In a town where the script is often not the first consideration in feature filmmaking, the Oscars veered away from their expected blueprint in many of this year’s nominations, including key divergences from the “best of” nominations by many of the craft guilds.
Overall, even though Boyhood would still seem a likely frontrunner in the best picture category, it finished the morning with six nominations, behind other contenders like Birdman, with nine, and The Imitation Game, with eight. The surprising Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes Anderson’s darkly-laced powder-puff about between-war Europe, tied Birdman’s frontrunner status, while Clint Eastwood’s apparently rebounding American Sniper came up with six nominations.
But while many of the final names coming out of “the envelope, please” on the anointed night may be as predicted, Oscar this year showed a willingness to go off script in its own way, contrasted with the work that the guilds have honored.
In cinematography, for example, the ASC matched the Academy in four out of five, agreeing on Roger Deakins’ work in Unbroken, Emmanuel Lubezki’s in Birdman, Robert Yeoman’s in The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Dick Pope’s in the painting biopic Mr. Turner. But ASC also gave a slot to Oscar Faura’s lensing of The Imitation Game, while the Academy rewarded the Polish Holocaust-themed film Ida, which is the first primarily black-and-white film in this category since The Artist.
Deakins, by the way, becomes the most-nominated living cinematographer now, with 12 nods, just as Colleen Atwood notches a similar record with her 11th nomination, for her work in Into the Woods. It may take a while for her to catch up to Edith Head’s 35 overall nominations in this category, however. This year she’s competing against Milena Canonero’s work in The Grand Budapest Hotel, Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive’s cloth-snipping for Maleficent – another Disney release with a woodsy motif – Jacqueline Durrann’s period work in Mr. Turner, and Mark Bridges also-period work – in this case, the 1970s – in Paul Thomas Anderson’s adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s Inherent Vice.
Oscar editing noms were also different from those announced by the American Cinema Editors, for their ACE Eddies, though the Eddies has both drama and comedy feature categories to play with, much like the Golden Globes. The Academy selected American Sniper, Boyhood, Grand Budapest Hotel, Imitation Game, and Tom Cross’ snare drum-like work in Whiplash.
And while all of these figured in the two main Eddie categories, notably shutout of Oscar consideration were films like Nightcrawler and Gone Girl.
In fact Gone Girl, somewhat shockingly – for a film once heavily touted as a best picture contender – only snared a single nomination, for Rosamund Pike’s work in the best actress category (where Marion Cotillard’s work in Two Days, One Night received something of a surprise honor).
Oscar also took a different view of the visual effects category than those in VES did. While Paul Franklin and team’s work in Interstellar is still the frontrunner here, the Academy took a more superhero-themed approach to the rest of the category, with slots given to X-Men: Days of Future Passed, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy. Joe Letteri and co. nabbed the fifth spot for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
Rising Sun Pictures was one of the post houses working on X-Men, and RSP producer Tony Clark said they were “very grateful to director Bryan Singer, visual effects supervisor Richard Stammers and 20th Century Fox for giving us the opportunity to work on such a fun, exciting and challenging project.”
But the VES, in a six-nominee category for best FX-driven feature, also had Maleficent, and the latest Hobbit installment. Though the omission of the latter from Oscar consideration means that Joe Letteri and Weta Workshop won’t be competing against themselves for votes.
However, Alexandre Desplat is competing against himself in the best score category, for his work in both The Imitation Game and The Grand Budapest Hotel. He’s up against Hans Zimmer’s talked-about Interstellar work, Gary Yershon’s music for Mr. Turner, and the Golden Globe-nabbing score for The Theory of Everything by Johann Johannsson.
Johannsson released a generous, “it-takes-a-village” type statement upon hearing of his nod, saying, “filmmaking is a collaborative medium, and I was lucky to work with artists of amazing caliber: the actors, the screenwriter, and the director, James Marsh – who has my gratitude for inviting me to be a part of his team and for being a brilliant, inspiring and generous collaborator.”
Other surprises included the shutout of Selma director Ava DuVernay from the helmer’s category, though she was similarly left out of DGA consideration. The directors, while also going for an all-guy lineup, have Clint Eastwood’s work for American Sniper among their finalists, while the Academy swapped him out for Bennett Miller and Foxcatcher.
Another surprise was the shutout of The Lego Movie in the best animated film category, though it was nominated in the music category for “Everything is Awesome,” as was the wistful “I’m Not Gonna Miss You,” Glen Campbell’s lights-dimming farewell to his public life, as Alzheimer’s takes its toll on him. Julianne Moore also moves to the favorite in the best actress category for playing a victim of early-onset Alzheimer’s in Still Alice.
Aside from the omitted Lego Movie, and newly-minted favorite How to Train Your Dragon 2 (along with Disney’s Big Hero 6, and surprise entrants Song of the Sea and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya), the tabletop animation of The Boxtrolls was also nominated. Travis Knight, one of its producers, talked about “a labor of unwavering love crafted one frame at a time by a superb community of actors, artists, mad geniuses, steely-eyed pragmatists, and starry-eyed dreamers. I’m so pleased with the recognition of their artistry. It shows that original stories are valued, along with the weird people who make them.”
But perhaps he summed up Oscar morning even more succinctly than that, “What an odd and lovely way to greet the day.”
The nominees for the 87th Academy Awards are:
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 in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything
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 in Whiplash
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Marion Cotillard in Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones in The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore in Still Alice
Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon in Wild
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Patricia Arquette in Boyhood
Laura Dern in Wild
Keira Knightley in The Imitation Game
Emma Stone in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Meryl Streep in Into the Woods
Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
Big Hero 6
Don Hall, Chris Williams and Roy Conli
The Boxtrolls
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
Achievement in Cinematography
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Emmanuel Lubezki
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Robert Yeoman
Ida
Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski
Mr. Turner
Dick Pope
Unbroken
Roger Deakins
Achievement in Costume Design
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Milena Canonero
Inherent Vice
Mark Bridges
Into the Woods
Colleen Atwood
Maleficent
Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive
Mr. Turner
Jacqueline Durran
Achievement in Directing
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Boyhood
Richard Linklater
Foxcatcher
Bennett Miller
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Wes Anderson
The Imitation Game
Morten Tyldum
Best Documentary Feature
CitizenFour
Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk Wilutzky
Finding Vivian Maier
John Maloof and Charlie Siskel
Last Days in Vietnam
Rory Kennedy and Keven McAlester
The Salt of the Earth
Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado and David Rosier
Virunga
Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara
Best Documentary Short Subject
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
J. Christian Jensen
Achievement in Film Editing
American Sniper
Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach
Boyhood
Sandra Adair
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Barney Pilling
The Imitation Game
William Goldenberg
Whiplash
Tom Cross
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Ida, Poland
Leviathan, Russia
Tangerines, Estonia
Timbuktu, Mauritania
Wild Tales, Argentina
Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling
Foxcatcher
Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier
Guardians of the Galaxy
Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White
Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alexandre Desplat
The Imitation Game
Alexandre Desplat
Interstellar
Hans Zimmer
Mr. Turner
Gary Yershon
The Theory of Everything
Jóhann Jóhannsson
Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)
“Everything Is Awesome” from The Lego Movie
Music and Lyric by Shawn Patterson
“Glory” from Selma
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
Best Motion Picture of the Year
American Sniper
Clint Eastwood, Robert Lorenz, Andrew Lazar, Bradley Cooper and Peter Morgan, Producers
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher and James W. Skotchdopole, Producers
Boyhood
Richard Linklater and Cathleen Sutherland, Producers
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson, Producers
The Imitation Game
Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky and Teddy Schwarzman, Producers
Selma
Christian Colson, Oprah Winfrey, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Producers
The Theory of Everything
Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce and Anthony McCarten, Producers
Whiplash
Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook and David Lancaster, Producers
Achievement in Production Design
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
The Imitation Game
Production Design: Maria Djurkovic; Set Decoration: Tatiana Macdonald
Interstellar
Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
Into the Woods
Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
Mr. Turner
Production Design: Suzie Davies; Set Decoration: Charlotte Watts
Best Animated Short Film
The Bigger Picture
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 Live Action Short Film
Aya
Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis
Boogaloo and Graham
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
Achievement in Sound Editing
American Sniper
Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Martín Hernández and Aaron Glascock
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Brent Burge and Jason Canovas
Interstellar
Richard King
Unbroken
Becky Sullivan and Andrew DeCristofaro
Achievement in 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
Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and David Lee
Whiplash
Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley
Achievement in 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
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
Adapted Screenplay
American Sniper
Written by Jason Hall
The Imitation Game
Written by Graham Moore
Inherent Vice
Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson
The Theory of Everything
Screenplay by Anthony McCarten
Whiplash
Written by Damien Chazelle
Original Screenplay
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo
Boyhood
Written by Richard Linklater
Foxcatcher
Written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Screenplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness
Nightcrawler
Written by Dan Gilroy
