DHAKA: Oscar voters showered “The Revenant” and “Mad Max: Fury Road” with honors on Thursday, including best picture nominations, but were less kind to some contenders and put forth, once again, an all-white field of acting nominees.
Six films joined “The Revenant” and “Fury Road” as nominees for Hollywood’s top prize: “Bridge of Spies,” “Spotlight,” “The Big Short” “The Martian,” “Brooklyn” and “Room”, reports the New York Times.
The black-themed “Straight Outta Compton,” expected by handicappers to make the cut (10 nominees are allowed), was notably not among them, adding to the mono-racial nature of the selections from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Last year’s group at least had “Selma,” centered on the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“The Revenant,” a frontier revenge tale directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, drew 12 nominations in total — the most of any film — with Leonardo DiCaprio honored for his wounded trapper and Tom Hardy for his villainous supporting role.
Additional nominations came in more technical categories like cinematography and sound mixing, an indication of especially broad support among all classes of voters. (One possible exception: The movie is very male centric.)
With 10 nominations, “Fury Road,” directed by George Miller, was the second-most-honored film, but most of its support came from technical areas, like film editing, costume design and makeup and hairstyling. Next came “The Martian,” with seven nods, although its director, Ridley Scott, was prominently snubbed.
“Spotlight” won attention in six categories, including nominations for its director, Tom McCarthy, and two of its supporting actors, Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams. The lesbian romance “Carol,” overlooked for best picture, also managed to come up with six nominations, as did “Bridge of Spies,” a best picture nominee directed by Steven Spielberg.
Spielberg, though, did not receive a directing nomination. In addition to Mr. McCarthy, Iñárritu and Miller, rounding out the race for best director are Adam McKay (“The Big Short,” five nominations in total) and, in a little-expected selection, Lenny Abrahamson (the kidnapping drama “Room,” four nominations total).
For the most part, Oscar voters refused to bow in the direction of popular movies. “Furious 7,” “Jurassic World” and “Avengers: Age of Ultron” got nothing, even in the work-a-day categories. And “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” which picked up five nominations in craft categories, came up far short of the original “Star Wars,” which was a best picture nominee in 1978.
The acting groups were peppered with familiar faces. As expected, Cate Blanchett came away with her sixth nomination, for “Carol.” Jennifer Lawrence, now a four-time nominee, this time for “Joy,” joined Ms. Blanchett in the category. Also selected were Brie Larson from “Room,” Charlotte Rampling from the indie drama “45 Years” and Saoirse Ronan from “Brooklyn.”
DiCaprio, picking up his fifth acting nomination, will be competing against the reigning best actor winner, Eddie Redmayne, who picked up a nod for “The Danish Girl.” Voters also backed Matt Damon (“The Martian”), Bryan Cranston (“Trumbo”) and Michael Fassbender (“Steve Jobs”).
BDST: 0915 HRS, JAN 15, 2016
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