To be or not to be… nominated

Last years Oscar Awards Ceremony (newswalle.com)

The 88th Academy Awards for the Oscars will take place on February 28, 2016.  There are many categories with various genres filled with actors who are nominated for a plethora of awards.  However, the nominations are not bringing the typical rush of publicity.  This year’s low amount of nominees of color has lead to a boycott.  According to CNN, this is the second year in a row that there have been no African American actors nominated for any of the four acting categories.  Actress Jada Pinkett Smith plans to abstain from attending the awards, specifically due to the fact that her husband Will Smith didn’t receive a nomination for his new movie Concussion which sold $36.5 million at the box office.  In an Instagram, essay-like fashion, director Spike Lee wrote that he will also not be in attendance:

My Wife, Mrs. Tonya Lewis Lee And I Will Not Be Attending The Oscar Ceremony This Coming February. We Cannot Support It And Mean No Disrespect To My Friends, Host Chris Rock and Producer Reggie Hudlin, President Isaacs And The Academy.”

On another note, Leonardo DiCaprio, who was nominated under actor in a leading role for his movie The Revenant, is one of the greatest actors of this generation, yet has never received an Oscar award.  Though it seems astonishing that he has never won, there are other great actors who are in the same boat as him.  Johnny Depp, George Clooney and Morgan Freeman have all been nominated 3 times, without luck for a win.  Perhaps his playboy image has caused viewers and voters to consider him to be unfocused and not a serious contender to win an Oscar award.  From a vast amount of actresses and models, DiCaprio’s reputation has preceded him for the past years.  Maybe this year he can change his fate and finally rack up an Oscar.

Below is a list of people and their corresponding movies that were nominated for the four acting categories:

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Bryan Cranston, Trumbo

Matt Damon, The Martian

Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant

Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs

Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Cate Blanchett, Carol

Brie Larson, Room

Jennifer Lawrence, Joy

Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years

Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Christian Bale, The Big Short

Tom Hardy, The Revenant

Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight

Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies

Sylvester Stallone, Creed

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight

Rooney Mara, Carol

Rachel McAdams, Spotlight

Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs

*nominee list from oscargo.com