Oscar Nominations
Actor John Krasinski and Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs announce the Best Actor nominees at the Academy Awards Nominations Announcement on Jan. 14, 2016 at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, California. Find out who was nominated. Getty Images

The 2016 Oscar nominations were announced Thursday morning in a live-stream broadcast featuring directors Alfonso Cuaron and Ang Lee, as well as actor John Krasinski and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Cheryl Boone Isaacs. And, as happens every year with the nominations, a few big names missed the cut in some of the award show's major categories.

One thing is clear after seeing the nominations — "The Revenant," which received 12 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, and Best Costume Design, is the clear Best Picture front-runner following its big best picture win at Sunday's Golden Globes. Also glaring is the fact that no people of color made it into any of the four acting categories. The all-white list of nominees will not help the Academy fight its #OscarsSoWhite criticism.

Here is a list of the biggest snubs in the major categories for the 88th Academy Awards:

Best Picture

  • "The Big Short"
  • "Bridge of Spies"
  • "Brooklyn"
  • "Mad Max: Fury Road"
  • "The Martian"
  • "The Revenant"
  • "Room"
  • "Spotlight"

Snubs: There is a lot to choose from here. For starters, it is disappointing, if predictable, that the Academy excluded NWA biopic "Straight Outta Compton," which did score a nod for Best Original Screenplay. More surprising, "Carol" got snubbed despite noms for Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Score, and Best Cinematography. Then, there is the fact that the Academy continues to undervalue the power of animated films, leaving out the brilliant "Anomalisa" and "Inside Out."

Best Actor

  • Bryan Cranston for "Trumbo"
  • Matt Damon for "The Martian"
  • Leonardo DiCaprio for "The Revenant"
  • Michael Fassbender for "Steve Jobs"
  • Eddie Redmayne for "The Danish Girl"

Snubs: This is the group of five actors just about everybody saw coming, but the list of nominees would look a bit less white washed if it had included Will Smith for "Concussion," ... or Michael B. Jordan for "Creed," ... or Jason Mitchell for "Straight Outta Compton,"... or Samuel L. Jackson for "The Hateful Eight." For none of them to get a nod is downright crazy. Also, Michael Caine for "Youth" or Johnny Depp for "Black Mass" would have been deserving.

Best Actress

  • Cate Blanchett for "Carol"
  • Brie Larson for "Room"
  • Jennifer Lawrence for "Joy"
  • Charlotte Rampling for "45 Years"
  • Saoirse Ronan for "Brooklyn"

Snubs: It is nice that the Academy nominated Eddie Redmayne in the Best Actor category for playing a transgender character, but it would have been much more historic and powerful had it nominated a transgender actor playing a transgender character. It is not like it did not have any roles to choose from in this category — Kitana Kiki Rodriguez was incredible in "Tangerine."

Best Supporting Actor

  • Christina Bale for "The Big Short"
  • Tom Hardy for "The Revenant"
  • Mark Ruffalo for "Spotlight"
  • Mark Rylance for "Bridge of Spies"
  • Sylvester Stallone for "Creed"

Snubs: The combination of "The Revenant" takeover landing Tom Hardy a nomination and Sylvester Stallone's comeback meant that Idris Elba was snubbed for his transformative performance in Netflix's "Beasts of No Nation." That is a shame. It would have been a groundbreaking moment for streaming and, again, some welcome diversity. With literally a band of African-American actors to choose from in "Straight Outta Compton," it is shocking that this category is still all white.

Best Supporting Actress

  • Jennifer Jason Leigh for "The Hateful Eight"
  • Rooney Mara for "Carol"
  • Rachel McAdams for "Spotlight"
  • Alicia Vikander for "The Danish Girl"
  • Kate Winslet for "Steve Jobs"

Snubs: Many thought Helen Mirren was a lock with her delightfully sinister role in "Trumbo," but after being upset by Kate Winslet at the Golden Globes, the legendary actress was snubbed here as well.

Best Director

  • Adam McKay for "The Big Short"
  • George Miller for "Mad Max: Fury Road"
  • Alejandro González Iñárritu for "The Revenant"
  • Lenny Abrahamson for "Room"
  • Tom McCarthy for "Spotlight"

Snubs: For all the nominations the surging "The Martian" picked up following its Golden Globes heist in the comedy categories, it is surprising that Ridley Scott did not score a nomination here. Steven Spielberg ("Bridge of Spies") and Todd Haynes ("Carol") were also left out despite numerous other nominations for their films.

Best Original Screenplay

  • "Bridge of Spies"
  • "Inside Out”
  • "Ex Machina"
  • "Straight Outta Compton"
  • "Spotlight"

Snubs: Props to the Academy for nominating an animated film ("Inside Out") in this category, but it snubbed the other, equally impressive radio-play-turned-stop-action-movie screenplay for "Anomalisa" by Charlie Kaufman. Plus, Quentin Tarantino, who recently joked that the Best Original Screenplay Oscar should be named after him, must be seething after being snubbed for "The Hateful Eight."

Best Adapted Screenplay

  • "The Big Short"
  • "Brooklyn"
  • "Carol"
  • "The Martian"
  • "Room"

Snubs: Aaron Sorkin just won the Golden Globe Sunday for Best Screenplay for "Steve Jobs." He was snubbed here. Wow.

The 2016 Oscars airs Sunday, Feb. 28, on ABC.