The Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, released their nominations Thursday. This award recognizes the highest achievements in cinema and acting. The awards will be held March 2. The primary categories listed below include:
Best Picture
“American Hustle”
“Nebraska”
“Captain Phillips”
“Philomena”
“Dallas Buyers Club”
“12 Years a Slave”
“Gravity”
“Her”
“The Wolf of Wall Street”
Actor in a Leading Role
Christian Bale – “American Hustle”
Chiwetel Ejiofor – “12 Years a Slave”
Bruce Dern – “Nebraska”
Matthew McConaughey – “Dallas Buyers Club”
Leonardo DiCaprio – “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Actress in a Leading Role
Amy Adams – “American Hustle”
Judi Dench – “Philomena”
Cate Blanchett – “Blue Jasmine”
Meryl Streep – “August: Osage County”
Sandra Bullock – “Gravity”
Actor in a Supporting Role
Barkhad Abdi – “Captain Phillips”
Jonah Hill – “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Jared Leto – “Dallas Buyers Club”
Bradley Cooper – “American Hustle”
Michael Fassbender – “12 Years a Slave”
Actress in a Supporting Role
Sally Hawkins – “Blue Jasmine”
Jennifer Lawrence – “American Hustle”
Lupita Nyong’o – “12 Years a Slave”
Julia Roberts – “August: Osage County”
June Squibb – “Nebraska “
Best Original Screenplay
“American Hustle” – Eric Warren Singer & David O. Russell
“Blue Jasmine” – Woody Allen
“Dallas Buyers Club” – Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack
“Her” – Spike Jonze
“Nebraska” – Bob Nelson
Best Animated Feature Film
“The Croods”
“Frozen”
“Despicable Me 2”
“Ernest & Celestine“
“The Wind Rises”
The Oscars award a variety of other technical and less prominent awards and can be seen at the Oscars website. In total, “American Hustle” and “Gravity” led the pack of nominees with ten nominations.
Among snubbed films for the Oscar include Joel and Ethan Coen’s critically acclaimed “Inside Llewyn Davis,” Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s passionate documentary “Blackfish,” and a variety of nominations for the period piece, “Lee Daniels’ The Butler.”
While certainly a great film that can expect to take home many awards, “American Hustle” seems to have a heavily dominant role in this year’s field. The film’s powerful lead and supporting actors and actresses carry the film to its current position with 10 nominations, yet none of them seem as front-runners in their field.
While Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams both come from winning the Golden Globe for best supporting actress and best actress in a comedy or musical, respectively, they will be competing for an award that's typically for more dramatic films, such as the performances of Cate Blanchett, Lupita Nyong’o and Sandra Bullock.
While Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill’s performances in “The Wolf on Wall Street” earned them nominations, the powerful acting performances in “Dallas Buyers Club” by Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto may prove to once again deprive DiCaprio of his first and Hill of his second Oscar.
While the Academy Award for Best Picture can have up to 10 nominations, this year’s field is incredibly competitive with only nine. Each film appeals to a variety of different audiences while being propelled by impeccable performances across the board. Given the Academy’s penchant for awarding the Best Picture to the best dramatic film, “12 Years a Slave” is an easy favorite.
All of the films nominated for Best Picture are still in theaters throughout the Valley and readers are encouraged to see as many of the films before the Oscars on March 2.
You can reach the Arts and Entertainment editor at jwwoodma@asu.edu or follow on Twitter @JonWoodmansee
