The 86th Annual Academy Awards nominations are full of snubs and surprises:
“Gravity” and “American Hustle” lead with 10 nominations each, followed by “12 Years a Slave” with 9.
The Best Picture category features nine nominees for the third year in a row – one of them is NOT my favorite film of the year: “Saving Mr. Banks”. In fact the making-of “Mary Poppins” drama from Disney got almost completely snubbed, as Emma Thompson did not receive a Best Actress nod. She was overtaken by an 18th nomination from Meryl Streep, and a 5th from Amy Adams (her first in the lead actress category). At least “Banks” received an Original Score nomination for Thomas Newman. I hope it wins that.
Not only did Tom Hanks not receive Supporting Actor recognition for “Banks”, but he also didn’t get one for his incredible work in “Captain Phillips”. I can see this as “The Ben Affleck backlash” of 2014. Christian Bale (“American Hustle”) and Leonardo DiCaprio (“The Wolf of Wall Street”) also in, pushing-out Robert Redford (“All Is Lost”).
In the acting categories, Jonah Hill (“Wolf”) knocked-out Daniel Bruhl (“Rush”) and the late James Gandolfini (“Enough Said”). Sally Hawkins’ work in “Blue Jasmine” forced Oprah off the Supporting Actress ballot. And Jennifer Lawrence becomes the youngest 3-time nominee in history.
For Best Director, Alexander Payne got a nod for “Nebraska” over Paul Greengrass (“Captain Phillips”) – who was one of the frontrunners going into this race. Animated Feature has some pleasant surprises, including “Despicable Me 2” (the original didn’t get a nomination – this usually doesn’t happen), along with the little-seen “Ernest & Celestine”. And in Animated Short: the Mickey Mouse CGI/hand-drawn “Get a Horse!” is likely the frontrunner.
The Best Documentary Feature category was missing the unforgettable “Blackfish” (my favorite doc of the year), but at least the very impressive “20 Feet from Stardom” will be competing for the prize. And how about “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” up for Best Makeup & Hairstyling! If it wins, Johnny Knoxville should definitely go onstage.