The Academy Award nominations were announced this morning with a genuine mix of critical favourites and populist gems that highlight that maybe the awards body is ready for some young blood.
The Best Actress nominations were widely tipped as the toughest field with so many great performances this year, but once again there were no diverse nominees in the acting fields for a second year in a row so expect #OscarsSoWhite to be trending again. It was good day for the three South Asian nominees: Sharmeen Chinoy whose documentary short, A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness made the cut; Asif Kapadia's Amy which was in the Best Documentary category; and our fave, Sanjay Patel's Sanjay's Super Team made the Animated Shorts a lot more diverse.
Here's our reactions to the nominations:
Photo Credit:The Playlist
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Spotlight
Our verdict: We like what we see here, despite Straight Outta Compton and Beasts of No Nation missing the cut, which is unfortunate because they were two triumphs that were both populist and innovative. Alas, it's good to see The Big Short and Mad Max in the list because they're the commercial films that have us hopeful.
Best Actress
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Photo Credit: The Playlist
Cate Blanchett – Carol
Brie Larson – Room
Sairose Ronan – Brooklyn
Jennifer Lawrence – Joy
Charlotte Rampling – 45 Years
Our verdict: Wonderful to see Charlotte Rampling in the lineup for her extraordinary performance in 45 Years, but our money is on Brie Larson, who picked up the recent Golden Globe for her performance in Room. She'll have stiff competition with Cate Blanchett though.
Best Actor
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Leonardo Dicaprio – The Revenant
Bryan Cranston – Trumbo
Eddie Redmayne – The Danish Girl
Michael Fassbender – Steve Jobs
Matt Damon – The Martian
Our verdict: There's almost no contest here. We know it will be Leonardo Dicaprio, who's waited out his multiple nominations to get to the prize in a month's time. But as a contrarian I'd love if Michael Fassbender got it for his impressive work in Steve Jobs.
Best Supporting Actor
Photo Credit:The Telegraph
Christian Bale – The Big Short
Tom Hardy – The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo – Spotlight
Mark Rylance – Bridge of Spies
Sylvester Stallone – Creed
Our verdict: Now this was the category that upset me the most because there were no nominations for Jason Mitchell who played Eazy-E in Straight Outta Compton or Idris Elba in Beasts of No Nation, who was widely expected to be in the list. The destabilizer was Tom Hardy but our pick is Sylvester Stallone.
Best Supporting Actress
Photo Credit:The Playlist
Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight
Rachel McAdams – Spotlight
Kate Winslet – Steve Jobs
Alicia Vikander – The Danish Girl
Rooney Mara – Carol
Our verdict: Since the Academy went loopy by nominating the clearly co-leads Mara and Vikander in this category, we hope either of them win. But the biggest surprise is seeing Rachel McAdams in the list as the sole female in Spotlight.
Best Director
Photo Credit:Crave Online
George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road
Lenny Abrahamson – Room
Adam McKay – The Big Short
Alejandro Iñárritu – The Revenant
Tom McCarthy – Spotlight
Our verdict: Who'd a-thunk-it that the director of cult hits like Anchorman and Stepbrothers, Adam McKay, would be an Oscar nominee? But Short and Abrahamson were the two surprises who eked out competition like Quentin Tarantino and Ridley Scott with their assured and confident directing.
What do you think of the nominations? Let us know if your favourite film of 2015 made the cut and if you've got some snubs that we missed too.
Main Image Photo Credit: The Oscars Official Site
Rumnique Nannar
Author
Rumnique Nannar is a new journalist with a passion for all things pop culture, film, and art. Rumnique was born in London, with a predilection for devouring English chocolate with her Vogue, ANOKHI, and Glamour magazines in tow. She is currently in her Journalism Masters at UBC. Connect ...
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