Oscar Nomination Reactions

Oscar nominations were announced this morning, so without further adieu here are the nominees along with some comments for each category.

BEST PICTURE
American Sniper
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

COMMENTS:  The only nominees I haven't seen yet are 'American Sniper', 'The Imitation Game', and 'Selma'.  A bit surprising that they went with eight nominees this year as opposed to nine like the past few years.  The new rules allow for between five and ten nominees, so why there aren't ten I'll never know.  Good to see 'Grand Budapest Hotel' and 'Whiplash' in this list.  It angers me that 'Theory of Everything' was nominated but I'm not surprised that it was.




BEST ACTOR
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

COMMENTS:  Brick Tamland from 'Anchorman' is now an Academy Award nominee.  Let that sink in.  Also surprised to see Bradley Cooper in there for 'American Sniper', this being his third nomination (Best Actor for 'Silver Linings Playbook' and Best Supporting Actor for 'American Hustle').  For now I've only seen two of these performances:  Michael Keaton's and Eddie Redmayne's.  Even though I didn't like 'Birdman' I'd still far prefer that movie getting an Oscar for a performance over 'The Theory of Everything'.   




BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

COMMENTS:  This has more or less been the Best Supporting Actor list all year for various different awards, so this isn't all that surprising.  For now I've seen three of the performances:  Ethan Hawke, Edward Norton, and J.K. Simmons.  Simmons better win.




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

COMMENTS:  Surprising that Marion Cotillard got a nomination since I haven't heard much about the movie she's nominated for.  Oh well.  Only seen two of these performances, those being Felicity Jones in 'Theory of Everything' and Rosamund Pike in 'Gone Girl'.  Nice to see Rosamund Pike get a nomination for 'Gone Girl'.  Well deserved.




BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Laura Dern, Wild
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Meryl Streep, Into The Woods

COMMENTS:  Academy Award nominee Emma Stone.  Let that sink in.  Meryl Streep now breaks her own record with her 19th nomination.




BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Big Hero 6
The BoxTrolls
How To Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

COMMENTS:......wait a minute.....no 'LEGO Movie'??!?!?!?!??!?!?!?! WHAT?!?!?!?!?!? THE BEST REVIEWED ANIMATED FILM OF THE YEAR ISN'T A NOMINEE?!?!?!?!?!?!?! 1,2,3...BOOO!!!!!!  BOOO!!!!!!!!!!  BOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Tangerines
Ida
Leviathan
Timbuktu
Wild Tales

COMMENTS:  I've heard of all of these, but since I haven't seen any I suppose I'll just move on....




BEST DOCUMENTARY - FEATURE
CitizenFour
Finding Vivian Maier
Last Days In Vietnam
The Salt of the Earth
Virunga

COMMENTS:  'CitizenFour' is the only one I've heard the most part.  A bit surprising that 'Life Itself' didn't get nominated, but oh well.




BEST DOCUMENTARY - SHORT SUBJECT
Crisis Veterans Hotline:  Press 1
Joanna
Our Curse
The Reaper (La Parka)
White Earth

COMMENTS:  Never heard of any of these, so let's keep moving on....




BEST SHORT FILM - LIVE ACTION
Aya
Boogaloo and Graham
Butterfly Lamp (La Lampe au Beurre de Yak)
Parvaneh
The Phone Call

COMMENTS:  ....moving on...




BEST SHORT FILM - ANIMATED
The Bigger Picture
The Dam Keper
Feast
Me and My Moulton
A Single Life

COMMENTS:   ...moving...wait!  I've seen 'Feast'.  It was Disney's short in front of 'Big Hero 6'.  It was really good and arguably better than the movie that followed.  Yep, that's all I got for this category.




BEST SOUND EDITING
American Sniper
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
The Hobbit:  The Battle of the Five Armies
Interstellar
Unbroken

COMMENTS:  'Hobbit' actually got a nomination?  Oh.  That's surprising.  




BEST SOUND MIXING
American Sniper
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Interstellar
Unbroken
Whiplash

COMMENTS:  If you know the difference between Sound Mixing and Sound Editing then you're a better person than I'll ever be.




BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Into The Woods
Mr. Turner

COMMENTS:  This is a nice list of nominees.   




BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ida
Mr. Turner
Unbroken

COMMENTS:  I know people are praising 'Birdman''s cinematography but I just didn't see anything special about it.  




BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
Foxcatcher
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy

COMMENTS:  Interesting list of nominees with aliens, a period piece set in a fictitious European country, and a biopic that features Steve Carell wearing a false nose to look more like John du Pont.  




BEST COSTUME DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Inherent Vice
Into The Woods
Maleficent
Mr. Turner

COMMENTS:  Admittedly the costumes were probably the best thing in 'Maleficent'.  Kinda surprised to see 'Inherent Vice' among the nominees.




BEST FILM EDITING
American Sniper
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Whiplash

COMMENTS:  The winner of Best Picture usually also has a Best Film Editing nomination.  So among these five should be your Best Picture winner. 




BEST 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

COMMENTS:  Great list of nominees...except for 'X-Men:  Days of Future Past'.  




BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
The Theory of Everything
Mr. Turner

COMMENTS:  Composer Alexandre Desplat gets double nominated here, for 'Grand Budapest Hotel' and 'Imitation Game'.  Also nice to see Hans Zimmer get a nomination for his 'Interstellar' score. 




BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Lost Stars" - Begin Again
"I'm Not Gonna Miss You" - Glen Campbell:  I'll Be Me
"Everything Is Awesome" - The LEGO Movie
"Glory" - Selma
"Grateful" - Beyond The Lights

COMMENTS:  Well at least 'The LEGO Movie' got a nomination here for "Everything Is Awesome".




BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Paul Thomas Anderson, Inherent Vice
Damien Chazelle, Whiplash
Jason Dean Hall, American Sniper
Anthony McCarten, The Theory of Everything
Graham Moore, The Imitation Game

COMMENTS:  I don't have much to say for this seemingly solid list...except I wish 'Theory of Everything' wasn't among the nominees.  




BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness, The Grand Budapest Hotel
E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman, Foxcatcher
Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and Nicolas Giacobone and Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Richard Linklater, Boyhood

COMMENTS:  Not a whole lot to say about this list either. 




BEST DIRECTOR
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game

COMMENTS:  'Foxcatcher' receiving a Best Director nod but not a Best Picture nod?  That's a bit strange.