The 86th Annual Academy Awards Nominations

So the nominations for 2014 Oscars Awards were announced a while ago. I sat down with much anticipation in front of my TV to catch the announcements live on CNN. I was both excited and nervous for the films and actors. For those who were supposed to get nominated and those who were supposed to get snubbed. I must say that as much as I was unhappy with a few snubs, this year's surprises felt more exciting than predictably bland. 2013 was a great year for films and specially performances. So Gravity and American Hustle got the most nominations with 10 while 12 Years a Slave got 9 nominations. For third time in a row, there were 9 nominees in best picture category. Other films that were nominated apart from the above mentioned three were Captain Phillips, Her, Nebraska, The Wolf of Wall Street, Dallas Buyers Club (which I knew was going to get in) and surprisingly, Philomena. Unfortunately, Coen Brothers' Cannes Grand Prix winning film, Inside Llewyn Davis got snubbed. That is something I feared during my predictions. What is really interesting is that the Academy did not nominate Saving Mr. Banks. I am happy they didn't! On the other Hand, Spike Jonze and the frontrunner Paul Greengrass were snubbed for much respected Martin Scorsese and surprisingly-but-not-so-surprisingly, Alexander Payne in the director category. On the acting front, the biggest snubs includes Robert Redford (considered to be a potential winner at one point), Tom Hanks, Oprah Winfrey, Emma Thompson and Daniel Bruhl for their respective films. Captain Phillips weirdly enough got the beating which is something I wasn't expecting. Lee Daniels' The Butler shut out isn't a surprise considering its recent set of snubs in major awards shows. One thing that was at the back of my mind was whether or not American Hustle will get nominated in all four acting categories just like Russell's previous film and it did. Amy Adams was predicted to make it but over Meryl Streep and not Emma Thompson. I was expecting Bradley Cooper to get in but not Christian Bale at all. On the other hand, it pleases me to see Leonardo DiCaprio getting nominated for one of his career best performances. And of course, the same thing can be said for Amy Adams. Among the supporting categories, Jonah Hill specially and Sally Hawkins somewhat surprised me with their inclusions.

If we talk about other categories then the lineup for Foreign Language is pretty good. Though I wasn't predicting Omar and The Missing Picture (which I removed for The Grandmaster last minute). Monsters University snub doesn't affect me in the animated feature category but it is nice to see two foreign animations in the list. For documentary and perhaps THE BIGGEST SNUB in my opinion has to be Sarah Polley's Stories We Well. It was highly acclaimed and rewarded but failed to make the cut. Another perhaps mainstream favorite documentary was Blackfish which wasn't nominated either. Dirty Wars getting a nod was a huge surprise for me. Finally if I can just go through the major snubs in technical categories then... The Wolf of Wall Street in editing, 12 Years a Slave in cinematography and original score would be the major ones along with a few others. At the same time, it is quite amazing to see The Grandmaster getting nominations in costume design and cinematography. I believe it also deserved to be in production design but I am not complaining. Now the film that I was championing was Spike Jonze's Her. My favorite film of the year made it in best picture (not director unfortunately), original screenplay, original score (wow), original song and production design (superb). The Lone Ranger made it in visual effects instead of Pacific Rim which I don't think it deserves. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug made it in a few categories as well. And even though I don't plan to see the film itself, I would like to congratulate John Williams who just keeps on adding nominations to his already giant list.

Below is the full list of the nominations:

Best Motion Picture of the Year:

12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Her
Nebraska
Philomena
The Wolf of Wall Street


Best Director:

Alexander Payne, Nebraska
Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
David O. Russell, American Hustle
Martin Scorsese, The Wolf of Wall Street
Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave

Best Actor in a Lead Role:

Bruce Dern, Nebraska
Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
Christian Bale, American Hustle
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street
Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Actress in a Lead Role:

Amy Adams, American Hustle
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Judi Dench, Philomena
Meryl Streep, August: Osage County
Sandra Bullock, Gravity

Best Actor in a Supporting Role:

Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
Bradley Cooper, American Hustle
Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Jonah Hill, The Wolf of Wall Street
Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave

Best Actress in a Supporting Role:

Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
Julia Roberts, August: Osage County
June Squibb, Nebraska
Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine

Best Original Screenplay:

Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell (American Hustle)
Woody Allen (Blue Jasmine)
Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack (Dallas Buyers Club)
Spike Jonze (Her)
Bob Nelson (Nebraska)

Best Adapted Screenplay:

John Ridley (12 Years a Slave)
Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke (Before Midnight)
Billy Ray (Captain Phillips)
Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope (Philomena)
Terence Winter (The Wolf of Wall Street)

Best Foreign Language Film:

Omar (Palestine)
The Broken Circle Breakdown (Belgium)
The Great Beauty (Italy)
The Hunt (Denmark)
The Missing Picture (Cambodia)

Best Animated Feature:

Despicable Me 2
Ernest & Celestine
Frozen
The Croods
The Wind Rises

Best Documentary Feature:

20 Feet from Stardom
Cutie and the Boxer
Dirty Wars
The Act of Killing
The Square

Best Editing:

12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity

Best Cinematography:

Emmanuel Lubezki (Gravity)
Bruno Delbonnel (Inside Llewyn Davis)
Phedon Papamichael (Nebraska)
Roger Deakins (Prisoners)
Philippe Le Sourd (The Grandmaster)

Best Production Design:

12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
Gravity
Her
The Great Gatsby

Best Costume Design:

12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
The Grandmaster
The Great Gatsby
The Invisible Woman

Best Makeup & Hairstyling:

Dallas Buyers Club
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa
The Lone Ranger

Best Visual Effects:

Gravity
Iron Man 3
Star Trek Into Darkness
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
The Lone Ranger

Best Original Score:

Steven Price (Gravity)
William Butler and Owen Pallett (Her)
Alexandre Desplat (Philomena)
Thomas Newman (Saving Mr. Banks)
John Williams (The Book Thief)

Best Original Song:

"Alone Yet Not Alone", Alone Yet Not Alone
"Happy", Despicable Me 2
"Let it Go", Frozen
"Ordinary Love", Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
"The Moon Song", Her

Best Sound Editing:

All is Lost
Captain Phillips
Gravity
Lone Survivor
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Best Sound Mixing:

Captain Phillips
Gravity
Inside Llewyn Davis
Lone Survivor
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Best Live-Action Short Film:

Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn't Me)
Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just Before Losing Everything)
Helium
Pitaako Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?)
Selma Vilhunen and Kirsikka Saari (The Voorman Problem)

Best Animated Short Film:

Feral
Get a Horse!
Mr. Hublot
Possessions
Room on the Broom

Best Documentary Short Subject:

CaveDigger
Facing Fear
Karama Has No Walls
Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall
The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life