The Grand Budapest Hotel and Birdman lead 2015 Oscar nominations

Feature by News Team | 15 Jan 2015

The awards season kicked into a higher gear today as the Oscars announced the nominations for its 87th awards, to take place 22 Feb in Los Angeles. Much of the nominations went as predicted, but there were a few surprises along the way.

Perhaps the biggest is the strong showing for Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel, which made its world premiere nearly a year ago at the Berlin Film Festival. Oscar voters are not known for their memory, but Anderson’s candy-coloured caper – which stars Ralph Fiennes as the eponymous establishment's concierge who gets embroiled in a murderous plot – has evidently stayed with them, emerging with nine nominations, including best film and best director.

The only other title to match Anderson’s films number was Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's black comedy Birdman. Its nine nominations include best film and best director, plus three acting nods: Michael Keaton for best actor, Edward Norton for best supporting actor and Emma Stone for best supporting actress.

Unsurprisingly, given its bravura camerawork (it’s made to appear as if the film was shot in one continuous take), Birdman also did well in the technical catagories, with nods for best cinematography, sound editing and sound mixing. Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel led the way at this week's BAFTA nominations, with Wes Anderson's film heading the pack with 11 nods.

Of the two British biopic contenders, The Theory of Everything and The Imitation Game, the latter came out slightly on top: The Imitation Game received eight nominations, The Theory of Everything six. Eddie Redmayne's impressive turn as Stephen Hawking gives the 33-year-old a best actor nomination and he’ll be up against Benedict Cumberbatch for his portrayal of unsung war hero Alan Turing.

Another film going into the Oscar race with six nominations is Richard Linklater’s 12-years-in-the-making coming-of-age story Boyhood (one of the films of the year according to The Skinny’s writers) – its nominations include best film and best director for Linklater.

Another surprise was that Clint Eastwood’s unfancied American Sniper did so well, receiving six nominations also. The biggest snub was to Selma, the celebrated drama about the life and death of Martin Luther King, Jr, which only received two nominations in the end, for best picture and best score.

But causing the biggest outrage on social media so far has been The LEGO Movie’s lack of a best animated film nomination. Shameful.


More from The Skinny:


• Our look at the frontrunners for 2015 Oscars glory


• Check out the winners in our readers' Food and Drink Survey


Oscars 2015 – The Full list of nominations:

Best Picture
Birdman
Boyhood
Selma
The Theory of Everything
The Imitation Game
The Grand Budapest Hotel
American Sniper
Whiplash

Actress in a Leading Role
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild
Marion Cotillard, Two Days One Night

Actor in a Leading Role

Michael Keaton, Birdman
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper

Directing

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game
Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher

Actress in a Supporting Role

Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Emma Stone, Birdman
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods
Laura Dern, Wild

Actor in a Supporting Role

J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Edward Norton, Birdman
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
Robert Duvall, The Judge

Foreign Language Film

Ida
Leviathan
Tangerines
Wild Tales
Timbuktu

Adapted Screenplay

Graham Moore, The Imitation Game
Damien Chazelle, Whiplash
Anthony McCarten, The Theory of Everything
Jason Hall, American Sniper
Paul Thomas Anderson, Inherent Vice

Original Screenplay

Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo, Birdman
Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler
E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman, Foxcatcher

Cinematography

Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman
Roger Deakins, Unbroken
Robert D. Yeoman, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Dick Pope, Mr. Turner
Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lynzewski, Ida

Original Score

Hans Zimmer, Interstellar
Alexandre Desplat, The Imitation Game
Johann Johannsson, The Theory of Everything
Alexandre Desplat, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Gary Yershon, Mr Turner

Makeup and Hairstyling

Foxcatcher
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy

Costume Design

Colleen Atwood, Into the Woods
Anna B. Sheppard, Maleficent
Milena Canonero, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Jacqueline Durran, Mr. Turner
Mark Bridges, Inherent Vice

Original Song

Glory by Common and John Legend, Selma
Lost Stars by Gregg Alexander, Danielle Brisebois, Nick Lashley and Nick Southwood, Begin Again
Everything Is Awesome by Shawn Patterson, The LEGO Movie
I’m Not Gonna Miss You, by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond, Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me

Visual Effects

Interstellar
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Guardians of the Galaxy
Captain America: Winter Soldier
X-Men: Days of Future Past

Documentary Feature

Citizenfour
Last Days in Vietnam
Virunga
The Salt of the Earth
Finding Vivian Maier

Short Film – Live Action

Boogaloo and Graham
Aya
Butterlamp
Parvenah
The Phone Call

Short Film – Documentary

Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Joanna
Our Curse
White Earth
The Reaper

Short Film – Animated

The Bigger Picture
A Single Life
The Dam Keeper
Me and My Moulton

Animated Feature Film

Big Hero 6
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The Boxtrolls
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
Song of the Sea

Film Editing

Sandra Adair, Boyhood
Tom Cross, Whiplash
William Goldenberg, The Imitation Game
Joel Cox and Gary Roach, American Sniper
Barney Pilling, The Grand Budapest Hotel

Sound Editing

Interstellar
Unbroken
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
American Sniper
Birdman

Sound Mixing
Interstellar
Whiplash
Unbroken
American Sniper
Birdman

Production Design

Into the Woods
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Interstellar
The Imitation Game
Mr. Turner