They’re finally here: the 2015 Oscar nominations. Although the frontrunners are, predictably, Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel (with nine nominations each) and Boyhood (with seven nominations), the announcements are full of surprises for movie lovers and Oscar pundits everywhere.
The biggest surprise of the morning was The LEGO Movie, which despite cleaning up the critics awards and being an audience favorite, was completely snubbed in the Best Animated Feature category. The hit song “Everything is Awesome” did appear in the Best Original Song category, but its spot amongst the Best Animated Feature nominations was usurped by independent films Song of the Sea (CraveOnline’s pick for The Best Animated Movie of 2014, so we’re not complaining) and Studio Ghibli’s The Tale of Princess Kaguya.
Other expected nominations, and surprising snubs, include Jake Gyllenhaal (who turned in one of the best performances of the year with Nightcrawler), the Roger Ebert documentary Life Itself (which failed to earn a Best Documentary Feature nomination) and Gone Girl (which only earned one nomination, for Rosamund Pike for Best Actress).
But the biggest snub has to be Ava DuVernay’s celebrated Selma, which suffered from awards season travesties after screeners and screenings failed to reach critics’ bodies and various guilds in time to build any buzz. The historical drama about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Civil Rights marches in Selma, AL received standing ovations and was expected to make a major showing in the acting and technical categories, and probably even earn director DuVernay the first-ever Academy Awards nomination for an African-American woman, but instead only received a Best Original Song nomination and what can only be described as a token nomination for Best Picture.
The complete list of 2015 Oscar nominations is below. Keep coming back to CraveOnline for more Oscar coverage as the season progresses.
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 González Iñárritu, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game
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 Actor
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Laura Dern, Wild
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods
Best Supporting Actor
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Best Adapted Screenplay
Paul Thomas Anderson, Inherent Vice
Damien Chazelle, Whiplash
Jason Hall, American Sniper
Anthony McCarten, The Theory of Everything
Graham Moore, The Imitation Game
Best Original Screenplay
Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Dan Futterman and E. Max Frye, Foxcatcher
Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Best Foreign Language Film
Leviathan
Ida
Tangerines
Timbuktu
Wild Tales
Best Documentary Feature
CITIZENFOUR
Finding Vivian Maier
Last Days in Vietnam
The Salt in 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
Film Editing
American Sniper
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Whiplash
Best Song
“Everything is Awesome” from The LEGO Movie (written by Shawn Patterson)
“Glory” from Selma (written by Common and John Legend)
“Grateful” from Beyond the Lights
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me
“Lost Stars” from Begin Again (written by Gregg Alexander, Danielle Brisebois, Nick Lashley and Nick Southwood)
Best Original Score
Alexandre Desplat, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alexandre Desplat, The Imitation Game
Johann Johannsson, The Theory of Everything
Gary Yershon, Mr. Turner
Hans Zimmer, Interstellar
Best Cinematography
Roger Deakins, Unbroken
Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman
Dick Pope, Mr. Turner
Robert Yeoman, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski, Ida
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 Production Design
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Into the Woods
Mr. Turner
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 Visual Effects
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Guardians of the Galaxy
Interstellar
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Best Short Film, Live Action
Aya
Boogaloo and Graham
Butter Lamp
Parvaneh
The Phone Call
Best Short Film, Animated
The Bigger Picture
The Dam Keeper
Feast
Me and My Moulton
A Single Life
Best Documentary, Short Subject
Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Joanna
Our Curse
The Reaper
White Earth
