The nominations for the 88th Annual Academy Awards were announced today, and there are more than a few surprises here. Let's begin with one of the major upsets: Carol, Todd Haynes' gorgeous, emotionally resonant romance, failed to secure a Best Film nomination, and Haynes also was snubbed as director; in both cases, they were seemingly pushed aside for Lenny Abrahamson's Room, a very good movie in comparison to the greatness of Carol. On the other hand, Jacob Tremblay surprisingly didn't get a nomination for his rather wonderful performance, and it's nice to see Rooney Mara, Cate Blanchett, and Phyllis Nagy get nominations for a film that deserved to sweep the whole damn thing.
Otherwise, the main categories are pretty business-as-usual, with the exception of the screenplays. I must say I'm surprised to see Quentin Tarantino not on the list for Best Original Screenplay for the lovingly unhinged The Hateful Eight in favor, it would seem, of F. Gary Gray's Straight Outta Compton. Similarly, seeing an Aaron Sorkin script not get nominated is a strange, strange sight to behold. But the glut of the nominations went to the movies that we were expecting to get the noms, with Star Wars: The Force Awakens predictably picking up a slew of technical nods.
One last notable surprise would be the absence of Furious 7's "See You Again," which was a favorite for the award right next to "Writing's on the Wall," Sam Smith's theme for Spectre. (Would that Radiohead's jettisoned take on the theme could have been nominated, which would have been my favorite Bond theme by a mile, had it been released.) "See You Again" was seemingly usurped by "Earned It," The Weeknd's catchy, seductive song for Fifty Shades of Grey, and it's easy enough to assume that The Weeknd's famed stage show (as well as the film's success) was a deciding factor here. Indeed, if The Weeknd performs and has half the energy he brought to his performance of "Can't Feel My Face" at the MTV Music Video Awards, he may very well steal the show.
The 2016 Oscars will air live on Sunday, February 28th on ABC, hosted by Chris Rock. Here are the nominees:
BEST PICTURE
Spotlight
The Big Short
The Revenant
The Martian
Brooklyn
Mad Max: Fury Road
Bridge of Spies
Room
BEST DIRECTOR
Alejandro G. Iñárritu – The Revenant
Adam McKay – The Big Short
Tom McCarthy – Spotlight
George Miller — Mad Max: Fury Road
Lenny Abrahamson — Room
BEST ACTRESS
Brie Larson – Room
Saoirse Ronan – Brooklyn
Cate Blanchett – Carol
Charlotte Rampling – 45 Years
Jennifer Lawrence — Joy
BEST ACTOR
Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant
Michael Fassbender – Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne – The Danish Girl
Bryan Cranston – Trumbo
Matt Damon – The Martian
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Alicia Vikander – The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet – Steve Jobs
Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara – Carol
Rachel McAdams – Spotlight
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Mark Rylance – Bridge of Spies
Sylvester Stallone – Creed
Christian Bale – The Big Short
Mark Ruffalo – Spotlight
Tom Hardy — The Revenant
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Big Short – Adam McKay, Charles Randolph
Room — Emma Donaghue
Carol – Phyllis Nagy
The Martian – Drew Goddard
Brooklyn – Nick Hornby
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Spotlight – Tom McCarthy, Josh Singer
Inside Out – Josh Cooley, Pete Docter, Meg LeFavue
Straight Outta Compton — Jonathan Herman, Andrea Berloff, S. Leigh Savidge, Alan Wenkus
Ex Machina – Alex Garland
Bridge of Spies – Matt Charman, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Revenant – Emmanuel Lubezki
Sicario – Roger Deakins
Carol – Edward Lachman
Mad Max: Fury Road – John Seale
The Hateful Eight – Robert Richardson
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
The Hateful Eight – Ennio Morricone
Star Wars: The Force Awakens – John Williams
Bridge of Spies – Thomas Newman
Carol – Carter Burwell
Sicario — Johann Johannsson
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Ex Machina
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
The Martian
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
BEST FILM EDITING
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Spotlight
The Big Short
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
The Revenant
The 100-Year-Old-Man Who Climbed Out a Window and Disappeared
Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Mad Max: Fury Road
Bridge of Spies
The Martian
The Revenant
The Danish Girl
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Carol
Cinderella
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Earned It” from Fifty Shades of Grey
"Manta Ray" from Racing Extinction
“Til It Happens to You” from The Hunting Ground
"Writing's on the Wall" from Spectre
“Simple Song #3” from Youth
BEST SOUND EDITING
Sicario
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
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 ANIMATED FEATURE
Inside Out
Anomalisa
Boy and the World
Shaun the Sheep Movie
When Marnie Was There
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FEATURE
Mustang – France
Son of Saul – Hungary
Theeb – Jordan
A War — Denmark
Embrace of the Serpent — Colombia
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Amy
The Look of Silence
Cartel Land
What Happened Miss Simone?
Winter’s on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah
A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness
Last Day of Freedom
Body Team 12
Chau
BEST SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
Ave Maria
Day One
Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut)
Shok
Stutterer
BEST SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
Bear Story (Historia de un Oso)
Prologue
Sanjay’s Super Team
We Can’t Live Without Cosmos
World of Tomorrow
