Oscar Isaac plays a pissy ’60s folk singer who likes cats in the Coen Brothers’ “Inside Llewyn Davis.”
Credit: Alison Rosa
For reasons that have always seemed cruel and unusual, the city of Los Angeles got mobilized early this morning to announce the Academy Award nominations at a time even the East Coast found a bit early. It was 5:30 a.m. PST when Chris Hemsworth — the star of the once-presumed-Oscar-bound “Rush” — and AMPAS public relations representative Cheryl Boone Isaacs dryly read off the list of obvious and not so obvious Oscar nominees for 2013.
Even more than the Golden Globes — which at least separate certain categories into sometimes haphazardly defined “drama” and “musical and/or comedy” factions — the Oscars can be a frustrating bunch, especially as they’re the awards most people will pay attention to in the future.
“American Hustle” inevitably ran off with 10 nominations. So did “Gravity,” although most of its noms were technical ones a more actor-driven film like “Hustle” could never dream of scoring — even one with ‘70s duds and Christian Bale’s impressive combination toupee-and-combover. “12 Years a Slave” was right behind them with nine, including citations for director Steve McQueen as well as actors Chiwetel Ejiofor and Lupita Nyong’o.
“Nebraska” got six, as did “Dallas Buyers Club.” Despite some controversy over certain op-ed writers who thought it should have been more obvious about not approving of what it depicted, “The Wolf of Wall Street” nabbed five, including one that Leonardo DiCaprio ought to win.
It’s here that we shall engage in the traditional bout of pointing out all the perceived “snubs,” even if that would imply that AMPAS voters actually get together and talk about all the acclaimed people and films they’re going to thumb their nose at. (They don’t.)
Still, we’re assuming there was some write-in problem that resulted in the Coen brothers’ exceedingly liked “Inside Llewyn Davis” getting shut out of everything but cinematography (for Bruno Delbonnel) and sound mixing. The Oscars have historically loved the Coens, and it was just assumed “Llewyn” would at least be among the 10 — 10! — Best Picture noms, with perhaps star Oscar Isaac garnering a little love. (Alas, the most memorable song — “Please Mr. Kennedy,” featuring Adam Driver whooping and injecting odd commentary in the background, was deemed ineligible.)
None of that happened. Perhaps half the voters mistakenly wrote in “Llewellyn?” Let that be a lesson to acclaimed filmmakers trying to use weird names in their titles.
Meanwhile, “The Croods” got one nomination.
Among the other genuine shock “snubs” include Robert Redford, whose wordless performance as the only man in the nautical survivalist drama “All is Lost” was widely seen as one of his finest turns, a comeback in a year that also saw his lackluster (but not terrible) “The Company You Keep.”
Tom Hanks gave two performances made for Oscar voters: one that deserved it (“Captain Phillips,” whose final scene contains arguably his finest work) and one that didn’t (“Saving Mr. Banks”). “Saving Mr. Banks” only scored a single nom for Thomas Newman’s sickly score, and we should be glad it was only one, despite our for Emma Thompson in general.
Also missing was “Captain Phillips”’ director, Paul Greengrass, who in fact directed the hell out of the picture — certainly sweating roughly ten thousand times more than “Nebraska” helmsman Alexander Payne, who did get nominated.
“Lee Daniels’ The Butler” was dissed by the Globes, and the Oscars did the same thing. But it was expected AMPAS would pick up on “Fruitvale Station,” the Sundance favorite that became a sizable indie hit this year. Star Michael B. Jordan was considered a favorite, and would have deserved it to boot.
Also licking its wounds is Sarah Polley’s documentary “Stories We Tell,” which was AWOL — but at least voters didn’t recoil from “The Act of Killing” in horror. The intensely disturbing doc, that hangs with remorseless Indonesian former death squad members, was nominated, as was the small and rather excellent “The Missing Picture.”
Here’s a little shout-out for Daniel Bruhl, who should have been singled out for his work in “Rush,” and would have had anyone seen it. He was incredible, as were his false teeth.
And still, at least “Before Midnight” got recognized for its script. That was nice.
The Oscars air Sunday, March 2. The complete list is below:
Best Picture
“American Hustle”
“Captain Phillips”
“Dallas Buyers Club”
“Gravity”
“Her”
“Nebraska”
“Philomena”
“12 Years A Slave”
“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 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 Supporting Actress
Sally Hawkins, “Blue Jasmine”
Jennifer Lawrence, “American Hustle”
Lupita Nyong’o, “12 Years A Slave”
Julia Roberts, “August: Osage County”
June Squibb, “Nebraska”
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 Animated Feature
“The Croods”
“Despicable Me 2”
“Ernest & Celestine”
“Frozen”
“The Wind Rises”
Best Foreign Language Film
“The Broken Circle Breakdown”
“The Great Beauty”
“The Hunt”
“The Missing Picture”
“Omar”
Best Documentary
“The Act of Killing”
“Cutie & The Boxer”
“Dirty Wars”
“The Square”
“Twenty Feet From Stardom”
Best Original Screenplay
“American Hustle”
“Blue Jasmine”
“Dallas Buyers Club”
“Her”
“Nebraska”
Best Adapted Screenplay
“Before Midnight”
“Captain Phillips”
“Philomena”
“12 Years A Slave”
“The Wolf of Wall Street”
Best Original Score
“The Book Thief”
“Gravity”
“Her”
“Philomena”
“Saving Mr. Banks”
Best Original Song
“All Yet Not Alone”
“Happy”
“Let It Go”
“The Moon Song”
“Ordinary Love”
Best Editing
“American Hustle”
“Captain Phillips”
“Dallas Buyers Club”
“Gravity”
“12 Years A Slave”
Best Cinematography
“The Grandmaster”
“Gravity”
“Inside Llewyn Davis”
“Nebraska”
“Prisoners”
Best Production Design
“American Hustle”
“Gravity”
“The Great Gatsby”
“Her”
“12 Years A Slave”
Best Costume Design
“American Hustle”
“The Grandmaster”
“The Great Gatsby”
“The Invisible Woman”
“12 Years A Slave”
Best Makeup
“Dallas Buyers Club”
“Jackass: Bad Grandpa”
“The Lone Ranger”
Best Sound Editing
“All Is Lost”
“Captain Phillips”
“Gravity”
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”
“Lone Survivor”
Best Sound Mixing
“Captain Phillips”
“Gravity”
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”
“Inside Llewyn Davis”
“Lone Survivor”
Best Visual Effects
“Gravity”
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”
“Iron Man 3”
“The Lone Ranger”
“Star Trek Into Darkness”
Best Live-Action Short
“Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn’t Me)”
“Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just Before Losing Everything)”
“Helium”
“Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?)”
“The Voorman Problem”
Best Animated Short
“Feral”
“Get a Horse!”
“Mr. Hublot”
“Possessions”
“Room on the Broom”
Best Documentary Short
“CaveDigger”
“Facing Fear”
“Karama Has No Walls”
“The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life”
“Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall”
