Now that I got that out, here are the nominees for the 2015 Academy Awards. They were announced this morning and gave frontrunner status to both Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel as they each gained 9 nominations. Tune in on February 22nd to see Neil Patrick Harris host the 87th annual event in Los Angeles.
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
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu - Birdman
Richard Linklater - Boyhood
Bennett Miller - Foxcatcher
Morten Tyldum - The Imitation Game
Best Actor
Steve Carrell - Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper - American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch - The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton - Birdman
Eddie Redmayne - The Theory of Everything
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 Supporting Actor
Robert Duvall - The Judge
Ethan Hawke - Boyhood
Edward Norton - Birdman
Mark Ruffalo - Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons - Whiplash
Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette - Boyhood
Laura Dern - Wild
Kiera Knightly - The Imitation Game
Emma Stone - Birdman
Meryl Streep - Into the Woods
Best Adapted Screenplay
Jason Hall - American Sniper
Graham Moore - The Imitation Game
Paul Thomas Anderson - Inherent Vice
Anthony McCarten - The Theory of Everything
Damien Chazelle - Whiplash
Best Original Screenplay
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo - Birdman
Richard Linklater - Boyhood
E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman - Foxcatcher
Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness - The Grand Budapest Hotel
Dan Gilroy - Nightcrawler
Best Foreign Language Film
Ida (Poland)
Leviathan (Russia)
Tangerines (Estonia)
Timbuktu (Mauritania)
Wild Tales (Argentina)
Best Documentary Feature
CITIZENFOUR
Finding Vivian Maier
Last Days in Vietnam
The Salt of the Earth
Virunga
Best Animated Feature
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of Princess Kaguya
Best Original Score
Alexandre Desplat - The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alexandre Desplat - The Imitation Game
Hans Zimmer - Interstellar
Gary Yershon - Mr. Turner
Johan Johannsson - The Theory of Everything
Best Original Song
"Lost Stars" - Begin Again
"Grateful" - Beyond the Lights
"I'm Not Gonna Miss You" - Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me
"Everything is Awesome" - The Lego Movie
"Glory" - Selma
Best Production Design
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Into the Woods
Mr. Turner
Best Cinematography
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ida
Mr. Turner
Unbroken
Best Film Editing
American Sniper
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Whiplash
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Foxcatcher
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy
Best Costume Design
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Inherent Vice
Into the Woods
Maleficent
Mr. Turner
Best Visual Effects
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Guardians of the Galaxy
Interstellar
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Best Sound Editing
American Sniper
Birdman
The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies
Interstellar
Unbroken
Best Sound Mixing
American Sniper
Birdman
Interstellar
Unbroken
Whiplash
Best Animated Short
The Bigger Picture
The Damn Keeper
Feast
Me and My Moulton
Single Life
Best Live-Action Short
Aya
Boogalo and Graham
Butter Lamp
Parvaneh
The Phone Call
Best Documentary Short Subject
Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Joanna
Our Curse
The Reaper
White Earth
Now let's discuss some of these snubs...
First of all, I don't know what the Academy had against David Fincher this year, but they omitted Gone Girl from quite a few categories it belongs in. I would have nominated it for Best Picture as well as nominating Gillian Flynn for Best Adapted Screenplay and Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross for Best Original Score. They won a statue for their Social Network score and the score for Gone Girl is even better. I don't understand it at all.
Moving onto probably the biggest shock is The Lego Movie not being nominated for Best Animated Feature. There is no rhyme or reason to why this was omitted from the category. The animation was seamless, different, and very well put together. The movie itself had a great plot, great writing, and the voice cast was spot on. Big mistake.
I don't personally have much to say on this one because I haven't seen Nightcrawler, but most people out there are upset that Jake Gyllenhaal was not nominated for Best Actor. Some are upset over David Oyelowo not being nominated for Selma, too.
I also will acknowledge a lot of Oscar predictions people had were incorrect. The Fault in Our Stars got absolutely no recognition and many thought it would get Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actress (Shailene Woodley). Other predictions that didn't pan out included Jennifer Anniston for Best Actress in Cake, Kristen Stewart for Supporting Actress in Still Alice, Nightcrawler gaining more nominations than it did, Selma gaining more nominations than it did, and Big Eyes being nominated for anything.
Not excited about this year at all.
