I’ll have plenty to say in a bit, but the two biggest surprises of the morning for me are:
1. The strength of the American Sniper campaign: I was totally blown away by the amount of nominations that it racked up. My review will be out soon on it having caught it at an advanced screening so you’ll see my problems with it (in five sentences of course). But this late campaign obviously worked to get it into Best Picture and, inexplicably, Best Actor.
2. The LEGO Movie not nominated for Best Animated Feature: Seriously? It was the highest-grossing animated film of the year, one of the most critically-lauded films period, and it can’t get a nomination? This was one of the biggest snubs since I’ve been following the Oscars. Thanks to @ditzkoff for summing up this omission perfectly – just excellent:
Everything not awesome. pic.twitter.com/4AFEyYVRhh
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) January 15, 2015
More on all of that later – check out the nominations below for all categories.
Best Picture
American Sniper
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash
Best Director
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Birman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Bennet Miller, Foxcatcher
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game
Best Actor
Steve Carrel, Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
How Did I Do: 3/5 (4/5 with Alternate)
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
Best Supporting Actor
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Laura Dern, Wild
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emmas Stone, Birdman
Meryl Streep, Into The Woods
Best Original Screenplay
Birdman
Boyhood
Foxcatcher
The Grand Budpest Hotel
Nightcrawler
Best Adapted Screenplay
American Sniper
The Imitation Game
Inherent Vice
The Theory of Everything
Wild
Best Foreign-Language Film
Ida
Leviathan
Tangerines
Timbuktu
Wild Tales
Best Documentary Feature
Citizenfour
Finding Vivian Maier
Last Days in Vietnam
The Salt of the Earth
Virunga
Best Animated Feature
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How To Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
Best Original Score
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Mr. Turner
The Theory of Everything
Best Original Song
“Lost Stars”, Begin Again
“Grateful”, Beyond The Lights
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You”, Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me
“Everything Is Awesome”, The LEGO Movie
“Glory”, Selma
Best Cinematography
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ida
Mr. Turner
Unbroken
Best Film Editing
American Sniper
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Whiplash
Best Production Design
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Into The Woods
Mr. Turner
Best Costume Design
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Inherent Vice
Into The Woods
Maleficent
Mr. Turner
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Foxcatcher
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy
Best Visual Effects
Captain America: Winter Solider
Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes
Guardians of the Galaxy
Interstellar
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Best Sound Editing
American Sniper
Birdman
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Interstellar
Unbroken
Best Sound Mixing
American Sniper
Birdman
Interstellar
Unbroken
Whiplash
Best Documentary Short Subject
Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Joanna
Our Curse
The Reaper
White Earth
Best Short Film – Animated
The Bigger Picture
The Dam Keeper
Feast
Me and My Moulton
A Single Life
Best Short Film – Live Action
Aya
Boogaloo and Graham
Butter Lamp
Parvaneh
The Phone Call
