The list of nominations for the 87th Academy Awards
Best Picture
“American Sniper”
“Birdman”
“Boyhood”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“The Imitation Game”
“Selma”
“The Theory of Everything”
“Whiplash”
Immediate reaction: The academy can nominate up to 10 movies, but stopped short with eight this year. Most of these are what the prognosticators expected — “Birdman, ” “Boyhood, ” “Selma, ” and the big British biopics, “The Theory of Everything” and “The Imitation Game.” “The Grand Budapest Hotel, ” which won a best picture award at the Golden Globes, is starting to look like an unstoppable force. And another indie director, Damien Chazelle, is getting lots of attention with his directorial debut, “Whiplash.” Movies that could have made the list but didn’t: musical “Into the Woods, ” “Foxcatcher” (despite its directing nom), Angelina Jolie’s “Unbroken, ” and “A Most Violent Year, ” which was completely shut out.
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”
Immediate reactions: Hello there, Bradley Cooper. “American Sniper” didn’t get much love from the Golden Globes, but the academy was in a different frame of mind. Of course, that meant there was no space for David Oyelowo, who turned in a stunning performance as Martin Luther King Jr. in “Selma.” Both Keaton and Redmayne won acting awards at the Golden Globes — one for comedy, one for drama.
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”
Immediate reaction: This list hews fairly closely to expectations. The biggest surprise is Marion Cotillard’s nomination. She edged out Jennifer Aniston, who was thought to have a shot for her buzzy performance in “Cake.” Amy Adams, who just won a Golden Globe for best actress in a comedy or musical, didn’t make the list either. Julianne Moore is the favorite here, playing a linguistics professor grappling with an early onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
Actor in a Supporting Role
Robert Duvall, “The Judge”
Ethan Hawke, “Boyhood”
Edward Norton, “Birdman”
Mark Ruffalo, “Foxcatcher”
J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash”
Immediate reaction: Again, no huge jaw-droppers here. These nominees are identical to the Golden Globes, with J.K. Simmons as a favorite; he just won the Globe for his maniacal role in “Whiplash.”
Actress in a Supporting Role
Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”
Laura Dern, “Wild”
Emma Stone, “Birdman”
Keira Knightley, “The Imitation Game”
Meryl Streep, “Into the Woods”
Immediate reaction: When Dern’s name was announced there were audible gasps — not to mention a few excited whoops. She played the effervescent mother to Reese Witherspoon’s lead in “Wild.” It was a great performance, though Patricia Arquette (who also played a single mom, in “Boyhood”) is the clear favorite.
Directing
Alejandro González Iñárritu, “Birdman”
Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
Bennett Miller, “Foxcatcher”
Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Morten Tyldum, “The Imitation Game”
Immediate reactions: Where are the women? There was talk of not one, but two women securing nominations in this category: Ava DuVernay for “Selma” and Angelina Jolie for “Unbroken.” Jolie’s movie didn’t get the praise that seemed assured prior to release, but DuVernay certainly deserved to be on this list. Miller’s nomination for “Foxcatcher” is the biggest surprise here; meanwhile, Anderson’s nod is his first ever directing nomination. He’s been previously nominated for best screenplay.
Animated Feature Film
“Big Hero 6”
“The Boxtrolls”
“How to Train Your Dragon 2”
“Song of the Sea”
“The Tale of the Princess Kaguya”
Immediate reaction: The big surprise here is that “The LEGO Movie” wasn’t nominated. Instead of the blockbuster (“LEGO” had the fourth-highest domestic box office returns in 2014), the under-the-radar, yet-to-be-released “Song of the Sea” scored a nom.
Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki, “Birdman”
Robert D. Yeoman, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lynzewski, “Ida”
Dick Pope, “Mr. Turner”
Roger Deakins, “Unbroken”
Immediate reaction: Aside from sound editing and sound mixing, this was the only nomination for “Unbroken, ” which will have a tough time overcoming stiff competition from “Birdman” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” It’s interesting that “Mr. Turner” got so many nominations, although not the one some expected — Timothy Spall for best actor. It’s also interesting to see a foreign film in the mix with the black-and-white “Ida.”
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”
Immediate reaction: This is the only nomination “Maleficent” managed to score and, while the costumes were extravagant, the movie is hardly a sure thing to win against the likes of “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and “Into the Woods.”
Documentary Feature
“Citizenfour”
“Last Days in Vietnam”
“Virunga”
“The Salt of the Earth”
“Finding Vivian Maier”
Immediate reaction: “Citizenfour, ” Laura Poitras’s thrilling documentary about Edward Snowden, was a sure bet. The academy also showed love for Rory Kennedy’s documentary about the fall of Saigon, “Last Days of Vietnam, ” and the universally-praised “Virunga.” If there’s a snub to be found, it’s for “Life Itself, ” the much-praised doc about Roger Ebert.
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”
Immediate reaction: Most of “Birdman” looked like it was filmed in one long take. It wasn’t; that was the magic of smart cuts and good editing, but that magic (by editors Douglas Crise and Stephen Mirrione) was not recognized by the academy. Instead, “Boyhood” leads the charge with Sandra Adair nominated for piecing together a story that was shot over 12 years.
Foreign Language Film
“Ida”
“Leviathan”
“Tangerines”
“Wild Tales”
“Timbuktu”
Immediate reaction: It’s sad to see no mention of “Force Majeure” on this list, though these are worthy contenders. The Russian film “Leviathan” took home the Golden Globe on Sunday, but the Polish drama “Ida” has a good shot at the Oscar, with a 1960s-era story of an aspiring nun who finds out her family was Jewish.
