The pioneer revenge movie “The Revenant” emerged as the Oscar front-runner on Thursday with 12 nominations but the big news once again was over how the Academy shut out actors of color from the industry’s biggest honors.

For yet another year the Academy’s picks seem to be getting more and more homogenized. As the nominations were announced, people noticed that all 20 contenders for acting awards were white and that films with black themes had been left out of the best picture category, critics and movie goers began asking how the movie industry’s top awards could exclude so many great showings from people of color a second year in a row.

While Jennifer Lawrence walked off with the fourth nomination of her career for her role in “Joy,” a film with mixed reviews, Will Smith’s celebrated performance in “Concussion” received nothing. The only actor nominated for “Creed” was somehow not lead Michael B. Jordan but Sylvester Stallone, and “Dope,” brilliantly written by Rick Famuyiwa and starring Shameik Moore, was snubbed completely. “Tangerine,” a film shot entirely on an iPhone (which this writer feels that alone should have been enough to snag a best cinematography nomination for Sean Baker and Radium Cheung) was also notably absent from the nominations list, along with the breakthrough performances by Mya Taylor and Kitana Kiki Rodriguez going unrecognized by the Academy.

Yes, we saw a few movies driven by actors and directors of color that were nominated by the Academy, but it was for the work of their white colleagues.

“For the two black movies that made over $100 million at the box office, touched a nerve and are artistically fresh, only white people were nominated. How does that work?” producer and academy member Stephanie Allain said to the Los Angeles Times; referring to “Creed” and “Compton.”

Sylvester Stallone was nominated for supporting actor for his performance in Warner Bros.’ “Creed,” but the film’s black writer-director, Ryan Coogler, and black star, Michael B. Jordan, were not. Similarly, “Straight Outta Compton’s” white writers Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff were nominated for best original screenplay, but no one else in the film was recognized.

Last year, the Academy also received a lot of backlash after it selected an all-white group of acting nominees for the first time in years. The group’s acting branch, which chooses the nominees in those categories, did not recognize David Oyelowo, who gave what many thought was the best performance of the year as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in “Selma.” The film also failed to make the cut on the director list, spurring the social-media movement #OscarsSoWhite. With the same thing happening again this year, the hashtag was revived on social media and the new hashtag #OscarsStillSoWhite also emerged after the announcements

Last year the academy responded with a pledge to do better, but while last year’s controversy was mainly over one film being omitted (and the exclusion could have been explained away by campaign-specific factors), things feel different this time around. Academy members this year had a strong pool of movies to draw from and still ended up with an all-white ballot.

In June, the academy invited 322 new members, a large and demographically broad group that reflected a move toward “a normalization of our membership to represent both the industry and the country as a whole,” academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs said at the time. In November, Boone Isaacs also announced a new initiative, A2020, designed to promote inclusion within its staff.

Even though the academy’s leadership is taking steps at inclusion, the voting members as a whole have proved slow to change. But, when it comes to diversity, the film world in general is dragging behind television. Last year, a record 18 black performers were nominated for Emmy Awards and this year’s Oscar snubs become even more upsetting coming as they do on the heels of the Golden Globes, which managed to nominate a diverse mix of actors, writers, and directors in both television and film.

The Academy needs to decide what the Oscars are all about—if the awards are meant to celebrate the best, most innovative work in the industry then it needs to widen its scope as TV has done.

“On every measure, film is a couple steps behind TV,” said Darnell Hunt, director of UCLA’s Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “This is, unfortunately, a reflection of the academy itself. The academy is white and male, so we have a taste culture that’s only going to recognize certain types of projects.”

The demographics of the academy aren’t likely to change anytime soon as the 6,261 Oscar voters serve for life, so even large new classes of voters would only move the needle slightly and it’s hard to give the academy a pass because “film drags behind TV,” when you consider other industry nominations.  Both the Screen Actors and Producers guilds nominated “Straight Outta Compton” for their top prizes, and SAG also nominated the Idris Elba film, “Beasts of No Nation,” for its cast and Elba for supporting actor. When you compare the picks by the major industry unions to the academy the whiteness of their choices this year become even more notable.

However, for all the outrage over the acting nominations, the omission of minority actors two years in a row is an aberration in recent Academy history. The last time there were only white acting nominees for two consecutive years was in 1997 and 1998.

Just two years ago the same Academy awarded best picture to “12 Years a Slave” and voted one of its stars, Lupita Nyong’o, best supporting actress.  But “12 Years a Slave” had a narrative that resonated deeply with voters, and even though they were big wins, handing out an award to people of color every now and then is not enough to many.

“Every time I say the same thing: Until we get a position of power, with a green-light vote, it’s not going to change,” Spike Lee said in an interview a few hours after the nominations came out. “We may win an Oscar now and then, but an Oscar is not going to fundamentally change how Hollywood does business. I’m not talking about Hollywood stars. I’m talking about executives. We’re not in the room.”

Which snubs were you most shocked by? Let us know in the comments and see the full list of nominees below.

BEST PICTURE

The Big Short

Bridge of Spies

Brooklyn

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Room

Spotlight

=============================

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Bryan Cranston, Trumbo

Matt Damon, The Martian

Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant

Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs

Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl

=============================

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Cate Blanchett, Carol

Brie Larson, Room

Jennifer Lawrence, Joy

Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years

Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

=============================

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Christian Bale, The Big Short

Tom Hardy, The Revenant

Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight

Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies

Sylvester Stallone, Creed

=============================

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight

Rooney Mara, Carol

Rachel McAdams, Spotlight

Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs

=============================

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Anomalisa

Boy and the World

Inside Out

Shaun the Sheep Movie

When Marnie Was There

=============================

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Carol

The Hateful Eight

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Revenant

Sicario

COSTUME DESIGN

Carol

Cinderella

The Danish Girl

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Revenant

=============================

DIRECTING

The Big Short

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Revenant

Room

Spotlight

=============================

DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)

Amy

Cartel Land

The Look of Silence

What Happened, Miss Simone?

Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom

=============================

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)

Body Team 12

Chau, beyond the Lines

Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah

A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness

Last Day of Freedom

=============================

FILM EDITING

The Big Short

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Revenant

Spotlight

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

=============================

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Embrace of the Serpent

Mustang

Son of Saul

Theeb

A War

=============================

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Mad Max: Fury Road

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out

the Window and Disappeared

The Revenant

=============================

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

Bridge of Spies

Carol

The Hateful Eight

Sicario

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

=============================

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

“Earned It,” Fifty Shades of Grey

“Manta Ray,” Racing Extinction

“Simple Song #3,” Youth

“Til It Happens To You,” The Hunting Ground

“Writing’s On The Wall,” Spectre

=============================

PRODUCTION DESIGN

Bridge of Spies

The Danish Girl

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

=============================

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)

Bear Story

Prologue

Sanjay’s Super Team

We Can’t Live without Cosmos

World of Tomorrow

=============================

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)

Ave Maria

Day One

Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut)

Shok

Stutterer

=============================

SOUND EDITING

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Sicario

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

SOUND MIXING

Bridge of Spies

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

=============================

VISUAL EFFECTS

Ex Machina

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

=============================

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)

The Big Short

Brooklyn

Carol

The Martian

Room

=============================

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)

Bridge of Spies

Ex Machina

Inside Out

Spotlight

Straight Outta Compton

FOX has released the first trailer for Marvel’s “Fantastic Four” starring Michael B. Jordan, Toby Kebbell, Kate Mara, and Miles Teller. The trailer didn’t give much away in terms of plot details, but one thing’s for sure: Josh Tank’s reboot will differ vastly from 2005’s “Fantastic Four.” The film will be released August 2015, but until then, check out the trailer below:

The AFI Film Festival has a lot to offer in the way of gala films and seasoned actors, but while the big event on Friday was the premiere of “August Osage County” at the Chinese Theater, other more fun things were happening in the theater next door. Hollywood’s up-and-coming actors gathered to discuss success, their craft, and Internet stalking for AFI’s Young Hollywood Roundtable.

The panel brought Brie Larson (“Short Term 12″), Miles Teller (“The Spectacular Now”), Michael B. Jordan (“Fruitvale Station”), Dane DeHaan (“Kill Your Darlings”), and Greta Gerwig (“Frances Ha”) together, with Los Angeles Times’ entertainment reporter Amy Kaufman moderating, to discuss a number of topics that ranged from inspirational, to awkward, to just plain hilarious. Check out the highlights:

On their first big Hollywood moment:

Kaufman started off the night by asking the group when they experienced their first Hollywood moment. Dane DeHaan, who co-starred in the 2012 film “Lawless” before landing roles in “Kill Your Darlings” and “The Place Beyond the Pines,” said he first felt like he had made it when his agent bought him a plane ticket to Cannes for the film’s premiere.

“When Lawless was going to Cannes, they were going to take everyone except for me because everyone else was a lot more famous than I was,” DeHann said. “So my agent bought me a plane ticket and the first night I was there I slept on a line producer’s futon, but I had this really cool tux and then I did the red carpet. That night [after the premiere] Jessica Chastain had to go back to finish shooting “Zero Dark Thirty” so she gave me her hotel room for the night and it was like… um… palatial and that was my first big Hollywood moment.”

Brie Larson said she had her first Hollywood moment at the tender age of seven. “My first job… I was seven years old and I was doing a fake Barbie commercial for Jay Leno,” Larson said. “It was Malibu Mudslide Barbie –this is real– and I was so excited about the opportunity to work, and they put your name on the door and it was my first time ever seeing Brie Larson– because that’s not my real name– so it was like this fake name on the door in Los Angeles. And they had like wardrobe which was like – a t-shirt—and it was really exciting and I remember thinking ‘I made it.’ And I had no idea I wasn’t even close.”

On using/resisting social media:

All three men on the panel use Twitter, but both Gerwig and Larson have decided to opt out. Gerwig described herself as a bit of a social media stalker. “I’m like an old woman,” she said. “I read people’s Twitters, but I don’t get their feeds. I just read all of them. I like that. I like Jessica Chastain’s Facebook page very much. She’s so nice, and she’s so happy. I stalk people all the time via their things, but I feel like maybe if I was on it then they would know. I just want to be behind a shield.”

On the difference between acting in independent films and blockbusters:

Every actor on the panel has experienced working on both indie films and big blockbusters and they said there are some noticeable differences between them.

DeHaan, who will appear in “The Amazing Spider-Man 2″ this coming May, said the biggest difference to him is time. “I think that’s the main difference [with big budget films]. It buys you time. You have six months to make a movie instead of 24 days so you can spend an entire day working on two pages. You can explore everything, rather than having to do it two or three times and then move on, hoping that you got it.”

Teller, who just finished shooting the highly anticipated “Divergent” with “The Spectacular Now” co-star Shailene Woodley, said he likes how much say he gets as an actor in independent films. “[Shooting smaller films], to me, it feels more like a student film. Obviously I’m not trying to take away from the quality of work they’re doing. The directors that I’ve worked with on smaller films are much more collaborative from my experience. You really feel like a big part of it. On the bigger films that I’ve worked on, for certain things it’s more of a visual presentation. I like staying active. I like being on the go. I think it builds an energy to it…I like the feeling that you and everybody else are making this thing together.”

 On auditioning for roles:

When talking about auditions, Teller recalled talking to his agent about why he wasn’t getting work. “I remember when I was first auditioning for stuff, I wasn’t booking anything and my agent said, ‘Well, you gotta start working out. Or you gotta start doing your hair.'”

After giggling over the idea of someone telling Teller to “do his hair,” Larson recalled receiving similar feedback from casting directors. “For so many auditions, I get, ‘It’s great. It’s really great, but could you come back in a mini skirt… Could you come back in a jean mini skirt?”

Then she said to Gerwig, “Do you get that?”

“No,” Gerwig deadpanned. “They don’t want to see me in a mini skirt. I always get like after an audition – so are you funny?”

 On disastrous auditions:

Though the panel wasn’t really willing to discuss their worst auditions Gerwig did seem upset over never booking a role on Law & Order. “I’m like the only actor in New York who’s never ever been on any Law & Order and I’ve auditioned for so many of them. And the sad thing is I love Law & Order. I love it, I see it all the time, I’m into all the detectives and all the different iterations. I’m really obsessed with it. And they always say to me, ‘like you seem like you’re making fun of the material’ … and I’m like I take this shit so seriously.”

 On watching themselves on screen:

“Miles doesn’t watch his own movies ever,” Jordan said to break a lull in the conversation. While he wasn’t totally serious, Teller did say watching himself on screen is odd. “I mean you watch it, it’s just you don’t see the movie, at least I don’t see the movie at all. You work on a movie for however long, you have all these memories associated with it and then for that to be condensed down to like an hour and half or two hours is just so weird,” Teller said. “And I hate it, I think I’m terrible, and I think everyone else is fantastic.”

Jordan agreed for the most part. He said he’s seen “Fruitvale Station” four times to date, but he found himself thinking “that’s annoying” when he first saw it.

Gerwig recounted a job where she sat naked in a bathtub playing a trumpet, “I just remember the last shot of the movie in the bathtub … and it was sort of like, well, kill your vanity now. But like you really understand why Orson Welles ate so much because it’s so traumatic. Like after you see yourself you sort of want to go eat a whole roast by yourself.”

Focus Features has released a brand new red band trailer for “That Awkward Moment,” starring Zac Efron, Miles Teller, and Michael B. Jordan.

The film, originally titled “Are We Officially Dating?”, centers around three best friends who make a pact to stay single together after Mikey (Jordan), gets dumped. But, somewhere after the pact was made, Jason (Efron) and Daniel (Teller) found themselves each in the awkward in between stage of new relationships, where they have to decide where it’s going.

For Efron, “That Awkward Moment” will be followed by another raunchy comedy with Seth Rogen, “Neighbors.” Teller is no stranger to the genre having been in “Project X” and “21 & Over.” Teller has also been receiving praise for his role in “The Spectacular Now.” Michael B. Jordan made some splash earlier this year with the film, “Fruitvale Station.”

“That Awkward Moment” is set to be released at the end of January 31, 2014.