Critic: Lack of non-white Oscar nominees not Academy’s fault

It’s a problem Setoodeh said is attributed to an Academy made up of mostly old, conservative white men.

Comedian Chris Rock, who is hosting the ceremony on February 28, also weighed in on Twitter. This year, it went with eight: “The Revenant”, “Mad Max”, “Spotlight”, “The Martian”, “Brooklyn”, “Room”, “The Big Short” and “Bridge of Spies”.

The best actress field is led by favourite Brie Larson for Room, along with Jennifer Lawrence (Joy), Cate Blanchett (Carol), Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn) and Charlotte Rampling (45 Years).

Leo called the film “incredibly challenging”, and said he will never film anything like it again having endured eating raw buffalo liver and swimming in icy rivers.

“The Revenant” took home the best drama film prize at last Sunday’s Golden Globes, while Inarritu was named best director and Leonardo DiCaprio won for best actor in a drama.

George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road followed with 10 nominations, including best picture.

“They were like the golden tickets this year, they were really very coveted spots I think, particularly in this category and so I am absolutely thrilled”, she said.

Leonardo DiCaprio is not nervous about whether he will finally win an Oscar – because he says the hard work of actually shooting the film is over.

Tom Hardy has dedicated his Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination to everyone who worked on The Revenant. “It’s fantastic to see people react so positively”, he added about the film.

“The Academy people don t vote by race or gender, but it s the studios that need to fix this by better reflecting the population”, Gray told AFP.

As every year, there were some notable snubs – and surprises.

On the other hand, though “The Martian” did well – earning nominations for best picture and best actor – Ridley Scott was left off the directors’ list. At least the glorious mess that is the original screenplay category saw fit to include “Straight Outta Compton”. But Lenny Abrahamson did get a nomination for best director for “Room”.

“Tangerine”, an independent film whose transgender actresses of color, Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor, are nominated for Independent Spirit Awards, also failed to secure any nominations.