Oscar Noms: A Lot to Celebrate, Mourn and Ponder (Analysis)

THR's awards analyst on surprise inclusions, shocking snubs and brewing controversies.

 

I was at the announcement of the 87th Oscar nominations, bright and early on Thursday morning, and as the hosts announced the categories — all 24, for the first time — I quickly filled up page after page with notes about things to celebrate, mourn and ponder.

 

The eight films that landed best picture noms — Warner Bros.' American Sniper, Fox Searchlight's Birdman, IFC Films' Boyhood, Searchlight's The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Weinstein Co.'s The Imitation Game, Paramount's Selma, Focus Features' The Theory of Everything and Sony Pictures Classics' Whiplash — were my top eight picks. None were really shockers. If there had been two more, I think they would have been Nightcrawler and Foxcatcher, but there were not. Many are disappointed that Gone Girl and Unbroken — one about a woman, the other directed by a woman — were left off the list; had either of those films or Interstellar made the cut, they would have been the only ones on the list to have grossed more than $100 million. Foxcatcher and Interstellar, meanwhile, become the films with the most nominations but no best picture nom (five) since, you guessed it, another film by the enigmatic Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight, the snub of which led to the expansion of the best picture Oscar category in the hope of increasing the diversity of the nominees. Alas, even with the option of nominating as many as 10 films, the Academy continues to gravitate toward certain genres and subject matters and not others.

For point of reference, the BFCA's 10 best picture Critics' Choice nominees included seven of the eight (not American Sniper); the HFPA's 10 best picture Golden Globe nominees (five drama and five musical/comedy) included six of the eight (not American Sniper and Whiplash); the AFI's top 11 films included six of the eight (not The Theory of Everything and Whiplash); the PGA's top 10 films included seven of the eight (not Selma); and the National Board of Review's top 10 films included four of the eight (not The Grand Budapest Hotel, Selma, The Theory of Everything and Whiplash), and their best film (A Most Violent Year) was not nominated for best picture for the first time in 14 years (since Quills).