The next major piece of the awards season has come: the nominations for the 86th Academy awards. Although there are a few definitive front runners, this has been a year of relative parity at the top of the various awards ballots (Producers’ Guild, Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice, etc.), with nearly 15 films having some legitimate claim to being among the 10 finalist nominees. And that doesn’t even get into some very crowded fields for acting, directing, and more. So who among the qualified contenders did the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences select? There weren’t a lot of surprises, but there were a few big ones when the nominees were announced live this morning.
Foremost among these surprises is almost certainly the inclusion of both Dallas Buyers Club and Nebraska in the Best Picture category to the exclusion of Inside Llewyn Davis. In fact, the Coen Brothers’ latest pic received just a single nomination (for its cinematography), which certainly has to come as a blow to leading man Oscar Isaac, long assumed to be a contender for the win. He was again foiled here by Nebraska, it seems, as Bruce Dern continued his hot streak through awards season. The Coens were also notably omitted from any screenplay recognition. The folks involved with Dallas Buyers Club, meanwhile, have to be flying high. It was generally though the movie would only receive consideration for its actors, Jared Leto and Matthew McConaughey (both won Golden Globes in their respective categories earlier this week), but in addition to the Best Picture nod it received recognition for its screenplay. It ended up being August: Osage County, a movie most critics were lukewarm on, which still found representation on the strength of its cast alone, with Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep both garnering nominations.
Nebraska‘s team also has to be feeling pretty good, with a total of six nominations, including a Supporting Actress nod for June Squibb and recognition for both its screenplay and its director. Dern still has to be considered a surprise nominee for emerging over the likes of Isaac, Joaquin Phoenix (Her), Robert Redford (All Is Lost), Idris Elba (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom), and Tom Hanks (Captain Phillips). Among their female counterparts, it’s hard to imagine Amy Adams would have been left off the list following her Golden Globe win, but it seems Emma Thompson was the one squeezed off the ballot in a crowded field, the Academy’s apparent ambivalence to Saving Mr. Banks (nominated only for its score) probably hurting her chances. On the Supporting Actor list, the nominees are the same as the Golden Globes with the exception that Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street) replaces Daniel Bruhl (Rush), meaning that Ron Howard’s Formula 1 movie, though an all-around long shot, was shut out entirely. American Hustle and Gravity , on the other hand, led the pack with ten nominations each, while 12 Years A Slave came in strong with nine.
Best Picture
- American Hustle
- Captain Phillips
- Dallas Buyers Club
- Gravity
- Her
- Nebraska
- Philomena
- 12 Years A Slave
- 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
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
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
Adapted Screenplay
- Before Midnight – Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, and Ethan Hawke
- Captain Phillips – Billy Ray
- Philomena – Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope
- 12 Years A Slave – John Ridley
- The Wolf of Wall Street – Terence Winter
Original Screenplay
- American Hustle – Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell
- Blue Jasmine – Woody Allen
- Dallas Buyers Club – Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack
- Her – Spike Jonze
- Nebraska – Bob Nelson
Best Animated Feature
- The Croods
- Despicable Me 2
- Ernest & Celestine
- Frozen
- The Wind Rises
Best Documentary Feature
- The Act of Killing
- Cutie and the Boxer
- Dirty Wars
- The Square
- 20 Feet from Stardom
Best Foreign Language Film
- The Broken Circle Breakdown – Belgium
- The Great Beauty – Italy
- The Hunt – Denmark
- The Missing Picture – Cambodia
- Omar – Palestine
Cinematography
- The Grandmaster – Phillipe Le Sourd
- Gravity – Emmanuel Lubezki
- Inside Llewyn Davis – Bruno Delbonnel
- Nebraska – Phedon Papamichael
- Prisoners – Roger Deakins
Original Song
- “Alone Yet Not Alone” – Alone Yet Not Alone, Music by Bruce Broughton, Lyric by Dennis Spiegel
- “Happy” – Despicable Me 2, Music and Lyric by Pharrell Williams
- “Let it Go” – Frozen, Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
- “The Moon Song” – Her, Music by Karen O, Lyric by Karen O and Spike Jonze
- “Ordinary Love” – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Music by Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Lyric by Paul Hewson
Original Score
- The Book Thief – John Williams
- Gravity – Steven Price
- Her – William Butler and Owen Pallett
- Philomena – Alexandre Desplat
- Saving Mr. Banks – Thomas Newman
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
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
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
Visual Effects
- Gravity
- The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
- Iron Man 3
- The Lone Ranger
- Star Trek Into Darkness
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
Costume Design
- American Hustle – Michael Wilkinson
- The Grandmaster – William Chang Suk Ping
- The Great Gatsby – Catherine Martin
- The Invisible Woman – Michael O’Connor
- 12 Years A Slave – Patricia Norris
Makeup & Hair
- Dallas Buyers Club – Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews
- Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa – Stephen Prouty
- The Lone Ranger – Joel Harlow and Gloria Pasqua-Casny
Documentary Short
- Cavedigger
- Facing Fear
- Karma Has No Walls
- The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life
- Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall
Animated Short
- Feral
- Get A Horse!
- Mr. Hublot
- Possessions
- Room on the Broom
Live Action Short
- Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn’t Me)
- Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just Before Losing Everything)
- Helium
- Pitaako Mun Kaikki Hoitaa (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything)
- The Voorman Problem
The full list of nominees can be found here on the Oscars website. The 86th Academy Awards will be hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, and will air March 2nd at 7pm ET/4pm PT on ABC.