Stage set for Oscar sequel

“The Revenant”, which was previewed at the festival, led all films with 12 Oscar nominations, although “Spotlight” and “The Big Short” are being touted as the Best Picture favorites because of the significance of their other nominations.

“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.

Many Twitter users voiced their opinions using the hashtag #Oscarssowhite, which originally debuted past year when Oscars host Neil Patrick Harris commented that they were honouring the “best and whitest” at the 2015 ceremony.

“Of course I am disappointed, but this is not to take away the greatness (of the films nominated)”, she told Deadline. “Champagne and mezcal will run tonight!”

One positive takeaway from the nominations is “Mad Max: Fury Road’s” 10 nominations, the second most of any film.

Stallone bookended his time playing Rocky Balboa, by being nominated for best supporting actor almost four decades and seven Balboa films after getting a best actor nomination in 1977 for the original “Rocky“. The other best-picture nominees are “The Big Short”, “Bridge of Spies”, “Brooklyn”, “The Martian”, “Room” and “Spotlight”.

The most likely black-themed Oscar nominees – Beasts of No Nation, Straight Outta Compton and Creed, about an African war lord, the rap group N.W.A. and a young boxer, respectively – were nearly entirely male in subject and sensibility.

“Spotlight” support. It’s hard to suss out just how voters felt about the actors in “Spotlight”.

The acting nominees, which notably omitted Idris Elba for “Beasts of No Nation” and Benicio Del Toro for “Sicario”, gave the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences an awkward repeat of the “OscarsSoWhite” backlash that followed last year’s acting nominees. It seems like the Academy doesn’t agree with this.

Matt Damon, Michael Fassbender, Eddie Redmayne and Bryan Cranston rounded out the non-diverse Best Actor category, according to the Associated Press. And Johnny Depp’s starring role as the true-life gangster Whitey Bulger in “Black Mass” was not recommended for an award. While Blanchett and Mara were nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress respectively, Carol and director Todd Haynes were surprisingly left out of the Best Picture and Best Director categories. A Best Supporting Actor nom for the British talent was definitely a topic of discussion since the film’s release. His stiffest competition is seen as Mark Rylance, best known for his legendary stage work, for “Bridge of Spies”.

“I feel incredibly honored to be recognized among the other awesome women in this category”.

“What I think is so surprising is that there looked like there was a resolution when you look back at what was happening in the early 2000s”, he said. “I am certainly grateful to the artists and collaborators who helped make it possible”. “Making “The Revenant” was one of the most rewarding and collaborative experiences of my life”, DiCaprio, 41, said in a statement. This year’s best director list includes Miller (“The Martian”), Inarritu (“The Revenant”), Lenny Abrahamson (“Room”), Tom McCarthy (“Spotlight’), and Adam McKay, for “The Big Short”.

There was some doubt about DiCaprio’s chances to win Best Actor with The Revenant, which is austere of both dialogue and story, but as the season wore on and no serious challenger emerged, the tide turned: Why not Leo?

Foreign films selected to compete for Oscar gold are Colombia’s “Embrace of the Serpent”, France’s “Mustang”, Hungary’s “Son of Saul”, Jordan’s “Theeb” and “A War” from Denmark.

However, noticeable snubs include Sir Ridley Scott, 78, who failed to secure a Best Director nomination for The Martian. It instead scored five technical nods for editing, score, visual effects, sound mixing and sound editing.

The Amy Winehouse documentary, “Amy”, presented at the festival as a Talking Pictures program, was the only festival documentary to receive a Best Documentary Feature nomination.