The 88th Oscar Nominations

[ITALIANO]

Before one says it - true, The Revenant didn't get Screenplay. But it still got one of the highest total of nominations ever in Oscar history - and this must mean something. (It was almost surreal this morning - category after category, it was always The Revenant. EVEN Best Supporting Actor where, honestly, not many thought Tom Hardy would be mentioned).
Does this make it a sure Best Picture winner? No, of course. But almost. There's the fact that Inarritu has just won last year (but does this REALLY count much?). And of course in the technical categories the races are so competitive this year that one can't imagine that the movie will win much there except Cinematography. Yet... Well, before saying anything I really have to see it (which will be in a few days). This board has always been quite skeptical about its chances, and I'm sure there must be good reasons.
In this case, the main alternative seems to be the resurrected Spotlight (another movie which I haven't seen). Nobody thought it would get technical nods, but Editing is a good sign; and unlike The Revenant it has been predictably nominated for its Screenplay. Add to this a somehow surprising Best Supporting Actor nod (plus Supporting Actress, but that was more expected), and you have the kind of movie which in theory COULD win - not many Oscars, but important ones. Its subject is also relevant, which helps. This is anothere movie which I need to see to truly understand its Oscar potential - on paper, it's not low.
The Martian has Actor and Screenplay - which it needed - but no Director nod - and in this case, considering Ridley Scott's reputation and career (he's not Ben Affleck), it counts, and not in a good way. It's not dead of course, but Director was really the category (even more than Picture) where I personally thought it could have some chances. And - again - it's so pleasant but so light...
And then there's the unbearable Mad Max Fury Road. But here, frankly, all the nominations were sort-of predictable - though one could hope for a Director snub. It hasn't happened. On Oscar night, several envelopes will contain this title, but only in the first half of the show.
The only reason why one can like this Supporting Actress race - despite its frauds - is that it will be difficult to be sure about its outcome (the SAG will help, but not too much). As for Best Supporting Actor, it has an obvious favorite, but could surprise, too.

[HarryGoldfarb]

- Room, stronger than most people thought! However, despite the unexpected love it received, the kid was left out.
- So... Brooklyn is up for Best Picture. Along with Room, two female centered films, tiny ones apparently. Yet, Carol, the apparent artistic achievement of the year is left out. I insist: Brooklyn and no room for Carol...
- Stallone, the only Creed nod. Will the nod be enough?
- The meanest girl of them all is an Academy Award nominee.
- MM:FR, first 4th entry in a series to be nominated for BP.
- Spielberg creates BP nominees but he's getting old, apparently playing safe. Even though he still makes high quality films, his signature is becoming more and more "old school". His directing is getting far from outstanding.
- Tom Hardy is the lucky charm. His films have a total of 22 nods leading the pack. Guess he should have been a more obvious exepected nominee than he was.

[Sonic Youth]

I'm always hoping the Oscars will find its equilibrium. Some years, they'll get things so right (or at least not so unreasonable) that I feel that this organization has finally found its bearings. Some years, they'll get it so wrong, they become the bad joke I always claim they are... during certain years, at least. Then I realize that this back-and-forth IS the equilibrium it has attained, so what's the point of even complaining?

Of course, tastes differ. My good Oscar years may be your bad Oscar years, and vice-versa. With that in mind.... When the two Oscar frontrunners are directed by the worst "auteurist" director (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu) and the worst "mainstream" director (Tom McCarthy) working today, it's enough to give up on movies and Oscars altogether.

[nightwingnova]

BEST PICTURE

I get why Inside Out and Carol didn't make it. But I thought that with all the complaining about popular movies being shut out, Star Wars: The Force Awakens would.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Steve Jobs left out? This one is a surprise.

Otherwise, some mild different expectations, but nothing earth shattering.

[Sabin]

Best Production Design -- God, The Revenant

How strong can The Revenant be if it doesn't have a screenplay nomination? Pretty strong. Considering it was ineligible for best original score, it has a speaking cast of like five people and two of them got acting nominations, everything it was eligible for was basically nominated...except its screenplay which not a soul predicted. Sure, Gravity lost but it was up against 12 Years a Slave which voters liked more. If it wasn't, perhaps it would've won.

[FilmFan720]

People defending their titles:
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu in Picture and Director
Eddie Redmayne in Actor
Emmanuel Lubezki in Cinematography
Adam Stockhausen in Grand Budapest Hotel
Alan Robert Murphy in Sound Editing

[Sonic Youth]

Personally, based on what I've seen, this is a FAIRLY decent slate of nominees, the Carol in Best Picture and Director notwithstanding.

The snub of The Martian for Director and Editing notwithstanding. The inclusion of Spotlight for Director and Editing notwithstanding. (Screenplay was inevitable.)

I can't speak for anything else because I haven't seen much else. The love for "Room" is very nice, though. Too bad the kid was snubbed. I thought he stole Brie Larson's thunder.

[anonymous1980]

Personally, based on what I've seen, this is a FAIRLY decent slate of nominees, the Carol snub in Best Picture and Director notwithstanding.

I'm thrilled with the Mad Max: Fury Road nominations simply because it's such a weirdo, unique Best Picture nominee.

[Aceisgreat]

McAdams in, but Keaton out. John Williams up for his laziest score ever. And Ridley Scott sure does have a sketchy history with the Academy, doesn't he?

[flipp525]

God, that annoying Trumbo for Cranston thing happened. Completely undeserved, lazy, uninspired Wiki-bio choice. Let's just thank the Oscar gods that they ignored Mirren. I was really hoping for a Jacob Tremblay surprise in Best Actor. And Rachel McAdams does nothing in Spotlight worthy of a nomination. Ruffalo completely overacts his part so, of course, he gets the token nomination for that. It pales compared to his Foxcatcher citation last year.

The only great thing about the fraudsters placing where they did is that it allowed for a Lawrence nomination for Joy and a much-deserved (and long-awaited) Charlotte Rampling nod.

So much fucking groupthink going on this year with the Academy. They didn't really go their own way, like, at all except for the direction of Room and the Tom Hardy nomination (which, it must be said, was deserved).

This is the first year that Harvey didn't get a Best Picture nomination in quite a few years.

How strong can The Revenant be for BP without a screenplay nomination?

[anonymous1980]

I think we should switch the discussion to here.

BEST PICTURE

The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Spotlight

BEST ACTOR

Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Matt Damon, The Martian
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl

BEST ACTRESS

Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room
Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Christian Bale, The Big Short
Tom Hardy, The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
Sylvester Stallone, Creed

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara, Carol
Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs

DIRECTING

Adam McKay - The Big Short
George Miller - Mad Max: Fury Road
Alejandro G. Iñárritu - The Revenant
Lenny Abrahamson - Room
Tom McCarthy - Spotlight

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Anomalisa
Boy and the World
Inside Out
Shaun the Sheep Movie
When Marnie Was There

COSTUME DESIGN

Carol
Cinderella
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Amy
Cartel Land
The Look of Silence
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Winter on Fire

DOCUMENTARY SHORT

Body Team
Chau, Beyond the Lines
Claude Lanzmann
A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness
Last Day of Freedom

MAKEUP AND HAIR STYLING

Mad Max: Fury Road
The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
The Revenant

ORIGINAL SONG

"Earned It" - Fifty Shades of Grey
"Manta Ray" - Racing Extinction
"Simple Song #3" - Youth
"Til It Happens to You" - The Hunting Ground
"Writing's on the Wall" - Spectre

ANIMATED SHORT

Bear Story
Prologue
Sanjay's Super Team
We Can't Live Without Cosmos
World of Tomorrow

SOUND EDITING

Mad Max: Fury Road
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
The Martian
The Revenant

FILM EDITING

The Big Short
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Spotlight
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Embrace of the Serpent
Mustang
Son of Saul
Theeb
A War

ORIGINAL SCORE

Bridge of Spies
Carol
The Hateful Eight
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

PRODUCTION DESIGN

Bridge of Spies
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant

VISUAL EFFECTS

Ex Machina
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Big Short
Brooklyn
Carol
The Martian
Room

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Bridge of Spies
Ex Machina
Inside Out
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compton