Oscar Nominations 2014: The surprises and the snubs

 The Oscar Nominations are here!

Some brief point form thoughts on the Oscar Nominations just as soon as I forget about the Coens….

Let’s get right into the thoughts:

• Let’s start with perhaps the biggest snub of the Nominations and that is Inside Llewyn Davis which got absolutely nothing (I think it got best sound mixing and that’s about it). I guess it’s the kind of Coen Brothers films that doesn’t get nominated, too quirky or something. The saddest of the snubs was Oscar Issac who should have had at least a best actor nomination. His performance was one of the best and most versatile of the year and it’s sad that it didn’t get a nomination.

• On the other side of the card American Hustle got all the nominations ever. The cast managed to get a nomination in every category on top of the best director and best picture nominations. The most puzzling of the nominations were both Christian Bale who’s good in the film but isn’t nominations worthy in this year of great lead performances. I probably could have thought up a few actors this year that should have filled that role instead (Oscar Issac).

• Another surprising complete snub was Saving Mr. Banks which seemed like an academy style film but ended up getting absolutely nothing. Not even an Emma Thompson nod who gets beat out by the seemingly invincible Meryl Streep who at this point can do just about anything and get nominated.

• Speaking of sad snubs it seems that the academy likes Christian Bale better than Tom Hanks’ brilliant performance in Captain Phillips. It’s sad as the Oscars seem to love Captain Phillips as a whole (gets best picture nod and a best supporting actor nod) but no Tom Hanks nomination because why not.

• For the first time in a while it seems that no one thought to nominate a Pixar film in the animated film category (so we can’t go with the pick Pixar rule) which is fine. I like most of the animated films nominated better than Monsters University (which I did enjoy more than the last two Pixar films) but it looks like an easy win for Frozen all around.

• Final acting snub and perhaps the most surprising is James Gandolfini who seemed to have been forgotten about along the way. It’s sad because his performance in Enough Said was a really good swan song and it would have been nice to see him get at least a nomination.

• On a happier note it’s great to see Before Midnight at least get a best adapted screenplay nomination. It’s sad that the film isn’t getting any more buzz because it came out early in the year but at least it pulled of a screenplay nomination.

That’s all for now, let’s start predicting who’s going to win!