Kansas City, Missouri –  The Kansas City Film Critics Circle, the second oldest film critic organization in the country, released their nominees for the 50^th Annual James Loutzenhiser Awards, recognizing the best in film for 2015.

Sicario, a fall release that addressed the war on drugs in both the United States and Mexico, led all films with five nominations including Best Picture and Best Director for Denis Villeneuve.  The film also earned nods for Emily Blunt for Best Actress, Benicio Del Toro for Best Supporting Actor and Original Screenplay.

Right behind are the summer action film Mad Max: Fury Road and the upcoming Leonardo DiCaprio film, The Revenant, which each earned four nominations, including Best Picture.  Also earning Best Picture nominations:  Room and Spotlight.  DiCaprio was nominated as one of the year’s Best Actors, along with Steve Carell (The Big Short), Bryan Cranston (Trumbo), Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs) and last year’s Academy Award winner in this category, Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl).

Charlize Theron was nominated as Best Actress for her role as Imperator Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road.  Nominated alongside her and Blunt are Cate Blanchett (Carol), Bel Powley (The Diary of a Teenage Girl) and Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn).

Besides Del Toro, the list of nominees for Best Supporting Actor include Tom Hardy (The Revenant), Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies), Michael Shannon (99 Homes) and Sylvester Stallone, reprising his role of Rocky Balboa in Creed.  In 1976, the group named Stallone the year’s Best Actor for playing Balboa in Rocky.

Blanchett’s Carol co-star, Rooney Mara, earned a nod for Best Supporting Actress, alongside Elizabeth Banks (Love & Mercy), Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight), Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina) and Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs).

Directors joining Villeneuve in competition for the Robert Altman Award for Best Director are Alex Garland (Ex Machina), Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (The Revenant), Tom McCarthy (Spotlight) and George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road).

The group also handed out nominations for Best Animated Feature, Original Screenplay, Adapted Screenplay, Foreign Film, Documentary Feature and the Vince Koehler Award, which is chosen as the year’s best Science Fiction, Horror or Fantasy Film.

Winners will be voted on and the results released this Sunday, December 20.

Below is a complete list of nominees:

 

BEST PICTURE:

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Revenant

Room

Sicario

Spotlight

 

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR:

Alex Garland, Ex Machina

George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, The Revenant

Denis Villeneuve, Sicario

Tom McCarthy, Spotlight

 

BEST ACTOR:

Steve Carell, The Big Short

Bryan Cranston, Trumbo

Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs

Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant

Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl

 

BEST ACTRESS:

Cate Blanchett, Carol

Emily Blunt, Sicario

Bel Powley, The Diary of a Teenage Girl

Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

Charlize Theron, Mad Max: Fury Road

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Benicio Del Toro, Sicario

Tom Hardy, The Revenant

Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies

Michael Shannon, 99 Homes

Sylvester Stallone, Creed

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Elizabeth Banks, Love & Mercy

Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight

Rooney Mara, Carol

Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina

Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

Ex Machina

The Hateful Eight

Inside Out

Sicario

Spotlight

Trainwreck

 

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

The Big Short

Carol

The Martian

Room

Steve Jobs

 

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:

Anomalisa

Inside Out

Minions

The Peanuts Movie

Shaun the Sheep

 

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:

The Assassin

Goodnight Mommy

Phoenix

Son of Saul

The Tribe

White God

 

BEST DOCUMENTARY:

Amy

Best of Enemies

The Look of Silence

Where to Invade

The Wrecking Crew

 

VINCE KOEHLER AWARD FOR BEST SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY or HORROR FILM:

Ex Machina

Goodnight Mommy

It Follows

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian