The 2015 Academy Award nominees were announced this morning via a live, streaming presentation as part of the build-up to the 87th Academy Awards ceremony, and the list of nominations features a pair of critically acclaimed films leading the pack as this year’s Oscar darlings.
Director Alejandro Iñárritu’s Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) and Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel each earned nine nominations for Oscar Awards. The two films were followed closely by Morten Tyldum’s The Imitation Game with seven nominations and Richard Linklater’s Boyhood and Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper each earning six nominations.
While many of this year’s nominees aren’t surprising, it’s the exclusion of a few particular films and filmmakers that’s already generating significant buzz. Selma director Ava DuVernay was conspicuously absent from the list of “Best Achievement in Directing” nominees despite earning near-universal praise for her work on the film, and The Lego Movie was strangely left off the list of “Best Animated Feature” nominees despite being one of the best-reviewed films of the year and the fourth highest-grossing film in the U.S. (and 15th highest-grossing film worldwide) in 2014.
Here is the full list of nominees for the 87th Academy Awards:
Best Picture
American Sniper (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Boyhood (IFC Films)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
The Imitation Game (The Weinstein Company)
Selma (Paramount Pictures)
The Theory of Everything (Focus Features)
Whiplash (Sony Pictures Classics)
Achievement in Directing
Alejandro G. Iñárritu – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Richard Linklater – Boyhood
Bennett Miller – Foxcatcher
Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Morten Tyldum – The Imitation Game
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Steve Carell – Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper – American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Marion Cotillard – Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore – Still Alice
Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon – Wild
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Robert Duvall – The Judge
Ethan Hawke – Boyhood
Edward Norton – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons – Whiplash
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
Laura Dern – Wild
Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game
Emma Stone – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Meryl Streep – Into the Woods
Achievement in Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
American Sniper, Written by Jason Hall
The Imitation Game, Written by Graham Moore
Inherent Vice, Written by Paul Thomas Anderson
The Theory of Everything, Written by Anthony McCarten
Whiplash, Written by Damien Chazelle
Achievement in Writing (Original Screenplay)
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Alexander Dinelaris, Nicolas Giacobone, Armando Bo
Boyhood, Written by Richard Linklater
Foxcatcher, Written by Dan Futterman and E. Max Frye
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Written by Wes Anderson
Nightcrawler, Written by Dan Gilroy
Foreign Language Film
Ida (Music Box Films), Poland, Pawel Pawlikowski
Leviathan (Sony Pictures Classics), Russia, Andrey Zvyagintsev
Tangerines, Estonia, Zaza Urushadze
Timbuktu (Cohen Media Group), Mauritania, Abderrahmane Sissako
Wild Tales (Sony Pictures Classics), Argentina, Damián Szifrón
Animated Feature Film
Big Hero 6 (Walt Disney Pictures)
The Boxtrolls (Focus Features)
How to Train Your Dragon 2 (DreamWorks Animation)
Song of the Sea (GKIDS)
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (GKIDS)
Achievement in Production Design
The Grand Budapest Hotel Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Into the Woods
Mr. Turner
Achievement in Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Robert Yeoman – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski – Ida
Dick Pope – Mr. Turner
Roger Deakins – Unbroken
Achievement in Costume Design
Milena Canonero – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Mark Bridges – Inherent Vice
Colleen Atwood – Into the Woods
Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive – Maleficent
Jacqueline Durran – Mr. Turner
Achievement in Film Editing
Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach – American Sniper
Sandra Adair – Boyhood
Barney Pilling – The Grand Budapest Hotel
William Goldenberg – The Imitation Game
Tom Cross – Whiplash
Documentary (Feature)
Citizenfour (RADiUS-TWC)
Finding Vivian Maier (Sundance Selects)
Last Days in Vietnam
The Salt of the Earth (Sony Pictures Classics)
Virunga (Netflix)
Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling
Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard – Foxcatcher
Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White – Guardians of the Galaxy
Music (Original Score)
Alexandre Desplat – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alexandre Desplat – The Imitation Game
Hans Zimmer – Interstellar
Gary Yershon – Mr. Turner
Jóhann Jóhannsson – The Theory of Everything
Music (Original Song)
“Everything Is Awesome” from The LEGO Movie
Music and Lyric by Shawn Patterson
“Glory” from Selma
Music and Lyric by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn
“Grateful” from Beyond the Lights
Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me
Music and Lyric by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond
“Lost Stars” from Begin Again
Music and Lyric by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois
Achievement in Sound Mixing
American Sniper
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Interstellar
Unbroken
Whiplash
Achievement in Sound Editing
American Sniper
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Interstellar
Unbroken
Achievement in Visual Effects
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,
Guardians of the Galaxy,
Interstellar
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Documentary (Short Subject)
Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 – Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry
Joanna – Aneta Kopacz
Our Curse – Tomasz Sliwinski and Maciej Slesicki
The Reaper (La Parka) – Gabriel Serra Arguello
White Earth – J. Christian Jensen
Short Film (Animated)
The Bigger Picture – Daisy Jacobs and Christopher Hees
The Dam Keeper – Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi
Feast – Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed
Me and My Moulton – Torill Kove
A Single Life – Joris Oprins
Short Film (Live Action)
Aya – Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis
Boogaloo and Graham – Michael Lennox and Ronan Blaney
Butter Lamp (La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak) – Hu Wei and Julien Féret
Parvaneh – Talkhon Hamzavi and Stefan Eichenberger
The Phone Call – Mat Kirkby and James Lucas
Hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, the 87th Academy Awards ceremony will be held Sunday, February 22, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, CA. It will be broadcast on ABC beginning at 7pm ET.
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