'The Revenant,' 'Mad Max' Lead 2016 Oscar Nominations

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Director Alejandro Iñárritu poses with the Oscar for best original screenplay for "Birdman" at the 87th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, on February 22, 2015. Inarritu's film "The Revenant" was just nominated for best picture,... Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

The 2016 Academy Award nominations have arrived, and they are...pretty much what we expected.

The Revenant, director Alejandro González Iñárritu's punishing tale of wilderness survival and revenge, leads the way with 12 nominations, including best actor (for star Leonardo DiCaprio) and best picture. Iñárritu, who won best director for his 2014 film Birdman, which also snagged best picture, is nominated once again.

Mad Max: Fury Road, George Miller's hugely acclaimed action film, was also handed an impressive 10 nominations, including best picture.

Rounding out the eight best picture nominees are The Big Short, Bridge of Spies, Brooklyn, The Martian, Room and Spotlight.

Carol, the moving romantic drama starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, was somewhat snubbed. Though Blanchett and Mara both secured acting nominations, the film was locked out of the best picture and best director categories.

Some Star Wars fans will protest that Star Wars: The Force Awakens wasn't nominated for best picture, though it garnered several nods in technical categories.

There's been much talk of the Oscar nominations' startling lack of diversity since last year's crop. Yet again, all of the stars nominated in acting categories are white,

Check out the full list of nominees below.

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 DIRECTOR

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

SUPPORTING ACTOR

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

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

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

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS

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

ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING

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

ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION DESIGN

Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Drew Goddard, The Martian
Nick Hornby, Brooklyn
Adam McKay and Charles Randolph, The Big Short
Phyllis Nagy, Carol
Emma Donoghue, Room

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Bridge of Spies
Ex Machina
Inside Out
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compto
n

ORIGINAL SCORE

Thomas Newman, Bridge of Spies
Carter Burwell, Carol
Ennio Morricone, The Hateful Eight
Jóhann Jóhannsson, Sicario
John Williams, Star Wars: The Force Awakens

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Colombia, Embrace of the Serpent
France, Mustang
Hungary, Son of Saul
Jordan, Theeb
Denmark, A War

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

"Earned It," Fifty Shades of Grey
"Manta Ray," Racing Extinction
"Simple Song No. 3" Youth
"'Till It Happens To You," The Hunting Ground
"Writings on the Wall," Spectre

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY

Carol
The Hateful Eight
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Sicario

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Amy
Cartel Land
The Look of Silence
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN

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

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING

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

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING

Bridge of Spies
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Mad Max: Fury Road
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
The Revenant

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

Ave Maria
Day One
Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut)
Shok
Stutterer

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

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

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

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

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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

About the writer


Zach Schonfeld is a senior writer for Newsweek, where he covers culture for the print magazine. Previously, he was an ... Read more

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