Oscars 2016 Snubs and Surprises

Previous Oscar winners Cate Blanchett and Jennifer Lawrence returned to the best actress race, which has no obvious front-runners.

Fury Road boss George Miller is up against The Revenant’s Alejandro Iñárritu for Best Director.

Miller’s blockbuster followed closely behind the pioneer-era drama, landing 10.

The president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has responded to the glaring lack of diversity among this year’s Oscar nominees.

Original screenplay nominees are strong: Bridge of Spies, Inside Out, Spotlight, Ex Machina, and as a nice surprise, Straight Outta Compton.

He’s joined by Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight), Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies), Tom Hardy (The Revenant), and Christian Bale (The Big Short).

Those who did make the best actor nominations list included Leonardo DiCaprio, for his role in the survival drama, “The Revenant”.

The 88th Academy Awards will be held February 28 in Hollywood, carried live on Walt Disney Co.’s ABC network and broadcast in more than 225 countries.

Apart from these three films, others contending for the Best Picture award are “Spotlight”, “The Big Short”, “Brooklyn”, “Room” and “Bridge of Spies” – a Steven Spielberg and Reliance Entertainment Film production.

“Action needs to be taken to make sure that the industry as a whole is more inclusive with the hiring and the mentoring and the promoting of diverse product and diversity among filmmakers”, said Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs, who is black. 2015 was a great year for black actors, directors and movies, yet we don’t get to celebrate them through coveted nominations. “I was not expecting it… especially at this time in my life”.

Stallone had been expected to be nominated for “Creed“, as much for reprising his longstanding Rocky Balboa character as for turning in a surprisingly nuanced performance. Why did the achingly poignant lesbian love story “Carol” rack up six nods – including Blanchett for best actress and Rooney Mara for supporting actress – but get inexplicably shut out of the best picture and director categories?

SAG, however, nominated black actor Idris Elba for his supporting role in “Beasts of No Nation”, which was also nominated for outstanding ensemble cast. Is it Hollywood homophobia that kept Academy voters from recognizing the movie’s craft, or is it the New Math of the best picture nominating procedures?

Room has done exceptionally well in terms of nominations but the big question we must ask – where is Jacob Tremblay’s nod for Best Supporting Actor? After nominations for the 2016 Oscars were announced on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016, many expressed surprise that the lack of diversity persisted despite the huge backlash a year ago when all acting nominees were white.

With eight nominations for best picture but only five for best director, snubs in the latter category were inevitable.