And the 2015 Academy Award Nominees Are...

The 2015 Academy Award nominees are out, and as usual it’s a sad reminder of how many nights I’ve spent “in” and not at the theatre. But Oscar night is always about more than the films, so I’ll fill the popcorn bowl and chow down on gummy bears while I watch celebrities taped, plucked, and sucked in, waiting for the small, glorious moments of live TV…like Jennifer Lawrence’s trip up the stage steps (this feels like a thing that would happen to me).

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And the 2015 Oscar nominees are:

BEST PICTURE

Down to eight from a very bloated ten, this may mean only eight movies were actually any good this year. Eight is still enough, so to help define them, I have added my own (possible) reasons for each nomination:

BRADLEY COOPER’S VERY SERIOUS MOVIE: American Sniper
BEST BATMAN EVER MAKES A COMEBACK: Birdman
CAN’T WATCH IT BECAUSE AFRAID IT WILL TEAR MY MAMA HEART OUT: Boyhood
BEST MOVIE I SAW ALL YEAR (FOR REAL): The Grand Budapest Hotel
I STILL DON’T THINK BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH IS GOOD LOOKING: The Imitation Game
JUST IN CASE YOU WEREN’T ALIVE, THIS IS IMPORTANT AND ACTUALLY HAPPENED: Selma
THE BIOPIC YOU DIDN’T KNOW YOU NEEDED: The Theory of Everything
J. JONAH JAMESON YELLS AT A DRUMMER: Whiplash

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Steve Carrell creeps it up in a major way in Foxcatcher;
Bradley Cooper is a broken solider in American Sniper;
Benedict Cumberbatch is a brilliant but closeted codebreaker in WWII England in The Imitation Game;
Michael Keaton is back (why did we let him leave?) as a haunted actor in Birdman;
Eddie Redmayne portrays Stephen Hawking’s early years in The Theory of Everything

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ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Wait, aren’t they all “actors” now? Way to strike a note for equality, Academy.

Marion Cotillard plays on our sympathies in Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones is the Very Supportive Girlfriend in The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore in the heartbreaking early Alzheimer’s story Still Alice
Rosamund Pike for…something (no spoilers here!) in Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon goes on a journey of self-discovery in Wild

Will Rosamund Pike show up in anything like this dress to the Oscar

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Robert Duvall for showing up in The Judge
Ethan Hawke for playing the dad in Boyhood
Edward Norton for always being available to do weird movies in Birdman
Mark Ruffalo for being the golden older brother in Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons for being so damn unlikeable in Whiplash (and everything else)

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Patricia Arquette for playing a mom in Boyhood (aren’t we all nominated?)
Laura Dern in Wild and for being awesome
Keira Knightley for The Imitation Game and remaining achingly beautiful no matter what period they costume her for
Emma Stone for Birdman and being Emma Stone
Meryl Streep for Into the Woods because this whole thing falls down if Meryl’s not nominated every year.