The nominations for the 87th Academy Awards have been announced.  There were a couple of fairly big surprises, from The LEGO Movie being left out of the Best Animated Feature category to Bennett Miller landing a Best Director nod despite Foxcatcher missing for Best Picture.  Speaking of which, for the first time since its expansion, the Best Picture category had less than 9 nominees, instead settling on 8 films for the top category.  Selma squeezed in there but only netted two nominations overall, while it was a good day for American Sniper which put Bradley Cooper in the Best Actor race and came away with 6 nominations overall (I still don't get it), as did Boyhood.  In terms of total nominations, Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel lead the pack with 9 nominations each, followed by The Imitation Game which landed 8.
Hit the jump to take a look at the full nominations list, and click here for my commentary on the snubs, surprises, and lessons learned. The Oscars will be telecast live on ABC Sunday, February 22nd.
BEST PICTURE
American Sniper
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash
BEST DIRECTOR
Wes Anderson â The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu â Birdman
Richard Linklater â Boyhood
Bennett Miller - Foxcatcher
Morten Tyldum â The Imitation Game
BEST ACTOR
Steve Carell - Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper - American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch â The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton â Birdman
Eddie Redmayne â The Theory of Everything
BEST ACTRESS
Marion Cotillard - Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones â The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore â Still Alice
Rosamund Pike â Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon â Wild
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Robert Duvall â The Judge
Ethan Hawke â Boyhood
Edward Norton â Birdman
Mark Ruffalo â Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons â Whiplash
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette â Boyhood
Laura Dern â Wild
Keira Knightley â The Imitation Game
Emma Stone â Birdman
Meryl Streep â Into the Woods
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
American Sniper â Jason Hall
The Imitation Game â Graham Moore
Inherent Vice - Paul Thomas Anderson
The Theory of Everything â Anthony McCarten
Whiplash - Damien Chazelle
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Birdman â Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo
Boyhood â Richard Linklater
Foxcatcher â E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman
The Grand Budapest Hotel â Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness
Nightcrawler â Dan Gilroy
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Ida (Poland)
Leviathan (Russia)
Tangerines (Estonia)
Timbuktu (Mauritania)
Wild Tales (Argentina)
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
CITIZENFOUR
Finding Vivian Maier
Last Days in Vietnam
The Salt of the Earth
Virunga
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of Princess Kaguya
See the Rest of the 2015 Oscar Nominations on Page 2
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Into the Woods
Mr. Turner
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Birdman â Emmanuel Lubezki
The Grand Budapest Hotel â Robert D. Yeoman
Ida â Ryszard Lenczweski, Lukasz Zal
Mr. Turner â Dick Pope
Unbroken â Roger Deakins
BEST FILM EDITING
American Sniper
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Whiplash
BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Foxcatcher
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Inherent Vice
Into the Woods
Maleficent
Mr. Turner
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
The Grand Budapest Hotel â Alexandre Desplat
The Imitation Game â Alexandre Desplat
Interstellar â Hans Zimmer
Mr. Turner - Gary Yershon
The Theory of Everything â Johann Johannsson
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Begin Again â âLost Starsâ
Beyond the Lights - "Grateful"
Glen Campbell: Iâll Be Me â âIâm Not Gonna Miss Youâ
The LEGO Movie â âEverything Is Awesomeâ
Glory â âSelmaâ
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Guardians of the Galaxy
Interstellar
X-Men: Days of Future Past
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 SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
The Bigger Picture
The Damn Keeper
Feast
Me and My Moulton
Single Life
BEST SHORT FILM (LIVE-ACTION)
Aya
Boogalo and Graham
Butter Lamp
Parvaneh
The Phone Call
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Joanna
Our Curse
The Reaper
White Earth