You probably didn't win the Powerball, but here's another excuse to gamble in an office pool—the 88th Academy Awards nominees are out! From now until the ceremony, we'll keep you updated with everything from predictions to road closures. But for now, print out your ballots and get ready for Hollywood's biggest night—here's what you should know about the nominees:
The Revenant and Mad Max: Fury Road came away with the most nominations, 12 and 10 respectively. Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy both earned acting nominations—Hardy for supporting actor in The Revenant (he also stars in Mad Max) and DiCaprio for best actor, his fifth nomination ever. Could this finally be Leonardo DiCaprio's year? Quite possibly.
Snubs: The Academy only nominated eight Best Picture films, and none of them are the critically acclaimed film Carol. The lesbian love story did, however, pick up two nominations for its female leads and a few others like Adapted Screenplay. Director Ridley Scott made his return to acclaim with The Martian, but was left off the Best Director list. Similarly to Carol, despite the snub, overall the film was still given due credit with seven total nominations including Best Picture.
The nominees are looking particularly pale this year. Despite a general frustration about lack of diversity in Hollywood, the Academy once again proved that they will continue to celebrate white performances. Notable non-white accomplishments that were omitted this year include Ryan Coogler's Creed, F. Gary Gray's Straight Outta Compton and Idris Elba in Beasts of No Nation. Though Sylvester Stallone was nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category for his role in Creed and Straight Outta Compton's two white screenplay writers were nominated for Best Screenplay.
Any other year, Star Wars: The Force Awakens probably would have had a shot at making it onto the Best Picture list, but the Academy can apparently only stomach so much imagination.
The nominations were, however, overshadowed by the looming gravity of actor and director Alan Rickman, who died at age 69—the same age as David Bowie, who died only a few days prior. Along with Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister, the three mark a trifecta of celebrity deaths in recent memory.
Hosted by Chris Rock, the Oscars take place on Sunday, February 28, at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, and will air live on ABC at 4pm PT/7pm ET.
Partial list of nominees:
Best Picture
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Spotlight
Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room
Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
Best Actor
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Matt Damon, The Martian
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl
Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara, Carol
Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale, The Big Short
Tom Hardy, The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
Sylvester Stallone, Creed
Best Director
Adam McKay, The Big Short
George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, The Revenant
Lenny Abrahamson, Room
Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
You can also check out a complete list on the Academy's official website.