The Academy announced their nominations for the 87th Oscars this morning. There were some pleasant surprises and shocking snubs on their list.
It’s been a long and solidly competitive awards season these last few months, and it’s all come to a climax with this morning’s revelation of the nominees for the next Oscars. When JJ Abrams and Alfonso Cuarón took the stage to announce the first round of nominations, mainly for the technical categories, we weren’t expecting anything shocking. We couldn’t have been more wrong.
Right off the bat the Academy made some interesting choices, with a roster for Best Original Song that only matched the Golden Globes with 1 of the 5 nominees - “Glory” from Selma. That said, this surprise wasn’t exactly a surprising surprise given some of the choices of previous years, including the completely unknown “Alone Yet Not Alone”, disqualified last year in a promotion scandal. It was nice to see “Everything is Awesome” from The LEGO Movie and “Lost Stars” from Begin Again pick up nominations; they’ll surely add to the fun factor of the show on February 22nd.
“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” is nominated for Best Visual Effects
Most of the technical categories, such as Sound Editing and Visual Effects, were filled with the expected slew of sci-fi and superhero movies. Even better was the lack of Transformers, as Age of Extinction didn’t manage a single nomination. I would’ve liked to have seen Godzilla nominated in some category (maybe instead of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies in the Sound Editing Category?), but beside its absence I was happy to see some love for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Interstellar, X-Men: Days of Future Past and Guardians of the Galaxy.
Like many I haven’t had the time or resources to watch many, never mind all, of the nominees in the short film categories, but it didn’t look to me like there were many major snubs. It was definitely nice to see a Best Live Action Short nomination for “The Phone Call” by Cinema Jam members James Lucas and Mat Kirkby, which you can see here, and a nod for “Butter Lamp” whose director, Hu Wei, we interviewed for the last issue of The Spread.
Missing from the list of nominations for Best Documentary Feature was Life Itself, Steve James’ acclaimed portrait of the life of critic Roger Ebert and his relationship with wife Chaz. It’s a shame to see such a great film snubbed, though the actual nominees do deserve their time in the spotlight as well. Citizenfour has been the front-runner for a while anyway, so perhaps it’s nice that some smaller, lesser-known documentaries have gotten in over James’ sentimental biography.
“American Sniper” received five nominations, including Best Actor and Best Picture.
Most of the other technical award nominations went to the expected recipients, with The Grand Budapest Hotel, Birdman, Interstellar, Mr. Turner, Unbroken, American Sniper, and The Imitation Game picking up nods. Surprises were Ida, which was nominated for cinematography seemingly out of the blue (does black-and-white get you a confirmed Oscar nomination now?), and Into the Woods, which didn’t find itself in either of the two sound categories (it did pick up nods for Production Design and Costume Design).
The biggest shock of the night for me - and many others - came with the announcement of the nominees for Best Animated Feature. As expected, we heard Big Hero 6, The Boxtrolls, and How To Train Your Dragon 2, but once Song of the Sea was announced it was clear that something was afoot. Surely the Academy wouldn’t snub the most acclaimed animated feature of the year, The LEGO Movie, after it lost to How To Train Your Dragon 2 at the Globes? Surely I was dreaming when JJ Abrams said The Tale of Princess Kaguya instead of my beloved LEGO Movie? But no, it was not meant to be.
“The LEGO Movie” was left out of the running for Best Animated Feature.
Somehow, out of nowhere, the frontrunner for the Animated Feature Oscar since the beginning was snubbed at the last minute, and we’re going to have to deal with “Everything is Awesome” being its only nomination. I have nothing against the other nominees - they’re all acclaimed and popular (to some extent) in their own right - but I can’t help feeling like a little piece of me died this morning when LEGO was left off of the list. It wasn’t just the best animated movie of the year, it was one of the best films of the year, period, bursting at the seams with the perfect mix of humor, color, sentimentality, and timeliness. It was, for me, the Academy’s worst collective decision of the voting process.
After the LEGO travesty, the nominations returned to mild predictability, with a few surprises sprinkled here and there. Guardians of the Galaxy got its deserved nod for Makeup & Hairstyling, sharing its category with the slightly-less-deserving Grand Budapest Hotel and Foxcatcher. It’s probably the only category Guardians can win, so I hope it pulls it off. Costume Design brought a minor surprise with Inherent Vice, a film many thought wouldn’t make it into the cut. Luckily for Paul Thomas Anderson, though, it was also able to pick up a spot in the Best Adapted Screenplay category.
“Inherent Vice” was nominated for Best Costume Design and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Speaking of the screenplay categories, they too had their fair share of shocks. The Adapted Screenplay category was perhaps the most shocking, with the aforementioned Inherent Vice taking up a spot many assumed would go to Gone Girl. Gillian Flynn adapted Gone Girl from her book of the same name, and her snub means the writing categories stayed 100% male for the millionth time in history. Whiplash was also able to make its way into the Adapted category after being disqualified from the Original Screenplay category (it’s based off of a short film director Damien Chazelle made a few years ago), but The Imitation Game is probably still the frontrunner. It’s a shame, because though The Imitation Game isn’t exactly a bad movie, it’s not the intrusive, mind-boggling and constantly exciting movie Gone Girl is, yet it’ll probably be the one recognized for its writing come February.
The Original Screenplay category is less puzzling, with Birdman, Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Foxcatcher and Nightcrawler taking the five spots. All of those films are well-written and deserving of the acclaim, but I am continually puzzled by the Original category’s inclusion of films based off of true events despite movies like Whiplash getting “relegated” to Adapted despite being based off of material created by their own creators. Is it finally time for a change in the Oscar rules? I think so. For me, Foxcacther and Whiplash should be in the opposite categories. But at least the Oscars are giving those films their due.
“Foxcatcher” was nominated for Best Actor (Steve Carell), Best Supporting Actor (Mark Ruffalo), Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
And Dick Pope. Poor, poor Dick Pope. His nomination for cinematography today - from what I’ve heard, absolutely deserved - was overshadowed by a blooper by Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs, who pronounced his name “Dick Poop”. It was certainly the most unfortunately funny moment of the morning, and it’s wrong to throw blame at anyone for such a harmless mistake, but I can’t help but feel bad for Dick Pope, whose second nomination (he was also nominated for The Illusionist in 2006) will now forever connect him with Isaccs’ faux pas. Here’s the clip, though, if you missed it:
For the “major” awards categories, there were quite a few surprises, but none of them were all that unpleasant or out-of-the-blue given the competition this year. The Supporting Actor category is the same line up as the Globes, with Robert Duvall keeping his contested fifth spot over hopefuls such as Riz Ahmed and Josh Brolin. The biggest surprise of all on the actor’s side - no, Bradley Cooper didn’t really surprise me - was Steve Carell not only NOT getting in for Supporting Actor, but instead getting in for Best Actor. His performance is great and has all the right pointers to an Oscar - physical transformation, dramatic role for a comedy actor, based on a real person - but he lacks the screen time of the likes of Ralph Fiennes, David Oyelowo, and, most ridiculously Jake Gyllenhaal, whose Oscar races all ended this morning. Unless Eddie Redmayne can pull off a groundbreaking campaign, or Michael Keaton does something profoundly offensive, the Oscar should be Keaton’s.
On the actress side, things were a bit more contentious, with Marion Cotillard taking out Jennifer Aniston despite Aniston’s appearance at the Globes and SAG awards. Unlike most of the other surprises of the morning, this was a more logical one, given the critical decimation of Aniston’s Oscar vehicle Cake and the acclaim of Cotillard’s performance in Two Days, One Night. The other four nominees were the usual crew, and Julianne Moore will likely take home some gold on Oscar night (though I’m hoping for a Rosamund Pike upset given Gone Girl’s bad luck).
Patricia Arquette is the Best Supporting Actress frontrunner for “Boyhood”
The Best Supporting Actress race is mostly as expected, with Patricia Arquette still the resounding frontrunner. She joins Emma Stone, Keira Knightley and (ugh) Meryl Streep, as well as Laura Dern, whose nomination for Wild was the least expected of all the acting nods. Her recognition meant Rene Russo and Tilda Swinton failed to make the cut.
The Best Director category was more disappointing than surprising. Richard Linklater, Alejandro G. Iñarrítu, Wes Anderson and Morten Tyldum took the spots they were expected to, and Bennett Miller swooped into the last spot for his work on Foxcatcher. For those who claim that the Academy is full of old, white men who reward other old, white men, Miller’s nomination is slightly better than Clint Eastwood’s would be, but the lack of Ava Duvernay is a far worse offense, at least for many people. Duvernay would be the first African-American woman nominated for Best Director, something you’d think the Oscars would like to capitalize on, but we’ll have to wait another year for that to happen. Given Selma‘s reviews, though, it’s a travesty that it has only two nominations to its name.
The Best Picture nominations were the least surprising of the bunch, apart from the fact that only 8 films were nominated. In such a crowded, excellent year for movies, it’s strange that the Academy chopped off a nominee space instead of adding one. At best, it says that the eight films nominated had some really hardcore fans, which I can’t disagree with.
As a whole, the nominations weren’t the greatest portfolio of the best movies of the year (how Under The Skin wasn’t given more awards for its score is beyond me), but they were far from awful. No, they’re weren’t any women nominated for writing, direction, or cinematography, and no, there weren’t any people of color nominated for acting awards, but the people that took their places did, for the most part at least, make great movies in 2014. More diversity would be nice in the future - given the backlash it’s pretty much necessary if the Oscars wants to stay relevant - but if the reason for the lack of diversity was the overwhelming amount of competition for this year’s awards, there’s a lot to celebrate.
The nominations were at times angering, befuddling, disappointing and shocking. But, as always, they were never boring.
The Oscars will air on February 22nd on ABC at 7E | 4P. You can predict the Oscars at http://oscar.go.com/mypicks.
By Cameron Johnson, interim Editor of The Spread.
The full list of nominees:
Best Picture:
“American Sniper”
“Birdman”
“Boyhood”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“The Imitation Game”
“Selma”
“The Theory of Everything”
“Whiplash”
Best Director:
Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Bennett Miller, “Foxcatcher”
Alejandro González Iñárritu, “Birdman”
Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
Morten Tyldum, “The Imitation Game”
Best Actress:
Marion Cotillard, “Two Days, One Night”
Felicity Jones, “The Theory of Everything”
Julianne Moore, “Still Alice”
Rosamund Pike, “Gone Girl”
Reese Witherspoon, “Wild”
Best Actor:
Steve Carrell, “Foxcatcher”
Bradley Cooper, “American Sniper”
Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Imitation Game”
Michael Keaton, “Birdman”
Eddie Redmayne, “The Theory of Everything”
Best Supporting Actress:
Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”
Laura Dern, “Wild”
Keira Knightley, “The Imitation Game”
Emma Stone, “Birdman”
Meryl Streep, “Into the Woods”
Best Supporting Actor:
Robert Duvall, “The Judge”
Ethan Hawke, “Boyhood”
Edward Norton, “Birdman”
Mark Ruffalo, “Foxcatcher”
J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash”
Best Original Screenplay:
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr, Armando Bo, “Birdman”
Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
E. Max Frye & Dan Futterman, “Foxcatcher”
Dan Gilroy, “Nightcrawler”
Best Adapted Screenplay:
Graham Moore, “The Imitation Game”
Anthony McCarten, “The Theory of Everything”
Damien Chazelle, “Whiplash”
Jason Hall, “American Sniper”
Paul Thomas Anderson, “Inherent Vice”
Best Foreign Language Film:
“Ida” (Poland)
“Leviathan” (Russia)
“Tangerines” (Estonia)
“Timbuktu” (Mauritania)
“Wild Tales” (Argentina)
Best Documentary Feature:
“Citizenfour”
“Last Days in Vietnam”
“Virunga”
“Finding Vivian Maier”
“The Salt of the Earth”
Best Animated Feature
“Big Hero 6”
“How to Train Your Dragon 2”
“The Boxtrolls”
“Song of the Sea”
“The Tale of Princess Kaguya”
Best Cinematography:
Emmanuel Lubezki, “Birdman”
Dick Pope, “Mr. Turner”
Robert D. Yeoman, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Ryszard Lenczewski and Łukasz Żal, “Ida”
Roger Deakins, “Unbroken”
Best Film Editing:
“American Sniper”
“Boyhood”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“The Imitation Game”
“Whiplash”
Best Production Design:
Adam Stockhausen and Anna Pinnock, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Suzie Davies and Charlotte Watts, “Mr. Turner”
Dennis Gassner and Anna Pinnock, “Into the Woods”
Nathan Crowley, Garry Fettis, and Paul Healy, “Interstellar”
Maria Djurkovic, “The Imitation Game”
Best Costume Design:
Colleen Atwood, “Into the Woods”
Anna B. Sheppard, “Maleficent”
Milena Canonero, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Jacqueline Durran, “Mr. Turner”
Mark Bridges, “Inherent Vice”
Best Original Score:
Johann Johannsson, “The Theory of Everything”
Alexandre Desplat, “The Imitation Game”
Alexandre Desplat, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Hans Zimmer, “Interstellar”
Gary Yershon, “Mr. Turner”
Best Original Song:
Gregg Alexander, Danielle Brisebois, Nick Lashley and Nick Southwood, “Lost Stars” — “Begin Again”
John Legend and Common, “Glory” — “Selma”
Shawn Patterson, Joshua Bartholomew, Lisa Harriton, and The Lonely Island, “Everything Is Awesome” — “The Lego Movie”
The-Dream, “Grateful” — “Beyond the Lights”
Glen Campbell, “I’m Not Gonna Miss You” — “Glen Campbell … I’ll Be Me”
Best Sound Mixing:
“American Sniper”
“Birdman”
“Unbroken”
“Interstellar”
“Whiplash”
Best Sound Editing:
“American Sniper”
“Interstellar”
“Unbroken”
“The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies”
“Birdman”
Best Visual Effects:
“Interstellar”
“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”
“Guardians of the Galaxy”
“X-Men: Days of Future Past”
“Captain America: The Winter Soldier”
Best Makeup & Hairstyling:
“Foxcatcher”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Guardians of the Galaxy”
Best Live Action Short Film:
Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis, “Aya” (Chasis Films)
Michael Lennox, director, and Ronan Blaney, “Boogaloo and Graham” (Out of Orbit)
Hu Wei and Julien Féret, “Butter Lamp” (“La Lampe au Beurre de Yak”) (AMA Productions)
Talkhon Hamzavi and Stefan Eichenberger, “Parvaneh” (Zurich University of Arts)
Mat Kirkby, director and James Lucas, “The Phone Call” (RSA Films)
Best Documentary Short Film:
Perry Films, “Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1”
Wajda Studio, “Joanna”
Warsaw Film School, “Our Curse”
Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica, “The Reaper” (“La Parka”)
Weary Traveler, “White Earth”
Best Animated Short Film:
Daisy Jacobs and Christopher Hees, “The Bigger Picture” (National Film and Television School)
Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi, “The Dam Keeper” (Tonko House)
Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed, “Feast” (Walt Disney Animation Studios)
Torill Kove, “Me and My Moulton” (Mikrofilm in co-production with the National Film Board of Canada)
Joris Oprins, “A Single Life” (Job, Joris & Marieke)
