For the first time ever, eight was the magic number for the Academy’s Best Picture lineup, with voters nominating awards season stalwarts “Birdman,” “Boyhood,” “The Imitation Game” and “Theory of Everything” along with this year’s indie stand-out “Whiplash,” the late-surging “American Sniper,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and the civil rights drama “Selma,” which marched into the field despite being snubbed in the writing, directing and acting categories.
“Birdman” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel” led the way with nine nominations each, followed by “The Imitation Game” with eight nominations and “Boyhood” and “American Sniper” with six nominations.
“Nightcrawler,” “Foxcatcher,” “Gone Girl,” “Unbroken,” “Interstellar,” “Inherent Vice” and “A Most Violent Year” were among the well-reviewed movies that failed to make the Best Picture field, which has never had a full slate of 10 nominees.
The inclusion of “Foxcatcher” filmmaker Bennett Miller in the Best Director category was the pleasant surprise of the morning. He’s joined by obvious choices Richard Linklater and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, American auteur Wes Anderson and Norwegian filmmaker Morten Tyldum. DGA nominee Clint Eastwood failed to make the cut along with “Selma” director Ava DuVernay.
While many had speculated that Steve Carell‘s chokehold on a nomination was weakening, the season’s four frontrunners (Carell, Michael Keaton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Eddie Redmayne) remained standing, while voters targeted Bradley Cooper for the coveted “fifth slot” rather than Jake Gyllenhaal and David Oyelowo.
Best Actress provided a jolt when Marion Cotillard beat out Jennifer Aniston and Amy Adams for a nomination. She’s joined by the four female frontrunners throughout the season — Julianne Moore, Reese Witherspoon, Rosamund Pike and Felicity Jones.
Best Supporting Actor was chalk — the five actors every pundit predicted were all bestowed nominations, including Robert Duvall, Ethan Hawke, Edward Norton, Mark Ruffalo and presumed favorite, J.K. Simmons.
The surprise in the Best Supporting Actress category has to be “Wild” star Laura Dern, who edged out Rene Russo and Jessica Chastain for a nomination. Patricia Arquette will have to hold off fellow nominees Meryl Streep, Keira Knightley and Emma Stone.
Dan Gilroy’s original screenplay proved to be “Nightcrawler’s” lone nomination, which provoked some applause during the live announcement telecast. Other nominees in the category are “Birdman,” “Boyhood,” “Foxcatcher” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel.”
Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Inherent Vice” earned its sole nomination in the Adapted Screenplay category, where it’ll face stiff competition in the form of “The Imitation Game,” “The Theory of Everything,” “Whiplash” and “American Sniper,” which came on strong in recent weeks as support swelled for Warner Bros.’ war drama.
The foreign language category went according to plan per prognosticators, with “Force Majeure” the odd movie out. The field includes frontrunners “Leviathan,” “Wild Tales” and “Ida” as well as “Timbuktu” and “Tangerines.”
Veteran cinematographer Roger Deakins picked up his umpteenth nomination for “Unbroken,” though Emmanuel Lubezki’s gorgeous work on “Birdman” is expected to fly away with that category. The duo are up against Robert Yeoman (“The Grand Budapest Hotel”), Dick Pope (“Mr. Turner”) and Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski (“Ida”). That meant Bradford Young was snubbed twice for “Selma” and “A Most Violent Year,” while Robert Elswitt’s terrific work in “Nightcrawler” was also overlooked.
“American Sniper” has surged in recent weeks, and when the film was nominated for its editing, a Best Picture nomination was all but assured. While Clint Eastwood wasn’t nominated despite making the DGA cut, Warner Bros. can take solace in the film’s box office performance, with analysts projecting a $55 million weekend despite steep competition from “The Wedding Ringer” and the expansion of “Selma” over the MLK holiday weekend.
In the visual effects category, Marvel was lauded twice with nominations for both “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Captain America: Winter Soldier.” The rest of the field includes frontrunner “Interstellar” and the Fox sequels “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” and “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” leaving WB’s “Godzilla” stomping its feet along with the team behind “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.”
The snubs continued for Warners, which saw its “LEGO Movie” fail to make the cut in the Best Animated Feature category. Disney’s “Big Hero 6” will square off against DreamWorks Animation’s “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” while “The Boxtrolls,” “Song of the Sea” and “The Tale of Princess Kaguya” will try to give the box office behemoths a run for their money.
Oscars 2015: The Nominees (Photos)
Best Motion Picture of the Year: “American Sniper," “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance),” “Boyhood" (pictured), "The Grand Budapest Hotel," “The Imitation Game" (pictured), “Selma" (pictured), “The Theory of Everything," “Whiplash”
Paramount/IFC/The Weinstein Company
Best Director: “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance),” Alejandro G. Iñárritu; “Boyhood,” Richard Linklater (pictured); “Foxcatcher” Bennett Miller; “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Wes Anderson; “The Imitation Game,” Morten Tyldum
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Best Animated Feature Film: “Big Hero 6,” Don Hall, Chris Williams and Roy Conli; “The Boxtrolls” (pictured), Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable and Travis Knight; “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” Dean DeBlois and Bonnie Arnold; “Song of the Sea” Tomm Moore and Paul Young “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” Isao Takahata and Yoshiaki Nishimura
Focus Features
Best Original Screenplay: “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo; “Boyhood" by Richard Linklater; “Foxcatcher” by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman; “The Grand Budapest Hotel” by Wes Anderson, story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness; “Nightcrawler” (pictured) by Dan Gilroy
Open Road Films
Best Adapted Screenplay: “American Sniper” by Jason Hall, “The Imitation Game” (pictured) by Graham Moore; “Inherent Vice” by Paul Thomas Anderson; “The Theory of Everything” by Anthony McCarten; “Whiplash” by Damien Chazelle
The Weinstein Company
Best Foreign Language Film: “Ida,” (pictured) Poland; “Leviathan,” Russia; “Tangerines,” Estonia; “Timbuktu,” Mauritania; “Wild Tales,” Argentina
Music Box Films
Best Documentary Feature: "Citizenfour," "Finding Vivian Maier," "Last Days in Vietnam," "Salt of the Earth," "Virunga" (pictured)
Netflix
Best Film Editing: "American Sniper" (pictured), "Boyhood," "Grand Budapest Hotel," Imitation Game," Whiplash"
Warner Bros.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Steve Carell in “Foxcatcher," Bradley Cooper in “American Sniper," Benedict Cumberbatch in “The Imitation Game," Michael Keaton (pictured) in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)," Eddie Redmayne in “The Theory of Everything”
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Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Robert Duvall in “The Judge,” Ethan Hawke in “Boyhood," Edward Norton in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)," Mark Ruffalo in “Foxcatcher," J.K. Simmons (pictured) in “Whiplash”
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Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Marion Cotillard in “Two Days, One Night,” Felicity Jones (pictured) in “The Theory of Everything," Julianne Moore in “Still Alice," Rosamund Pike in “Gone Girl," Reese Witherspoon in “Wild”
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Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Patricia Arquette in “Boyhood," Laura Dern in “Wild," Keira Knightley (pictured) in “The Imitation Game," Emma Stone in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)," Meryl Streep in “Into the Woods”
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Achievement in Cinematography: “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance),” Emmanuel Lubezki; “The Grand Budapest Hotel” (pictured), Robert Yeoman; “Ida,” Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski; “Mr. Turner,” Dick Pope; “Unbroken,” Roger Deakins
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Best Costume Design: “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Milena Canonero; “Inherent Vice” (pictured), Mark Bridges; “Into the Woods,” Colleen Atwood; "Maleficent,” Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive; “Mr. Turner,” Jacqueline Durran
Warner Bros.
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: “Foxcatcher” (pictured), Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard; “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier; “Guardians of the Galaxy” Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White
Sony Pictures Classics
Best Original Song: “Everything Is Awesome” from “The Lego Movie," music and lyric by Shawn Patterson; “Glory” from “Selma” (pictured), music and lyric by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn; “Grateful” from “Beyond the Lights,” music and lyric by Diane Warren; “I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from “Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me,” music and lyric by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond; “Lost Stars” from “Begin Again,” music and lyric by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois
Paramount Pictures
Best Original Score: “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Alexandre Desplat; “The Imitation Game,” Alexandre Desplat; “Interstellar,” Hans Zimmer (pictured); “Mr. Turner,” Gary Yershon; “The Theory of Everything,” Jóhann Jóhannsson
Getty Images
Best Production Design: “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “The Imitation Game," “Interstellar," “Into the Woods," “Mr. Turner” (pictured)
Sony Pictures Classics
Best Sound Editing: "American Sniper," "Birdman," "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies," "Interstellar" (pictured), "Unbroken"
Paramount Pictures
Best Sound Mixing: “American Sniper,” John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin; “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance),” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and Thomas Varga; “Interstellar,” Gary A. Rizzo, Gregg Landaker and Mark Weingarten; “Unbroken” (pictured), Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and David Lee; “Whiplash,” Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley
Universal Pictures
Best Visual Effects: “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill and Dan Sudick; “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett and Erik Winquist; “Guardians of the Galaxy” (pictured), Stephane Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner and Paul Corbould; “Interstellar” Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher; “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie and Cameron Waldbauer
Disney/Marvel
Best Live Action Short Film: “Aya,” Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis; “Boogaloo and Graham” (pictured), Michael Lennox and Ronan Blaney; “Butter Lamp (La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak),” Hu Wei and Julien Féret; “Parvaneh,” Talkhon Hamzavi and Stefan Eichenberger; “The Phone Call,” Mat Kirkby and James Lucas
Best Animated Short Film: “The Bigger Picture” (pictured) Daisy Jacobs and Christopher Hees; “The Dam Keeper,” Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi; “Feast,” Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed; “Me and My Moulton,” Torill Kove; “A Single Life” Joris Oprins
Best Documentary Short: “Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1,” Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry; “Joanna,” Aneta Kopacz; “Our Curse” Tomasz Sliwinski and Maciej Slesicki; “The Reaper (La Parka),” Gabriel Serra Arguello: “White Earth” (pictured), J. Christian Jensen
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See the nominees that have a shot at Oscar gold when the 87th annual Academy Awards airs Feb. 22 on ABC
Best Motion Picture of the Year: “American Sniper," “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance),” “Boyhood" (pictured), "The Grand Budapest Hotel," “The Imitation Game" (pictured), “Selma" (pictured), “The Theory of Everything," “Whiplash”