Since this is only my reaction to the nominations, I will be combining them. Once I have had time to consider what could win I will do an individual post for each. The Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAGs) will air on January 25, while the Golden Globes will be on January 11. But let’s get down to it and see what was snubbed, what the shockers are, and what is obviously a nom.
SAGs:
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture:
Boyhood
Birdman
Grand Budapest Hotel
Imitation Game
The Theory of Everything
Reaction: If you saw Birdman it should have been abundantly clear it would be nominated. The surprise here in what was nominated was Boyhood, which I absolutely adored, because while it was a fantastic movie, it wasn’t a powerhouse of acting like the rest of these films. The Imitation Game could come as a surprise too because of it has pretty much been sneaking in everywhere and not had a huge release. The Grand Budapest Hotel is also a bit of a surprise maybe because it has been so long since its first release (way back in March). What wasn’t nominated shouldn’t be much call for concern. Selma, which is getting a lot of buzz now and appears to be a tour-de-force for performances, got nothing at the SAGs. Also, no Gone Girl, no Unbroken, or no Foxcatcher despite Carrell and Ruffalo being nominated for acting.
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role:
Steve Carrell-Foxcatcher
Benedict Cumberbatch-The Imitation Game
Eddie Redmayne- The Theory of Everything
Michael Keaton- Birdman
Jake Gyllenhaal-Nightcrawler
Reaction: No big surprises here other than the Selma situation. Channing Tatum did not get one though he had huge buzz a couple months ago for his Foxcatcher performance. Eller Coltrane, the star of Boyhood, is missing probably because he is so new to all of these heavyweight performances. The Grand Budapest Hotel is also lacking though it was nominated for the whole cast. My biggest qualm is the snub of Miles Teller in Whiplash, whose performance should be launching him to stardom; good thing J.K. Simmons is nominated. Again, no Unbroken and people are really surprised that American Snipers’ Bradley Cooper is not nominated, but that movie has had hardly any marketing thus far so I am not surprised.
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Jennifer Aniston-Cake
Felicity Jones-The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore-Still Alice
Reese Witherspoon-Wild
Rosamund Pike-Gone Girl
Reaction: Seeing Jennifer Aniston up there is pretty surprising, especially when the movie is pretty unknown and still getting mixed reviews. But all in all, this year has not been exceptionally strong in powerful lead female performances. I would have liked to have seen Scarlett Johansson up for Under the Skin, but that movie is pretty under the radar for most, or perhaps Keira Knightley in Begin Again.
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role:
Robert Duvall-The Judge
Edward Norton-Birdman
Ethan Hawke-Boyhood
Mark Ruffalo-Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons-Whiplash
Reaction: The two big surprises in this category are Robert Duvall and Ethan Hawke. The Judge was not exactly a huge success, nor was it entirely well received, so for it to get this nomination Duvall must have been a huge standout or there just wasn’t anything else to nominate. Boyhood, as I have said before, was not about the performances, so seeing him up here is a little surprising but it is a welcome nomination for such a fantastic movie.
Outstanding Performance by a Female in a Supporting Role:
Patricia Arquette-Boyhood
Keira Knightley-The Imitation Game
Emma Stone- Birdman
Meryl Streep- Into the Woods
Naomi Watts- St. Vincent
Reaction: Biggest surprise for me here is that Watts was not nominated for Birdman, but instead the critically mixed St. Vincent. She was great in Birdman, but apparently also good in St. Vincent. Patricia Arquette would be the only actor from Boyhood that I would have expected a nomination from, so I am glad she got one. Keira Knightley is no surprise either because she is getting good reviews. Meryl Streep, I feel like, is nominated because she is Meryl Streep. The movie has not come out yet, so I guess we will see what happens.
Golden Globes:
Best Motion Picture-Drama
Boyhood
Selma
Imitation Game
Foxcatcher
Theory of Everything
Reaction: No Interstellar, Nightcrawler, Whiplash, Unbroken, or American Sniper. Selma is a bigger hit for the Globes, but it won’t be fully released until January. This year is full of films that have not even been completely released yet. I have yet to see Foxcatcher and Imitation Game because they haven’t come to Seattle yet, and we have about a dozen theaters spotlighting these types of films. It’ll be an interesting battle, but my money is on Boyhood.
Best Motion Picture-Comedy or Musical
Birdman
Grand Budapest Hotel
St. Vincent
Into the Woods
Pride
Reaction: Again, a lot of weird movies. Birdman is by far the best film out of all of these. Pride, which I am not afraid to admit I have never heard of, is a British film that I doubt nobody on this side of the Atlantic has heard of. Into the Woods and St. Vincent also seem like random picks, but I guess the category is pretty empty this year. I am always happy to see Wes Anderson getting nominations, but I am upset that the other Anderson, Paul Thomas Anderson, did not get anything for Inherent Vice other than for Acting.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture-Drama
Steve Carrell- Foxcatcher
Benedict Cumberbatch-The Imitation Game
Jake Gyllenhaal- Nightcrawler
Eddie Redmayne- The Theory of Everything
David Oyelowo- Selma
Reaction: This is essentially the SAG nominations except you replace Keaton with Oyelowo. The same snubs and surprises go here too.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture-Drama
Jennifer Aniston-Cake
Felicity Jones-The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore-Still Alice
Reese Witherspoon-Wild
Rosamund Pike-Gone Girl
Reaction: The exact same thing as the SAGs, which means that they too felt that there were no other top-notch performances.
Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture- Comedy
Joaquin Phoenix-Inherent Vice
Michael Keaton- Birdman
Bill Murray- St. Vincent
Christoph Waltz- Big Eyes
Ralph Fiennes- Grand Budapest Hotel
Reaction: Some surprises here. Bill Murray picking up recognition for St. Vincent again reminds us that this movie is supposedly good despite some mixed ratings. Some love for Inherent Vice, though we know Paul Thomas Anderson usually gets snubbed and passed over “cough” There Will be Blood “cough.” It’s also nice to see Ralph Fiennes getting nominated because he really did make that movie. Michael Keaton is the obvious nomination and Christoph Waltz is kind of the random pick.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture- Comedy
Amy Adams- Big Eyes
Emily Blunt- Into the Woods
Julianne Moore- Map to the Stars
Helen Mirren- The Hundred-Foot Journey
Quvenzhane Wallis- Annie
Reaction: A lot of unknown, unreleased, and random picks here. This is a pretty unappetizing category this year when we had Amy Adams last year, along with Meryl Streep and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss. This year it seems like they’re having a hard time to choose from, but perhaps once these movies come out they will get more buzz than they do now.
Best Performance by a Supporting Male Actor
Ethan Hawke- Boyhood
Mark Ruffalo- Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons- Whiplash
Edward Norton- Birdman
Robert Duvall- The Judge
Reaction: Two different movies with a singular nomination (The Judge and Whiplash). As I have said before, The Judge has gotten plenty of mixed reviews but I guess Duvall was a standout. Whiplash should be getting more, but due to its independent status it is hardly in any theaters. No nom for Channing Tatum either, though he might be considered leading actor.
Best Performance by a Supporting Female Actress
Patricia Arquette- Boyhood
Keira Knightley- The Imitation Game
Emma Stone- Birdman
Meryl Streep- Into the Woods
Jessica Chastain- A Most Violent Year
Reaction: Biggest surprise here is Chastain. The movie won film of the year by the National Board of Review, but it only got one Golden Globe nom. It has yet to be released, but it is getting rave reviews. Perhaps when the Oscars come around it’ll have stronger buzz. Meryl Streep is also a shoe-in for a nom, she always gets nominated.
Best Director for a Motion Picture
Richard Linklater- Boyhood
David Fincher- Gone Girl
Wes Anderson- The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu- Birdman
Ava DuVarney- Selma
Reaction: Big surprises are Fincher and DuVarney. Fincher because Gone Girl isn’t even nominated for best picture, and DuVarney because she is so unknown. Gone Girl was good but nowhere near the previous work of Fincher so its surprising he gets a nom for it. I would replace him and DuVarney with perhaps James Marsh (The Theory of Everything) or Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher) because those two directors got extraordinary performances out of their actors and they are nominated as well. Also, no Nolan, Eastwood, or Jolie.
Best Screenplay
Boyhood
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Gone Girl
The Imitation Game
Reaction: This year is pretty weird when it comes to screenplays. One you have an adaptation of a best-selling novel, two you have one that probably was improvised over 12 years, three you have a plain bizarre one about a super hero, and then you have a quirky hotel and a period piece. There’s no talking computers or anything like last year. I would like to have seen the screenplay for Whiplash up merely based on the dialogue and pure stress-inducing story.
Best Original Song
Big Eyes-Lana Del Ray (Big Eyes)
Selma-John Legend and Common (Glory)
Noah- Patty Smith and Lenny Kaye (Mercy is)
Annie-Sia (Opportunity)
Mockingjay Part 1- Lorde (Yellow Flicker Beast)
Reaction: No “Everything is Awesome” from the Lego Movie is quite possibly the biggest snub this year (only partial sarcasm). It was such a catchy and fun song that completely made the movie. Also, nothing from Begin Again, the little indie music-flick from the summer, which is surprising because it was loaded with great songs.
Best Original Score-
Interstellar- Hans Zimmer
Birdman- Antonio Sanchez
Gone Girl- Trent Reznor
The Imitation Game- Alexandre Desplat
The Theory of Everything- Johann Johannsson
Reaction: Hans Zimmer netting Interstellar its only nom is pretty shocking considering it got no love anywhere else. It did have a fantastic score and it is good it is getting recognized. No Whiplash either, even though it was driven by music.
Best Animated Film
The Boxtrolls
Big Hero 6
The Lego Movie
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The Book of Life
Reaction: No surprises here. It’ll be an interesting battle though because you have three crowd-pleasing, and well- received films in Big Hero 6, HtTYD2, and The Lego Movie. I’m hoping for The Lego Movie because of its pure originality. No Pixar this year means other movies stand a chance.
Best Foreign Film
Ida
Leviathan
Force Majeure
Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem
Tangerines
Reaction: I have seen none of these movies and have hardly heard anything about them. Hopefully they’ll be put into a larger market now that they’re getting recognition.
So there we have it. The winners will be announced in the coming month. This year has been full of excellent films, both known and unknown, and it will be a really interesting season. Hopefully the Academy Awards has a little more love for some of the stuff that is completely absent from here like Inherent Vice, Foxcatcher, and Unbroken. But then again, these movies are not fully out yet. Only time will tell. As always, stay tuned here for the biggest updates on everything Awards Season.
