The long-awaited announcement of this year's Academy Award nominations has arrived at last! Thank God Almighty, they are here at last! Oh wait, what? Bad time to reference Dr. King? Oh, wow, would you look at that? Selma got snubbed! Didn't see that coming! I expected Best Picture to be a battle between it and Boyhood, but without even a Best Director nomination, it looks like Selma's chances at taking the top prize are gone, gone, gone! Huh? Wait, what? Gone Girl got snubbed too? All it got was a nod for Best Actress? Not Best Director? Not Best Score? Not even Best Adapted Screenplay? Ouch! How did that happen? Well, it looks like there are quite a few notable omissions in this year's list of nominees, but before I get into all of that, let's check out what did get nominated. Ladies and gentlemen, here are your 2015 Academy Award nominees!
| Best Motion Picture of the Year American Sniper Birdman Boyhood The Grand Budapest Hotel The Imitation Game Selma The Theory of Everything Whiplash | Since 2010, the Oscars have allowed up to 10 nominations for Best Picture, and yet only in 2010 and 2011 did we actually see 10 nominees. That's because in order to be a nominee, a film has to receive at least 5% of the total votes, which lessens the likelihood of a major upset. Having only 8 nominees this year is disappointing, especially when films like Gone Girl, Nightcrawler, Interstellar, and Foxcatcher are noticeably absent. |
Allow me a moment to speak a little more in depth about this year's top nominees. Ever since I saw Boyhood earlier this year, I've been saying that it's a total lock for Best Picture of the Year. I still think that's true, and even moreso now. The only film that I thought could possibly end up throwing a wrench into this category was Selma, and after seeing that incredible film, I really thought it had a legitimate chance at pulling off an upset. However, since it failed to earn any other nomination other than Best Original Song, I think it's safe to say it's no longer a real contender. On the contrary, we have The Grand Budapest Hotel and Birdman, which each scored 9 nominations apiece, to Boyhood's 6 nominations. Could they take the Academy's top honors this year? It's certainly possible, but given how off-the-wall those films are, I don't expect that to happen. Make no mistake, this is Boyhood's year. It is a film that has been 12 years in the making and it is a truly special and unique piece of cinema that will be recognized and awarded with the highest honor bestowed by the Academy.
While I did really enjoy The Theory of Everything, I'm a little perplexed that it found itself nominated for Best Picture. There are plenty of other films I would have rather seen in its place, namely Gone Girl, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Fury or The Drop. The unfortunate thing about these award shows is that the most popular films don't tend to get much love from voters. In fact, I'm willing to bet that most people haven't seen any of these nominees. I've personally watched 50 movies in theaters in 2014 and yet I've only seen half of them so far. Heck, the highest grossing film nominated is The Grand Budapest Hotel which reached a lackluster box office total of $59.1 million (making it the 53rd highest grossing movie of the year). None of these movies are exactly drawing the masses here, and likely won't be drawing too many viewers come Oscar Sunday.
While I did really enjoy The Theory of Everything, I'm a little perplexed that it found itself nominated for Best Picture. There are plenty of other films I would have rather seen in its place, namely Gone Girl, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Fury or The Drop. The unfortunate thing about these award shows is that the most popular films don't tend to get much love from voters. In fact, I'm willing to bet that most people haven't seen any of these nominees. I've personally watched 50 movies in theaters in 2014 and yet I've only seen half of them so far. Heck, the highest grossing film nominated is The Grand Budapest Hotel which reached a lackluster box office total of $59.1 million (making it the 53rd highest grossing movie of the year). None of these movies are exactly drawing the masses here, and likely won't be drawing too many viewers come Oscar Sunday.
| Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Steve Carrell - Foxcatcher Bradley Cooper - American Sniper Benedict Cumberbatch - The Imitation Game Michael Keaton - Birdman Eddie Redmayne - The Theory of Everything | Truthfully, I'd love to see Michael Keaton get the win here. His performance in Birdman is brave, bold, and wonderful. The film's tongue-in-cheek parallels to Keaton's career as Batman make it all the more perfect. Considering the Academy tends to favor awarding older actors, his chances are looking great. |
Eddie Redmayne may have won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama, but despite his impressive portrayal as Stephen Hawking, my money is on Keaton for the win. Jake Gyllenhaal's performance in Nightcrawler failed to make the best actor list, and even worse is that Selma's David Oyelowo is missing. I am borderline appalled that Oyelowo didn't earn a nomination for his outstanding portrayal as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Selma. Oyelowo brilliantly captured one of the most important and revered figures in history, with a performance so captivating, so inspiring, and so passionate, that I thought he was on his way to Oscar glory. As far as I'm concerned, the voters made the wrong choice. This is the true upset of this year's nominees.
| Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Marion Cotillard - Two Days, One Night Felicity Jones - The Theory of Everything Julianne Moore - Still Alice Rosamund Pike - Gone Girl Reese Witherspoon - Wild | Not much I can say about these nominees except I'm glad Rosamund Pike got nominated. I haven't seen Witherspoon's, Moore's, or Cotillard's performances, but I think Julianne Moore may have this one on lock. This is her fifth nomination and would be her first win. She's the favorite here. |
The big shocker here is that Amy Adams just won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical for Big Eyes, but she isn't even nominated. Instead, we get Marion Cotillard. Granted, she's a great actress, and she even won an Oscar playing Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose, but this feels like a pretty big snub. Especially when you consider that pretty much no one this side of the globe has actually seen Two Days, One Night.
| Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Robert Duvall - The Judge Ethan Hawke - Boyhood Edward Norton - Birdman Mark Ruffalo - Foxcatcher J.K. Simmons - Whiplash | Ethan Hawke's touching and genuine performance was my favorite thing about Boyhood. He really helped bring the whole movie to life, playing a less-than-perfect dad who sincerely loved his children and wanted the best for them. I felt he gave the single best performance of any actor in 2014. |
With a Golden Globe win, J.K. Simmons is now the frontrunner for this category, but I certainly wouldn't say he's a shoe-in for the victory here. While I don't expect Duvall to come away with the win, I do think Edward Norton may possibly be able to seize the golden statue. I'll shamelessly confess that I'm rooting for Hawke to win, and that his victory would mean more to me than any other win at the Oscars this year. I may be a little biased, but I'm predicting he's taking his first Oscar home this year.
| Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Patricia Arquette - Boyhood Laura Dern - Wild Keira Knightley - The Imitation Game Emma Stone - Birdman Meryl Streep - Into the Woods | Like her Boyhood co-star Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette shows a lot of dedication and heart in her performance. She skillfully balances both the happiness and the heartache that comes with raising children as a divorced mother, portraying a character that feels authentic and identifiable. |
While I fully expect Arquette to win this one, I would really like to take a moment to recognize the lovely and incomparable Meryl Streep for her 19th Oscar nomination! No one else even comes close! And I must say, her performance as The Witch in Into the Woods was astonishing and well-deserving of a nomination. In terms of the other nominees, Jessica Chastain's performance in A Most Violent Year was shut out in favor of Laura Dern's in Wild.
| Best Achievement in Directing Wes Anderson - The Grand Budapest Hotel Alejandro González Iñárritu - Birdman Richard Linklater - Boyhood Bennett Miller - Foxcatcher Morten Tyldum - The Imitation Game | Again, I'm picking Boyhood for the win. The foresight required to film a movie over a period of 12 years, with the same actors, and to have it all come together as beautifully as Boyhood does is no small feat. Richard Linklater's vision, patience, and dedication in creating Boyhood deserve absolute praise. |
So Selma gets a Best Picture nomination, but not a Best Director nomination, and vice versa for Foxcatcher. Something about that seems mistaken. The odds of either of them pulling off a win look pretty slim (nay, annorexic!) without nominations for both. I do have to give some props to Alejandro González Iñárritu for his work on Birdman, which he filmed as if the whole movie were one, long, singular take. It feels almost unfair for other nominees to go up against Boyhood as its filming has transpired over a dozen years to lead to this point, but I guess that's just the luck of the draw. That thought considered, it is certainly possible that voters may attempt to spread the wealth to give other great films a fighting chance against Linklater's juggernaut.
| Best Original Screenplay Boyhood - Richard Linklater Birdman - Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone Foxcatcher - E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman The Grand Budapest Hotel - Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness Nightcrawler - Dam Gilroy | This category has a strong lineup of candidates, though it's another area where Selma should have got some recognition. I'm not as convinced Boyhood will win this one. It might, but I have a hunch that The Grand Budapest Hotel is going to get this Oscar. Birdman is most likely a little too risqué to win here. |
| Best Adapted Screenplay American Sniper - Jason Hall Inherent Vice - Paul Thomas Anderson The Imitation Game - Graham Moore The Theory of Everything - Anthony McCarten Whiplash - Damien Chazelle | I have some issues with these choices. How in the world did Gone Girl not even get an Oscar nomination for Adapted Screenplay? That's outageous. No love for The Drop either? What about The Fault in Our Stars? Disappointing! Well, at least they gave Inherent Vice a much deserved nomination. |
| Best Animated Feature Film Big Hero 6 The Boxtrolls How to Train Your Dragon 2 Song of the Sea The Tale of The Princess Kaguya | A lot of people are crying afoul about The Lego Movie not getting nominated here. I'm just happy that Big Hero 6 and How to Train Your Dragon 2 made the list. I would most like to see Big Hero 6 get the Oscar, but I think How to Train Your Dragon 2 will beat it, just like it did at the Golden Globes. |
| Best Achievement in Editing American Sniper - Joel Cox, Gary Roach Boyhood - Sandra Adair The Grand Budapest Hotel - Barney Pilling The Imitation Game - William Goldenberg Whiplash - Tom Cross | Boyhood seamlessly connects 12 years of this boy's life without any need to signal the passing of each year. It flows beautifully and effortlessly. Managing all of that with footage extending over such a long period of time makes it a shoe-in for this Oscar, as far as I'm concerned. |
| Best Achievement in Cinematography Birdman - Emmanuel Lubezki The Grand Budapest Hotel - Robert D. Yeoman Ida - Lukasz Zal, Ryszard Lenczewski Mr. Turner - Dick Pope Unbroken - Roger Deakins | Having only seen 2 of the 5 nominees (Birdman and Unbroken), I'm not the most qualified person to guess, but because Birdman is filmed to look like one long, continuous tracking shot, I think it has a great chance at winning this award. It was an impressive visual feat. |
| Best Achievement in Costume Design The Grand Budapest Hotel - Milena Canonero Inherent Vice - Mark Bridges Into the Woods - Colleen Atwood Maleficent - Anna B. Sheppard, Jane Clive Mr. Turner - Jacqueline Durran | Personally I think Johnny Depp's Wolf outfit alone is enough to prevent Into the Woods from getting the win. And aside from Angelina Jolie's outfits in Maleficent, I don't remember other costumes in the film being particularly striking. Maybe this is a wild guess, but Inherent Vice for the win! |
| Best Original Score The Grand Budapest Hotel - Alexandre Desplat The Imitation Game - Alexandre Desplat Interstellar - Hans Zimmer Mr. Turner - Gary Yershon The Theory of Everything - Jóhann Jóhannsson | Alexandre Desplat got nominated twice in the same category! Impressive! Well, I'm not really sure who's going to take home this award, but I'm surprised Gone Girl failed to get nominated. Jóhannsson won the Golden Globe, but I thought Hans Zimmer's score was super epic, so he gets my vote. |
Best Original Song
Begin Again - "Lost Stars" by Gregg Alexander, Danielle Brisebois
Beyond the Lights - "Grateful" by Diane Warren
Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me - "I'm Not Gonna Miss You" by Glen Campbell, Julian Raymond
The Lego Movie - "Everything is Awesome" by Shawn Patterson
Selma - "Glory" by John Legend, Common
Begin Again - "Lost Stars" by Gregg Alexander, Danielle Brisebois
Beyond the Lights - "Grateful" by Diane Warren
Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me - "I'm Not Gonna Miss You" by Glen Campbell, Julian Raymond
The Lego Movie - "Everything is Awesome" by Shawn Patterson
Selma - "Glory" by John Legend, Common
I'm predicting Selma's "Glory" is going to win this category. It's a moving and powerful song with a strong message, performed beautifully by John Legend and Common. It's truthfully the only song of the bunch I like at all. Glen Campbell's heart-breaking final song could possibly win instead, but I would be seriously surprised if any of the other three songs won.
Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling
Foxcatcher - Bill Corso, Dennis Liddiard
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Frances Hannon, Mark Coulier
Guardians of the Galaxy - Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou, David White
Foxcatcher - Bill Corso, Dennis Liddiard
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Frances Hannon, Mark Coulier
Guardians of the Galaxy - Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou, David White
Hey look! A category that Guardians of the Galaxy has a good shot at winning! With all of their different colored characters and whatnot, there's no way Guardians is going to exit the show empty-handed. This one is in the bag. On another note, I do wonder if Steve Carrell's nose prosthetic alone was enough to get Foxcatcher nominated here. It's quite a nose!
Best Achievement in Visual Effects
Captain America: The Winter Soldier - Dan Deleeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill, Daniel Sudick
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett, Erik Winquist
Guardians of the Galaxy - Stephane Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner, Paul Corbould
Interstellar - Paul J. Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter, Scott R. Fisher
X-Men: Days of Future Past - Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie, Cameron Waldbauer
Captain America: The Winter Soldier - Dan Deleeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill, Daniel Sudick
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett, Erik Winquist
Guardians of the Galaxy - Stephane Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner, Paul Corbould
Interstellar - Paul J. Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter, Scott R. Fisher
X-Men: Days of Future Past - Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie, Cameron Waldbauer
I think this one is going to be between either Dawn of the Planet of the Apes or Interstellar. I'm giving the edge to Interstellar because of its creativity. While Planet of the Apes does outstanding things in bringing life to the apes, we have seen it all before. In terms of visuals, I've never seen a movie quite like Interstellar. It was a feast for the eyes and the brain!
Best Achievement in Production Design
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pinnock
The Imitation Game - Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana Macdonald
Interstellar - Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis
Into the Woods - Dennis Gassner, Anna Pinnock
Mr. Turner - Suzie Davies, Charlotte Watts
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pinnock
The Imitation Game - Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana Macdonald
Interstellar - Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis
Into the Woods - Dennis Gassner, Anna Pinnock
Mr. Turner - Suzie Davies, Charlotte Watts
I don't know much about production design, but given Interstellar's amibitous nature and the fact that director Christopher Nolan insisted on creating functional sets rather than relying completely on special effects, I think it's going to win this award. My second guess would be for The Grand Budapest Hotel.
| Best Achievement in Sound Mixing American Sniper - John T. Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, Walt Martin Birdman - Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Thomas Varga Interstellar - Gary Rizzo, Gregg Landaker, Mark Weingarten Unbroken - Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, David Lee Whiplash - Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins, Thomas Curley | As for the rest of these awards, I don't know, and I'm not even going to attempt to guess... |
Best Achievement in Sound Editing
American Sniper - Alan Robert Murray, Bub Asman
Birdman - Aaron Glascock, Martín Hernández
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies - Brent Burge, Jason Canovas
Interstellar - Richard King
Unbroken - Becky Sullivan, Andrew DeCristofaro
American Sniper - Alan Robert Murray, Bub Asman
Birdman - Aaron Glascock, Martín Hernández
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies - Brent Burge, Jason Canovas
Interstellar - Richard King
Unbroken - Becky Sullivan, Andrew DeCristofaro
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Ida - Pawel Pawlikowski
Leviathan - Andrey Zvyagintsev
Tangerines - Zaza Urushadze
Timbuktu - Abderrahmane Sissako
Wild Tales - Damián Szifrón
Ida - Pawel Pawlikowski
Leviathan - Andrey Zvyagintsev
Tangerines - Zaza Urushadze
Timbuktu - Abderrahmane Sissako
Wild Tales - Damián Szifrón
Best Documentary, Feature
Citizenfour - Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy, Dirk Wilutzky
Finding Vivian Maier - John Maloof, Charlie Siskel
Last Days in Vietnam - Rory Kennedy, Keven McAlester
The Salt of the Earth - Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, David Rosier
Virunga - Orlando von Einsiedel, Joanna Natasegara
Citizenfour - Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy, Dirk Wilutzky
Finding Vivian Maier - John Maloof, Charlie Siskel
Last Days in Vietnam - Rory Kennedy, Keven McAlester
The Salt of the Earth - Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, David Rosier
Virunga - Orlando von Einsiedel, Joanna Natasegara
Best Documentary, Short Subject
Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 - Ellen Goosenberg Kent, Dana Perry
Joanna - Aneta Kopacz
Our Curse - Tomasz Sliwinski, Maciej Slesicki
The Reaper - Gabriel Serra
White Earth - Christian Jensen
Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 - Ellen Goosenberg Kent, Dana Perry
Joanna - Aneta Kopacz
Our Curse - Tomasz Sliwinski, Maciej Slesicki
The Reaper - Gabriel Serra
White Earth - Christian Jensen
Best Short Film, Animated
The Bigger Picture - Daisy Jacobs, Chris Hees
The Dam Keeper - Robert Kondo, Daisuke 'Dice' Tsutsumi
Feast - Patrick Osborne, Kristina Reed
Me and My Moulton - Torill Kove
A Single Life - Joris Oprins
The Bigger Picture - Daisy Jacobs, Chris Hees
The Dam Keeper - Robert Kondo, Daisuke 'Dice' Tsutsumi
Feast - Patrick Osborne, Kristina Reed
Me and My Moulton - Torill Kove
A Single Life - Joris Oprins
Best Short Film, Live Action
Aya - Oded Binnun, Mihal Brezis
Boogaloo and Graham - Michael Lennox, Ronan Blaney
Butter Lamp - Wei Hu, Julien Féret
Parvaneh - Talkhon Hamzavi, Stefan Eichenberger
The Phone Call - Mat Kirkby, James Lucas
Aya - Oded Binnun, Mihal Brezis
Boogaloo and Graham - Michael Lennox, Ronan Blaney
Butter Lamp - Wei Hu, Julien Féret
Parvaneh - Talkhon Hamzavi, Stefan Eichenberger
The Phone Call - Mat Kirkby, James Lucas
Well, that just about sums up my thoughts on the list of nominees. Considering I haven't seen so many of these films, I'll give another update as we get closer to Oscar night. It's on February 22nd, so mark your calendars! What do you guys think? What movies would you like to see win? Share your thoughts on the comments below!
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