It is that time of year once again. Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Oscar Season. By now the dust will have settled on last year’s Oscar debates just in time for them to begin all over again. It is, by all accounts, another stellar year for film and few could argue with most of the selections made here.
In terms of the films competing for Best Picture, few will be surprised to find Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Birdman in the running. It is nice, however, to see Damien Chazelle’s masterful Whiplash making an appearance, although one (reluctantly) suspects that Whiplash might have to settle for a well-deserved Supporting Actor Oscar.
Courtesy of: Fox Searchlight
For directing, it is a real pleasure to find Wes Anderson in the mix having only been nominated for writing thus far in his career. Bennett Miller is perhaps the biggest surprise; while by no means undeserving, the absence of Selma‘s Ava DuVernay is felt and would have broken up the male-dominated pool. It would have been nice to see Damien Chazelle acknowledged for Whiplash‘s virtuoso direction, and one cannot help but speculate that if Interstellar deserved a big nomination it probably deserved it here for Christopher Nolan.
Selma‘s absence is a bewildering one that is felt elsewhere, most prominently in the Best Actor category where David Oyelowo should have surely featured. Timothy Spall is also left out of that race for his majestic turn as Mr. Turner in Mike Leigh’s awards-worthy biopic and, while it was a long shot, there must have been a small part of us all who wanted to see Jake Gyllenhaal rewarded for his menacing turn in Nightcrawler. There are no real complaints with the other acting categories; Marion Cotillard’s nomination is welcomed after her neglect at the Golden Globes, and the supporting categories are as good as locked up with Patricia Arquette and J.K. Simmons.
Courtesy of: Warner Bros
The biggest upset of the announcements has to be the omission of The LEGO Movie for best animated feature. One wonders if its live action sequence made it ineligible; if so, it’s a real shame. The Book of Life probably deserved a shot also. That being said, it’s very pleasing to see Song of the Sea, the latest animated feature from the team behind Oscar-nominated The Secret of Kells, and Studio Ghibli’s The Tale of the Princess Kaguya both receive nods from the Academy.
In the writing categories – otherwise known as the if-we-were-braver-you-might-have-got-Picture categories – the results are rather unsurprising, however it would have been nice to see more left-field films like Frank, Calvary, or even 22 Jump Street acknowledged here. Paul Thomas Anderson follows The Master with yet more Oscar neglect as Inherent Vice fails to find some much-deserved love; it’s not worth panicking just yet though, PTA has an Oscar in his future, and as long as he continues producing masterpieces he is good with us!
Courtesy of: 20th Century Fox
There’s more scrutiny to be had in the Best Adapted Screenplay category with the no-show for Gillian Flynn’s outstanding Gone Girl script. Looking at the other nominees Anthony McCarten has had 12 nods for The Theory of Everything with no wins, indicating the script is being a tad swept up (no offence to the man and his clear talent); Graham Moore also follows suit with The Imitation Game, achieving 14 nominations but just two wins (somewhat deservedly some may say). However, Gillian Flynn has by far and away been cleaning up in the Best Writing categories this year with 26 nominations, 15 of which are wins so it seems a crying shame she misses out.
Nevertheless here’s to another brilliant year for cinema. Prepare your arguments, share them with us, and then sit back and enjoy another host of cinematic splendor. Film: it’s the gift that keeps on giving…
Courtesy of: 20th Century Fox
Best Picture
American Sniper
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash
Best Director
Birdman — Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Boyhood — Richard Linklater
Foxcatcher — Bennett Miller
The Grand Budapest Hotel — Wes Anderson
The Imitation Game — Morten Tyldum
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Steve Carell — Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper — American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch — The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton — Birdman
Eddie Redmayne — The Theory of Everything
Best 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
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Robert Duvall — The Judge
Ethan Hawke — Boyhood
Edward Norton — Birdman
Mark Ruffalo — Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons — Whiplash
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Patricia Arquette — Boyhood
Laura Dern — Wild
Keira Knightley — The Imitation Game
Emma Stone — Birdman
Meryl Streep — Into the Woods
Best Animated Feature
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
Foreign Language Film
Ida — Poland
Leviathan — Russia
Tangerines — Estonia
Timbuktu — Mauritania
Wild Tales — Argentina
Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
American Sniper — Jason Hall
The Imitation Game — Graham Moore
Inherent Vice — Paul Thomas Anderson
The Theory of Everything — Anthony McCarten
Whiplash — Damien Chazelle
Best Writing (Original Screenplay)
Birdman — Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr., and Armando Bo
Boyhood — Richard Linklater
Foxcatcher — E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman
The Grand Budapest Hotel — screenplay by Wes Anderson, story by Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness
Nightcrawler — Dan Gilroy
Cinematography
Birdman — Emmanuel Lubezki
The Grand Budapest Hotel — Robert Yeoman
Ida — Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski
Mr. Turner — Dick Pope
Unbroken — Roger Deakins
Music 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
Visual Effects
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Guardians of the Galaxy
Interstellar
X-Men: Days of Future Past
What did you make of the nominations? Let us know in the comments below!