The Revenant and Mad Max: Fury Road were showered with honors by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, picking up Oscar nominations for best picture and best director.
There are to be six best picture nominees to join them: Bridge of Spies, Spotlight, The Big Short, The Martian, Brooklyn and Room. Notably not among them: Straight Outta Compton and Carol both of which were pegged to make the cut by awards handicappers.
The Revenant, directed by Alejandro Inarritu, drew 12 nominations in total — the most of any film — with Leonardo DiCaprio honored for his wounded frontiersman and Tom Hardy for his villainous supporting role.
Photo: Reuters
With 10 nominations, George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road was the second most-honored film, although most of its support came from technical areas, like film editing, costume design and makeup and hairstyling. Behind Fury Road came The Martian with seven nominations — although its director, Ridley Scott, was prominently snubbed — and Spotlight with six.
The acting fields were filled with familiar faces. As expected, Cate Blanchett came away with her sixth best actress nomination for Carol. Jennifer Lawrence, now a four-time nominee, this time for Joy, joined Blanchett in the category. Also selected were Brie Larson from Room, Charlotte Rampling from 45 Years and Saoirse Ronan from Brooklyn.
DiCaprio, picking up his fifth acting nomination, is 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).
Concussion, starring Will Smith, and Beasts of No Nation, featuring Idris Elba, received nothing.
The racially diverse Creed, directed by Ryan Coogler, was shut out, except for a nomination for its war-horse supporting actor, Sylvester Stallone.
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