87th Academy Awards Nominations List

The producers, directors, actors and all the other members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have spoken. The nominations have been announced for the Oscars! The awards were announced by J.J. Abrams, Alfonso Cuaron, Chris Pine & President of the Academy Cheryl Boone earlier this morning and will be awarded statues at the 87th Academy Awards, which will be aired on ABC on February 20th and hosted by America’s favorite triple threat Neil Patrick Harris. Now, here are the major awards, followed shortly by commentary on what was snubbed and what the frontrunners are;

Best Adapted Screenplay:

1. American Sniper
2. The Imitation Game
3. Inherent Vice
4. The Theory of Everything
5. Whiplash

Best Original Screenplay:

1. Grand Budapest Hotel
2.  Foxcatcher
3. Nightcrawler
4. Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtues of Ignorance)
5. Boyhood 

Best Supporting Actress:

1. Keira Knightly – The Imitation Game
2. Laura Dern – Wild
3. Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
4. Emma Stone – Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtues of Ignorance)
5. Meryl Streep – Into the Woods

Best Supporting Actor:

1. Robert Duvall – The Judge
2. Ethan Hawke – Boyhood
3. Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher
4. Edward Norton – Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtues of Ignorance)
5. J.K. Simmons – Whiplash

Best Actress:

1. Marion Cottillard – Two Days, Two Nights
2. Julianne Moore – Still Alice
3. Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl
4. Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything
5. Reese Witherspoon – Wild

Best Actor:

1. Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game
2. Bradley Cooper – American Sniper
3. Steve Carell – Foxcatcher
4. Michael Keaton – Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtues of Ignorance)
5. Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything

Best Director:

1. Richard Linklater – Boyhood
2. Alejandro G. Iñárritu – Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtues of Ignorance)
3. Bennett Miller – Foxcatcher
4. Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel
5. Morten Tyldum – The Imitation Game

Best Picture:

1. American Sniper
2. Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtues of Ignorance)
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel
4. Boyhood
5. The Imitation Game
6. Selma
7. Theory of Everything
8. Whiplash

A full list with further nominees can be found at the Oscars.go.com. In terms of the nominees overall, there are a few surprises, yet the film list here ultimately seems like the usual bout of Oscar predictability. Grand Budapest Hotel getting so much attention was a surprise given it’s March release date and the Academy’s usual pension for nominating more recently released and typical Oscar fair, represented through biopics like Theory of Everything and war dramas like American Sniper. Still, choices like snubbings like Gone Girl for Best Adapted Screenplay/Director, The LEGO Movie for Best Animated Feature, Jake Gyllenhaal for Best Actor in Nightcrawler or Selma getting any sort of other nominations really shows how biased and short sided the Academy can be. There are also plenty of undeserved nominations, particularly most of the non-Bradley Cooper nominations for American Sniper and any of the music or sound nominations that the horribly balanced auditory mess of Interstellar. Plus, there’s a distinctly disappointing lack of diversity to this year’s list of nominees, with every actor or actress in the major categories being white. Hell, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is the only director nominated to not be white.

As for who could be frontrunners, it seems like Boyhood has been the darling of the season particularly following the Golden Globes. Expect it to receive Best Picture, Supporting Actress and Director. Best Actor is a bit of a toss up between Eddie Redmayne and Michael Keaton, who have both received much love for their performances. I’d also expect Julianne Moore and J.K. Simmons for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor respectively. In terms of screenplay, Birdman has received much love, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Boyhood stole that and Adapted Screenplay could easily go to something of textbook Oscar bait like The Theory of Everything or an underdog like Whiplash.

What did you think of The Academy Awards? What got snubbed? What deserves the win? Post in the comments below!

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