- "Revenant" tops all films with 12 nods, including Leonardo DiCaprio for best actor
- Sylvester Stallone is nominated for "Creed"; Jennifer Lawrence ("Joy") nominated for fourth time
The film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as a vengeful frontiersman left for dead after a bear attack, earned nominations for best picture, best director (Alejandro González Iñárritu), best actor (DiCaprio) and - in a mild surprise - best supporting actor (Tom Hardy).
Hardy's "Mad Max: Fury Road" also exercised some gasoline-fueled muscle. The postapocalyptic tale was second with 10 nominations, including picks for picture, director George Miller and editing.
"Spotlight, " which has dominated critics' lists, received nominations for best picture, best director (Tom McCarthy), best supporting actor (Mark Ruffalo), best supporting actress (Rachel McAdams) and editing.
The Oscars may choose up to 10 films for best picture. This year, it went with eight: "The Revenant, " "Mad Max, " "Spotlight, " "The Martian, " "Brooklyn, " "Room, " "The Big Short" and "Bridge of Spies."
Big day for Stallone
The nominations were full of surprises.
Sylvester Stallone, 39 years after his acting nomination for "Rocky, " was nominated again - for "Creed, " in which he plays the same character, Rocky Balboa. He's now one of just a handful of performers who have been nominated twice for the same role, and the distance between his movies is far and away the longest. Paul Newman had the previous mark - 26 years - for being nominated for playing Fast Eddie Felson in 1960's "The Hustler" and 1986's "The Color of Money."
Charlotte Rampling, who had never been nominated, earned her first nod for the film "45 Years."
And Jennifer Lawrence, despite mixed reviews for her work in "Joy, " earned a nomination for best actress. It's the third straight year she's been nominated and fourth overall, making her the only person under 25 who's ever been nominated four times.
On the other hand, though "The Martian" did well - earning nominations for best picture and best actor - Ridley Scott was left off the directors' list. Scott, 78, has been nominated three times and never won.
Other notable names who missed out on nominations: screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, whose screenplay for "Steve Jobs" was overlooked; Quentin Tarantino, who received neither a directing nor a screenwriting nomination for "The Hateful Eight"; and Helen Mirren, who didn't make the cut for best supporting actress.
"Carol, " the film about a lesbian relationship in 1950s New York, picked up acting nods for stars Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara but didn't receive nominations for picture or directing.
The nominees for best director are Iñárritu ("The Revenant"), McCarthy ("Spotlight"), Miller ("Mad Max: Fury Road"), Adam McKay ("The Big Short") and Lenny Abrahamson ("Room").
Like last year, there was an absence of performers of color. All 20 of the acting nominees are white. Once again, #OscarsSoWhite was trending on social media.
