2014 Oscar Nominations

woo.

Ho hum. No real big surprises here.

American Hustle and Gravity lead the talented group with 10 nominations, followed closely by 12 Years a Slave's 9 Oscar nods. Philomena is the biggest surprise nomination with its Best Picture nod. This year the category boasts 9 amazing films, yet none of them are the Coen Brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis.

It seems the Golden Globes had a bit of an impact here, with Dallas Buyers Club grabbing nominations for Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto, and a Best Picture spot. Since the Oscars are not separated into Drama and Comedy categories as the Globes are, Globe winners in the Best Actor (McConaughey and Leonardo DiCaprio) and Best Actress (Cate Blanchett and Amy Adams) enter an incredibly talented pool of actors and actresses. Yes, Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson were both snubbed for Captain Phillips and Saving Mr. Banks respectively, as was Robert Redford (All is Lost), but it's nice to see Sally Hawkins for Blue Jasmine make the cut, as I am still upset she was snubbed in '08 for Happy-Go-Lucky.

I totally didn't just mention ScarJo
to post a pic of her. 

Side note: Meryl Streep gets a nomination (shocker). It is her 18th of her career.
Second side note: Scarlett Johansson does not receive a nomination for playing Siri Samantha, a voice-only role, despite the clamoring for her to be included. Personally, I would have loved for her to have been nominated, as it would have been a big step for non-physical/voice-only roles to be included in the Oscars.

The Directors Guild of America also closely mirrors the Best Director nominations with the exception of Alexander Payne (Nebraska) being nominated in place of DGA nominated Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips). I doubt anyone is seriously angered over Greengrass or Spike Jonze (Her) being snubbed as the masses were when Ben Affleck was left off the ballot last year.

Honestly, all the technical award categories might as well celebrate their nominations and be proud of that, as Gravity will inevitably sweep those.

Voting goes from February 14 to February 25 with the final announcements coming at the 86th Academy Awards Ceremony held March 2 at 7 pm aired on ABC. Ellen DeGeneres hosts what will be a "hero" theme to the festivities (Chris Hemsworth aka Thor announced the nominees), as the Oscars continue to hopelessly pander to younger audiences. 

THE FULL LIST OF NOMINEES:

BEST PICTURE

12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Her
Nebraska
Philomena
The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST DIRECTOR

David O. Russell, American Hustle
Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
Alexander Payne, Nebraska
Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
Martin Scorsese, The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST ACTOR

Christian Bale, American Hustle
Bruce Dern, Nebraska
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street
Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club

BEST ACTRESS

Amy Adams, American Hustle
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock, Gravity
Judi Dench, Philomena
Meryl Streep, August: Osage County

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

American Hustle – Written by Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell
Blue Jasmine – Written by Woody Allen
Her – Written by Spike Jonze
Nebraska – Written by Bob Nelson
Dallas Buyers Club – Written by Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Before Midnight – Written by Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke
Captain Phillips – Screenplay by Billy Ray
Philomena – Screenplay by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope
12 Years a Slave – Screenplay by John Ridley
The Wolf of Wall Street – Screenplay by Terence Winter

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
June Squibb, Nebraska
Julia Roberts, August: Osage County
Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
Bradley Cooper, American Hustle
Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
Jonah Hill, The Wolf of Wall Street
Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

BEST ANIMATED FILM

The Croods
Despicable Me 2
Ernest & Celestine
Frozen
The Wind Rises

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

The Grandmaster
Gravity
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska
Prisoners

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Michael Wilkinson, American Hustle
William Chang Suk Ping, The Grandmaster
Catherine Martin, The Great Gatsby
Michael O’Connor, The Invisible Woman
Patricia Norris, 12 Years a Slave

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

The Act of Killing – Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen
Cutie and the Boxer – Zachary Heinzerling and Lydia Dean Pilcher
Dirty Wars – Richard Rowley and Jeremy Scahill
The Square – Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer
20 Feet from Stardom – Nominees to be determined

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

Cave Digger – Jeffrey Karoff
Facing Fear – Jason Cohen
Karama Has No Walls – Sara Ishaq
The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life – Malcolm Clarke and Nicholas Reed
Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall – Edgar Barens

BEST FILM EDITING

American Hustle – Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten
Captain Phillips – Christopher Rouse
Dallas Buyers Club – John Mac McMurphy and Martin Pensa
Gravity – Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger
12 Years a Slave – Joe Walker

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

The Broken Circle Breakdown –  Belgium
The Great Beauty – Italy
The Hunt – Denmark
The Missing Picture – Cambodia
Omar – Palestine

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Dallas Buyers Club – Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa – Stephen Prouty
The Lone Ranger – Joel Harlow and Gloria Pasqua-Casny

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

John Williams, The Book Thief
Steven Price, Gravity
William Butler and Owen Pallett, Her
Alexandre Desplat, Philomena
Thomas Newman, Saving Mr. Banks

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Alone Yet Not Alone from Alone Yet Not Alone
Music by Bruce Broughton; Lyric by Dennis Spiegel

Happy from Despicable Me 2
Music and Lyric by Pharrell Williams

Let It Go from Frozen
Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez

The Moon Song from Her
Music by Karen O; Lyric by Karen O and Spike Jonze

Ordinary Love from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Music by Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen; Lyric by Paul Hewson

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

American Hustle
Production Design: Judy Becker; Set Decoration: Heather Loeffler

Gravity
Production Design: Andy Nicholson; Set Decoration: Rosie Goodwin and Joanne Woollard

The Great Gatsby
Production Design: Catherine Martin; Set Decoration: Beverley Dunn

Her
Production Design: K.K. Barrett; Set Decoration: Gene Serdena

12 Years a Slave
Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Alice Baker

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

Feral – Daniel Sousa and Dan Golden
Get a Horse! – Lauren MacMullan and Dorothy McKim
Mr. Hublot – Laurent Witz and Alexandre Espigares
Possessions – Shuhei Morita
Room on the Broom – Max Lang and Jan Lachauer

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn’t Me) – Esteban Crespo
Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just before Losing Everything) – Xavier Legrand and Alexandre Gavras
Helium – Anders Walter and Kim Magnusson
Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?) – Selma Vilhunen and Kirsikka Saari
The Voorman Problem – Mark Gill and Baldwin Li

BEST SOUND EDITING

All Is Lost – Steve Boeddeker and Richard Hymns
Captain Phillips – Oliver Tarney
Gravity – Glenn Freemantle
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Brent Burge
Lone Survivor – Wylie Stateman

BEST SOUND MIXING

Captain Phillips – Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith and Chris Munro
Gravity – Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead and Chris Munro
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Semanick and Tony Johnson
Inside Llewyn Davis – Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland
Lone Survivor – Andy Koyama, Beau Borders and David Brownlow

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Gravity – Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk and Neil Corbould
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and Eric Reynolds
Iron Man 3 – Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Erik Nash and Dan Sudick
The Lone Ranger – Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Edson Williams and John Frazier
Star Trek Into Darkness – Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Ben Grossmann and Burt Dalton

Source: Variety

Hopefully, I'll be able to break down the 6 major categories and give you all my Oscar predictions, but for now, just be amazed by the fact that The Lone Ranger will be mentioned at the Academy Awards. Like what.