The academy’s less than eclectic choices are boring, a little stupid, and definitely baffling. Here's my thoughts on the nominees this year.
Gone GIrl was a little surprisingly shut out (not even a nomination for adapted screenplay by Gillian Flynn or score for Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross—two most pundits predicted to get in), with Fincher walking away without a nom. It was an outside chance, but one can hope. With Christopher Nolan out of the race for Interstellar for months (despite almost pathetic amounts of shameless campaigning), Fincher was my bet.
Interstellar’s four nominations aren’t satisfying but it’ll do, I made peace with it being locked out in November. The “outside shot” film was between Interstellar and Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper, and the academy chose the latter. And while many of my favorite movies this year visually didn’t get in—Hoyte Van Hoytema for Interstellar, Jeff Cronenweth for Gone Girl, and Robert Elswit for both Nightcrawler and Inherent Vice—Ida fucking deserves it.
The biggest shocks, if you’ll forgive the hyperbole, come in two smaller categories: documentary and animated film. Box office and critical smash The Lego Movie got a major snub despite being a favorite many (it was on 36 top ten lists for the year). This gives a shot to the lesser seen but totally excellent The Tale of Princess Kugaya (review forthcoming) to win, and I hope it does. The other is the head-turning absence of Roger Ebert documentary Life Itself.
A small thing to note is Foxcatcher’s Bennet Miller is the first director to get a best director nomination without that film receiving a nomination for best picture. since expanding to 10 nominations.
Other small things: Nice to see Laura Dern in for Wild and Damien Chazelle for Whiplash.
I’m let down, but not surprised, that Tony Gilroy’s subversive and observed thriller Nightcrawler couldn’t get the support for a Jake Gyllenhaal for best actor or a best picture nomination. Especially when lower rate fair like The Imitation Game is in the ranks for best actor, best director, and best picture. It’s this year’s The King’s Speech so it was bound to happen.
Most pleasant is that Wes Anderson’s delightful but melancholic The Grand Budapest Hotel tied Birdman for the most nominated movie, with nine total. And I have a stupid hope Anderson might steal director from Boyhood writer and director Richard Linklater. The category is Linklater’s to lose.
I’ll post my predictions for the oscars in the coming weeks, and while I disagree with many of the choices, I wish a congratulations to the nominees for the 2015 Oscars. The Full list is below.
The 2015 Oscar Nominations.
Best Picture
Boyhood
The Imitation Game
Birdman
The Theory of Everything
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Whiplash
Selma
American Sniper
Best Actress
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Reese Witherspoon, Wild
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
Best Actor
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
Best Supporting Actor
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Edward Norton, Birdman
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Emma Stone, Birdman
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods
Laura Dern, Wild
Best Director
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game
Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher
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 Original Screenplay
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler
Dan Futterman and E. Max Frye, Foxcatcher
Best Foreign 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
Film Editing
American Sniper
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Whiplash
Best 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 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 Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman
Dick Pope, Mr. Turner
Robert D. Yeoman, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ryszard Lenczewski and Łukasz Żal, Ida
Roger Deakins, Unbroken
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
Makeup and Hairstyling
Guardians of the Galaxy
Foxcatcher
The Grand Budapest Hotel
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
Sound Editing
American Sniper
Interstellar
Unbroken
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Birdman
Sound Mixing
American Sniper
Birdman
Unbroken
Interstellar
Whiplash
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
Short Film, Live Action
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)
Short Film, Animated
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)
Documentary Short Subject
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