Oscars 2016 nominees: The Revenant and Mad Max emerge as frontrunners

The runners and riders are in! All the nominees for the 88th annual Academy Awards have been announced, and as expected, gruelling survivalist tale The Revenant has emerged as a frontrunner with 12 nominations. Hot on its heels with 10 nominations is Mad Max: Fury Road, a rare showing for an action movie. Ridley Scott’s space flick The Martian was next with seven nods; Spotlight, Bridge of Spies, and Carol all earned six.

The Best Picture category, which according to current rules can be anywhere between five and ten nominees depending on the voting split, stretched to eight this year. Alongside The Revenant and Spotlight, it is heartening to see Mad Max: Fury Road jostling with more traditional prestige pics. But there was no room for Todd Haynes’ simmering period romance Carol, nor Ryan Coogler's Rocky sequel Creed, both of which topped many critic’s year-end lists.

Among the acting nominations, there were no great surprises. Leonardo DiCaprio, first nominated over two decades ago for 1993’s What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, picks up his sixth Oscar nomination, and is surely the frontrunner to finally take home an Oscar for his exhausting work in The Revenant.

In the Best Actress category, Brie Larson is the woman to beat, following her Golden Globe win for Room. But she faces considerable competition from perennial Oscar favourites like Jennifer Lawrence (Joy) and two-time winner Cate Blanchett (Carol).

Heading up the technical noms, Emmanuel ‘Chivo’ Lubezki is looking to make it three-in-a-row for Best Cinematography with The Revenant, though we would dearly love always-the-bridesmaid Roger Deakins to finally convert a nomination (this year’s nod, for Sicario, is his thirteenth) into a win.

Finally, it’s always nice to see galaxies from far, far away recognised, and though they’re all minor categories, Star Wars: The Force Awakens can be satisfied with 5 nominations.

Will The Revenant be the ultimate winner? Will Chivo get his hat-trick? Can Leo finally fill the space on his mantlepiece that has laid bare for 23 years? All will be revealed at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on February 28, in an appropriately glitzy ceremony hosted by Chris Rock.

Here’s the full list of nominees.

Best Picture

The Big Short

Bridge Of Spies

Brooklyn

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Room

Spotlight

Best Animated Feature

Anomalisa

Boy & The World (O Menino E O Mundo)

Inside Out

Shaun The Sheep Movie

When Marnie Was There

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

Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight

Mark Rylance, Bridge Of Spies

Sylvester Stallone, Creed

Tom Hardy, The Revenant

Best Supporting Actress

Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight

Rooney Mara, Carol

Rachel McAdams, Spotlight

Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs

Best Director

Adam McKay, The Big Short

George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road

Alejandro González Iñárritu, The Revenant

Tom McCarthy, Spotlight

Lenny Abrahamson, Room

Best Adapted Screenplay

Emma Donoghue, Room

Drew Goddard, The Martian

Nick Hornby, Brooklyn

Adam McKay and Charles Randolph, The Big Short

Phyllis Nagy, Carol

Best Original Screenplay

Matt Charman, Joel & Ethan Coen (Bridge Of Spies)

Alex Garland (Ex Machina)

Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley (Inside Out)

Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (Spotlight)

Jonathan Herman, Andrea Berloff (Straight Outta Compton)

Best Cinematography

Ed Lachman, Carol

John Seale, Mad Max: Fury Road

Emmanuel Lubezki, The Revenant

Roger Deakins, Sicario

Robert Richardson, The Hateful Eight

Best Costume Design

Sandy Powell, Carol

Sandy Powell, Cinderella

Paco Delgado, The Danish Girl

Jenny Beavan, Mad Max: Fury Road

Jacqueline West, The Revenant

Best Documentary

Amy

Cartel Land

The Look Of Silence

What Happened, Miss Simone?

Winter On Fire: Ukraine’s Fight For Freedom

Best Documentary Short

A Girl In The River: The Price Of Forgiveness

Body Team 12

Chau, Beyond The Lines

Claude Lanzmann: Spectres Of The Shoah

Last Day Of Freedom

Best Makeup And Hairstyling

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Revenant

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared

Best Original Song

Earned It from Fifty Shades Of Grey (The Weeknd)

Simple Song #3 from Youth (David Lang)

Writing On The Wall from Spectre (Sam Smith)

Til It Happens To You from The Hunting Ground (Diane Warren and Lady Gaga)

Manta Ray from Racing Extinction

Best Animated Short

Bear Story (Historia De Un Oso)

Prologue

Sanjay’s Super Team

World Of Tomorrow

We Can't Live Without Cosmos

Best Live-Action Short

Ave Maria

Day One

Shok

Stutterer

Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut)

Best Sound Editing

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Sicario

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Best Sound Mixing

Bridge Of Spies

The Martian

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Revenant

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Best Film Editing

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Big Short

Spotlight

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

The Revenant

Best Foreign Language Film

Mustang

Son Of Saul

Theeb

A War

Embrace The Serpent

Best Original Score

Carter Burwell, Carol

Ennio Morricone, The Hateful Eight

John Williams, Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Thomas Newman, Bridge Of Spies

Jóhann Jóhannsson, Sicario

Best Production Design

Bridge Of Spies

The Danish Girl

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Best Visual Effects

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Ex Machina