Finally bringing some clarity to an Oscar season that has been unusually wide open, the 88th Academy Awards nominations were announced Thursday morning, with Alejandro G. Inarritu’s brutal frontier revenge thriller earning the most nominations with 12, followed closely behind by “Mad Max: Fury Road,” which earned 10 nods.
The best picture nominees spanned a wide range of genres, with nods for the financial crisis dramedy “The Big Short,” the Cold War thriller “Bridge of Spies,” the period drama “Brooklyn,” the high-octane action movie “Mad Max: Fury Road,” the sci-fi adventure film “The Martian,” the Western thriller “The Revenant,” the gut-punching drama “Room” and the fact-based newspaper procedural “Spotlight.”
Among the films in contention that didn’t make the cut were Todd Haynes’ “Carol” and the N.W.A biopic “Straight Outta Compton.”
The directing category featured a blend of veterans and newcomers, including George Miller (“Mad Max”), Adam McKay (“The Big Short”), Steven Spielberg (“Bridge of Spies”), Lenny Abrahamson (“Room”), Inarritu (“The Revenant”) and Tom McCarthy (“Spotlight”).
In one of the biggest surprises of the morning, director Ridley Scott failed to score a nod for “The Martian.” Scott had been nominated this week by the Directors Guild of America for best feature director. He also was nominated for the Golden Globes.
Despite efforts in recent years to diversify the voting ranks of the academy, not a single actor of color was nominated in any of the acting categories, ensuring a return of the OscarsSoWhite hashtag that trended on social media heading into last year’s Oscars.
In the lead actress category, the picks came in as expected with nods for Cate Blanchett (“Carol”), Brie Larson (“Room”), Jennifer Lawrence (“Joy”), Charlotte Rampling (“45 Years”) and Saoirse Ronan (“Brooklyn”).
The lead actor race also delivered no major surprises, with nominations for Bryan Cranston (“Trumbo”), Matt Damon (“The Martian”), Leonardo DiCaprio (“The Revenant”), Eddie Redmayne (“The Danish Girl”) and Michael Fassbender (“Steve Jobs”).
The best supporting actor nominees are Christian Bale (“The Big Short”), Tom Hardy (“The Revenant”), Mark Rylance (“Bridge of Spies”), Mark Ruffalo (“Spotlight”) and Sylvester Stallone (“Creed”).
Best supporting actress nominees are Jennifer Jason Leigh (“The Hateful Eight”), Rooney Mara (“Carol”), Rachel McAdams (“Spotlight”), Alicia Vikander (“The Danish Girl”) and Kate Winslet (“Steve Jobs”).
The box office juggernaut “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” earned five nominations, including nods for editing and for John Williams’ score, but didn’t make the cut for best picture.
The Oscars will be telecast on Feb. 28.
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