as one of the real contenders this year. It has shown up on countless critics’ top ten lists and has performed well during the awards season. Carol ended up receiving only six nominations including Best Lead Actress (Cate Blanchett), Best Supporting Actress (Rooney Mara), and Best Adapted Screenplay.
It should come as no surprise that The Revenant dominated the nominations this year. It is the most nominated film of the year with a total of 12 nominations including: Best Picture, Best Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio), Best Supporting Actor (Tom Hardy), and Best Director (Alejandro G. Iñárritu). Mad Max: Fury Road was not far behind with a total of 10 nominations. The film was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director (George Miller), and a plethora of technical awards. This is followed by The Martian with seven nominations which include Best Picture and Best Actor (Matt Damon).
What did you think of the nominations? Surprises? Snubs? Extreme love for any certain movie? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter.
The 88th Academy Awards, hosted by Chris Rock, will be handed out on February 28th.
-Ariadne Ansbro
Full list of nominees below:
Best Picture
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Spotlight
Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room
Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
Best Actor
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Matt Damon, The Martian
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl
Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara, Carol
Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale, The Big Short
Tom Hardy, The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
Sylvester Stallone, Creed
Best Director
The Big Short, Adam McKay
Mad Max: Fury Road, George Miller
The Revenant, Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Room, Lenny Abrahamson
Spotlight, Tom McCarthy
Best Adapted Screenplay
The Big Short, Charles Randolph and Adam McKay
Brooklyn, Nick Hornby
Carol, Phyllis Nagy
The Martian, Drew Goddard
Room, Emma Donoghue
Best Original Screenplay
Bridge of Spies, Matt Charman and Ethan Coen & Joel Coen
Ex Machina, Alex Garland
Inside Out, Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley; Original story by Pete Docter, Ronnie del Carmen
Spotlight, Josh Singer & Tom McCarthy
Straight Outta Compton, Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff; Story by S. Leigh Savidge & Alan Wenkus and Andrea Berloff
Best Animated Feature
Anomalisa
Boy and the World
Inside Out
Shaun the Sheep Movie
When Marnie Was There
Best Documentary Feature
Amy
Cartel Land
Look of Silence
What Happened Miss Simone
Winter on Fire
Best Foreign Language Film
Embrace of the Serpent, Colombia
Mustang, France
Son of Saul, Hungary
Theeb, Jordan
A War, Denmark
Best 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
Best Original Song
“Earned It,” Fifty Shades of Grey (Music and Lyric by Abel Tesfaye, Ahmad Balshe, Jason Daheala Quenneville and Stephan Moccio)
“Manta Ray,” Racing Extinction (Music by J. Ralph and Lyric by Antony Hegarty)
“Simple Song #3,” Youth (Music and Lyric by David Lang)
“Til it Happens to You,” The Hunting Ground (Music and Lyric by Diane Warren and Lady Gaga)
“Writing’s on the Wall,” Spectre (Music and Lyric by Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith)
Best Cinematography
Carol
The Hateful Eight
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Sicario
Best Film Editing
The Big Short
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Spotlight
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best Production Design
Bridge of Spies
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Mad Max: Fury Road
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out a Window and Disappeared
The Revenant
Best Costume Design
Carol
Cinderella
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Best Animated Short
Bear Story
Prologue
Sanjay’s Super Team
We Can’t Live Without Cosmos
World of Tomorrow
Best Visual Effects
Ex Machina
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best Sound Editing
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best Sound Mixing
Bridge of Spies
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best Documentary Short
Body Team 12
Chau, Beyond the Lines
Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah
A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness
Last Day of Freedom
Best Live Action Short
Ave Maria
Day One
Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut)
Shok
Stutterer
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