Popnography
The Great Oscar Snub of 2016
Which actors and filmmakers should have made the cut? Out editors offer their picks for an award season that dramatically lacks diversity.
January 20 2016 1:00 PM EST
May 31 2023 6:55 PM EST
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What do most of the actors and filmmakers listed below have in common? They're all too black or too gay to get an Oscar nomination, apparently. Once again, the Academy has failed to acknowledge the wide diversity of talent that exists in cinema today.
Although actors of color and members of the LGBTQ community seemed to have more visibilty than ever in 2015, the Oscar nominations commitee didn't show a lot of support (or concern) for those who deserve to be honored -- hence a lackluster list of nominations, and a telecast sure to be a snooze, even under boycott threats. Here, we look at the biggest oversights in this year's Oscar nomination list.
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Who should get nominated:
Ian McKellen for a career-topping performance in Mr. Holmes; Idris Elba as a junkie warlord in Beasts of No Nation; Tom Hardy for owning Mad Max and all of 2015; Michael B. Jordan's boundary-crushing performance in Creed.
Who got nominated:
Bryan Cranston for Trumbo; Matt Damon for The Martian; Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant; Michael Fassbender for Steve Jobs; Eddie Redmayne for The Danish Girl.
Who will win:
It looks like Leonardo DiCaprio's odds are up, thanks to a tour-de-force performance in The Revenant -- even if he barely speaks throughout the entire movie.
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Who should get nominated:
Charlize Theron, for being the heart and soul of Mad Max; Teyonah Parris, as the charismatic lead in Chi-Raq; Blythe Danner, for her understated performance in I'll See You in My Dreams; Amy Schumer, for making us cry of laughter in Trainwreck; Kristen Wiig, for carrying Welcome to Me on her shoulders; Lily Tomlin, for Grandma (and Grace & Frankie on Netflix).
Who got nominated:
Cate Blanchett for Carol; Brie Larson for Room; Jennifer Lawrence for Joy; Charlotte Rampling for 45 Years; Saoirse Ronan for Brooklyn.
Who will win:
It's a tie between Cate Blanchett and Brie Larson (who snatched the Golden Globe last week).
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Who should get nominated:
Jason Mitchell, for Straight Outta Compton; Samuel L. Jackson, for The Hateful Eight; Jacob Tremblay, for Room; Liev Schreiber for Sportlight.
Who got nominated:
Christian Bale for The Big Short; Tom Hardy for The Revenant; Mark Ruffalo for Spotlight; Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies; Sylvester Stallone for Creed.
Who will win:
Tom Hardy, because he's Tom Hardy.
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Who should get nominated:
Tilda Swinton, for her chameleonic cameo in Trainwreck; Mya Taylor, for her candid display of sisterly love in Tangerine.
Who got nominated:
Jennifer Jason Leigh for The Hateful Eight; Rooney Mara for Carol; Rachel McAdams for Spotlight; Alicia Vikander for The Danish Girl; Kate Winslet for Steve Jobs.
Who will win:
Alicia Vikander is having a moment, and her win would make up for not giving her kudos in the Best Lead Actress category for Ex-Machina.
Best Director
Who should get nominated:
Todd Haynes, for making one of the most beautiful movies of the year with Carol; Sean S. Baker, for shooting Tangerine on iPhone; F. Gary Gray, for the killer rhythm of Straight Outta Compton; Ryan Coogler, for refreshing the Rocky franchise in Creed.
Who got nominated:
Adam McKay for The Big Short; George Miller for Mad Max: Fury Road; Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for The Revenant; Lenny Abrahamson for Room; Tom McCarthy for Spotlight.
Who will win:
A toss between Inarritu and Miller, for creating epic fables in two very different ways.
Best Picture
Who should get nominated:
Straight Outta Compton ; Tangerine; Creed; Carol; Star Wars: The Force Awakens; Chi-Raq; Ex-Machina, and Beasts of No Nation were all top-grossing, critically-acclaimed movies with original scripts -- why are they not in the race?
Who got nominated:
The Big Short; Brooklyn; Bridge of Spies; Mad Max: Fury Road; The Martian; The Revenant; Room; Spotlight
Who will win:
Again, we can't decide between Mad Max and The Revenant, because they both brough back a sense of spectacle and wonder to Hollywood.
Overrated and over-nominated
"Brooklyn should get nothing, it was 100% terrible" (Jesse Steinbach, social media manager)
"The Revenant: stunning photography, an undeniably physical performance from DiCaprio, but where's the script?" (Julien Sauvalle, associate editor)
"Joy: I mean, how many times can Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper be in the same movie? That's Oscar bait right here, and the Academy just bit into it." (Everyone at Out)
