And The Oscar Nominations Are…

The nominations for the Oscars have been released for 2014 and even though there were a couple of shocks, the nominations by and large are pretty much how we expected them to be. In the Best Picture category are  the wonderful American Hustle, Nebraska, Captain Phillips, Philomena, the amazing Dallas Buyers Club, 12 Years a Slave, Gravity, The Wolf of Wall Street and Her. The nominations for Actor in Leading Role  were Christian Bale (American Hustle), Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave), Bruce Dern (Nebraska), Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club) and Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street). No nomination for Robert Redford! McConaughey looks to be the winner here. In the Actress in Leading Role were Amy Adams (American Hustle), Judi Dench (Philoena), Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine), Meryl Streep (August: Orange County) and Sandra Bullock (Gravity). Surprisingly, Emma Thompson was left off the list for her performance in Saving Mr. Banks. For Actor in a Supporting Role, the nominations were Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips), Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street), Bradley Cooper (American Hustle), Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club) and Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave). Unfortunately, James Gandolfini was left out here despite that lovely performance in Enough Said. For Actress in a Supporting Role, the nominations were Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine), Julia Roberts (August: Osage County). Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle), June Squibb (Nebraska) and Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave). There was no nomination for poor Oprah. It seems that Jennifer Lawrence will be a sure-fire winner in this category! We're pretty sure that Frozen will come out on top in the Animated Feature Film. The nominations were The Croods, Frozen, Despicable Me 2, The Wind Rises and Ernest & Celestine. For Best Director, the nominations were David O Russell (American Hustle), Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity), Alexander Payne (Nebraska), Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave), Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street). Surprisingly, Gravity and American Hustle edged out past 12 Years a Slave with ten nominations each to 12 Years nine nominations. Blue is the Warmest Colour was also left off the Best Foreign Film nominations list due to ineligibility around its release date. The Coens were also left out as Best Directors for Inside Llewyn Davis. We may have to re-do our prediction list.