‘Revenant’ leads Oscar pack

By Jake Coyle

AP Film Writer

The brutal 1820s frontier revenge thriller “The Revenant” landed a leading 12 nominations for the 88th annual Academy Awards, while the acting categories were again filled entirely by white performers a year after the Oscars came under withering criticism over its lack of diversity.

The strong showing Thursday for “The Revenant,” including a best actor nod for Leonardo DiCaprio and best supporting actor for Tom Hardy, follows its win at the Golden Globes. It sets up director Alejandro Inarritu for a possible back-to-back win following his sweep of best picture, director and screenplay for “Birdman” last year.

“We gave it our all on this film and this appreciation from the Academy means a lot to me and my colleagues who made it possible,” said Inarritu in a statement. “Champagne and mezcal will run tonight!”

George Miller’s post-apocalyptic sequel “Mad Max: Fury Road” followed with 10 nominations, including best picture and best director for Miller. Ridley Scott’s sci-fi epic “The Martian” landed seven nominations, including best picture and best actor for Matt Damon, but, surprisingly, no best director nod for Scott.

Eight out of a possible 10 films were nominated for best picture. The other five were: Tom McCarthy’s investigative journalistic procedural “Spotlight,” Steven Spielberg’s Cold War thriller “Bridge of Spies,” Adam McKay’s Michael Lewis adaptation “The Big Short,” the mother-son captive drama “Room” and the ’50s Irish immigrant tale “Brooklyn.”

Left on the outside were Todd Haynes’ lesbian romance “Carol” (which fared better in acting nominations for Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara) and the N.W.A biopic “Straight Outta Compton” (which still landed a nod for original screenplay). The miss for “Carol” meant one usual Oscar heavyweight – Harvey Weinstein – won’t have a horse in the best picture race for the first time since 2008.

The acting nominees, which notably omitted Idris Elba for “Beasts of No Nation” and Benicio Del Toro for “Sicario” – both of whom were predicted by many handicappers – gave the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences an awkward repeat of the “OscarsSoWhite” backlash that followed last year’s acting nominees.

Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs has since redoubled efforts to diversify the academy’s membership, and slated Chris Rock – who a year ago famously labeled Hollywood a “white industry” – to host this year’s Feb. 28 ceremony.

“I really was disappointed,” said Isaacs after nominations were announced. “What is important is that this entire conversation of diversity is here and that we are talking about it. And I think we will not just talk because people will say, ‘Well, don’t just talk. You gotta do.’ Talking gets to the doing, and we are going to do.”

Alongside DiCaprio and Damon, the best actor nominees are: Michael Fassbender (“Steve Jobs”), Eddie Redmayne (”The Danish Girl”) and Bryan Cranston (“Trumbo”). Two big names were left out: Johnny Depp for “Black Mass” and Will Smith for “Concussion.”