The nominations for the 86th annual Academy Awards were announced this morning. Who got recognized? Who got snubbed? What does it all mean? Here are our immediate reactions to this year's nominees:
Three years ago, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences changed their rules for how many Best Picture nominees there could be any given year. To be eligible for a nomination, at least 5% of Academy voters have to rank a given film at #1 on their ballot, and depending on how many films achieve that marker, there can be as few as 5 and as many as 10 nominees. It seems like such a specific rule would yield wildly different numbers of nominees every year. And yet, for the third year in a row, there are a total of nine nominees. The most surprising inclusion this time around? "Dallas Buyers Club", a film that was long admired primarily for its performances, but has picked up a groundswell of support in recent weeks. The most surprising omission? "Saving Mr. Banks", the clash-of-the-titans tale about Walt Disney and author P.L. Travers.
Despite heavy competition, all four stars of "American Hustle" (Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence) managed to earn nominations in all four acting races. This makes O. Russell the first person in cinema history to direct more than one movie that landed a nomination in each acting category, after last year's "Silver Linings Playbook" earned noms for Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver. This puts O. Russell ahead of such acclaimed filmmakers as Elia Kazan, Mike Nichols, and Sidney Lumet (who each directed one film that achieved this milestone).
One of the most unpredictable things about this year's nominations was just how much AMPAS was going to support Martin Scorsese's latest crime epic, "The Wolf Of Wall Street". It was considered one of the most divisive films of the year, and yet it landed five major noms: Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor and Adapted Screenplay. That's quite a haul for a film some critics have decried as immoral. Its most surprising nom? Supporting Actor for Jonah Hill, who edged out the late great James Gandolfini for his last feature film, "Enough Said".
Bruce Dern, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tom Hanks and Matthew McConaughey were all considered locks for Best Actor, with Christian Bale, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert Redford all vying for the last slot. But Bale and DiCaprio both ended up getting in. So who lost out? Redford, of course, who still only has one Oscar acting nomination to show for his entire career (for 1973's "The Sting"). But also Hanks as the real life besieged Captain Phillips, a shocking upset that no one saw coming.
In almost a mirror image of the Best Actor race, Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock, Judi Dench and Emma Thompson were all considered a lock for Best Actress with Amy Adams and Meryl Streep in a cage match for the fifth space. Adams and Streep both ended up getting in, which sadly means that Thompson was left out in the cold for her cantankerous yet soft-hearted performance as "Mary Poppins" author P.L. Travers, an omission arguably even more shocking than that of Hanks.
We were all shocked when the HFPA failed to nominate Oprah Winfrey for her supporting role as a boozy, dynamic housewife in "Lee Daniels' The Butler" -- but she was still considered a frontrunner for a nod here. We should've learned our lesson... The world-famous talk show host was passed over again, in favor of Sally Hawkins for Woody Allen's "Blue Jasmine".
Perennial awards favorites the Coen Brothers were almost completely ignored this year for their latest effort, the 60's-set ode to folk music, "Inside Llewyn Davis". They were shut out of all major categories, even Screenplay and Song (for the Golden Globe-nominated "Please, Mr. Kennedy"), which were considered strong possibilities. Their only nods? Cinematography and Sound Mixing. Ouch.
For only the second time since the Best Animated Feature Film award was created, Pixar failed to score a nod in the category, with "Monsters University" joining "Cars 2" in the dubious honor of un-nominated Pixar films (notice they're both pre/sequels). Many have been worried the animation giant has been slipping of late...hopefully the original work they have coming down the pipeline will get the studio back on track.
"12 Years A Slave" earned a respectable nine nominations, but "American Hustle" just edged it out with ten (which ties it for the most nominations of the year with "Gravity", although the majority of that film's nominations come from technical categories). In fact, "Hustle" and "Slave" are so neck-and-neck that they are nominated together in almost every category. The only category where they're separate is for Screenplay, because "Hustle" is up for Original and "Slave" is up for Adapted -- and the single category that "Hustle" was nominated for that "Slave" wasn't was Best Actress. The only noticeable misstep for "Slave" was in the Original Score category, where most prognosticators expected composer Hans Zimmer to land a nod. If he had, we would have a three-way tie for most nominations this year. As it is, "Slave" has to take a backseat to "Hustle" and "Gravity" for that distinction, but don't think that diminishes the film's chances at taking home the Best Picture trophy. Which will win out? "Slave" is the more traditional drama fare but contains subject matter many voters might find uncomfortable or too intense. "Hustle" is the more accessible of the two choices with its freewheeling, improvisational spirit, but the Academy doesn't often go for comedies for the top honor. Only time will tell which film will take home the little gold man...
Tune in to the Academy Awards on Sunday March 2nd at 7pm ET on ABC!
12 Years A Slave
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Her
Nebraska
Philomena
The Wolf Of Wall Street
Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity
Steve McQueen, 12 Years A Slave
Alexander Payne, Nebraska
David O. Russell, American Hustle
Martin Scorsese, The Wolf Of Wall Street
Christian Bale, American Hustle
Bruce Dern, Nebraska
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf Of Wall Street
Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years A Slave
Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
Amy Adams, American Hustle
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock, Gravity
Judi Dench, Philomena
Meryl Streep, August: Osage County
Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
Bradley Cooper, American Hustle
Michael Fassbender, 12 Years A Slave
Jonah Hill, The Wolf Of Wall Street
Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine
Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years A Slave
Julia Roberts, August: Osage County
June Squibb, Nebraska
American Hustle (David O. Russell & Eric Warren Singer)
Blue Jasmine (Woody Allen)
Dallas Buyers Club (Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack)
Her (Spike Jonze)
Nebraska (Bob Nelson)
12 Years A Slave (John Ridley)
Before Midnight (Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke & Richard Linklater)
Captain Phillips (Billy Ray)
Philomena (Steve Coogan & Jeff Pope)
The Wolf Of Wall Street (Terence Winter)
The Book Thief (John Williams)
Gravity (Steven Price)
Her (William Butler & Owen Pallett)
Philomena (Alexandre Desplat)
Saving Mr. Banks (Thomas Newman)
"Alone Yet Not Alone" - Alone Yet Not Alone
"Happy" - Despicable Me 2
"Let It Go" - Frozen
"The Moon Song" - Her
"Ordinary Love" - Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom
The Grandmaster
Gravity
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska
Prisoners
12 Years A Slave
American Hustle
The Grandmaster
The Great Gatsby
The Invisible Woman
12 Years A Slave
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Dallas Buyers Club
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa
The Lone Ranger
12 Years A Slave
American Hustle
Gravity
The Great Gatsby
Her
All Is Lost
Captain Phillips
Gravity
The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug
Lone Survivor
Captain Phillips
Gravity
The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug
Inside Llewyn Davis
Lone Survivor
Gravity
The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug
Iron Man 3
The Lone Ranger
Star Trek Into Darkness
The Croods
Despicable Me 2
Ernest & Celestine
Frozen
The Wind Rises
The Broken Circle Breakdown (Belgium)
The Great Beauty (Italy)
The Hunt (Denmark)
The Missing Picture (Cambodia)
Omar (Palestine)
20 Feet From Stardom
The Act Of Killing
Cutie And The Boxer
Dirty Wars
The Square
CaveDigger
Facing Fear
Karama Has No Walls
The Lady In Number 6: Music Saved My Life
Prison Terminal: The Last Days Of Private Jack Hall
Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn't Me)
Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just Before Losing Everything)
Helium
Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have To Take Care Of Everything?)
The Voorman Problem
Feral
Get A Horse!
Mr. Hublot
Possessions
Room On The Broom
How do you feel about this year's Oscar nominees? What did you think were the biggest surprises? The biggest disappointments? Tweet us @Stagebuddy and let us know!
