Let's get right down to it.
Best Actor
Steve Carell- Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper- American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch- The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton- Birdman
Eddie Redmayne- The Theory of Everything.
Jake Gyllenhaal didn't get an Oscar nomination for his tour de force performance in Nightcrawler, despite it being the best performance of his career. Instead Bradley Cooper got in for American Sniper. I should have known that Eastwood making his first (allegedly) non mediocre film in years would have benefits. I guess I just question if we truly needed a Chris Kyle movie in the first place, since he was kind of an asshole, but I should probably see the movie before judging. I still think Gyllenhaal should have been a contender for WINNING. Hell, you can even keep Cooper and move Carell to Supporting actor if that's how it's gotta be, but there's no excuse for not nominating Jake! Hell, you could even replace Bradley Cooper with Ralph Fiennes for Grand Budapest Hotel. But seriously, I'm going to overhype Gyllenhaal's performance right now. It ranks up their with Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver. That's right! Taxi Driver. It's one of the greatest performances of all time and no Oscar snub is going to change that. Now do yourself a favor and see Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler. He's never given such a commanding performance.
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Jake Gyllenhaal snubbed for Nightcrawler
Bradley Cooper squeezing his way in for American Sniper
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
Marion Cotillard in Two Days, One Night
This was surprising but I'm okay with this. I haven't seen Two Days, One Night yet but I love Marion Cotillard and everyone who's seen it was hoping against hope that she was nominated. I knew Aniston was in danger but I figured Amy Adams would be the replacement. I hope the awards hype will encourage Jennifer Aniston to do more serious roles (like The Good Girl) even though she didn't get in. But all that really matters is that my gone girl (get it, hahahahah) Rosamund Pike got in. We love you, Amazing Amy. If you haven't seen Gone Girl, go see it now and you'll understand how amazing Rosamund Pike truly is.
Rosamund Pike: the face of perfection
Best Supporting Actor
Robert Duvall- The Judge
Ethan Hawke- Boyhood
Edward Norton- Birdman
Mark Ruffalo- Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons- Whiplash
Robert Duvall, the filler slot
Well, it's the exact same thing as SAG and the Golden Globes. Only Duvall's nomination was in the air since it was a film that nobody liked and nobody saw. But he somehow made it in regardless. Though it's not a surprise, it's nice seeing Ethan Hawke get his first acting nomination in 13 years and Edward Norton's first in 16 years. And I'm glad Mark Ruffalo continues to get more recognition. I would have been happy seeing Josh Brolin getting in instead of Duvall or Steve Carell getting a supporting nomination for Foxcatcher instead of leading (making room for Jake Gyllenhaal or Ralph Fiennes). But deserved or not, I suppose it's nice that Robert Duvall is getting what could very well be his final nomination since he's 84 now. I just question how deserved it really is.
Josh Brolin's underrated performance in Inherent Vice
Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette- Boyhood
Laura Dern- Wild
Keira Knightley- The Imitation Game
Emma Stone- Birdman
Meryl Streep- Into the Woods
So in news that surprises no one, Meryl Streep gets her 19th Oscar nomination but as a fun fact, this is only her 4th time being nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category, so that's something.
Rene Russo in Nightcrawler
In news that is surprising, Laura Dern got nominated for Wild over Jessica Chastain for A Most Violent Year and Rene Russo in Nightcrawler. My love for Nightcrawler had me pulling for Rene Russo who hasn't had a performance this good in years and at 60 years old, would have gotten her first Oscar nomination.. I mean Laura Dern was pretty good so I'm not upset over this but I would have preferred Russo.
Best Picture
American Sniper
Birdman
Boyhood
Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash
Whiplash's poster, highlighting the critical acclaim
So the Academy did 8 instead of 9 this year, huh? Alright then. I understand the reason for making it between 5 and 10, that way filler nominees don't get in, but I almost wish it would just be 10. I'd be totally fine with seeing films like Gone Girl, Foxcatcher and Nightcrawler get Best Picture nominations if it meant a few not quite as deserving films had to be nominated alongside them.
By the way, it's quite a surprise that none of those three got in. I at least thought Foxcatcher got a shot since it got a directing nom (see below). Selma's nod is strange since it only got one other nomination (for best original song). And American Sniper got in which isn't really a surprise anymore since it suddenly built up momentum in the last couple of weeks. But Whiplash got nominated so that's pretty awesome. For a time, I thought it was only going to get away with a Best Supporting Actor nod but it got 5 nominations.
A lot of articles are STILL mentioning how Unbroken got snubbed even though it stopped being a contender the second it got a 50% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Come on, it's over. Go home.
Nightcrawler's poster, also highlighting the critical acclaim
Best Director
Wes Anderson- The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alejandro González Iñárritu- Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Richard Linklater- Boyhood
Bennett Miller- Foxcatcher
Morten Tyldum- The Imitation Game
Well this was weird. Bennett Miller got a nomination but his film wasn't nominated for Best Picture. While that's happened before, it's never happened since the best picture nominee number got increased. It's too bad since Miller was so close to being the first director to have his first 3 films nominated for best picture. Still, I'm happy he got in, since I figured Ava Duvernay or Clint Eastwood would take that fifth slot.
Wes Anderson got his first directing nomination for a very non-Oscar baity film so that's awesome. Tyldum got nominated for The Imitation Game which is cool but I would have preferred seeing David Fincher get nominated for his amazing work in Gone Girl or even Dan Gilroy for Nightcrawler (not that he was ever a contender).
Best Original Screenplay
Birdman
Boyhood
Foxcatcher
Grand Budapest Hotel
Nightcrawler
No real surprises here but I'm glad Nightcrawler was included.
Best Adapted Screenplay
American Sniper
The Imitation Game
Inherent Vice
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash
Inherent Vice getting in over Gone Girl was surprising, a film I personally would have picked to win the Oscar. But it's cool that Paul Thomas Anderson gets his 6th Oscar nomination. I just can't believe Gone Girl didn't get in. I would have replaced ANY of those films for Gone Girl.
Best Original Score
The Grand Budapest Hotel- Alexandre Desplat
The Imitation Game- Alexadre Desplat
Interstellar- Hans Zimmer
Mr. Turner- Gary Yershon
The Theory of Everything- Johann Johannsson
Hey, where the hell is Gone Girl? To the Academy's credit, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross won for The Social Network but then they weren't even nominated for their equally strong score in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and now they've been snubbed for Gone Girl. Just listen to it.
But on the positive side, Mr. Turner's score got nominated which shows how a movie with very little Oscar buzz can still have it's technical merits recognized by the Academy.
Oh and The Lego Movie wasn't even nominated for Best Animated Feature. What's up with that???
So yeah, these weren't too bad, I guess. Actually in a lot of ways, they were pretty good, but the Nightcrawler and Gone Girl snubs are enough to make me really upset. Some might say that award shows are stupid and don't matter and they're kinda right but I still disagree. Award shows bring attention to great movies. I doubt I would have seen A Better Life if its lead actor Demian Bichir didn't get a surprise Oscar nomination, but I'm really happy I did. Many more people will probably see Two Days, One Night now. If Nightcrawler got more recognition, like a Best Actor nomination, I'm certain it would have gotten a lot more attention to make up for its not very impressive box office performance. So that's why I'm upset. The award itself is nice and all but it's the power the award has that matters. So regardless of its number of oscar nominations, go see Nightcrawler and Gone Girl. Just do it.
So yeah, these weren't too bad, I guess. Actually in a lot of ways, they were pretty good, but the Nightcrawler and Gone Girl snubs are enough to make me really upset. Some might say that award shows are stupid and don't matter and they're kinda right but I still disagree. Award shows bring attention to great movies. I doubt I would have seen A Better Life if its lead actor Demian Bichir didn't get a surprise Oscar nomination, but I'm really happy I did. Many more people will probably see Two Days, One Night now. If Nightcrawler got more recognition, like a Best Actor nomination, I'm certain it would have gotten a lot more attention to make up for its not very impressive box office performance. So that's why I'm upset. The award itself is nice and all but it's the power the award has that matters. So regardless of its number of oscar nominations, go see Nightcrawler and Gone Girl. Just do it.
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