The 87th Academy Awards. Nominations Are Here!
Thursday, January 15, 2015 at 9:05AM Straight off the bat the happy shockers are Marion Cotillard for Two Days One Night (edging out Jennifer Aniston), Laura Dern for Wild (where many assumed Jessica Chastain would be), the weird surprise is Bennett Miller in Director for Foxcatcher, our first "lone director" nod since the Academy expanded the Best Picture field. In terrible news there were only two nominations (Best Picture & Song) for the grand Selma... which places it in the unfortunate company of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and The Blind Side. Yikes! In less horrific but still weird disappointing news: Nightcrawler pulled an Into the Wild by doing really well at the guilds but not so much with Oscar.
Oscar had a boner for Birdman with many nominations
Grand Budapest Hotel and Birdman led the nominations with 9 honors each (though I correctly predicted Birdman being shut out of film editing so people will say it will have trouble winning now, statistically). You can see the complete nomination chart here. I'll be spending the day updating the individual charts with polls, stats, and whatnot. So Stay tuned!
I got perfect scores in only four categories this year prediction wise: Picture, Supporting Actor, Cinematography, and Makeup and Hair... though I'm proud of several individual predictions in my 4/5s categories like seeing The Hobbit's omission in Visual Effects and the love for Mr. Turner in a few places and I'm stunned to have gotten 4/5 in the always tricky sound categories. Unfortunately my very worst stat this year 3/5 came in two headline categories: Best Director and Best Actor! And the headline categories are usually the easiest.
How'd you do on your predictions and what was your happiest and saddest moment?
See also: Five Stage of Grief. Oscar Snubs and Why Wes? Why Now?
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Reader Comments (120)
Favorite nominations this morning:
*Diane Warren's "Grateful" (from "Beyond the Lights") getting into best Original Song. Hopefully that'll push more people to check out this wonderful film!
*"The Phone Call" in Best Live Action Short. Loved, loved, loved this. Glad to see Sally Hawkins in some awards-fare again as well!
*Seeing a couple of actors get their second career nods (Ruffalo, Dern, Witherspoon, Cotillard, Knightley) as well as some first-timers (Stone, Pike) and a long return back (Moore, Norton, Hawke).
This GIF sums up my feelings very well when it comes to the acting nominations.
Glad I stuck with Marion Cotillard till the end, going 5/5 for Best Actress. Last minute, I dropped both Amy Adams and Jennifer Aniston - figuring neither really had enough traction or hype to validate a spot.
First, you don't win both the New York and National Society of Film Critics and then NOT get nominated (save poor Sally Hawkins, 2008). But still, Cotillard is an Oscar favorite, and she also delivers amazing work! Glad Oscar voters paid attention.
Amy Adams won the Golden Globe, but against what competition? None of the Comedy/Musical nominees were getting Oscar buzz, so voters went with default and opted for Hollywood Star (though Emily Blunt should have prevailed). Adams also has never been an Oscar nominee UNLESS her entire ensemble is also nominated (The Fighter, Doubt, American Hustle, The Master). Only her first nod, Junebug, is an exception. Big Eyes was Tim Burton's worst film, and full of bad writing (the judge in the courtroom scene was the lamest), and Adams sleepwalked. She's not a strong actress. She is soft and very vulnerable (perhaps why many older male voters like her).
Jennifer Aniston was good in Cake, but who the hell saw it? It released in 1 theater before 2015 and that was it. You can't be America's Sweetheart and get nominated unless people see your movie. Ask Sandra Bullock; had The Blind Side not earned $200 million, Bullock would never have won. Because her performance was only passable. Anison was albeit a little stronger then Bullock, but the movie sucked and again- nobody saw it.
Shittiest Oscar nominations I've seen in my many years of following them. They should be ashamed of themselves at some of this utter crap.
So happy to see Marion Cottillard got her much deserved nomination! :)
Happy that Lost Stars got a song nom as well!
Here's an interesting bit of trivia: In addition to be nominated herself this year, Keira Knightley has worked with 4 of this year's actors nominees before. She worked with Benedict Cumberbatch in Atonement and the Imitation Game, Steve Carell in Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Mark Ruffalo in Begin Again, and Rosamund Pike in Pride and Prejudice.
Rosamund Pike and Reese Witherspoon trivia - not only are they two of this year's Best Actress nominees, but Witherspoon was a producer of Gone Girl, so in effect, Rosamund's boss!
George P -- i actually tried to go see BEYOND THE LIGHTS the other day and I looked it up on moviefone and the nearest theater playing it was something crazy like 500 miles away. LOL. sad I missed it.
Mark -- December 48th release date. LOL. unfortunately hollywood never learns this. and you know why tehy dont learn it? Because Oscar keeps encouraging them. Even though December releaeses didn't score that well in best picture a ton of also rans are december releases so December still takes up a huge chunk of nominations (sigh)
Nat: I feel that this year, there has been a trend away from the Dec releases somewhat. If you look at completion dates as well as festival bows, only Sniper and Selma were really late to the table and Sniper was finished in time for a Nov screening (sS was AMVY, it's problems had more to do with the perception of the film's subject. That film really needed a pre Nov release.).
I hate the Dec glut as much as you do, but that two week holiday period is pretty much captive audience time for movies. It's just too attractive for the bean counters. I would wager that if the Oscars were moved to June (with a May to April qualifying period), we would still see a huge release of films over the holidays trying to capture that money. Not sure how much difference it would make it the type of film released, when. I do think it would bring more quality films into the conversation rather than just hyped films in a crowded market.
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, the Golden Globes Best Actress Drama nominees and Oscar Best Actress nominees have ONLY matched twice: 1995 (Stone, Sarandon, Shue, Streep, Thompson), and 1969 (Bujold, Fonda, Minnelli, Simmons, Smith). So I'm not surprised to see that Cotillard got the nod instead of Aniston.
It took 30 years, but F. Murray Abraham is in a Best Picture nominee again.
Favorite nominations:
-Every single nomination for "The Grand Budapest Hotel."
-"Inherent Vice" for costume design. That's outside-the-box thinking.
-"Lost Stars" for song.
@ YoYo:
Some (like BAFTA) would put Carrell in Supporting. But if you do that, then the film has three co-leads, and they're all supporting.
Other than that: Arquette, borderline, but no fraud; Jones, a lead that feels supporting-ish; Simmons, a supporting role that feels lead-ish...but no fraud.
Bad: No Rene Russo
Sad: No Ralph Fiennes
Mad: No Jake Gyllenhaal
Glad: Marion Cotillard
Relieved: No Clint Eastwood in Best Director
Ludicrous: Robert Duvall in what should have been Alfred Molina's nomination.
Boring: Streep (yes, I love her) in one of her worst nominations. This will only hurt her when she really deserves another nomination.
Shameful: No Tilda Swinton in ANY of her 3 worthy roles. But I have been beating that drum for years and years. I can't go on about her SNUBS anymore. It's heartbreaking.
Fun stuff I noticed upon further study:
-Bradley Cooper's 3rd and 4th nominations came today within a span of two years. He's in the record books now (and his next one will start getting waves of Amy Adams-esque "When will they win?" fatigue, surely.)
-Meryl Streep's 19th.
-Selma joins the ranks of A Serious Man, The Blind White Side and Extremely Arch and Incredibly Trite as BP nominees in the expanded field with only two nods each.
-4 out of the 8 BP nominees are biopics
-Producer Dede Gardner's 3rd BP nod in 4 years.
-29 years later, Oprah Winfrey earns her 2nd nomination.
-Clint Eastwood's 11th nomination.
-Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner 4th and 5th nominations in BP, respectively.
-Jake Gyllenhaal joins the growing ranks of the actors honored at the trifecta of GG/SAG/BFCA but not Oscar.
-Mr. Turner becomes Mike Leigh's second most nominated film with 4, behind Secrets & Lies' 5 nominations back in '96. Mr. Turner also got all the exact same nominations as Anna Karenina two years ago, including Jacqueline Durran for Costumes as well.
-Marion Cotillard, Reese Witherspoon and Keira Knightley's second nominations.
-Cotillard's nomination is officially the first nomination for a Dardenne Bros movie despite a much acclaimed filmography and many submissions into the Foreign Language Film category.
-12 years later, this is Julianne Moore's 5th nomination.
-Ethan Hawke's 4th nomination and now he pairs his two screenplay nods with two supporting actor nods.
-Edward Norton's first nomination since 1998.
-Alejandro González Iñárritu now holds the rare distinction of having all five of his consecutive first films be nominated for an Oscar. From Amores Perros to Birdman, they've all received at least one nomination.
-Paul Thomas Anderson's 6th nomination. He now has two in each writing category to go along with his two extra ones for TWWB, which makes 6 total.
-Despite extensive critical followings and notable filmographies, these are Wes Anderson and Richard Linklater's first BP nominations.
-Scott Rudin's 7th nomination.
-Duvall's 7th nomination as well. At 84, he is also by far this year's older acting nominee. In that same category, Ethan Hawke is the youngest nominee, at 44.
-At 26, Emma Stone is this year's youngest acting nominee.
-23 years later, Laura Dern is nominated for her 2nd Oscar.
-After A Cat in Paris and Chico and Rita in 2011 and Ernest & Celestine and The Wind Rises in 2013, this is the third time two foreign non-British animated films have been nominated together.
-Laika is now 3/3 in getting Animated Feature nominations.
-All three of Bennet Miller's non-documentary fiction films have now received either Director or Picture nominations.
-Costume Designer nods:
Milena Canonero's 9th
Colleen Atwood's 11th (in 20 years)
Anna B. Sheppard's 3rd (despite extensive filmography)
Jacqueline Durran's 4th (all for British projects)
Mark Bridges' 2nd (despite extensive filmography)
-Unbroken is Roger Deakins' 12th nomination in 20 years. Also 3rd consecutive from 2012.
-Emmanuel Lubezki's hits lucky 7 as well, 4 of which have been for films by Mexican directors.
-Hans Zimmer's 10th nomination. His only win was 20 years ago now.
-Alexandre Desplat's 8th nomination in 8 years. All but one have been for BP nominees. This is the second time he's had three consecutive nominations, except this year it's a double.
-Torill Kove's 3rd nomination for Animated Short.
-Wim Wenders' 3rd nomination for Documentary Feature.
-Diane Warren's 7th nomination in Original Song. First nod was 27 years ago, last was 13 years ago.
-Visual Effects: First nomination for the X-Men series. First Middle Earth film to be snubbed, making it 5/6. First year since 2007 that there's not a BP nominee.
-Sounds Editing + Sound Mixing match up 4/5 except for The Hobbit in the former and Whiplash in the latter.
I think one of the reasons Fiennes didn't register in lead is due to the brilliant use of the actors in GBH. Everyone, regardless of the size of their role, feels like a lead if only for a few seconds as they all get their moment (even the elevator operator registers as a distinct character--so many films don't allow that from the non-listed actors).
If you want to see wasted talent, watch for Grace Zabriskie (actually everyone except RDJ and Duvall) in The Judge. Fiennes is the center of GBH, but it feels so much like an ensemble rather than a lead and supports. I would have loved to see him score a nom but with all the other nominated actors emoting all over the celluloid in solo scenes, it's not that hard to understand.
What I do not understand is the love for Arquette's performance?? What is that woman doing that no other capable actress could pull off? Because she had the 12 years available? And her Oscar Moment at the end struck me as very selfish and overindulgent. Was I supposed to care?
Patryk- Streep being nominated for a musical at her age is pretty awesome! She kills in both of her numbers and still surprises. Worst nomination for me is still Music of the Heart.
Just saw American Sniper, Into the woods and 2 days one night this week.
Meryl is the best thing in ITW but I predicted a snub cos she has been nominated SO MANY times. Still love her to bits though.
Marion - I predicted this. The Academy has many foreign members and film critics and she was brilliant in 2D, 1N and The Immigrant. Julianne, though, SHOULD have her first Oscar in the wonderful Still Alice.
American Sniper - one of the worst films I've seen in ages. This is the sort of rightwing, conservative, kill those nasty muslims - films that would have Charlton Heston and John Wayne dancing in their graves. Cooper is awful in this -and I do love my beautiful blue eyed beefcake - but truly awful. Thank God Eastwood didn't get nommed - but neither did Affleck for Argo and the film won Best Pic.
Are there enough voters who want to send a message to the muslim terrorists and give this piece of rightwing crap an Oscar for Best Pic? Let's pray NOT!
"The Lego Movie" was more than just a feature length commercial.
My happiest moments: Boyhood, Grand Budapest, Whiplash and Foxcatcher all did well. Ida made it for cinematography, and Captain America is an Oscar nominee!
Saddest about the Fiennes omission. I also do not understand how Foxcatcher did not make the BP line-up... but it joins classics like They Shoot Horses Now?, Bullets over Broadway and Thelma and Louise that were inexplicably omitted from the BP line-up despite their other nominations, so it's all good. And Life Itself really deserved a nomination... I've seen Virunga and Finding Vivien Maier (much more a commercial than The Lego Movie) and they do not compare.
David Fincher's last four films have received nominations for the lead star. In 3 out of those 4 cases, the title character....Gone Girl, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The fourth of course is The Social Network.
Bennett Miller's three feature films all had a lead and supporting performance nominee (Hoffman-Keener, Pitt-Hill, Carell-Ruffalo).