The Nominations for the 87th Academy Awards

Let's cut right to the chase and then you can read my thoughts after reading the entire list. So here are the nominations for the 87th Academy Awards:

BEST PICTURE:
American Sniper
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

BEST DIRECTOR:
Wes Anderson  (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
Alejandro González Inñaritu (Birdman)
Richard Linklater (Boyhood)
Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher)
Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game)

BEST ACTOR:
Steve Carell (Foxcatcher)
Bradley Cooper (American Sniper)
Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game)
Michael Keaton (Birdman)
Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything)

BEST ACTRESS:
Marion Cotillard (Two Days, One Night)
Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything)
Julianne Moore (Still Alice)
Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl)
Reese Witherspoon (Wild)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Robert Duvall (The Judge)
Ethan Hawke (Boyhood)
Edward Norton (Birdman)
Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher)
J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)
Laura Dern (Wild)
Keira Knightley (The Imitation Game)
Emma Stone (Birdman)
Meryl Streep (Into the Woods)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Birdman
Boyhood
Foxcatcher
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Nightcrawler

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
American Sniper
The Imitation Game
Inherent Vice
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
Ida (Poland)
Leviathan (Russia)
Tangerines (Estonia)
Timbuktu (Mauritania)
Wild Tales (Argentina)

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of Princess Kaguya

BEST ANIMATED SHORT:
The Bigger Picture
The Dam Keeper
Feast
Me and My Moulton
A Single Life

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:
Citizenfour
Finding Vivian Maier
Last Days in Vietnam
The Salt of the Earth
Virunga

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT:
Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Joanna
Our Curse
The Reaper (La Parka)
White Earth

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM:
Aya
Boogaloo and Graham
Butter Lamp
Parvaneh
The Phone Call

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:
Alexandre Desplat (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
Alexandre Desplat (The Imitation Game)
Hans Zimmer (Interstellar)
Gary Yershon (Mr. Turner)
Johann Johansson (The Theory of Everything)

BEST ORIGINAL SONG:
"Everything is Awesome" (The LEGO Movie)
"Glory" (Selma)
"Grateful" (Beyond The Lights)
"I'm Not Gonna Miss You" (Glen Campbell...I'll Be Me)
"Lost Stars" (Begin Again)

BEST SOUND EDITING:
American Sniper
Birdman
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Interstellar
Unbroken

BEST SOUND MIXING:
American Sniper
Birdman
Interstellar
Unbroken
Whiplash

BEST FILM EDITING:
American Sniper
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Whiplash

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ida
Mr. Turner
Unbroken

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Into The Woods
Mr. Turner

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Guardians of the Galaxy
Interstellar
X-Men: Days of Future Past

BEST COSTUME DESIGN:
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Inherent Vice
Into the Woods
Maleficent
Mr. Turner

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING:
Foxcatcher
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy

NOTES & THOUGHTS:

-There are 8 movies in the running for Best Picture instead of the maximum 10 movies. If I were to add two movies I would've added: Gone Girl and this is going to be crazy, but, Guardians of the Galaxy because of the box office success and critical praise.

-I've just noticed in the acting categories there are no colored actors nominated and this is the first time it has happened since 1998.

-Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel are tied with the most nominations with 9 each.

-It is rare for a film, The Grand Budapest Hotel, that came out in March to get the most nominations. I did not overlook it when it first came out. I thought it was great.

SURPRISES & SNUBS:

-Not a lot of love for Selma in the top categories and I thought that David Oyelowo was excellent and he was snubbed. But, again, it was a tough year for actors because, now, looking at the category, who do I throw out?

-Also, what about Jake Gyllenhaal from Nightcrawler? He was fantastic.

-Director Bennett Miller was the surprise nomination in that category with Foxcatcher not getting a Best Picture nomination. Weird.

-On the opposite end of spectrum of Selma, American Sniper just snuck in to gain momentum to earn 6 Oscar nominations including Best Picture and Best Actor for Bradley Cooper, which his 3rd Oscar nomination in a row.

-Marion Cotillard was nominated for a foreign language film. But, nevertheless, she's a great actress.

-Meryl Streep, 19th Oscar nomination. 'nuff said.

-Alexandre Desplat got a double nomination for Best Score, which I would've given the other one to Atticus Ross & Trent Reznor for Gone Girl.

-Gone Girl should have gotten a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination. It was snubbed.

-Best Visual Effects category is very competitive.

-Some documentaries like Life Itself and The Overnighters were definitely overlooked and I only saw two of the nominated films in that category: Citizenfour and The Last Days in Vietnam, which I recently saw which was a good movie.

-Last, but not least, the one that made me very angry: The LEGO Movie did not get an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature, but the song did. (So, yay.) This was a movie that was bold and a visionary. What's wrong with them? They did not laugh all the way through? It was original. I guess, now, How To Train Your Dragon 2, which is definitely now my choice in that category, will win.

The Oscar season has begun.