We’re in the swing of awards season, people! Days after the Hollywood Foreign Press Association praised The Revenant and Mr. Robot at the Golden Globes, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced this year’s Oscar nominees. The Revenant continues its hot streak leading the charge with 12 Oscar nominations including nods for star Leonardo DiCaprio (will this finally be his year?!) and director Alexandro G. Iñárritu. If you recall, Iñárritu is also on a roll having swept the Oscars last year with big wins for Birdman.
The following flicks are in the running for Best Picture: The Big Short (landed 5 nods total), Bridge of Spies (6 nods), Brooklyn (3), Mad Max: Fury Road (a whopping 10!), The Martian (7), The Revenant (12), Room (4), and Spotlight (6).
As per usual, there are snubs galore and here are some of the most frustrating. Ridley Scott (The Martian), Quentin Tarantino (The Hateful Eight), and Steven Spielberg (Bridge of Spies) were left out of the Best Director race. They were undeservedly overlooked when the Academy selected Adam McKay (The Big Short), George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road), Iñárritu (The Revenant), Lenny Abrahamson (Room), and Tom McCarthy (Spotlight). Elsewhere, and somehow, someway, Aaron Sorkin was not nominated for his impeccably adapted screenplay for Steve Jobs. And then there’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Though you might not agree that North America’s highest-grossing film of all-time deserved a Best Picture nom, it certainly warrants recognition for more than its brilliant Original Score, Visual Effects, film editing, and sound mixing and editing. Still, sci-fi diehards have Mad Max to root for come the telecast.
And then there’s #OscarsSoWhite. For the second consecutive year in a row, the AMPAS is showering decidedly white actors and filmmakers with nominations and neglecting incredibly talented African Americans. Director F. Gary Gray and his box office hit Straight Outta Compton…Ryan Coogler’s Creed and its star Michael B. Jordan…Samuel L. Jackson for The Hateful Eight…Will Smith for Concussion…Idris Elba for Netflix’s Beasts of No Nation. All snubbed. This simply isn’t fair, and let’s hope that it doesn’t become an annual trend.
The 88th Academy Awards, hosted by Chris Rock, airs Sunday, Feb. 28 at 7pm (est) on ABC. Click here to view the full list of nominees.