Nomination Thoughts and Stats

So here they are, the nominations!

My stats this year for the major categories are 36/44, or 82%.  Last year I was 84% and the two years before that I hit 87%. My stats are going down!  Or perhaps this just means the categories were more competitive this year.

A few thoughts before the full rundown.

Did well or surprisingly well
-American Hustle. Very well indeed, with acting nominations in every category and the co-leader (along with effects-heavy Gravity) in nominations. Do we have to call this the frontrunner now? I hope not.
-Gravity. Co-leading with 10 nominations, this still looks like a major contender.
-Wolf of Wall Street. Picture, Director, Screenplay, Leo and Jonah Hill.  It seems that divisive doesn't matter so much if some love you.
-Nebraksa.  Hit all the major nominations it was really in contention for. Could Bruce Dern ride the love to a Best Actor win? I hope so.
-Philomena.  Picture, Actress, and Adapted Screenplay. Not bad for a small movie.
-Dallas Buyers Club.  Several nominations, including an inexplicable Best Editing nomination.  Guess voters loved this one a whole lot more than I did.

Did Pretty Well
-12 Years a Slave. The runner-up for nominations with 9. It hit all the major ones, but had troubling (and strange) misses in Cinematography and Score. I hope this can bounce back to frontrunner status.
-Her. 5 nominations, although it missed out on a Best Director nomination I thought it might get.

Not so Hot
-Inside Llewyn Davis :(.  My tied for favorite movie of the year only got a cinematography and sound nomination. I guarantee you history will not look kindly on this.
-Lee Daniels' The Butler. Totally snubbed. At one point, everyone thought Oprah would win Best Supporting Actress.
-Saving Mr. Banks. This contender fizzled, even missing an Emma Thompson nomination.

The best movies with 0 nominations.
5 movies are currently on my top 10 list, but got no love at all: Frances Ha, Stories We Tell, Mud, Enough Said, and Short Term 12.

The least deservering movies with lots of nominations.
I kind of liked Dallas Buyers Club, but I really don't see the love beyond the good performances.  And while I liked American Hustle quite a bit more than Dallas Buyers Club, I'm puzzled by its emergence as the frontrunner in such as great year.

For those who are still reading, here is my category by category breakdown.

Best picture 
"12 Years a Slave" 
"The Wolf of Wall Street" 
"Captain Phillips" 
"Her" 
"American Hustle" 
"Gravity" 
"Dallas Buyers Club" 
"Nebraska" 
"Philomena"

I predicted there would be 8 nominees, and they are all here.  The ninth was Philomena, which I had in 11th place.  A small movie that snuck in.  Philomena and The Wolf of Wall Street are the only ones I need to catch up with.

Best director 
Steve McQueen -- "12 Years a Slave" 
David O. Russell -- "American Hustle" 
Alfonso Cuaron -- "Gravity" 
Alexander Payne -- "Nebraska" 
Martin Scorsese -- "The Wolf of Wall Street"

3/5 in this category.  I thought they would go with Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips) and Spike Jonze (Her) instead of Payne and Scorsese.  I'm very happy that Payne made it in though.

Best actor 
Bruce Dern -- "Nebraska" 
Chiwetel Ejiofor -- "12 Years a Slave" 
Matthew McConaughey -- "Dallas Buyers Club" 
Leonardo DiCaprio -- "The Wolf of Wall Street" 
Christian Bale -- "American Hustle"

4/5 here.  A very surprise snub for Tom Hanks (Captain Phillips). In his place is Bale. They really really loved American Hustle.

Best actress 
Amy Adams -- "American Hustle" 
Cate Blanchett -- "Blue Jasmine" 
Judi Dench -- "Philomena" 
Sandra Bullock -- "Gravity" 
Meryl Streep -- "August: Osage County"

4/5. I knew in my bones they couldn't deny Streep.  What I didn't guess is that Emma Thompson (Saving Mr. Banks) was vulnerable, so I missed Amy Adams here.

Best supporting actor 

Barkhad Abdi -- "Captain Phillips" 
Bradley Cooper -- "American Hustle" 
Jonah Hill -- "The Wolf of Wall Street" 
Jared Leto -- "Dallas Buyers Club" 
Michael Fassbender -- "12 Years a Slave"

4/5 here. I predicted Daniel Bruhl (Rush) but they went with Jonah Hill.  Can anyone believe we can now call Hill a two-time Oscar nominee?

Best supporting actress 
Jennifer Lawrence -- "American Hustle" 
Lupita Nyong'o -- "12 Years a Slave" 
June Squibb -- "Nebraska" 
Julia Roberts -- "August: Osage County" 
Sally Hawkins -- "Blue Jasmine"

4/5 here.  Sally Hawkins got in and Oprah Winfrey (The Butler) is surprisingly absent.

Best original screenplay 
"American Hustle" -- David O. Russell and Eric Warren Singer 
"Blue Jasmine" -- Woody Allen 
"Her" -- Spike Jonze 
"Nebraska" -- Bob Nelson 
"Dallas Buyers Club" -- Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack

4/5. Dallas Buyers Club over Inside Llewyn Davis. Man, it hurts to type that....

Best adapted screenplay 
"12 Years a Slave" -- John Ridley 
"Before Midnight" -- Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater
"The Wolf of Wall Street" -- Terence Winter 
"Captain Phillips" -- Billy Ray 
"Philomena" -- Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope

5/5.  My only perfect category!