A few (late) musings on the 2014 Oscar nominees
Today I woke up extra early to catch the super exciting nominations announcement. I cheered, I gasped and I scratched my head at some of the names uttered by Chris Hemsworth and Academy president, Cheryl Boone Isaacs. Here are some of my thoughts on the nominees, the snubbed, the surprises and even a little trivia about the people who will be competing for Hollywood’s most coveted award.
- I’m happy to say that I correctly predicted all 9 nominees for Best Picture, so yay for that. I got one wrong in each acting category and two wrong in Directing. Oh well.
- Tom Hanks left out of the Best Actor race and Emma Thompson out of Best Actress were real shockers. Haven’t seen Saving Mr. Banks, though I’m sure Emma is great in it, but Hanks was superb in Captain.
- I’m bummed that Daniel Brühl wasn’t nominated as Best Supporting Actor for his marvelous performance in Rush.
- With the Oscars, the last big crop of nominations have been announced and Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal, who both gave career-best performances in Prisoners, were completely ignored.
- Kudos to David O. Russell and the cast of American Hustle. That’s only the 15th movie to garner nominations in every acting category (Christian Bale and Amy Adams in Lead, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence in Supporting). Russell accomplished this feat last year with Silver Linings Playbook (Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence in Lead, Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver in Supporting, with Lawrence winning).
- What can I say about my paisanos? Alfonso Cuarón is the frontrunner for Best Director, plus he scored nods for Best Picture and Editing. His Gravity is the film with the most nominations this year, tying with Hustle, with 10 each. Emmanuel Lubezki garners his sixth Oscar nom for Cinematography; he should’ve won for The Tree of Life, which is one of the most gorgeous films ever. Mexican-born Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o scored a Supporting Actress nod for 12 Years a Slave. The best thing? All three could very well go home with a little golden man on March 2.
- I’m a little sad that Oprah Winfrey wasn’t acknowledged for her terrific turn in Lee Daniels’ The Butler, but I’m glad that the one that took “her” place was Sally Hawkins, great in Blue Jasmine.
- Jonah Hill is now a two-time Academy Award nominee. Not bad for someone who usually stars in comedies produced by Judd Apatow (which I like, but the Academy, of course, doesn’t).
- Queen Meryl nabs her 18th Oscar nomination, breaking her own record. That number is astonishing, but a couple women are getting steadily close: Jennifer Lawrence, who is only 23 years old, got her third nomination in just 4 years; Julia Roberts has 4; Amy Adams and Cate Blanchett are on their fifth, while Judi Dench is on her seventh.
- Amy Adams is the only one in the Best Actress category who hasn’t won an Oscar before.
- Thrilled that Leonardo DiCaprio was recognized by the Academy for an incredible performance in The Wolf of Wall Street, where Leo got to show off an impressive talent for comedy. This is his fourth nomination.
- First time nominees include Barkhad Abdi (who’d never acted before), Matthew McConaughey (finally), Jared Leto, Michael Fassbender (finally), Chiwetel Ejiofor, June Squibb, Sally Hawkins (who should’ve been nominated for Happy-Go-Lucky) and Lupita Nyong’o.
- Getting nominated for a second time are Christian Bale (can’t believe he only has 2), Bruce Dern, Sandra Bullock, Jonah Hill and Bradley Cooper.
- Glad to see Gatsby in the running for Costume Design and Production Design. It was one of the most disappointing films of the year, but a gorgeous one.
- Yay for Woody Allen for nabbing his 16th nomination in the Best Original Screenplay category, also breaking his own record.
- While I didn’t like Before Midnight as much as its predecessors, the dialog was superb, so I’m happy for the Best Adapted Screenplay nod for Hawke, Delpy and Linklater.
- I think we can all agree Gravity has the Visual Effects Oscar in the bag, right?
- I’m very “Happy” for Pharrell Williams’ deserved nomination for Best Original Song
How did you feel about the nominations?
Shit. I did not know that McConaughey has never been nominated before…. That’s… shocking… Now I really kind of want him to win..
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He should’ve been nominated for Killer Joe, IMO.
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I swore he was nominated for A Time to Kill…
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Nope. This is his long overdue first.
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100.5% agreed. I really would be satisfied with him taking one for Mud, too. He’s had a heck of a year.
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Agreed. Though that should have been supporting. Honestly, given that Hanks was shockingly not nominated, I think McConaughey should win should for Dallas Buyer’s Club and that Mud is also the best supporting performance. He deserves a clean sweep of this year’s Oscars’ male categories. 🙂
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I think he’s surpassed Chiwetel and is now the frontrunner for Best Actor. Can’t wait to see DBC. Also, with other buzzed-about performances this year (Mud and Wolf), I really thought he’d pull off a double nomination.
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He might have if Mud’s studio had been smart enough to call him a supporting actor (like he actually is). But since he was their A-List star, they called him the face of the movie. No actor has ever been nominated twice for the same category.
And McConaughey is clearly the favorite for Dallas Buyer’s Club. As he should be.
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Can’t wait to see him in DCB! With his SAG win tonight, it’s pretty clear that he’s the one to beat.
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Ever since Lincoln Lawyer he’s been having a hell of a streak.
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Totally agree. He was outstanding in Killer Joe. Is have to say that MM has been my favourite actor over the last couple of years.
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He’s been superb in every film he’s been in since 2011. Glad you liked him in Killer Joe as well. Such a great picture, and he’s the best thing about it.
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Same with me. That’s nuts.
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I never would’ve thought I’d someday include Matt Mac among my favorite actors.
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American Hustle should earn another award (at least from DSB). Most Overrated Film of 2013. Not just comedy. Film. I liked it, but there’s no way it should get Best Picture. There was way too much that was underdeveloped in that story to warrant top honors. But that’s just my cynical opinion. 😀
Good stuff Fernando, I enjoyed this post a lot.
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Thanks, Tom. Glad you liked it. We’ll see if I agree with you on Hustle, which I’ll be seeing later today. I don’t think it’ll get Best Picture, though. I think 12 Years a Slave is a lock, and if any movie takes it away from 12YAS, it’s gonna be Gravity.
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I liked Gravity but that seems to be the film often cited as the ‘most overrated film’ of 2013. It won the LA times poll among several others: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-overrated-movie-gravity-butler-poll-20131226,0,1860527.story
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I would’ve voted for American Hustle.
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Good thoughts. I shared a few earlier today and the first thing I mentioned was the snubs of “Inside Llewyn Davis”. Criminal! Also had about 5 other actors who I wish got a Best Actor nomination ahead of Leo. But that is such a huge field.
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I loved Leo but yes, the Best Actor category is jampacked this year! Also was very surprised at the snubbing of Llewyn. Weird.
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I was disappointed in 2013 and a lot of the movies that came out but the year ended very strongly and this is one if the tightest Oscar nominations I’ve seen for a while. It’s hard to call but as long Michael Fassbender wins, I’m a happy man!
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Yes. I’ve seen many great movies this past couple of weeks and as I try to catch up with all the late-in-the-year releases I’m sure I’ll find more gems. Very solid nominees this year, indeed. But I’m sorry, I think Jared Leto is going to beat The Fass this year.
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Nooo! Say it ain’t so.
I need the Fass to win one of these. Shamefully overlooked for years. Saying that, I yet to see Dallas Buyers
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I think his time will come, though. Too good an actor to not receive an Oscar eventually. But I think it’ll be Jared.
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Same, I’d say Leto has it locked.
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It went mostly as expected I think, although I was expecting Hanks to get a nomination. And I’m in total agreement with you that it’s disappointing Daniel Bruhl wasn’t nominated.
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Such a bummer about Brühl, really. And yes, that Hanks snub was so strange. I still can’t explain it.
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It’s funny that so many people are calling for Tom Hanks to be named in the Best Actor category – me included. It seems so unanimous that it’s strange the Academy seemed to miss that one.
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I know, right? So weird. I thought he was for sure a lock in the category.
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I agree with much of your commentary. I will say I would not have nominated Bruhl either. He is very good in Rush, but the field is simply too strong.
Oh and I think McQueen clearly the front runner for Best Director. Cuaron is the “it’s quite possible but it would be a bit of a surprise” candidate.
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Definitely strong category, and while I think Jonah was solid, Daniel derseved that spot. Don’t even get me started on Jake Gyllenhall in Prisoners! haha
And I think the DGA winner will give us a clearer picture, but judging from the awards won so far, I think Cuarón is the candidate to beat.
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Such a bummer that The Wind Rises is nominated in the same category as Frozen, so of course it won’t win, even though Miyazaki deserves it. I loved the movie, the animation was amazing! Frozen is just another Disney movie, but you just cannot deny its popularity. It’s DiCaprio and Daniel Day-Lewis all over again.
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Yeah, I think Frozen will take that one. Haven’t seen either one, but I know that feeling.
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No such thing as a *late* musing on Oscars Fernando, we’ll be talking about this until Spring 😀
Daniel Brühl is sooo robbed!! And we both agree on Cuaron too, would love for him to sweep everything!
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Well, you’re right. And I’m glad we still have so much time to talk Oscars. It’s one of my favorite subjects, of course! haha
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I’m bewildered by Davis’ snubbing. It’s a strong contender for being film of the year for me and it got only two nominations.
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Pretty strange.
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Great post… I’m almost starting feel a little bit of Oscars excitement.
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I live for the Oscars!
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“Amy Adams is the only one in the Best Actress category who hasn’t won an Oscar before.”
Haha, thats cool. Didn’t even know that.
Completely shocked by the Tom Hanks snub, did not see that one coming. I wasn’t a big fan of his performance, so I’m not that bothered haha.
So happy for Jared Leto, I’m rooting for him this season!
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It’s a very interesting fact. It’ll stay that way, I think, because Cate Blanchett is definitely taking it again.
I wasn’t a big fan of Captain Phillips, but I loved Hanks in it, so I was a bit bummed.
And while I haven’t seen DBC, I’m also rooting for Jared. I love him!
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