Top 7 Shocks and Surprises from Oscar Nominations: 'Carol,' Tom Hardy, Ridley Scott & More!

The race to the Oscars is officially off, as nominees for this year's awards were nominated this morning. This awards season is notoriously hard to predict, with clear frontrunners being far from obvious. This morning's nominations did not do much to clarify, as there were some rather shocking nominations and snubs. Here, we unpack the top seven biggest surprises.

1.       Disses for Carol, Straight Outta Compton

Both of these worthy films are left off of the best picture list, despite Carol looking like a sure-thing, and Straight Outta Compton being on plenty of prognosticators' lists. Carol was notably shut out of the Golden Globes Sunday, where it did not win a single award despite being the most nominated film there. It's been a bad week for a film that many had pegged to take home several awards.

2.       Ridley Scott Snubbed

After Matt Damon gave a rousing speech calling for Ridley Scott to win best director a few weeks back (he has never won the award at the Oscars, despite a long and impressive filmmaking resume), many felt the tide of sentimentality might carry Scott on to a win for The Martian. He made the cut at the Golden Globes, but ultimately lost to Alejandro G. Iñárritu. When The Martian took home best picture for a comedy, however, many thought it would translate to an Oscar nomination at the very least. No such luck for the veteran director.

3.       The Revenant Garnered the Most Nominations

Although the nominations for best actor (Leonardo DiCaprio), cinematography (Emmanuel Lubezki), best director (Alejandro G. Iñárritu), and some of the more technical awards don't come as a shock, the nomination for Tom Hardy for best supporting actor sure does. In the weeks leading up to nominations, most people had Mad Max: Fury Road pegged to earn the most nominations (although that film didn't do too bad itself with 10 nods).

4.       Surprise Nods for Spotlight

The race, as we've mentioned, is far from certain at this point. However, Oscar predictors still have Spotlight down as the slight favorite to win best picture. Way back before nominations for the major awards shows were announced, many saw its stars Mark Ruffalo and Michael Keaton being nominated for best supporting actor. Both actors were noticeably snubbed at both the SAG Awards and the Golden Globes, so it looked like the Oscars were a long shot. Apparently not, as Ruffalo managed to squeeze by in the category. Rachel McAdams, although also nominated for the SAG, is still a surprise in the best supporting actress category as well. Overall, the film scored six nominations, but many had predicted it would only garner four.

5.       Lenny Abrahamson for Room

Ridley Scott didn't make the cut for best director, and it might have something to do with the fact that Lenny Abrahamson did make the cut for his film, Room. Next to no one predicted he would be nominated, despite the big nominations expected for Brie Larson for best actress and best adapted screenplay for Emma Donoghue. Unfortunately young Jacob Tremblay didn't make the cut for best supporting actor despite a rousing performance in the film.

6.       Aaron Sorkin Left Out

Aaron Sorkin, who won the Golden Globe for best screenplay on Sunday, was noticeably missing from the adapted screenplay nominees for Steve Jobs. Much has been said about the film's script, which many found to be one of the most impressive parts of the film.

7.       Achievement in Music Category

Oscar favorite Alexandre Desplat (who's been nominated at the Academy Awards a whopping eight times) was left off the list for his score in The Danish Girl, despite being nominated at the Golden Globes. Nominations for the scores of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Carol, Bridge of Spies and The Hateful Eight don't surprise, but the nomination for Sicario's score (Jóhann Jóhannsson) does.

Winners will be announced Feb. 28. Comedian Chris Rock is set to host the show, which will air live on ABC.