Leonardo DiCaprio will go up against Eddie Redmayne at the Oscars 2016. The 41-year-old American star is leading the field for best actor after nominations were announced. Leo's turn in brutal revenge thriller The Revenant will be measured against the British star's majestic performance in The Danish Girl.
The UK also has chances of Oscars with Sam Smith for Best Original Song – he danced off with the Golden Globe for Bond song Writing on the Wall – and Kate Winslet in Steve Jobs for Best Supporting Actress.
In revenge thriller The Revenant Leonardo DiCaprio roars life into an 1820s American settler
Best Actor
However, the big story is whether Leo can finally convert a nomination into victory at the ceremony on 28 February. With four previous nods, he is the one to beat. Much has been made of this, but the man himself is keeping cool.
Asked on the Today show whether he thinks about winning, Leo said anyone appreciates "to be recognised by your peers... but the truth is it's ultimately not why you do these films. You do them because you love the art form".
The other stellar names in the category are Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs), Matt Damon (The Martian) and Bryan Cranston (Trumbo).
Cate Blanchett is on career best form in Carol, a tale of forbidden lesbian love in the Fifties
Best Actress
Among the leading ladies Cate Blanchett (Carol) faces Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn) and Brie Larson (Room). Other names that made it into this category are Jennifer Lawrence (Joy) and Charlotte Rampling (45 years).
A win this year would make it a hat trick putting the Australian powerhouse in the company of Meryl Streep and Ingrid Bergman after her previous Academy Awards in 2013 and 2004. Her turn as a fifties society wife grappling with her feelings for a much younger female lover has been described by critics as a career-best.
This year's comeback kid Sylvester Stallone reprises his Rocky character in Creed
Best Supporting Actor
Sylvester Stallone is the name to watch in the best supporting actor category. For the movie Creed the much-loved veteran reprised his iconic Rocky Balboa category, playing the father figure to a young fighter. Comeback kid Sly is a popular choice – his name earned a big cheer when it was read out among the nominations.
He will be slugging it out with Christian Bale (The Big Short), Tom Hardy (The Revenant) or Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight) and Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies).
Saoirse Ronan is an Irish immigrant torn between two lives and loves in Brooklyn
Best Supporting Actress
Steve Jobs actress Kate won the Golden Globe for her supporting role in the biopic. She competes with Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl), Rooney Mara (Carol), Rachel McAdams (Spotlight), and Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight).
The Danish Girl starring Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander is a biopic of transgender icon Lili Elbe
Best Picture
Spotlight, an ensemble piece about a paper's investigation into Roman Catholic priest abuse, is the frontrunner along with The Revenant. Also making the cut are The Big Short, Room,The Martian, Brooklyn, Mad Max: Fury Road, Carol, Bridge of Spies and The Hateful Eight.