Skip to main content

Oscars 2015 - Nominees Announced

It's been a while but I'm back just in time for Oscar season! So, the nominees have been announced and it's all about the countdown to the ceremony on Sunday February 22nd. There have been a few surprises, like Jake Gyllenhall's missing from the nominations for his totally engrossing and terrifying performance in Nightcrawler. I am really happy to see Rosamund Pike's performance didn't go unnoticed in Gone Girl, though, she is mesmerizing and truly deserves the nod. Now it's all been announced, here at Silver-Celluloid we thought you might like to see a full review of each film that has been nominated. Over the next few weeks we are going to do just that. Anyway, enough of this, I'll just go and dust off my dress for my Oscar night party while you guys take a look at the nominees for this year's big categories.

Best Picture

American Sniper

Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller
This powerful, biographical war drama, based on the book by Chris Kyle, is the eleventh Oscar nomination for Clint Eastwood.

Birdman

Directed by: Alejandro G. Inarritu
Starring: Michael Keaton, Zach Galifianakis, Emma Stone
A black comedy about a washed-up actor, Riggan Thomson, who is famous for playing an iconic superhero. Thomson is trying to make his comeback by getting his own dramatic production on Broadway.

Boyhood

Directed by: Richard Linklater and Catherine Sutherland
Starring: Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke
Drama depicting life through the eyes of a young boy for twelve years. This is Richard Linklater's fifth nomination.

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Directed by: Wes Anderson
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, Adrien Brody
The owner of the Alpine Hotel recounts his younger days as a lobby boy at the Grand Budapest Hotel. This film will stand as Wes Anderson's sixth Academy nomination.

The Imitation Game

Directed by: Morton Tyldum
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley
Tense drama about the life of Alan Turing, the leader of the Bletchley Park decoders who worked to crack the enigma machine during World War II.

Selma

Directed by: Ava DuVernay
Starring: David, Oyelowo, Tom Wilkinson, Tim Roth
The events surrounding the 1965 freedom marches and the life of Dr Martin Luther King Jr are explored in this weighty drama.

The Theory of Everything

Directed by: James March
Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones
A biopic of Dr Stephen Hawking which looks at his personal life. A bitter-sweet drama of relationships under the pressures of life, love and disability.

Whiplash

Directed by: Damien Chazelle
Starring: Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons
A young drummer lands a spot in a prestigious music conservatory where he meets a formidable teacher. They develop an unusual and dangerous relationship.

Actress in a Leading Role



Marion Cotillard – Two Days, One Night

French born Cotillard already has a statuette from her win for Actress in a Leading Role. In 2007, her portrayal of Edith Piaf, in the movie La Vie en Rose, gained her the gong. For this nomination Cotillard plays a factory worker who has one weekend to convince her fellow workers to give up their bonus so that she can keep her job.


Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything

This is Jones' first nomination in which she plays Jane Hawking, the wife of the eminent physicist Dr Stephen Hawking.


Moore's fifth nomination, she portrays Alice Howland, a university professor who learns that she is suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl


Pike plays the fascinating Amy Dunne, a woman whose disappearance casts suspicions on her husband. This is the first nomination for Pike and is well-deserved.

Reese Witherspoon – Wild


A previous winner for her 2005 role as June Carter in the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line, Witherspoon enjoys her second nomination for her portrayal of a woman named Cheryl who decides to trek a thousand miles in order to recover from a tragic event.

Actor in a Leading Role


The almost unrecognisable Steve Carell had earned his first Oscar nomination for the role of John du Pont in this true story of a millionaire whose fixation with wrestling leads him to ask an Olympic wrestler to live and train at his estate.

Bradley Cooper – American Sniper

Cooper has been nominated in previous years (2012, 2013) for his roles in Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle. This nomination sees him play Chris Kyle, a marksman who is left dealing with the horrors of war.

Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game

Cumberbatch's first ever Oscar nomination is for his roles as Alan Turing in the true story of the mathematician who worked tirelessly to crack the enigma code during the Second World War.

Michael Keaton – Birdman

Surprisingly this is the first nomination for Michael Keaton. He plays character of Riggan, a washed-up actor who has been famed for his role as a superhero and is now preparing for a show on Broadway.

He makes us proud to be British! Redmayne is enchanting and moving in his portrayal of Dr Stephen Hawking in the biopic of the world famous Physicist.

And the rest

Directing

Alejandro G. Inarritu - Birdman 
Richard Linklater - Boyhood 
Bennett Miller - Foxcatcher 
Wes Anderson - The Grand Budapest Hotel 
Morten Tyldum - The Imitation Game


 

Actress in a Supporting Role


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


Actor in a Supporting Role


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


Animated Feature Film


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

So there they are, the biggies, although there are loads of other nominees to see as well, for all that amazing behind the scenes stuff that most people ignore (yes, I know, including me today!) If you want a run down of the full list then head off to the official Oscars website for loads of information on the nominees. What do you think? Is it a good list or has anything been forgotten? I personally think that it is a very white, very male list of nominations this year, and as always, where is the comedy?! Please let us know what you think in the comment section below and join the debate. See you in a few days for our first review of the Oscar nomination countdown, Gone Girl. We hope you will join us.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Imitation Game - Review - Spoiler Free - Oscars Countdown

Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode Director: Morten Tyldum Genre: Drama Running time: 112 minutes Certificate: 12A UK Release Date: 14th November 2014 Ratings:                  Acting:      9/10              Directing:      9/10                       Plot:     7/10                 Overall:      9/10 This movie is spellbinding. I could leave it there but I guess you are looking for a little more, so we'll dive into the plot. It is based on a true story and tells of the life of Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) famous for his work at Bletchley Park during World War II, as well as his contribution to artificial intelligence and computing. An unusual person, and bonafide genius, his personal and professional lives collide in 1950s Britain. On the surface this film doesn't look very exciting, in truth I approached it with a little trepidation as it looked very heavy in content, and as if it was made with 'Oscar' in mind. I couldn&#

American Sniper - Review - Spoiler Free - Oscars Countdown

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller Director: Clint Eastwood Genre: Drama Running time: 132 Certificate: 15 If you're interested in this movie then you've probably already heard about that baby, and if you haven't you are about to. Where to start with American Sniper ? My hopes were for a moving portrayal of the effects of conflict in a high pressure military role. I also thought that it might take an interesting look at the families of service men and the sacrifices made both at home and on tour. My hopes were not realised. This film is based on a true story, the source material is the autobiography by Chris Kyle. It follows the life of Kyle (Bradley Cooper) who grows up with a need to protect others. This combined with his environment leads him into a career as a sniper in the US Navy. As his career progresses his home life becomes slowly more fraught. Does it Hit the Mark? This was always going to be a difficult movie to review because it is based on auto