The nominations for the 86th Annual Academy Awards were announced this morning and, as usual, there were a few surprises to be found among several categories.
Surprisingly, Gravity and American Hustle led the pack with ten nominations each. It was widely expected that 12 Years a Slave would take the lead, but due to snubs in Original Score and Cinematography, the film ended up with a total of nine nominations. Gravity received all of the nods it was expected to get (Picture, Director, Actress and multiple technical categories), while American Hustle nabbed nominations in every one of the top categories, including all four acting categories. It was a little surprising to find it snubbed for Best Makeup though, a category it was expected to take once the shortlist was announced.
Other shocking snubs include Tom Hanks for his performance in Captain Phillips, for which it was widely assumed he would be nominated. Speaking of Captain Phillips, director Paul Greengrass was snubbed as well in favor of Alexander Payne’s bland Nebraska. Greengrass would have been a much better choice, or better yet, Spike Jonze for Her.
Elsewhere, Sally Hawkins received a surprise nomination for her supporting role in Blue Jasmine, knocking out Oprah Winfrey for Lee Daniels’ The Butler. In Best Supporting Actor, Jonah Hill secured a nod for The Wolf of Wall Street, edging out assumed frontrunners like James Gandolfini for Enough Said and Daniel Bruhl for Rush.
Personally, I would have liked to see Her make a better showing, but it did receive several major nods, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay, the latter of which it will probably win. That being said, it’s great to see that the best film of the year (Gravity) had a strong showing, making me very happy with the nominations overall.
The 86th Annual Academy Awards will be announced live on March 2nd. Be sure to check back here for a live list of winners as the ceremony airs.
In the meantime, please see the next page for a complete list of nominees, and be sure to let us know what you think in the comments section!