Oscars Preview: 2015 nominations snubs, surprises and more

Saba Mahmoudi

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Neil Patrick Harris will be hosting the Oscars for the first time. Photo from oscars.com

The biggest award show in the filmmaking industry will take place in matter of few weeks.

The 87 Annual Academy Award ceremony will be presented on Sunday, Feb. 22 at Hollywood Et Highland Center’s Dolby Theatre. This year’s Academy Award will be hosted by Neil Patrick Harris. Harris has previously hosted both the Emmy Awards and the Tony Awards, proving that he may just be type of host that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were for the Golden Globes.

The movies with the most nominations are “Birdman” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” both with nine nominations including Best Picture with “The Imitation Game” close behind with eight nominations, also including Best Picture.

The nominees for Best Picture include Clint Eastwood’s “American Sniper,” Richard Linklater’s project“Boyhood,” which took over 10 years to film and complete, “The Imitation Game,” “Selma,” “The Theory of Everything” and “Whiplash.” The Grand Budapest Hotel won the Golden Globe for Best Musical or Comedy Motion Picture, while Boyhood won Best Picture in the Globes’ drama category; the Globes are often a good forecaster of who has a good chance of taking home the Oscar.

The nominees for the Actor in a Leading Role are Steve Carell from “Foxcatcher,” Bradley Cooper from “American Sniper,” Benedict Cumberbatch from “The Imitation Game,” Michael Keaton from “Birdman” and Eddie Redmayne from “The Theory of Everything”. Both Keaton and Redmayne won Globes for their portrayals, but this could be a tough category. Redmayne’s Hawking needed more physical effort to get into character, while Keaton’s Riggan Thompson leaned toward the more artistic.

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Rosamund Pike, Marion Cotillard and Reese Witherspoon are nominated for their leading role. Photo from oscars.com

The best Actress in a Leading Role nominees are Marion Cotillard from “Two Days, One Night,” Felicity Jones from “The Theory of Everything,” Julianne Moore from “Still Alice,” Rosamund Pike from “Gone Girl” and Reese Witherspoon from “Wild.” In an interesting snub, Amy Adams, who won a Golden Globe for her role in “Big Eyes”, did not make the list.

The Best actor in a Supporting Role nominations include Robert Duvall from “The Judge,” Ethan Hawke from “Boyhood,” Edward Norton from “Birdman,” Mark Ruffalo from “Foxcatcher” and J.K. Simmons from “Whiplash.”

The Best Actress in a Supporting Role nominees are Patricia Arquette from “Boyhood,” Laura Dern from “Wild,” Emma Stone from “Birdman,” Keira Knightley from “The Imitation Game” and Meryl Streep from “Into the Woods.” Dern had a great performance, but it seems as  Arquette is the favorite. However, no one should fully count out the power of Streep, who is a near perennial winner.

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The nominations for the best animated feature film are “Big Hero 6,” “The Boxtrolls,” “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” “Song of the Sea” and “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.” Considering “The LEGO Movie” had the fourth highest domestic box office in 2014 and was a hit with critics and audiences a like, it is a huge surprise that it did not get nominated, causing much anger on the internet following the announcent of the nominations.

The Oscars air on Feb. 22.