Complete List of Nominations

[OscarGuy]

Actually. I predicted it would get both Best Production Design and Best Costume Design and Peter joined me in predicting it for Best Costume Design. So, don't say no one here saw it going into the two design categories.

[Mister Tee]

But too few have noted its design nod -- a category for which no one here predicted it.

Was that really such a surprise? I didn't do predictions (I just don't care enough anymore), but I didn't have much doubt it would get nominated for Production Design and Costumes, although I definitely felt like Costumes was the better bet.

Now as I look back through the prediction thread, criddic had it in a late post. But no one else; all the smart Oscar minds here omitted it even as alternate. Which surprised me, because I had it in my predictions (since I didn't post them, you can take my word on that or not).

[flipp525]

Try explaining Best Makeup to the future of our country, but it has to be Best Actress. I say this with the caveat of not having seen Philomena or August, Osage County (this will be resolved), and I say this knowing that it could be worse had Amy Adams (for me, the only acceptable choice in this group) not been nominated in lieu of Emma Thompson, but when will it stop? When will Best Actress start feeling like a place where great acting is honored instead of where actress that Academy voters have honored in the past get honored again? Again: I have not seen Philomena or August, Osage County (which my mother has informed me is the best acting Meryl Streep has ever done), but it's hard to shake off Tina Fey's fantastic joke about excellent roles for Meryl Streeps over 60.

I'll bring this over there because the August: Osage County thread is pretty much dead.

I don't think that Meryl Streep is as bad or camp or over-the-top as people have been saying. Yes, all of these elements are there somewhat throughout the film (the big fight on the floor reminded me of Faye Dunaway straddling Diana Scarwid in Mommie Dearest). But the character is written that way and there's really no way around it. I thought the way that Streep commanded the infamous dinner scene was almost masterful. There are so many quick switches and she nails every single one of them. And her monologue about the boots is heartbreaking. The reason her performance is being shredded, sliced and diced by the critics is due to the fact that it doesn't seem to match the tone of the film, which itself is quite dour and serious instead of being darkly comical. It's tonal discordance and it's a problem of the director's.

With that said, I'm actually quite happy with this Best Actress lineup. Amy Adams' primal scream on the toilet in American Hustle was like an angry call to the Oscar gods, thankfully answered.

[dws1982]

But too few have noted its design nod -- a category for which no one here predicted it.

Was that really such a surprise? I didn't do predictions (I just don't care enough anymore), but I didn't have much doubt it would get nominated for Production Design and Costumes, although I definitely felt like Costumes was the better bet.

[Mister Tee]

[quote="Sonic Youth]Had he not publicly withdrew in 2011, maybe we'd have a 3 way tie in the nomination count today. The Oscar race is a game of margins sometimes.[/quote]
I'd have to argue that the 3-way tie would still have been a disappointment for 12 Years a Slave.

I didn't predict 12 Years for either sound category (its missing CAS was a tipoff for me). I think most of those who predicted it in those slots did it on the basis it was a juggernaut -- and, with those two nominations, it would have been (combined with the other nominations most thought it'd get).

But, even thinking the film was going to miss in those two categories, I couldn't see any way it would fail to lead the nominations. This was a best picture level period piece with three slam dunk acting nominees -- that gave it a baseline 8 nominations (film/director/screenplay/3 acting nods/costumes/production design), with others well in contention (cinematography, editing, score). I thought the two other strongest contenders were going to have to perform at peak value just to get within 1 or 2 of it.

12 Years made it easier by failing at those key categories, but it must be said that the other two got to or exceeded their highest level possible. Gravity didn't startle us -- it didn't get screenplay, which would have been a game-changer -- but it did get a very missable production design and didn't fall short at anything necessary. As for American Hustle...everyone's talking about its clean sweep of the acting categories, on which few but Sabin were willing to bet, and it's certainly impressive (I think we all knew it would do better than its one acting nod at SAG, but 2-3 was probably the upside expectation for most). But too few have noted its design nod -- a category for which no one here predicted it. If it hadn't been for the perennial lunacy of the make-up branch, Hustle would have led the nominations, something on which no one would have wagered yesterday.

Let me repeat what I've been saying all season: I think this is a three-way race for best picture, and 12 Years a Slave is very much in it. I think McQueen has about a 50/50 shot at winning best director. But I think we have to be clear-eyed about what's happened to the film during this already lengthy awards season: while it's done enough to stay alive at every turn, I don't think it's had a single moment (save maybe the Boston Critics' win) where it didn't experience some level of disappointment -- of which today is the latest.

[Sonic Youth]

Did "Her" really have such a great showing, though? Besides the expanded Picture category, it was nominated for Screenplay, Art Direction and two music categories from which the members seem capable of separating the quality of the film (or, in the case of Best Song, the possibility that there may be no movie at all) from the music itself. Had Phoenix or Spike Jones managed a nomination, Her would've been one of the big stories of the day.

I'm guessing Scorsese would've been the lone director nominee if we were back to the Best Picture slate of five. Jonah Hill was a nice surprise, but there was absolutely no support in the technical noms, not even for his longtime collaborator Thelma Schoonmaker. That's a classic "lone director" profile. Like it or not, Dallas Buyers Club might very well have made it in the top five.

[Sabin]

Favorite lineup of nominees…?

Best Director. I find it very difficult to assess or rank films this year, but I think very highly of American Hustle, Gravity, Nebraska, 12 Years a Slave, and The Wolf of Wall Street. Five exceptional films. Five films directed with so much personality. Without Spike Jonze in the mix, it's not quite as staggering as it could be, but these are all major works by ambitious, still burgeoning talents.

Worst lineup of nominees…?

Try explaining Best Makeup to the future of our country, but it has to be Best Actress. I say this with the caveat of not having seen Philomena or August, Osage County (this will be resolved), and I say this knowing that it could be worse had Amy Adams (for me, the only acceptable choice in this group) not been nominated in lieu of Emma Thompson, but when will it stop? When will Best Actress start feeling like a place where great acting is honored instead of where actress that Academy voters have honored in the past get honored again? Again: I have not seen Philomena or August, Osage County (which my mother has informed me is the best acting Meryl Streep has ever done), but it's hard to shake off Tina Fey's fantastic joke about excellent roles for Meryl Streeps over 60.

[Sabin]

Not much to complain about here. I love Inside Llewyn Davis and I loved not feeling like I needed to watch Philomena so that hurts, but the median quality of these nominees is fairly exceptional.

The biggest omission is 12 Year's a Slave missing out on Best Cinematography. Hans Zimmer's music was too much of a mash up between Inception and The Thin Red Line for me to feel remiss about him missing out, meaning that for at least another year his only win will be for The Lion King. Who honestly predicted that 12 Years a Slave wouldn't be the nomination leader today?

It's also pretty surprising that Pacific Rim missed out on a Best Visual Effects nomination.

The nicest surprise was the strong showing for Her, especially in the field of Production Design. Hoyte van Hoytema (sadly not nominated for my favorite cinematography of the year) will be nominated within two years. I can honestly say that Her's nomination for Best Production Design might be my favorite nomination of the year.

Or is it Before Midnight for Best Adapted Screenplay?

My least favorite nomination of the year has to be Sandra Bullock for Gravity. The irony is that had Alfonso Cuaron actually cast Angelina Jolie or Natalie Portman it would be so much easier to take the film seriously as the transcendent science-fiction movie that it is. In honor of Michael Gebert, I award her my "Irrational Hatred Award." I can't stand her in Gravity. She's a fine movie star (if not actress) in other ventures but she is the chief reason I find it difficult to muster true passion for this incredible achievement.

My hunch that paid off was David O. Russell cleaning up in the acting categories for two years in a row. Tom Hanks is quite good in Captain Phillips but really it's just a handful of scenes that stands out. I think Christian Bale was a bit miscast, far too buffoonish and not closet romantic enough, but he's quite fun, as is Leo. Best Actor is not necessarily a stronger lineup for their inclusion and Hanks and Redford's exclusion, but it sure feels that way. I have friends that say that this is the strongest acting lineup in ages. For me, 2012's lineup of Day-Lewis, Cooper, Jackman, Phoenix, and Washington handily beats it.

My hunch that I bailed on is the stronger showings for Dallas Buyers Club and Nebraska. When I saw Dallas Buyers Club, I thought to myself that Jean-Marc Vallee had a good shot at a directing nomination, but that the film's script and especially its editing was going to surprise a lot of people when they're nominated. I think it's edited to a slight fault, but the film certainly moves. I didn't put much stock in Spike Jonze for Best Director, but I was going back and forth between Paul Greengrass and Alexander Payne until the very end. Wish I stuck to my guns.

[Big Magilla]

Apparently there is a loophole in the music branch's rules which allowed Alone But Not Alone to sneak into the nominations. Current rules for song submissions include the following:

D. Submissions may be made prior to the film’s Los Angeles County qualifying run, but must be made no later than 60 days after such opening, or by 5 p.m. PT on Monday, December 2, 2013, whichever comes first.

In other words, the film doesn't have to play Los Angeles for one week beginning no later than December 31st. According to the film's faith based website it is expected to be available in June, 2014.

There is another rule that says a clip of how the song is used in the film must be submitted for consideration. Obviously the YouTube clip, which is a live recording over scenes from the live, doesn't qualify. It is from an apparently well-known 65 year-old quadriplegic singer who has other YouTube videos available including one of her singing with the Billy Graham Crusade in 1983 and an appearance on the Larry King Show in which her life story is told.

[Sonic Youth]

I'll start down ballot and say that for me, two of the most shocking exclusions were 12 Years a Slave in Cinematography and Original Score. I'm not going to get all doomsday and start acting like anyone should stick a fork in the movie's win chances, but I also have to say that these were two categories where the movie was widely expected to appear, and it was rather bafflingly omitted. (Most of us had it pegged for Sound Mixing as well, but that was a more iffy proposition.)

The cinematography snub is concerning, but regarding score let me remind everyone of this story from a few years ago:

"Hans Zimmer bows out of this year's Oscar race"
http://uaadb.cinemasight.com/viewtopic. ... er#p112724

I don't know if he's continued to withdraw his name since then - I'm sure it's easy enough to check - but he clearly doesn't like the awards season or campaigning. Maybe, as long as we're theorizing without any proof whatsoever, enough voters in the music branch decided "I know him, and I know he hates getting nominated and all the attention that comes with it. So, why bother?" The snub may have had nothing to do with lack of enthusiasm for the film at all. Had he not publicly withdrew in 2011, maybe we'd have a 3 way tie in the nomination count today. The Oscar race is a game of margins sometimes.

AFAIC, I'm fine with the score not being nominated. It was a very weak element of the film and was particularly overbearing in the early stretch. I'm not so sure, however, it was any worse than some of the scores that made it.

As for sound mixing, I'll probably be mocked for saying this, but here goes... I won't pretend to know why it wasn't nominated, and maybe it is a sign that it doesn't have enough support. But considering what the sound mix was primarily utilized for, which was recreating the snap of the whip against naked flesh throughout much of the film, would you even have wanted to nominate it? I wouldn't.

[OscarGuy]

Desplat had so much difficulty getting nominated when he deserved it, I won't begrudge his nomination now, even if for a lackluster film. The John Williams-guarantee is tiresome, though. Maybe they'll stop after 50 or they'll try to get him to Walt Disney levels (if he doesn't die first).

As to the song, if there's a piano involved, I'm betting it's not a scene from the film. It sounds to me like someone covering the song. As I understand the film's explanation, the song is created by one of the kidnapped women while in Indian (I'm going to use this term since the concept on display in the film is apparently very archaic as well) captivity as a way to endure what's put upon her.

Bruce Broughton was a governor of the Music Branch, so I have little doubt his name is highly recognized by them and may have helped him get a nomination.

[ksrymy]

They should have nominated Cliff Martinez for his work on Only God Forgives - the music was one of the few good things about it.

[The Original BJ]

I recognize it's a matter of high profile/low profile, but, since everybody bitches and moans about Meryl Streep getting automatic nominations, howcome no one says boo about John Williams getting cited every time he tunes up? The music score category is tried-blood almost all around, in fact -- I admire Thomas Newman and Alexander Desplat, but do they have to turn up every time?

I'll say it. BOOOOOOO. I've loved the work of all three of these composers before, but these three nominations are the definition of by rote, particularly given the otherwise shut-out of Saving Mr. Banks and the fact that not one person anywhere cares about The Book Thief.

[Mister Tee]

A few upon-further-reflection observations:

Nobody's mentioned it, but, god, it's good to see Michael Fassbender and Sally Hawkins get nominations this time around. And Alfonso Cuaron. And Matthew McConnaughey, after the two years he's had. We move on so quickly to whether someone can win, but we should pause a moment to celebrate these people going into the books.

Odd set of facts: John Goodman has appeared in several best pictur-nominated films. The Coen brothers have had multiple films nominated for best picture. But the omission of Inside Llewyn Davis continues a trend of that twain never meeting: no Coen movie with Goodman in it has made the best picture cut.

That Alone But Not Alone mystery song nomination has a faint odor about it, given the film's apparent lack of release most places, and the composer's friends-in-high-places. But the film itself is likely to cause a stir, as it's a Christian-backed film about early American settlers who survive kidnapping by savage (sic) Indians through the power of prayer. Not what most Academy members would be thrilled to be associated with. And, if you watch the video, the singer is a quadriplegic who spends the first minute or so entreating god to give her the strength to get through the number. Of course you have human sympathy for her situation, but the kitsch on display makes many of us snicker a bit, as well.

I recognize it's a matter of high profile/low profile, but, since everybody bitches and moans about Meryl Streep getting automatic nominations, howcome no one says boo about John Williams getting cited every time he tunes up? The music score category is tried-blood almost all around, in fact -- I admire Thomas Newman and Alexander Desplat, but do they have to turn up every time?

[flipp525]

All 5 actress nominees are previous winners.

Amy Adams isn't an Oscar winner.