By Daniel Janssen
Staff Writer
Gleaming golden statues, heated Hollywood politics and fantastic films can only mean one thing: the 85 Academy Awards are on their way. This year’s installment – which is to be presented by Ellen DeGeneres – comes with (what seem to be) the necessary “safe” choices in terms of nominated candidates. Topping the list of Oscar nominations are the out-of-this-world space thriller Gravity and crime drama American Hustle, both receiving recognition in ten different categories. But what are some of this year’s big surprises? And which didn’t make the cut?
Regardless of the nominations, the road to Academy Awards has been quite bumpy thus far. A few weeks ago, the Academy announced that they were rescinding a nomination for the sixth time in the history of the award show because a former board member “promoted” a song by means of e-mailing his past colleagues. Not only did this year’s event become one of controversy, but also one of great sadness, after the loss of The Sopranos-lead James Gandolfini and more recently that of Academy Award winner and three-time nominee Philip Seymour Hoffman. And so, the unexpected stretched further than film in 2014.
Yet, even the peculiar Oscars of 2014 contain a handful all too familiar choices. The nomination of Captain Phillips continues the ostensible pattern of American exceptionalist films, such as last year’s Zero Dark Thirty, which received nominations in five categories, but took home just one minor award. More fortunately (albeit predictable), the 2014 Oscars continue to feed the growing attention to independent film, with generous nominations for the historical drama 12 Years A Slave (9), HIV-biopic Dallas Buyers Club (6) and father-son tale Nebraska (6). Seemingly, the expansion to the “indie” spectrum has also led to the Academy’s nod to the United Kingdom this year, giving Philomena four nominations. Safe to say, the Academy is broadening their selection of films.
And still, the Academy leaves behind a vast number of critically acclaimed films, such as the Formula One drama Rush and the incredibly well received Fruitvale Station. No acting nominations for Joaquin Phoenix in Her, or the acclaimed James Franco in Spring Breakers, but Meryl Streep – with three wins and another fifteen nominations – is nominated yet another time. But just when you think that the Academy has a fear of breaking tradition, they snub Monsters University as the second Pixar film ever to not receive an Oscar nomination. Nor is there a lot of Academy attention for Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine – which had been coined “his best picture since Annie Hall” – the Coen brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis or the early-predicted Oscar candidate Before Midnight.
Will we see more surprises on the second of March? Who knows, we might even see Leonardo DiCaprio win his first ever Oscar.
Daniel Janssen, class of 2015, is a Psychology and International Relations major from Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands.
