Oscars 2016 Predictions: What Gotham Awards Say About Academy Awards Race? - Full List of Nominees

By Francisco Salazar First Posted: Oct 24, 2015 12:40 PM EDT

The Gotham Awards have announced this year's nominees and as always the organization gave no clues to how the Academy Awards will turn out.

Out of the five Best Picture nominees only two films have potential Oscar chances. "Carol" and "Spotlight" were both shortlisted at the Gotham Awards with three other eclectic films. Accompanying them were "The Diary of Teenage Girl," which received four nominations, "Tangerine" and "Heaven Knows What." While it is obvious that "Carol" and "Spotlight" will likely win this category, it demonstrated that the Gotham had no clear agenda and was more interested in showcasing different types of films.

The Best Actress race will see a rematch between Brie Larson and Cate Blanchett. In 2013 Larson took home the Best Actress award for "Short Term 12" beating out the eventual Oscar winner Blanchett for "Blue Jasmine."

This time around Blanchett is nominated for "Carol," while Larson is nominated for "Room." Both actresses are sure to get Oscar nominations and are sure to be the front runners in the category. Joining these two are Lily Tomlin for "Grandma," Blythe Danner for "I'll See You in My Dreams," Bel Powley for "The Diary of a Teenage Girl" and Kristen Wiig for "Welcome to Me."

The Best Actor category offered absolutely no front runner and also showcased no Oscar contender. The closest to an Oscar contender was Paul Dano for his work on "Love & Mercy" and Michael Shannon for "99 Homes." However, both these actors are currently campaigning for supporting categories and, as a result, will likely not show up in the lead category at the Academy Awards.

The nominations however, gave a boost to Christopher Abbott for his breakout turn in "James White." The film has not been released in theaters, but reviews out of Sundance were incredible and Film Arcade plans to campaign the film for the Oscars.

The big surprises in the category, however, were for Kevin Corrigan in "Results," a film that has been not in the conversation and flopped when it was released over the summer. Peter Sarsgaard are also nominated for "Experimenter." While the film has scored rave reviews it has flown under the radar and perhaps this nomination will bring new audiences to it.

The Gotham Awards are not the Best predictors of the Oscars as the organization has only given two eventual Best Picture winners the big award. These films include "The Hurt Locker" and "Birdman." The reason is because the nominees are selected by committees of film critics, journalists, festival programmers, and film curators. However, the organization is known for being the first awards and for giving clues to how the Indie Spirit Awards will ultimately choose its nominees.

The Complete List of Nominees

BEST FEATURE

"Carol"

"The Diary of a Teenage Girl"

"Heaven Knows What"

"Spotlight"

"Tangerine"

BEST ACTOR*

Christopher Abbott in "James White"

Kevin Corrigan in "Results"

Paul Dano in "Love & Mercy"

Peter Sarsgaard in "Experimenter"

Michael Shannon in "99 Homes"

BEST ACTRESS*

Cate Blanchett in "Carol"

Blythe Danner in "I'll See You in My Dreams"

Brie Larson in "Room"

Bel Powley in "The Diary of a Teenage Girl"

Lily Tomlin in "Grandma"

Kristen Wiig in "Welcome to Me"

* The 2015 Best Actor/Best Actress nominating panel also voted to award a special Gotham Jury Award jointly to Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci and Brian D'Arcy James for their ensemble work in "Spotlight."