And the nominees are...

[Smokey]

http://www.mamalovesdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Oscars1.jpg

The 88th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science (AMPAS), will honor the best English-language films of 2015 and will take place on February 28, 2016 in Hollywood.

During the ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 24 categories.

Here are movies nominated for each category:

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 SUPPORTING ACTOR


Christian Bale (http://abcnews.go.com/topics/entertainment/actors/christian-bale.htm), The Big Short
Tom Hardy, The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
Sylvester Stallone, Creed


BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS


Jennifer Jason Leigh (http://abcnews.go.com/topics/entertainment/actresses/jennifer-jason-leigh.htm), The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara, Carol
Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet (http://abcnews.go.com/topics/entertainment/actresses/kate-winslet.htm), Steve Jobs


DIRECTING


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


ANIMATED FEATURE FILM


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


COSTUME DESIGN


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


DOCUMENTARY FEATURE


Amy
Cartel Land
The Look of Silence
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Winter on Fire


DOCUMENTARY SHORT


Body Team
Chau, Beyond the Lines
Claude Lanzmann
A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness
Last Day of Freedom


MAKEUP AND HAIR STYLING


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


ORIGINAL SONG


"Earned It" - Fifty Shades of Grey
"Manta Ray" - Racing Extinction
"Simple Song #3" - Youth
"Til It Happens to You" - The Hunting Ground
"Writing's on the Wall" - Spectre


ANIMATED SHORT


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


SOUND EDITING


Mad Max: Fury Road
Sicario
Star Wars (http://abcnews.go.com/topics/entertainment/movies/star-wars.htm): The Force Awakens
The Martian
The Revenant


FILM EDITING


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


FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM


Embrace of the Serpent
Mustang
Son of Saul
Theeb
A War


ORIGINAL SCORE


Bridge of Spies
Carol
The Hateful Eight
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens


PRODUCTION DESIGN


Bridge of Spies
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant



VISUAL EFFECTS


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



ADAPTED SCREENPLAY


The Big Short
Brooklyn
Carol
The Martian
Room



ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY


Bridge of Spies
Ex Machina
Inside Out
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compton



BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY


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



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[Feanor]

Smokey, you come through for us yet again. Thanks for this update.

Sadly this year I haven't seen any of the nominees, however there are several I like to catch at some point:

From 'Best Picture':

The Big Short, (I read the book!)
Bridge of Spies
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Spotlight

Also ...

Steve Jobs
Creed
... others I may think of


The last flick I saw was, Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, is 'way over rate, especially by the critics who ought to know better. Basically it's just a trivial reworking of themes from the original series, especially New Hope and Return of the Jedi.

[Jack in Wilmington]

Smokey, you come through for us yet again. Thanks for this update.

Sadly this year I haven't seen any of the nominees, however there are several I like to catch at some point:

From 'Best Picture':

The Big Short, (I read the book!)
Bridge of Spies
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Spotlight

Also ...

Steve Jobs
Creed
... others I may think of


The last flick I saw was, Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, is 'way over rate, especially by the critics who ought to know better. Basically it's just a trivial reworking of themes from the original series, especially New Hope and Return of the Jedi.

You found it a reworking but I found it to be a continuation of the original story so it will have some familiarity with the older movies. It needed that to tie the stories together. It brought me back to 1983 and Return of the Jedi and that's what I wanted from this movie with new characters mixed in with the older characters for back fill.

I've seen only The Martian of the nominated movies, but want to see Mad Max and Bridge of Spies. The others don't interest me except for maybe Brooklyn.

[Hyfi]

How did that Horrid Mad Max even get on the list?

I will never get those 2 hours back. What a bunch of nonsense.

I saw the Hateful Eight and it was a disappointment after Django but still a little entertaining.

Ex Machina was way cool.

[Jack in Wilmington]

How did that Horrid Mad Max even get on the list?

I will never get those 2 hours back. What a bunch of nonsense.

I saw the Hateful Eight and it was a disappointment after Django but still a little entertaining.

Ex Machina was way cool.

That's what my friends said about Mad Max. They can't believe it's up for best picture and it won 9 Critics Choice awards the other night. I blamed it on them because she thought "50 Shades of Grey was good, so I figured it was just their taste in movies. I figured I'd watch it on HBO and if it's as bad as you guys say, I can turn it off. It certainly wouldn't be the first time that I thought the nominating committee was nuts on their selections.

[dean_martin]

I saw the Hateful Eight and it was a disappointment after Django but still a little entertaining.

Ex Machina was way cool.

Hey, Hyfi. My son was able to see a 70mm presentation of Hateful Eight in Philadelphia. That presentation of the film would've interested me. The closest 70mm screening to me was 5-6hrs away. I'll just wait for the blu-ray. I can't not watch a Tarantino film, but I've become less enthusiastic over the years. What did you think of the original score? Did Morricone bring the old magic?

I've heard/read good things about Ex Machina.

Finally, did anyone see any of the nominated foreign language films?

P.S. - we need more posts/topics on this board. I'll try to do more. The last movies I watched from start to finish (within the last couple of weeks) were "Mudhoney" and "Waco-The Rules of Engagement". Due to their age, I doubt they'd generate much discussion on their own, but they might in genre discussions of southern gothic and documentaries, respectively, e.g., the feeling of not being able to trust the narrator of a documentary is a strange one. Normally, I'd turn off obvious spin, but Waco has so much raw footage and interesting interviews that you can draw your own conclusions or do further research rather than going in the direction the narrator suggests. OTOH, I don't think the narrator was intentionally trying to deceive in total. I remember watching this event on the news as it unfolded as well as the Congressional hearings afterwards. Certainly stirred up some sh*t. As a film, the doc is well-made and compelling. It should be easier now to put politics aside and judge it on its film-making merits, err. . .I guess.

[JoeE SP9]

I watched Ex Machina via a Roku and Netflix. I liked it. Intelligent Sci-Fi is not all that common. This was well done.

[Feanor]

I watched Ex Machina via a Roku and Netflix. I liked it. Intelligent Sci-Fi is not all that common. This was well done.

I give Ex Machina the nod too. It hints at a few issue around the concept of humanoid robots, e.g. if robots are smarter, strong, better looking than humans, who needs us? 4/5*