Keith Girard
The 2014 Oscar nominations contained some surprises and some surprising snubs.
Let’s get the snubs out of the way, right off the bat.
The two biggest: No awards for “Lee Daniels: The Butler,” and George Clooney left out of the best supporting actor’s category.
Also no posthumous honor for late James Gandolfini, who starred in his last role in “Enough Said.”
And what? No Tom Hanks? The veteran actor and Oscar winner missed out for his standout role in “Captain Phillips.” The film was tapped for Best Picture, but shut out of other major awards, except for Barkhad Abdi’s supporting actor nomination.
Oprah Winfrey, who received a Golden Globe nomination for a supporting role, gets no Oscar recognition, even though she returned to acting in her first major role in “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” in more than a decade.
Jennifer Garner, who received lots of Oscar buzz for her role as a doctor who eventually befriends Matthew McConaughey’s HIV-positive patient in “Dallas Buyers Club,” was passed over for a supporting actress nomination. It would have been her first.
Robert Redford, who’s acting career has always been under-appreciated by voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, fell short for his moving role in the film “All is Lost.”
The nominations included a fair share of past winners like Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lawrence, but this Academy Award season will be known for a number of first-timers. Nothing like some fresh blood.
Among them are Jonah Hill, “The Wolf of Wall Street,” Chiwetel Ejiofor, “12 Years a Slave” and Matthew McConaughey, “Dallas Buyers Club”
Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street,” is the surprise powerhouse, picking up Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Leonardo diCaprio) and Best Supporting Actor, Hill. It isn’t Scorsese’s best work and in the end, it’s a meaningless film.
In the Best Actor category, only Christian Bale has won a previous Oscar for his supporting role in The Fighter (2010). diCaprio has been nominated four times, but never won, although he’s picked up several Golden Globes, including one this year for Best Actor in a Drama.
McConaughey has never won an Oscar, but he is coming off a Golden Globe win for Best Actor in a Drama for “Dallas Buyers Club,” which should give him some Oscar momentum.
Check out the list of nominees for major awards below with our handicaps, let us know your thoughts and follow TheImproper on Twitter for the latest Oscar updates.
| 2014 Oscar Nominations in Major Categories | |
|---|---|
Guide: ♣ Our Pick; ♥ Favorite; ♦ Front Runner; ♠ Dark Horse |
|
| BEST PICTURE American Hustle, Charles Roven, Richard Suckle, Megan Ellison, and Jonathan Gordon, Producers ♥ ♦ Captain Phillips, Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti and Michael De Luca, Producers Dallas Buyers Club, Robbie Brenner and Rachel Winter, Producers ♣ Gravity, Alfonso Cuarón and David Heyman, Producers Her, Megan Ellison, Spike Jonze and Vincent Landay, Producers Nebraska, Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa, Producers Philomena, Gabrielle Tana, Steve Coogan and Tracey Seaward, Producers ♠ 12 Years a Slave, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen and Anthony Katagas, Producers The Wolf of Wall Street, Nominees to be determined BEST DIRECTOR BEST ACTOR BEST ACTRESS SUPPORTING ACTOR |
SUPPORTING ACTRESS ANIMATED FEATURE FILM FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM DOCUMENTARY FEATURE |