Oscar shockers: Who got snubbed?
When a new class of fresh-faced Oscar nominees was announced Thursday morning, many deserving hopefuls (cough, Idris Elba, cough) were left in the dust. These were Oscar's biggest snubs — and surprises.
SURPRISE: Sylvester Stallone
Sly made it in! Oscar prognosticators had wondered if Stallone's relationship with Academy Awards voters had stalled after so many years absent from the awards game, but a best supporting-actor nod for bringing back Rocky Balboa in Creed — a character he was first nominated for in 1977 (Rocky won best picture that year) — erased any doubts. But director Ryan Coogler and star Michael B. Jordan were shut out.
SNUB: 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens'
Sure, 2015's box-office smash was nominated for a bunch of technical awards, including sound mixing, film editing and original score, but it missed out on the big ones, including a director nod for J.J. Abrams and a best picture nomination. The Force is angry.
SURPRISE: Charlotte Rampling
The celebrated English actress has won the Cesar Award four times in her 50-year career, but this is her first Oscar nomination. Rampling's best actress nomination for her work in 45 Years, playing a woman who learns of her husband's devastation over his first love shortly before their big anniversary party, had critics cheering.
SNUB: Idris Elba
Once again, the Oscars will be lily white, thanks in part to the shutout of Idris Elba for Beasts of No Nation. Many had hoped the Academy would recognize Elba's excellent, chilling work as a West African warlord who enslaves child soldiers in Netflix's first original film (from True Detective's Cary Fukunaga).
SNUB: Johnny Depp
No best actor nomination for Depp in Black Mass — not even a makeup nomination for Black Mass, which featured a heck of a transformation by Depp into gangster Whitey Bulger? What happened?
SURPRISE ... AND SNUB: 'Straight Outta Compton'
OK, Straight Outta Compton will be at the Oscars this year, thanks to a nomination for best original screenplay. "That's good," John Krasinski said off-script as he assisted Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs in announcing nominees at the crack of dawn. It was good (though Twitter quickly noted both credited screenwriters are white), but it wasn't enough for the N.W.A biopic that ruled at the box office ($161.2 million) and featured lauded performances across the board.
SNUB: Will Smith
Speaking of diversity, where was Will Smith? While Concussion itself received mixed reviews, his work portraying forensic pathologist Bennet Omalu in the NFL takedown has been widely celebrated. (That critics ignored the film but loved the performance didn’t hurt Jennifer Lawrence, who is nominated for Joy.)
SURPRISE: Tom Hardy
A best supporting-actor nod for a guy who absolutely despises campaigning. The Academy's attention to Hardy's work in The Revenant, and the film's domination in overall nominations, is telling.
SNUB: Quentin Tarantino
The Academy apparently wasn't wowed by Tarantino's direction of his eighth film (which also was snubbed for screenplay and best picture), but Jennifer Jason Leigh did walk away with a best supporting-actress nomination for The Hateful Eight. Sadly, Samuel L. Jackson also was ignored.
SNUB: Ridley Scott
There was no love for The Martian director, who many thought might even walk away with a legacy directing award this year. But, hey, at least The Martian is up for best picture, and Matt Damon made the cut for best actor.
SNUB: 'Carol'
Carol ran out of gas, losing out on best picture and direction (Todd Haynes) nominations. The Cannes Film Festival critical darling had to settle for a best actress nomination for Cate Blanchett and supporting-actress for Rooney Mara.
SNUB: 'Tangerine'
There went the hopes for the first transgender actress to receive a best actress nomination. Caitlyn Jenner threw her support behind the film at a campaign screening a week ago, but it was too little, too late for the Sundance Film Festival hit inventively shot on an iPhone.