The Nominations for the 87th Academy Awards Are In…

The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Grand Budapest Hotel

Today the Oscar Nominations for the 87th Academy Awards were released, and The Grand Budapest Hotel and Birdman picked up the most with nine apiece. Birdman is the story of a washed up actor played by Michael Keaton – in a seemingly thinly-veiled portrayal of himself – trying to resurrect his career with a broadway play. Budapest is the latest offering by surrealist Wes Anderson, starring Ralph Fiennes at the forefront of an impressive ensemble cast.

The Imitation Game, the much lauded the story of British war hero Alan Turing – famed for inventing the enigma machine and later persecuted for homosexuality – picked up eight.

Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper was the surprise package of the nominations, being placed in contention for no less than six awards after minimal Oscar buzz. Coming of age drama Boyhood also picked up six.

Other big hitters included Foxcatcher with five, the story of eccentric billionaire John du Pont – starring Steve Carrell in a rare non-comedic role – who invested in a gym to train Olympic wrestlers. Coming up big in the production categories was Christopher Nolan’s Interstellarthe story of a space mission to find humanity a new home.

Also with five was The Theory of Everything, the drama about Stephen Hawking that was allegedly so accurate, it drove the legendary physicist to tears. There’s a lot of buzz around Whiplash, starring J.K Simmons – or J. Jonah Jameson from Spiderman to most people – as a drum teacher at a jazz school (no, seriously, it’s supposed to be really good).

As always, there were snubs, with the popular and critically acclaimed The LEGO Movie gaining no nominations; with the exception of its theme tune for Best Original Song. David Fincher’s Gone Girl, widely tipped to do well, was only nominated in one category. Selma, the Martin Luther King Jr. biopic was handed a shot at Best Picture and Best Original Song but was otherwise excluded.

It’s interesting to note the relatively poor showing that The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies was awarded. Not because there was much buzz around it, or even that it was deserved, but The Lord of the Rings series picked up 17 awards across all three films. The Hobbit series has picked up one so far.

Steve Carrell’s nomination for Best Actor is another talking point, for his genuinely unsettling portrayal of John du Pont in Foxcatcher. Hard hitting drama is not Carrell’s usual stomping ground, but he totally owned the role and well deserves his nomination.

Below we’ve got the full listings:

Best Picture

American Sniper
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

Actor in a Leading Role

Steve Carell – Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper – American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton – Birdman
Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything

Birdman_courtesy_Fox_Searchlight
Michael Keaton stars in nominations heavyweight ‘Birdman’

Actress in a Leading Role

Marion Cotillard – Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore – Still Alice
Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon – Wild

Actor in a Supporting Role

Robert Duvall – The Judge
Ethan Hawke – Boyhood
Edward Norton – Birdman
Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons – Whiplash

J.K. Simmons (left) and Miles Teller (right) in jazz drumming drama 'Whiplash'. Simmons is strongly tipped for Best Supporting Actor
J.K. Simmons (left) and Miles Teller (right) in jazz drumming drama ‘Whiplash’. Simmons is strongly tipped for Best Supporting Actor

Actress in a Supporting Role

Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
Laura Dern – Wild
Emma Stone – Birdman
Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game
Meryl Streep – Into the Woods

Directing

Alejandro González Iñárritu – Birdman
Richard Linklater – Boyhood
Bennett Miller – Foxcatcher
Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Morten Tyldum – The Imitation Game

Channing Tatum (left) and Steve Carrell (right, no, seriously that's him) star in uncomfortably tense drama 'Foxcatcher'
Channing Tatum (left) and Steve Carrell (right, no, seriously that’s him) star in uncomfortably tense drama ‘Foxcatcher’

Animated Feature Film

Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

Cinematography

Emmanuel Lubezki – Birdman
Robert D. Yeoman – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lynzewski – Ida
Dick Pope – Mr. Turner
Roger Deakins – Unbroken

grand_budapest_hotel_c371
Ralph Fiennes stars in ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ which received 9 nominations

Costume Design

Milena Canonero – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Mark Bridges – Inherent Vice
Colleen Atwood – Into the Woods
Anna B. Sheppard – Maleficent
Jacqueline Durran – Mr. Turner

Documentary Feature

Citizenfour
Last Days in Vietnam
Virunga
The Salt of the Earth
Finding Vivian Maier

Coming-of-age drama 'Boyhood' - helmed by Richard Linklater - has picked up six nominations
Coming-of-age drama ‘Boyhood’ – helmed by Richard Linklater – has picked up six nominations

Documentary Short Subject

Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Joanna
Our Curse
The Reaper
White Earth

Film Editing

Joel Cox and Gary Roach – American Sniper
Sandra Adair – Boyhood
Barney Pilling – The Grand Budapest Hotel
William Goldenberg – The Imitation Game
Tom Cross – Whiplash

Bradley Cooper stars as the USA's deadliest Sniper in the aptly named 'American Sniper,' directed by Clint Eastwood
Bradley Cooper stars as the USA’s deadliest Sniper in the aptly named ‘American Sniper,’ directed by Clint Eastwood

Foreign Language Film

Ida
Leviathan
Tangerines
Wild Tales
Timbuktu

Makeup and Hairstyling

Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard – Foxcatcher
Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White – Guardians of the Galaxy

Music – Original Score

Alexandre Desplat – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alexandre Desplat – The Imitation Game
Hans Zimmer – Interstellar
Gary Yershon – Mr Turner
Jóhann Jóhannsson – The Theory of Everything

'The Theory of Everything' picks up 5 nominations, with star Eddie Redmayne having already picked up a Golden Globe for his performance
‘The Theory of Everything’ picks up 5 nominations, with star Eddie Redmayne (above) having already picked up a Golden Globe for his performance

Music – Original Song

“Everything Is Awesome” by Shawn Patterson – The LEGO Movie
“Glory” by Common and John Legend – Selma
“Grateful” by Diane Warren – Beyond the Lights
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You” by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond – Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me
“Lost Stars” by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois – Begin Again

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

Short Film – Animated

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

Christopher Nolan's sci-fi blockbuster 'Interstellar' picks up five nominations in the technical categories.
Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi blockbuster ‘Interstellar’ picks up five nominations in the technical categories.

Short Film – Live Action

Aya –  Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis
Boogaloo and Graham – Michael Lennox and Ronan Blaney
Butter lamp – Hu Wei and Julien Féret
Parvaneh – Talkhon Hamzavi and Stefan Eichenberger
The Phone Call – Mat Kirkby and James Lucas

Sound Editing

American Sniper -Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
Birdman – 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

Sound Mixing

American Sniper – John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin
Birdman – Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and Thomas Varga
Interstellar – Garry A. Rizzo, Gregg Landaker and Mark Weingarten
Unbroken – Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and David Lee
Whiplash – Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley

'The Imitation Game' is one of the ones to watch with 8 nominations. It stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing, the creator of the enigma machine which foiled the Nazis.
‘The Imitation Game’ is one of the ones to watch with 8 nominations. It stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing, the creator of the enigma machine which foiled the Nazis.

Visual Effects

Captain America: 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 – Stephanie 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

Writing – Adapted Screenplay

Jason Hall – American Sniper
Graham Moore – The Imitation Game
Paul Thomas Anderson – Inherent Vice
Anthony McCarten – The Theory of Everything
Damien Chazelle – Whiplash

Writing – Original Screenplay

Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo – Birdman
Richard Linklater – Boyhood
E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman – Foxcatcher
Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Dan Gilroy – Nightcrawler

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