The 88th Academy Awards announced their nominations on Thursday morning to the delight—and dismay—of all actors, directors, producers, writers, and of course, film buffs.
With the movies 2015 has seen, one can only imagine the trouble the 2016 Academy Award Nominations went through in choosing who would be the top five contenders of each category.
For Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role:
- Bryan Cranston in Trumbo
- Matt Damon in The Martian
- Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant
- Michael Fassbender in Steve Jobs
- Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl
For Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
- Christian Bale in The Big Short
- Tom Hardy in The Revenant
- Mark Ruffalo in Spotlight
- Mark Rylance in Bridge of Spies
- Sylvester Stallone in Creed
For Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
- Cate Blanchett in Carol
- Brie Larson in Room
- Jennifer Lawrence in Joy
- Charlotte Rampling in 45 Years
- Saoirse Ronan in Brooklyn
For Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
- Jennifer Jason Leigh in The Hateful Eight
- Rooney Mara in Carol
- Rachel McAdams in Spotlight
- Alicia Vikander in The Danish Girl
- Kate Winslet in Steve Jobs
For Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
- Anomalisa by Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson and Rosa Tran
- Boy and the World by Alê Abreu
- Inside Out by Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera
- Shaun the Sheep Movie by Mark Burton and Richard Starzak
- When Marnie Was There by Hiromasa Yonebayashi and Yoshiaki Nishimura
For Best Achievement in Cinematography
- Carol by Ed Lachman
- The Hateful Eight by Robert Richardson
- Mad Max: Fury Road by John Seale
- The Revenant by Emmanuel Lubezki
- Sicario by Roger Deakins
For Best Achievement in Costume Design
- Carol by Sandy Powell
- Cinderella by Sandy Powell
- The Danish Girl by Paco Delgado
- Mad Max: Fury Road by Jenny Beavan
- The Revenant by Jacqueline West
For Best Achievement in Directing
- The Big Short by Adam McKay
- Mad Max: Fury Road by George Miller
- The Revenant by Alejandro G. Iñárritu
- Room by Lenny Abrahamson
- Spotlight by Tom McCarthy
For Best Documentary Feature
- Amy by Asif Kapadia and James Gay-Rees
- Cartel Land by Matthew Heineman and Tom Yellin
- The Look of Silence by Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen
- What Happened, Miss Simone? by Liz Garbus, Amy Hobby and Justin Wilkes
- Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom by Evgeny Afineevsky and Den Tolmor
For Best Documentary Short Subject
- Body Team 12 by David Darg and Bryn Mooser
- Chau, beyond the Lines by Courtney Marsh and Jerry Franck
- Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah by Adam Benzine
- A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
- Last Day of Freedom by Dee Hibbert-Jones and Nomi Talisman
For Best Achievement in Film Editing
- The Big Short by Hank Corwin
- Mad Max: Fury Road by Margaret Sixel
- The Revenant by Stephen Mirrione
- Spotlight by Tom McArdle
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens by Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey
For Best Foreign-Language Film of the Year
- Embrace of the Serpent from Colombia
- Mustang from France
- Son of Saul from Hungary
- Theeb from Jordan
- A War from Denmark
For Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling
- Mad Max: Fury Road by Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega and Damian Martin
- The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared by Love Larson and Eva von Bahr
- The Revenant by Siân Grigg, Duncan Jarman and Robert Pandini
For Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)
- Bridge of Spies by Thomas Newman
- Carol by Carter Burwell
- The Hateful Eight by Ennio Morricone
- Sicario by Jóhann Jóhannsson
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens by John Williams
For Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)
- “Earned It” from Fifty Shades of Grey
Music and Lyric by Abel Tesfaye, Ahmad Balshe, Jason Daheala Quenneville and Stephan Moccio
- “Manta Ray” from Racing Extinction
Music by J. Ralph and Lyric by Antony Hegarty
- “Simple Song #3″ from Youth
Music and Lyric by David Lang
- “Til It Happens To You” from The Hunting Ground
Music and Lyric by Diane Warren and Lady Gaga
- “Writing’s on the Wall” from Spectre
Music and Lyric by Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith
For Best Motion Picture of the Year
- The Big Short by Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, producers
- Bridge of Spies by Steven Spielberg, Marc Platt and Kristie Macosko Krieger, producers
- Brooklyn by Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, producers
- Mad Max: Fury Road by Doug Mitchell and George Miller, producers
- The Martian by Simon Kinberg, Ridley Scott, Michael Schaefer and Mark Huffam, producers
- The Revenant by Arnon Milchan, Steve Golin, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Mary Parent and Keith Redmon, producers
- Room by Ed Guiney, producer
- Spotlight by Michael Sugar, Steve Golin, Nicole Rocklin and Blye Pagon Faust, producers
For Best Achievement in Production Design
- Bridge of Spies: production design: Adam Stockhausen; set decoration: Rena DeAngelo and Bernhard Henrich
- The Danish Girl: production design: Eve Stewart; set decoration: Michael Standish
- Mad Max: Fury Road: production design: Colin Gibson; set decoration: Lisa Thompson
- The Martian: production design: Arthur Max; set decoration: Celia Bobak
- The Revenant: production design: Jack Fisk; set decoration: Hamish Purdy
For Best Animated Short Film
- Bear Story by Gabriel Osorio and Pato Escala
- Prologue by Richard Williams and Imogen Sutton
- Sanjay’s Super Team by Sanjay Patel and Nicole Grindle
- We Can’t Live without Cosmos by Konstantin Bronzit
- World of Tomorrow by Don Hertzfeldt
For Best Live-Action Short Film
- Ave Maria by Basil Khalil and Eric Dupont
- Day One by Henry Hughes
- Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut) by Patrick Vollrath
- Shok by Jamie Donoughue
- Stutterer by Benjamin Cleary and Serena Armitage
For Best Achievement in Sound Editing
- Mad Max: Fury Road by Mark Mangini and David White
- The Martian by Oliver Tarney
- The Revenant by Martin Hernandez and Lon Bender
- Sicario by Alan Robert Murray
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens by Matthew Wood and David Acord
For Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
- Bridge of Spies by Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Drew Kunin
- Mad Max: Fury Road by Chris Jenkins, Gregg Rudloff and Ben Osmo
- The Martian by Paul Massey, Mark Taylor and Mac Ruth
- The Revenant by Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Randy Thom and Chris Duesterdiek
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens by Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson
For Best Achievement in Visual Effects
- Ex Machina by Andrew Whitehurst, Paul Norris, Mark Ardington and Sara Bennett
- Mad Max: Fury Road by Andrew Jackson, Tom Wood, Dan Oliver and Andy Williams
- The Martian by Richard Stammers, Anders Langlands, Chris Lawrence and Steven Warner
- The Revenant by Rich McBride, Matthew Shumway, Jason Smith and Cameron Waldbauer
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens by Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan and Chris Corbould
For Best Adapted Screenplay
- The Big Short screenplay by Charles Randolph and Adam McKay
- Brooklyn screenplay by Nick Hornby
- Carol screenplay by Phyllis Nagy
- The Martian screenplay by Drew Goddard
- Room screenplay by Emma Donoghue
For Best Original Screenplay
- Bridge of Spies written by Matt Charman and Ethan Coen & Joel Coen
- Ex Machina written by Alex Garland
- Inside Out screenplay by Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve and Josh Cooley; original story by Pete Docter and Ronnie del Carmen
- Spotlight written by Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy
- Straight Outta Compton screenplay by Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff; story by S. Leigh Savidge & Alan Wenkus and Andrea Berloff