Today actor Chris Hemsworth and Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs announced the 2014 Oscar Nominations and there are more surprises than what I expected or could imagine after the regular process when Academy members from each of the branches vote to determine the nominees in their respective categories – actors nominate actors, film editors nominate film editors, etc. In the Animated Feature Film and Foreign Language Film categories, nominees are selected by a vote of multi-branch screening committees. All voting members are eligible to select the Best Picture nominees.
Now active members of the Academy are eligible to vote for the winners in ALL categories and hopefully maybe this year Academy members will watch movies before voting as official screenings of all motion pictures with one or more nominations will begin on Saturday, January 25; not being sarcastic just sharing with you some public info that crowded the waves a few weeks back when an unnamed Academy member gave an interview to tell the "
truth" about Oscar voting.
As we know the awards show was moved to Sunday, March 2 thanks to the Winter Olympics (grr) and -now I am being sarcastic- show will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide. See first paragraph after list to find why I'm sarcastic.
American Hustle and
Gravity lead with 10 nominations each followed close by
12 Years a Slave with nine and yes, the HUGE surprise for me was
Nebraska having so many nods as got six, the same as
Dallas Buyers Club and
Captain Phillips.
There are nine (9) films nominated for Best Picture and maybe later we will find why there weren't ten, which is the maximum as there are several critic acclaimed movies that could have made the list like
Inside Llewyn Davis,
Saving Mr. Banks,
All Is Lost -a bit tiresome but very tense movie- and we can forget
August: Osage County and/or
Blue Jasmine.
Great positive surprise is to have France/Belgium
Ernest & Celestine and Japan
The Wind Rises in the Animated category and Wong Kar Wai opus
The Grandmasters getting two tech categories nominations.
Huge negative surprise is Emma Thompson not being nominated even do I'm glad Amy Adams was, but Adam's performance is NOT as good as Thompson and that slot belonged to her. Also, what is Christian Bale getting a nod for Actor? His performance is inferior to Joaquin Phoenix in
Her, Robert Redford in
All is Lost and even Oscar Isaac in
Inside Llewyn Davis (very unpleasant character but his performance is ok). Then in Actor supporting role can't understand why Jonah Hill got a nomination that slot was for highly superior performance by Daniel Bruhl in
Rush or even James Gandolfini in romcom
Enough Said. But perhaps the greatest negative surprise is excellent
Stories We Tell not having a nomination in documentary category.
Anyway, check at post bottom some fun stat/facts about these nominations.
Best Picture12 Years a SlaveAmerican HustleCaptain PhillipsDallas Buyers ClubGravityHerNebraskaPhilomenaThe Wolf of Wall StreetBest Animated Feature FilmThe CroodsDespicable Me 2Ernest & CelestineFrozenThe Wind RisesForeign LanguageThe Broken Circle Breakdown, Felix van Groeningen, Belgium
Jagten (The Hunt), Thomas Vinterberg, Denmark
La Grande Belleza (The Great Beauty), Paolo Sorrentino, Italy
L'image manquante (The Missing Picture), Rithy Panh, Cambodia
Omar, Hany Abu-Assad Palestine
DirectingDavid O. Russell for
American HustleAlfonso Cuarón for
GravityAlexander Payne for
NebraskaSteve McQueen for
12 Years a SlaveMartin Scorsese for
The Wolf of Wall StreetActress in a Leading RoleAmy Adams in
American HustleCate Blanchett in
Blue JasmineSandra Bullock in
GravityJudi Dench in
PhilomenaMeryl Streep in
August: Osage CountyActress in a Supporting RoleSally Hawkins in
Blue JasmineJennifer Lawrence in
American HustleLupita Nyong’o in
12 Years a SlaveJulia Roberts in
August: Osage CountyJune Squibb in
NebraskaActor in a Leading RoleChristian Bale in
American HustleBruce Dern in
NebraskaLeonardo DiCaprio in
The Wolf of Wall StreetChiwetel Ejiofor in
12 Years a SlaveMatthew McConaughey in
Dallas Buyers ClubActor in a Supporting RoleBarkhad Abdi in
Captain PhillipsBradley Cooper in
American HustleMichael Fassbender in
12 Years a SlaveJonah Hill in
The Wolf of Wall StreetJared Leto in
Dallas Buyers ClubCinematographyRoger A. Deakins for
PrisonersBruno Delbonnel for
Inside Llewyn DavisPhilippe Le Sourd for
The GrandmasterEmmanuel Lubezki for
GravityPhedon Papamichael for
NebraskaOriginal ScreenplayWoody Allen for
Blue Jasmine Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack for
Dallas Buyers ClubSpike Jonze for
Her Bob Nelson for
Nebraska Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell for
American HustleAdapted ScreenplaySteve Coogan and Jeff Pope for
Philomena Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke for
Before MidnightBilly Ray for
Captain Phillips John Ridley for
12 Years a SlaveTerence Winter for
The Wolf of Wall StreetFilm EditingJay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten for
American HustleAlfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger for
GravityJohn Mac McMurphy and Martin Pensa for
Dallas Buyers ClubChristopher Rouse for
Captain PhillipsJoe Walker for
12 Years a SlaveProduction DesignK.K. Barrett and Gene Serdena for
HerJudy Becker and Heather Loeffler for
American HustleCatherine Martin and Beverley Dunn for
The Great GatsbyAndy Nicholson, Rosie Goodwin and Joanne Woollard for
GravityAdam Stockhausen and Alice Baker for
12 Years a SlaveVisual EffectsTim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Edson Williams and John Frazier for
The Lone RangerRoger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Ben Grossmann and Burt Dalton for
Star Trek Into DarknessJoe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and Eric Reynolds for
The Hobbit: The Desolation of SmaugChristopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Erik Nash and Dan Sudick for
Iron Man 3Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk and Neil Corbould for
GravitySound EditingSteve Boeddeker and Richard Hymns for
All Is LostBrent Burge for
The Hobbit: The Desolation of SmaugGlenn Freemantle for
GravityWylie Stateman for
Lone SurvivorOliver Tarney for
Captain PhillipsSound MixingChris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith and Chris Munro for
Captain PhillipsSkip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead and Chris Munro for
GravityChristopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Semanick and Tony Johnson for
The Hobbit: The Desolation of SmaugSkip Lievsay, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland for
Inside Llewyn DavisAndy Koyama, Beau Borders and David Brownlow for
Lone SurvivorCostume DesignWilliam Chang Suk Ping for
The GrandmasterCatherine Martin for
The Great GatsbyPatricia Norris for
12 Years a SlaveMichael O’Connor for
The Invisible WomanMichael Wilkinson for
American HustleMakeup and HairstylingJoel Harlow and Gloria Pasqua-Casny for
The Lone RangerAdruitha Lee and Robin Mathews for
Dallas Buyers ClubStephen Prouty for
Jackass Presents: Bad GrandpaMusic - Original ScoreJohn Williams for
The Book ThiefSteven Price for
GravityWilliam Butler and Owen Pallett for
HerAlexandre Desplat for
PhilomenaThomas Newman for
Saving Mr. BanksMusic - Original SongAlone Yet Not Alone from Alone Yet Not Alone, Music by Bruce Broughton and Lyric by Dennis SpiegelHappy from
Despicable Me 2, Music and Lyric by Pharrell Williams
Let It Go from
Frozen, Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
The Moon Song from
Her, Music by Karen O and Lyric by Karen O and Spike Jonze
Ordinary Love from
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Music by Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen and Lyric by Paul Hewson
DocumentaryThe Act of Killing Cutie and the BoxerDirty WarsThe Square20 Feet from StardomShort FilmsLive ActionAquel No Era Yo (That Wasn’t Me), Esteban Crespo, Spain
Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just before Losing Everything), Xavier Legrand, France
Helium, Anders Walter, Denmark
Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?), Selma Vilhunen, Finland
The Voorman Problem, Mark Gill, UK
AnimatedFeral, Daniel Sousa, USA
Get a Horse!, Lauren MacMullan, USA
Mr. Hublot, Laurent Witz and Alexandre Espigares, France and Luxembourg
Room on the Broom, Max Lang and Jan Lachauer, UK
Tsukumo (Possessions), Shuhei Morita, Japan
DocumentaryCavedigger, Jeffrey Karoff, USA
Facing Fear, Jason Cohen, USA
Karama Has No Walls, Sara Ishaq, United Arab Emirates, UK and Yemen
The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life, Malcolm Clarke, Canada, USA and UK
Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall, Edgar Barens, USA
To check info for each film go
here but be aware that videos at this site will NOT WORK outside USA, which is a TRUE SHAME as for the first time in a clear way the Academy is NOT sharing with the World. See the problem is that the Academy is referring every video to the US Network, ABC, which obviously DOES NOT allow IP's outside USA to view videos. Hope the Academy and/or ABC consider the money they make selling show rights and OPEN the videos for those world inhabitants that are interested in watching.
Scorecard - Motion Picture Nominations Feature Films With Two or More Nominations10- American Hustle, Sony Pictures Releasing
10 -Gravity, Warner Bros.
9 -12 Years a Slave, Fox Searchlight
6 - Captain Phillips, Sony Pictures Releasing
6 - Dallas Buyers Club, Focus Features
6 - Nebraska, Paramount
5 - Her, Warner Bros.
5 - The Wolf of Wall Street, Paramount
4 -Philomena, The Weinstein Company
3 - Blue Jasmine, Sony Pictures Classics
3 - The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Warner Bros.
2 - August: Osage County” The Weinstein Company
2 - Despicable Me 2, Universal
2 - Frozen, Walt Disney
2 - The Grandmaster, The Weinstein Company
2 - The Great Gatsby, Warner Bros.
2 - Inside Llewyn Davis, CBS Films
2 -The Lone Ranger, Walt Disney
2 -Lone Survivor, Universal
Fun Stats and Facts• Last year,
Silver Linings Playbook became the first film to receive nominations for Best Picture, Directing, Writing and all four acting categories since
Reds (1981).
American Hustle repeats that feat this year.
•
Jennifer Lawrence is again the youngest performer nominee and is her first nod for supporting role.
• Jennifer Lawrence, Amy Adams and Bradley Cooper are the only three acting nominees this year who were also nominated last year; all were nominated in different categories to this year.
• Meryl Streep extends her lead as the most nominated performer with her 18th nomination.
• Woody Allen extends his record for most nominations by a screenwriter to 16.
• John Williams scores his 49th nomination and 44th in original score to become category's record holder; he becomes the first living person with more nods and the second after Walt Disney (59).
• Of the 10 films nominated for a PGA Award, two were nominated and got no Oscar nod (
Blue Jasmine and
Saving Mr. Banks) and one PGA did not nominate and got an Oscar nod (
Philomena).
If you wish to read more facts go
here and
here.
The Nominations video
To my surprise the awards ceremony was streamed live but my Swedish is really poor, still watch a bit of a sketch with a drinking man, which is highly unusual. 
