The Daily Beast's 10 Oscar surprises

The Daily Beast has a rundown of what they consider to be the most surprising snubs and other surprises for this year's Oscar nominations, including more love than they expected for American Sniper and a lot less than they thought for Selma.

The list includes:

• The Lego Movie snubbed for Best Animated Feature
• Marion Cotillard's Best Actress nomination for Two Days, One Night
• Selma snubbed for Best Director (Ava DuVernay) and Best Actor (David Oyelowo
• African Americans mostly snubbed across the board
• Foxcatcher got nominations for Best Director (Bennett Miller), Best Actor (Steve Carell), Best Supporting Actor (Mark Ruffalo), and Original Screenplay ... without also getting a Best Picture nomination. (Only eight films got Best Picture consideration this year.)
• Gone Girl ignored for everything except Best Actress (Rosamund Pike)
• Life Itself, the documentary about legendary film critic Roger Ebert, snubbed for Best Documentary
• Six nominations for American Sniper, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Bradley Cooper)
• Jake Gyllenhaal snubbed for Nightcrawler
• Jennifer Aniston's lack of a nomination for Cake

Check out the full article for more about why they were surprised.

Oscar nominations announced

The Academy of Motion Arts & Pictures announced their nominees for the 87th Annual Academy Awards this morning, with Birdman and The Grant Budapest Hotel leading the pack with nine nominations each.

The Lego Movie, widely considered a frontrunner for Best Animated Feature, was a surprise snub in that category, though it did receive a nomination for Best Original Song. Although Jennifer Anistan's performance in Cake and Jake Gyllenhaal's performance in Nightcrawler were receiving recent awards momentum, neither were nominated.

The awards will be telecast on Sunday, February 22, with Neil Patrick Harris hosting.

Best Picture

• American Sniper
• Birdman
• Boyhood
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• The Imitation Game
• Selma
• The Theory of Everything
• Whiplash

Directing

• Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman
• Richard Linklater, Boyhood
• Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher
• Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game

Best Actor

• Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
• Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
• Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
• Michael Keaton, Birdman
• Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

Best Actress

• Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
• Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
• Julianne Moore, Still Alice
• Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
• Reese Witherspoon, Wild

Best Supporting Actor

• Robert Duvall, The Judge
• Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
• Edward Norton, Birdman
• Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
• J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

Best Supporting Actress

• Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
• Laura Dern, Wild
• Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
• Emma Stone, Birdman
• Meryl Streep, Into the Woods

Cinematography

• Birdman
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Ida
• Mr. Turner
• Unbroken

Costume Design

• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Inherent Vice
• Into the Woods
• Maleficent
• Mr. Turner

Foreign Language Film

• Ida, Poland
• Leviathan, Russia
• Tangerines, Estonia
• Timbuktu, Mauritania
• Wild Tales, Argentina

Makeup and Hairstyling

• Foxcatcher
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Guardians of the Galaxy

Original Score

• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• The Imitation Game
• Interstellar
• Mr. Turner
• The Theory of Everything

Adapted Screenplay

• American Sniper
• The Imitation Game
• Inherent Vice
• The Theory of Everything
• Whiplash

Original Screenplay

• Birdman
• Boyhood
• Foxcatcher
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Nightcrawler

Animated Feature Film

• Big Hero 6
• The Boxtrolls
• How to Train Your Dragon 2
• Song of the Sea
• The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

Documentary Feature

• Citizenfour
• Finding Vivian Maier
• Last Days in Vietnam
• The Salt of the Earth
• Virunga

Documentary Short Subject

• Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
• Joanna
• Our Curse
• The Reaper (La Parka)
• White Earth

Film Editing

• American Sniper
• Boyhood
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• The Imitation Game
• Whiplash

Original Song

• "Everything Is Awesome," The Lego Movie
• "Glory," Selma
• "Grateful," Beyond the Lights
• "I'm Not Gonna Miss You," Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me
• "Lost Stars," Begin Again

Production Design

• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• The Imitation Game
• Interstellar
• Into the Woods
• Mr. Turner

Animated Short Film

• The Bigger Picture
• The Dam Keeper
• Feast
• Me and My Moulton
• A Single Life

Live Action Short Film

• Aya
• Boogaloo and Graham
• Butter Lamp
• Parvaneh
• The Phone Call

Sound Editing

• American Sniper
• Birdman
• The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
• Interstellar
• Unbroken

Sound Mixing

• American Sniper
• Birdman
• Interstellar
• Unbroken
• Whiplash

Visual Effects

• Captain America: The Winter Soldier
• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
• Guardians of the Galaxy
• Interstellar
• X-Men: Days of Future Past

Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards

Tilda Swinton in Snowpiercer

We hadn't heard of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards before now, but they sound awfully fun.

Like the Cosmique Movie Awards, they give awards to films in both traditional and unconventional categories. Some of their more conventional awards this year went to Boyhood for Best Film, Richard Linklater (Boyhood) for Best Director, Michael Keaton (Birdman) for Best Actor, and Julianne Moore (Still Alice) for Best Actress.

But they also have some really fun awards of note that are limited only to female nominees, including:

• Best Woman Director - Ava DuVernay for Selma
• Best Female Action Star - Emily Blunt for Edge of Tomorrow
• Best Depiction Of Nudity, Sexuality, or Seduction - Scarlett Johansson for Under the Skin
• Actress Defying Age and Ageism - Tilda Swinton (who also won Best Supporting Actress for Snowpiercer)
• Most Egregious Age Difference Between The Leading Man and The Love Interest - Colin Firth (b. 1960) and Emma Stone (b. 1988) for Magic in the Moonlight
• Actress Most in Need Of A New Agent - Cameron Diaz for Sex Tape

We're going to make a note to keep this one on our radar. Check out their full list of winners.

(H/T: CriticWire)

The 2014 Cosmique Movie Awards

It's time to start planning for the Eleventh Cosmique Movie Awards, honoring the best (and worst) films of 2014.

At the moment, Birdman and Boyhood seem to be bringing in the most nominations from other film awards (like the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild Awards, the BAFTAs, and more), followed by The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, Selma, and The Theory of Everything.

Historically, Cosmo voters have often been in fairly close agreement with other awards shows for many of our nominations, but usually with some surprising twists. (Last year's The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug was the Cosmos' top nominated film despite being largely ignored except for technical categories for most other awards.) Will The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies be this year's top nominee? If Ian McKellen and Peter Jackson get nominated again, they will have been nominated for every single film in the Middle Earth series. How will a whole host of superheroes -- mutants, avengers, robots, and more -- fare in our specialty categories against the films already being lauded by more traditional award shows? You get to help decide!

Award Changes

Last year we made a few significant changes that will be continued this year.

• We increased the total number of potential nominees to six for every award (though we reserve the option to lower it or increase it for specific awards to deal with ties, insufficient nominations, or other unforeseen issues). 
• The award for Best Young Performer, which was revived in 2012 after being dormant for a decade, was split into separate male and female awards for Best Young Actress and Best Young Actor. 
• And the award for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Film was split into separate awards for Best Fantasy Film and Best Science Fiction Film.

All of those changes are being retained. In addition, this year we're creating another new award to address the popularity of genre films among Cosmo voters: Best Superhero Film. While films that qualify for this award may well also qualify for others, particular Best Fantasy Film or Best Science Fiction Film, we're hoping that adding this one will help us recognize more films in a genre that has always been very popular among Cosmo voters.

The Schedule

As usual, the Cosmo Awards schedule is built to follow the Oscars. Many of our voters use the Academy Awards as a guide for what to see. We therefore open our nomination process on the day the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announces the Oscar nominees, and we announce our nominees (and start voting for the winners) on the day of the Academy Awards.

Here's our schedule:

• Thursday, January 15, 2015 - Cosmo nominations open. (Oscar nominations announced.)
• Friday, February 13, 2015 - Cosmo nomination ballots due.
• Sunday, February 22, 2015 - Cosmo nominations announced; final voting begins. (Academy Awards are held.)
• Friday, March 20, 2015 - Final Cosmo ballots due.
• TBD - Winners announced.

We'll post the nomination ballots on Thursday.

Final Cut 2014

Here's another mashup of films released in 2014 edited by Nick Bosworth:

2014 Movie Trailer Mashup (The Sleep Skunk)

It's the time of year when we get a million recaps of the year, top 10 lists, and mashups. Our favorite movie trailer mashups always seem to come The Sleepy Skunk, and they're out now with their mashup of 2014 movie trailers.

Check it out:


Credits are below the break....

Trailer: Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)

After numerous fake trailers were "leaked," Disney has finally released an official trailer for Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, their first Star Wars film since buying the franchise from George Lucas. You can tell it's a real trailer because it has obviously new shots, unlike the fake trailers that were all clearly comprised solely of clips from the previous movies.

The film will be directed by J. J. Abrams, with apparently little to no involvement by Lucas himself. It is scheduled for release in December of 2015.