Marine Vet Adam Driver Gets His First Oscar Nomination for 'BlacKkKlansman'

Things are rocking these days for Marine veteran Adam Driver. He knows the ending of Star Wars because he's filmed his scenes as Kylo Ren for the upcoming "Episode IX," sure to be the biggest movie of all time. He's got new movies this year with Jim Jarmusch and Noah Baumbach, the noted indie directors who have given him some of his best roles. And now, he's a Best Supporting Actor nominee for "BlacKkKlansman."

Driver plays Colorado Springs police detective Flip Zimmerman, who collaborates with African-American detective Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) to infiltrate and expose a local branch of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s. The movie, based on real events, also got nominations for Best Picture, Best Director (Spike Lee), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score (Terence Blanchard) and Best Film Editing for a total of six.

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The Dick Cheney biopic "Vice," which focuses on the vice president's role in the Iraq War, racked up eight nominations: Best Picture, Best Actor (Christian Bale as Cheney), Best Director (Adam McKay), Best Supporting Actor (Sam Rockwell as George W. Bush), Best Supporting Actress (Amy Adams as Lynne Cheney), Best Original Screenplay (Adam McKay), Best Film Editing (Hank Corwin) and Best Makeup (Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia DeHaney).

McKay made his name directing Will Ferrell in the classic comedies "Anchorman" and "Talladega Nights," but he took a hard turn into social commentary with "The Big Short." He was rewarded with an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, and his harsh, surreal and often funny take on Cheney's career has won favor with Academy voters.

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The Neil Armstrong biopic "First Man" was shut out in the Best Picture, acting, writing and original score categories but managed to pick up nods for production design, sound mixing, sound editing and visual effects.