Oscars 2015: Full list of nominations

Oscars 2015: Full list of nominations

As a general rule, no film you have seen was nominated for anything. Unless you are a true film geek, you may never even have heard of some of these films. I try to watch every nominee, and I follow the process carefully. I don't go to the festivals any more, but I still read about them. And there's even one in here that I have never heard of!

Best Picture

American Sniper
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

Surprises: many were expecting Foxcatcher to get a nod.

Best Actor

Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

Surprises: Carrell and Cooper over David Oyelowo (Selma), Ralph Fiennes (Budapest) and Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler).

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

Surprise: there is no explaining Hollywood's fascination with Marion Cotillard. There were audible gasps of shock and surprise when her nomination was announced. How the hell did they even think of her? Has anyone even seen this movie? I guess there were no other great choices, other than to give Julianne Moore a second nomination for Maps to the Stars. Julianne is the new Streep in that she seems to get offered every great age-appropriate role before anyone else gets a look. Many people thought Jennifer Aniston would be nominated for Cake, but the movie was both a critical and financial dud, so that didn't help her case.

Best Director

Alexandro G. Iñárritu, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game

Surprises: I didn't see Tyldum on anyone's short list, and Miller on few. Inarritu, Linklater and Anderson were locks. People felt that the fourth and fifth nominations might go to Clint Eastwood (Sniper), Damian Chazelle (Whiplash), Christoper Nolan (Interstellar), or Ava DuVernay (Selma).

Best Animated Feature

Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Surprise: WTF? I wonder if this category includes a typo or miscount or something. Most people thought The Lego Movie would win the award in a runaway vote, but it wasn't even nominated. Can the voters make a write-in? I doubt it because no unnominated film has ever won in any category (But this could easily be the first time if a write-in is permitted.)

Other

Despite a 99% approval rating documented by Rotten Tomatoes, Selma was not nominated for best original screenplay, which it most certainly would have been if the screenwriter had simply used the actual documented conversations between MLK and LBJ instead of creating a fictional Lyndon who seemed to have been based on Mr Burns in The Simpsons. Yes, the real Lyndon could be a monster, and was known to use "the n word." His black chauffeur and a black steward aboard his presidential plane have documented his demeaning attitude toward them and toward black people in general. On the other hand, LBJ's good and bad points are well documented, and this script went far outside the documentation. The script might have made Lyndon seem like a bad guy based on a careful use of things he really did say, but instead chose to create imaginary conversations, and the straw that broke the camel's back was the brief scene in which LBJ seems to be giving the foul J. Edgar Hoover authority to use the MLK sex tape.

Gone Girl showed that Oscar voters aren't thrilled by thrillers. It only garnered one nomination (best actress; Rosamund Pike). No nomination for best picture, director, cinematographer, screenplay, score or editing.

Most people thought Jessica Chastain was a sure supporting actress nominee for A Most Violent Year. I have not seen the movie.

Here are the voting odds if you are curious. Boyhood is an overwhelming favorite to win Best Picture, and Linklater is far ahead of the pack of directors. Julianne Moore, J.K. Simmons and Patricia Arquette are considered locks as well. The only real race in the high profile categories is in the best actor category, which boils down to a two-man battle between Keaton and Redmayne. (No overwhelming favorite has yet emerged for the two screenplay Oscars, if you consider those "high profile.")