MUMBAI: The nominations for the 88th Academy Awards were announced on 14 January and the Dolby Theatre (earlier known as ‘Kodak Theatre’) will host some of the biggest names from Hollywood and the globe. Hosted by second timer Chris Rock, the ceremony will celebrate the best movies of 2015.

Original Score

The five nominations for the ‘Best Original Score’ category include:

Hateful Eight
Ennio Morricone’s work for Quentin Tarantino’s latest movie has already earned him the Golden Globe, earlier this week. With an Honorary Academy Award to his name, the 87-year-old veteran composer looks like a heavy contender for this year's competition.

Sicario
Dennis Villeneuve’s action crime thriller secured three nominations at this year’s Oscars- including one for the Original Score. Nominated for ‘The Theory Of Everything’ in 2015, this year’s nomination makes it two in a row for the Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens
This is John Williams’ 50th Academy nominations, however, the legendary American composer has not won the Academy since ‘Saving Private Ryan’ in 1993. Having worked for ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Spiderman’ franchises before, Williams would surely be hoping the Star Wars’ latest production provides him the 6th Academy Award of his career.

Carol
This marks Carter Burwell’s first nomination at the Academy. Burwell composed the score for Carol - the British-American romantic drama.

Bridge Of Spies
Thomas Newman replaced John Williams for Spielberg’s historical-drama titled ‘Bridge of Spies’. The latest nomination makes it the 13th time for 60-year-old American composer who was last nominated for ‘Saving Mr. Banks’ in 2014.

Original Song

The nominations for ‘Best Original Song’ include:

‘Earned it’ - Fifty Shades of Grey
First time nominee, Canadian songwriter The Weeknd, released the single from the album ‘Beauty Behind The Madness’, that also featured as the lead soundtrack for the movie ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’.

‘Writing’s On The Wall’ - Spectre
The winner at Golden Globes under the same category, Sam Smith’s Bond theme automatically becomes the heavyweight in this category,

‘Manta Ray’ - Racing Extinction
Academy Award winning director Louie Psihoyos hired Academy Award winning composer J. Ralph and Antony (of Antony and the Johnsons) for the documentary ‘Racing Extinctions’ and the original composition ‘Manta Ray’ earns an Academy Award nomination for ‘Best Original Song’.

Other nominations include – ‘Simple Song #3’ for the movie ‘Youth’ and Lady Gaga’s ‘Til It Happens To You’ from the documentary ‘The Hunting Ground.’

The ceremony will be aired live on 28 February, 2016 in the United States. (29 February in India)