Check out the full list below. Winners will be announced Dec. 15. And as always, well, you know: The Circuit.
Best Film
“Boyhood”
“Gone Girl”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Nightcrawler”
“Selma”
“The Theory of Everything”
Best Director
Alejandro González Iñárritu, “Birdman”
Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
David Fincher, “Gone Girl”
Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Dan Gilroy, “Nightcrawler”
Best Actor
Ralph Fiennes, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Brendan Gleeson, “Calvary”
Jake Gyllenhaal, “Nightcrawler”
Tom Hardy, “Locke”
Michael Keaton, “Birdman”
Eddie Redmayne, “The Theory of Everything”
Best Actress
Marion Cotillard, “Two Days, One Night”
Felicity Jones, “The Theory of Everything”
Rosamund Pike, “Gone Girl”
Hilary Swank, “The Homesman”
Mia Wasikowska, “Tracks”
Best Supporting Actor
Riz Ahmed, “Nightcrawler”
Ethan Hawke, “Boyhood”
Edward Norton, “Birdman”
J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash”
Mark Ruffalo, “Foxcatcher”
Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”
Carrie Coon, “Gone Girl”
Keira Knightly, “The Imitation Game”
Rene Russo, “Nightcrawler”
Emma Stone, “Birdman”
Best Original Screenplay
“Birdman”
“Boyhood”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Locke”
“Nightcrawler”
Best Adapted Screenplay
“The Fault in Our Stars”
“Gone Girl”
“The Theory of Everything”
“Unbroken”
“Wild”
Best Foreign Language Film
“Force Majeure”
“Heli”
“Ida”
“Two Days, One Night”
“Venus in Fur”
Best Documentary
“CITIZENFOUR”
“Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me”
“Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me”
“Last Days in Vietnam”
“Life Itself”
Best Animated Film
“Big Hero 6”
“The Boxtrolls”
“How to Train Your Dragon 2”
“The LEGO Movie”
“The Nut Job”
Best Cinematography
“Force Majeure” (Fredrik Wenzel)
“Interstellar” (Hoyte van Hoytema)
“Gone Girl” (Jeff Cronenweth)
“Nightcrawler” (Robert Elswit)
“Unbroken” (Roger Deakins)
Best Editing
“Boyhood” (Sandra Adair)
“Edge of Tomorrow” (James Herbert, Laura Jennings)
“Gone Girl” (Kirk Baxter)
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” (Barney Pilling)
“Nightcrawler” (John Gilroy)
Best Production Design
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” (Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pincock)
“Into the Woods” (Dennis Gassner & Anna Pinnock)
“The Theory of Everything” (John Paul Kelly)
“The Imitation Game” (Maria Djurkovic)
“Interstellar” (Nathan Crowley)
Best Score
“Birdman” (Antonio Sanchez)
“Gone Girl” (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross)
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” (Alexandre Desplat)
“The Imitation Game” (Alexandre Desplat)
“Nightcrawler” (James Newton Howard)
Best Ensemble
“Birdman”
“Boyhood”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“The Imitation Game”
“Selma”
I know I’m in the minority here but Nightcrawler was my favorite film of 2014 … the “margarita” scene with Gylenhall and Russo was one of my favorite scenes of all time from any movie
These nominations are frankly terrible, No Julianne Moore for Best Actress, really?, No Birdman for Best Film (but one of the best written and directed) really?, No Birdman for cinematography but Gone Girl in?, and I love Gone girl, but really?. And finally The nut job as best animated film?
A total disgrace
Sorry, Chris, but I can’t buy your attempt to explain away the ”sabotage.” (Warning: ”Whiplash” spoilers ahead!) … If the movie taught us anything, Fletcher will not tolerate ANYONE screwing up the sound of his jazz at ANY time, even in rehearsal. I doubt that Fletcher would arrange some sort of sabotage that not only screws up Andy’s reputation, but his band’s, plus his own. On top of that, Fletcher doesn’t even arrange for an alternate to take over the drums. … As for the interminable solo, I also can’t believe that the audience wouldn’t have burst into applause throughout. Instead, the audience is silent. …
”Whiplash” is a movie of extremes. Chazelle paints in bold black and white. A guy rehearses so hard banging his drums that he bleeds. A teacher, who is a raging lunatic, throws a chair at his student and slaps him repeatedly in the face. ”Whiplash” is not a movie with ”grey areas.” It does NOT allow you to ”come to your own conclusions.” With the subtlety of a sledgehammer, it shows that Fletcher’s methods, though cruel and sadistic, succeed. Baloney.
My friend brought up the “sabotage” thing as a criticism, but Fletcher’s reputation has been shattered at that point, and the performance they’re engaged in isn’t a competition. It’s a lowly opening act slot at a jazz festival. He’s not risking much in the way of his own career by letting that kid stink up the place on drums for one brief song (which is how long he expected the public shaming of Andrew to go on for). But he IS out for revenge, and in his mind the best way to get at this kid is to truly humiliate him in front of the whole jazz community, at Carnegie Hall no less. Maybe you or I wouldn’t do such a thing but then again you and I are probably not hot heads who fly off the handle in violent, aggressive ways when someone disobeys our orders (at least I hope not).
“Chazelle has stacked his deck: Just compare the screen time the homophobic, bullying S.O.B. of a band leader gets, as opposed to Andy’s loving dad. As for the finale, which you acknowledge could be read as a ”triumph,” your Exhibit A only shows that Chazelle pulled his punches. He believes Andy’s future is much darker, but is happy to leave his audiences with a ”feel-good” ending. What a copout.”
The reason why there is no easy answer in the film is precisely BECAUSE Chazelle provides what seems to be a triumph at the end. Having the kid blow everyone away at the end is possible evidence that such harsh treatment actually works. The film we had just witnessed up to that point (thanks to the ample amount of screen time the “bullying, homophobic SOB” got) serves as damning evidence against such treatment. The ending isn’t a cop out. It muddies the waters in terms of taking a firm stance and allows you to come to your own conclusions. Had he continued on afterwards to show Andrew broken and dead at 30, the film would make it too clear how it feels on this issue. But I guess you would have preferred that. I prefer a grey area.
No ”sorry” is necessary. Being in the minority doesn’t mean you’re automatically wrong, any more than being in the majority means you’re automatically right. Intelligent people can see the same movie and come away with different conclusions, and that’s often par for the course. 😉
Look, I know ”Whiplash” is about: What’s the cost of being an artist? Do you have to suffer for your art? Do the ends justify the means? The self-loathing, the insecurities, etc., etc. And if I didn’t ”get it,” Damien Chazelle drums those themes into you over and over, and even has his characters vocalize them. I didn’t go to ”Whiplash” to be coddled, nor did I expect a ”feel-good” movie. What I objected to, was how ludicrously contrived and laughable I found various incidents in the script. I’m not going to spoil the plot, point by point, but the logic involving, say, the music ”sabotage,” made no sense. And while there are no ”easy answers” for its artistic debate, Chazelle has stacked his deck: Just compare the screen time the homophobic, bullying S.O.B. of a band leader gets, as opposed to Andy’s loving dad. As for the finale, which you acknowledge could be read as a ”triumph,” your Exhibit A only shows that Chazelle pulled his punches. He believes Andy’s future is much darker, but is happy to leave his audiences with a ”feel-good” ending. What a copout.
Sorry, friends but it does appear you’re in the minority about Simmons and the way he portrayed Fletcher. 20 minutes into the movie I said to my wife, “If I walked into a classroom he is literally the last person I’d want to see.” Using those expletives was over the top because it was supposed to be. Fletcher treated his band like a boot camp and that’s exactly why it’s over the top, NOBODY should be treating their students like that, though I’m sure there are teachers calling students, “Faggot pussy cunt”. I felt nothing but tension almost entirely throughout the movie and most of that was because I was waiting to see what Simmons would do next.
SPOILERS
And those googly eyes at the end when Andrew comes back to play an entire song and Fletcher is nodding his head and shaking his hand like he’s raising hell on Earth…it was his character achieving ecstasy. I felt Simmons played the role perfectly. I can only wish everyone felt the emotions I felt watching Simmons.
I’m so happy with all the recognition Nightcrawler is getting lately. It is such a great film! I really hope Jake get at least a best actor nomination at the Oscars.. he is my favorite this year (sorry Keaton).
Since when is Whiplash supposed to be a “feel good movie”???
Its a waking nightmare about the physical toll that the drive for perfection takes on an artist, similar to Black Swan. The antagonist is “extreme” because we are watching a heightened reality. Furthermore, the Simmons character is meant to represent the physical embodiment of the self loathing, punitive tendencies of the protagonist. I’m not saying he doesn’t exist, I’m saying his character is meant to be filtered through the prism and POV of an unstable protagonist who hates himself. The end of the film can certainly be read as a triumph, but the director certainly didn’t intend it that way. Exhibit A is this interview where he predicts dark days ahead for the Andrew character: http://www.slashfilm.com/whiplash-ending/
This movie is not meant to coddle you. Its meant to ask tough questions about how to motivate and educate young people, what it means to be an “artist”, what constitutes great art and whether anyone can ever be objectively great as a musician. The film also doesn’t provide any easy answers to those questions, leaving the viewer to ponder them as they exit the theater. I’ve heard complaints about the Simmons character’s use of homophobic slurs to taunt his students, but I ask: do we think this is a thing that doesn’t happen? Simmons’ character is portrayed similarly to a drill sergeant. Do they not use terms like that in the boys’ club of the military? More to my real point, representation does not equate endorsement. I sincerely doubt Damien Chazelle thought it would be “cool” to have Fletcher call people queers. That kind of language is tough to hear for most people, no doubt, but I never thought for a second that Chazelle was doing anything but simply putting an ugly thing on screen to show it for what it is.
“As for the movie, I’ll be in the micro-minority. I thought J.K. Simmons was way, way over-the-top as the sadistic, psychotic and physically abusive band leader.”
Minority, for sure, WW, but you’re not alone. Not that it matters much, but there are a few of us who have issues with that extreme type of antagonist in what is essentially intended to be a feel good movie.
My top 10 so far… (still PLENTY of films to see)…
1. Stranger by the Lake *****
2. Snowpiercer *****
3. The LEGO Movie *****
4. Mortadelo y Filemón contra Jimmy el Cachondo **** ½ (spanish animated film, just released one wee ago, here)
5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier **** ½
6. Guardians of the Galaxy **** ½
7. Gone Girl **** ½
8. Open Windows **** ½
9. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes **** ½
10. Edge of Tomorrow ****
Just saw “Gone Girl”. Surprise, surprise, at its core, it is the same story than “Stranger by the Lake”. I’d suggest to check out the french film, and realize you didn’t need 2 and a half hours to tell basically the same. Of course, I’m aware “Gone Girl” is based on a book, while the french is an original screenplay. But they are a great double feature for mature audiences, thematically speaking. “Gone Girl” **** 1/2 / B+, “Stranger by the Lake” ***** / A+
Since J.K. Simmons has been winning all the supporting actor awards, I finally caught up with ”Whiplash.” Yikes. (Spoilers ahead!) The wrong actor is getting all the kudos. Miles Teller oughta be getting much more awards attention. He’s giving one of the most committed and ferocious performances out there. And all he’s received is a Gotham Award nomination. How did he miss out on an Indie Spirit nomination? … As for the movie, I’ll be in the micro-minority. I thought J.K. Simmons was way, way over-the-top as the sadistic, psychotic and physically abusive band leader. And his vile litany of homophobic slurs (”faggots,” ”cocksuckers,” ”pansy-ass fruit f*ck,” etc.) was overkill. Worse were the ridiculous and contrived ”plot twists.” Now, THEY gave me ”Whiplash.”
John,
I think they’ll nominate Whiplash becuase they’ve nominated indies like Winters Bone and Beasts of the Southern Wild before for best picture. And if Whiplash doesn’t make the cut what will takes it’s place? Unbroken? God help us.
Manohla Dargis top 20 (in alphabetical order):
“American Sniper”
“Beyond the Lights”
“Birdman”
“Boyhood”
“The Dog”
“Edge of Tomorrow”
“Gloria”
“Goodbye to Language”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Inherent Vice”
“Interstellar”
“Listen Up Philip”
“Manakamana”
“Manila in the Claws of Light”
“The Missing Picture”
“National Gallery”
“Selma”
“Snowpiercer”
“Violette”
“Top Five”
Until I see support for Whiplash at the Guilds (PGA, ACE, MPSE, CAS), I fail to see where this is coming for anything but Supporting Actor, mayyyybe Screenplay (but even that is looking hard to muscle in what with Boyhood, Birdman, Selma, Grand Budapest, Mr. Turner … And peripheries like Nightcrawler, Interstellar, etc). Everyone seems to have Whiplash in their predictions of the “9” and most, quite solidly in the top 6 or 7. Wheres the evidence people? Critics? Theyve really only honored Simmons thus far and, TONS of movies with reviews as good or better than Whiplash have missed Best Picture before. I dont get this online groupthink that its definitely IN.
Good for NIGHTCRAWLER and Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Hardy again! 😀 This is great!
Yeh, the fact that Gone Girl, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Nightcrawler are atop the nominations list for any group this year is not something I would have even imagined a fortnight ago. Despite the absence of The Tale of Princess Kaguya in Best Animated Film (we’re many of us lamenting the dearth of foreign animated contenders in that category among many groups this year, but it’s often the same, sadly, and this year was simply lacking in films of that variety), I rather like what the San Diego critics are serving me here. One of my favourite nomination slates of the year yet.
Nightcrawler leads with 9 noms. Woohoo! Gone Girl and Budapest tie for second with 8 noms apiece. Boyhood and Birdman each have 7.
The thing with Birdman is that it’s nominated for all the major awards except Best Picture.
But there are things to like: Force Majeure’s cinematography is brilliant and I love its inclusion in the lineup.
SERIOUSLY, no BIRDMAN for Best Film!? What a disgrace.
Geez, this board moves sooooo fast. It’s early Friday morning, only about 16 hours after the Golden Globes nominations were announced, and I can’t find the main story announcing them (and the readers’ reactions). They seemed to have been bumped off the page by nominations by the St. Louis & Detroit critics! (And yes, I’ve tried scrolling down …)
No Julianne Moore? No Reese Witherspoon? The Nut Job over Princess Kaguya? Seems like they want to be different, but that’s not necessarily a good thing.
I just saw Top Five. This film is as good as any of Woody Allen’s best. Rosario Dawson is excellent and should have been nominated for the comedy golden globe, the screenplay and the film should have also been nominated as well. Was the film not received by the voters. Sag also messed up by not nominating the exceptional ensemble. The funniest film of the year hands down.
Ohhh…they didnt care about making history…How rude!!!
“The Nut Job”? Really? That had direct to Nexflix written all over it.