'Boyhood' and 'Birdman' lead this year's Oscar nominations
Posted Thursday, January 15, 2015 at 6:22 AM Central
Last updated Thursday, January 15, 2015 at 5:15 PM Central
by John Couture
It's a "B"eautiful day, so don't "B"e "B"ashful out there, especially if you're an Oscar-caliber film that features a word beginning with "B" in its title.
It was an extraordinarily good day for Oscar contenders Birdman, Boyhood and The Grand Budapest Hotel. All three films were nominated for Best Picture and were well represented in the top acting categories as well.
Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel led the way with nine nominations apiece, while Boyhood fresh off its triumph at the Golden Globes snagged a respectable six nominations. But, the nominations weren't free from controversy and curveballs that will keep us talking between now and February 22.
Despite winning the Best Picture Oscar last year for 12 Years a Slave, there were fresh cries of racism when critically-acclaimed film Selma seemed to be slighted with only two nominations. In particular, David Oyelowo's snub for Best Actor for portraying civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. seems a bit odd.
But this wasn't the only oddity of the nominations. Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs had a rather unfortunate flub during the nominations. In naming Dick Pope as a nominee for Best Cinematographer, she mispronounced his last name as "poop." That quickly gave way to the litany of "Dick Poop" jokes and memes on social media and beyond. You have to wonder if host Neil Patrick Harris was taking notes and whether we will see a plethora of "Poop" jokes at this year's Oscars.
Another snub was in the Best Animated Film category where a nomination for The Lego Movie seemed a foregone conclusion. It wasn't though and when the nominations were finished The Lego Movie director and co-writer Phil Lord seemed to take the slight in stride. In fact, he celebrated the snub appropriately like only the director of The Lego Movie could.
It's okay. Made my own! pic.twitter.com/kgyu1GRHGR
— philip lord (@philiplord) January 15, 2015
The lead acting categories had a surprise nomination each. Amy Adams, fresh off her Golden Globe win for Best Actress - Comedy or Musical, failed to snag a Best Actress nomination. Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard grabbed a surprise Best Actress nomination for her role in Two Days, One Night.
In the Best Actor category, Bradley Cooper snagged his third Best Actor nomination in a row for American Sniper, despite that films lack of any Golden Globe nominations. The aforementioned David Oyelowo and Jake Gyllenhaal were left holding the short straws when all of the nominations in this highly contested category were announced.
Overall, it was an odd year that saw Interstellar snag five nominations in the technical awards, but not a single consideration in the top categories. When the smoke clears on February 22, my best guess is that we will see a lot of parity with a number of films taking home four to five Oscars each.
The 87th Annual Academy Awards will be broadcast live on ABC on February 22. The evening's festivities will be presided over by Neil Patrick Harris, which is fortunate because he's demonstrated that he's pretty adept at handling things when the proverbial "Poop" hits the fan.
The full nominations are listed below.
Best Picture
- Boyhood
- Birdman
- The Imitation Game
- Selma
- The Theory of Everything
- The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Whiplash
- American Sniper
Actor In A Leading Role
- Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
- Michael Keaton, Birdman
- Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
- Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
- Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Actress In A Leading Role
- Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
- Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
- Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
- Reese Witherspoon, Wild
- Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Actor In A Supporting Role
- Robert Duvall, The Judge
- Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
- Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
- J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
- Edward Norton, Birdman
Actress In A Supporting Role
- Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
- Emma Stone, Birdman
- Laura Dern, Wild
- Meryl Streep, Into the Woods
- Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Directing
- Alejandro Inarritu, Birdman
- Richard Linklater, Boyhood
- Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher
- Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game
Original Screenplay
- Alejandro Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr., Armando Bo, Birdman
- Richard Linklater, Boyhood
- E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman, Foxcatcher
- Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness, The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler
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
Animated Feature Film
Art Direction
- Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pinnock, The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana Macdonald, The Imitation Game
- Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis, Interstellar
- Dennis Gassner, Anna Pinnock, Into the Woods
- Suzie Davies, Charlotte Watts, Mr. Turner
Cinematography
- Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman
- Robert Yeoman, The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Lukasz Zal, Ryszard Lenczewski, Ida
- Dick Pope, Mr. Turner
- Roger Deakins, Unbroken
Costume Design
- Milena Canonero, The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Mark Bridges, Inherent Vice
- Colleen Atwood, Into the Woods
- Anna B. Sheppard, Jane Clive, Maleficent
- Jacqueline Durran, Mr. Turner
Documentary Feature
Documentary Short Subject
- Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
- Joanna
- Our Curse
- The Reaper (La Parka)
- White Earth
Film Editing
- Joel Cox, Gary D. Roach, American Sniper
- Sandra Adair, Boyhood
- Barney Pilling, The Grand Budapest Hotel
- William Goldenberg, The Imitation Game
- Tom Cross, Whiplash
Foreign Language Film
- (Poland), Ida
- (Russia), Leviathan
- (Estonia), Tangerines
- (Mauritania), Timbuktu
- (Argentina), Wild Tales
Makeup
- Bill Corso, Dennis Liddiard, Foxcatcher
- Frances Hannon, Mark Coulier, The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou, David White, Guardians of the Galaxy
Music (Original Score)
- Alexandre Desplat, The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Alexandre Desplat, The Imitation Game
- Hans Zimmer, Interstellar
- Gary Yershon, Mr. Turner
- Johann Johannsson, The Theory of Everything
Music (Original Song)
- 'Everything is Awesome' by Shawn Patterson, The Lego Movie
- 'Glory' by John Stephens, Lonnie Lynn, Selma
- 'Grateful' by Diane Warren, Beyond the Lights
- 'I'm Not Gonna Miss You' by Glen Campbell, Julian Raymond, Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me
- 'Lost Stars' by Gregg Alexander, Danielle Brisebois, Begin Again
Short Film (Animated)
- The Bigger Picture
- The Dam Keeper
- Feast
- Me and My Moulton
- A Single Life
Short Film (Live Action)
- Aya
- Boogaloo and Graham
- Butter Lamp (La Lampe au Beurre de Yak)
- Parvaneh
- The Phone Call
Sound Editing
- Alan Robert Murray, Bub Asman, American Sniper
- Martin Hernandez, Aaron Glascock, Birdman
- Brent Burge, Jason Canovas, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
- Richard King, Interstellar
- Becky Sullivan, Andrew DeCristofaro, Unbroken
Sound Mixing
- John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, Walt Martin, American Sniper
- Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montano, Thomas Varga, Birdman
- Gary A. Rizzo, Gregg Landaker, Mark Weingarten, Interstellar
- Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montano, David Lee, Unbroken
- Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins, Thomas Curley, Whiplash
Visual Effects
- Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill, Dan Sudick, Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett, Erik Winquist, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
- Stephane Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner, Paul Corbould, Guardians of the Galaxy
- Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter, Scott Fisher, Interstellar
- Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie, Cameron Waldbauer, X-Men: Days of Future Past
The 87th Annual Academy Awards will be held Sunday, Feb. 22. The awards ceremony will be hosted by Neil Patrick Harris.
The nominations were announced early this morning in Los Angeles. It was the first time all categories were announced live. Alfonso Cuarón and J.J. Abrams announced the nominees in the following categories: Animated Feature Film, Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject, Film Editing, Original Song, Production Design, Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Visual Effects.
Chris Pine and Cheryl Boone Isaacs unveiled the nominations for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Cinematography, Costume Design, Directing, Foreign Language Film, Makeup and Hairstyling, Original Score, Adapted Screenplay, Original Screenplay and Best Picture.