And with that we’re closing down this blog. The Oscars were confirmed as the whitest since 1998; and we made a bunch of typos. See you for the ceremony on 22 February, and thanks for reading.
Updated
And finally we’ve just launched our film critic Peter Bradshaw’s take on the nominations. He writes:
For heaven’s sake. Can it really be true that Mike Leigh’s Mr Turner has been overlooked in the best film and best director categories, with another zilch for Timothy Spall as best actor? Has David Oyelowo, who so memorably portrayed Martin Luther King in Selma, been ignored in this category as well? Selma at least has a best picture nomination, but no best director nomination for Ava DuVernay.
And very little for Paul Thomas Anderson’s outstanding Inherent Vice: and nothing in way of best picture or best director. Richard Linklater’s marvellous Boyhood has six nominations, but that is fewer than the decent but middling film The Imitation Game, about wartime codebreaker Alan Turing — and only as many as Clint Eastwood’s fantastically dull and mediocre American Sniper, which has been hugely overrated. Bradley Cooper (usually a smart and talented actor) was, frankly, not particularly well cast or well directed in this ho-hum picture and the idea of him getting a best actor nomination ahead of Oyelowo or Spall or Ralph Fiennes is pretty silly.
Vulture have broken down Meryl Streep’s 19 nominations (way more than Jack Nicholson and Katharine Hepburn, her closest competitors on 12 apiece) into the ones she definitely deserved, ones she probably did and the ones she didn’t. Into the Woods, for which she received a best supporting actress nod, falls into the first category:
Again, Meryl gets nominated for a movie that’s otherwise an Oscar nonstarter. But let’s be real — she tears it up here. She breaks out a surprisingly good singing voice and serves as the movie’s primary source of humor. She’s great as the witch, great as the glam post-witch, and manages to be both frightening and sympathetic in equal turns.
ABC News has been rounding up some more response from the nominated actors and directors.
Here’s Julianne Moore’s tweet:
thank u everyone for the congratulations! i am so happy i can barely breathe #makingmyselfdizzy #AcademyAwards
— Julianne Moore (@_juliannemoore) January 15, 2015
So happy to celebrate 2 #Oscarnominations for #WILDmovie with my deeply beautiful & talented costar @lauradern! pic.twitter.com/AkqOkWOXJx
— Reese Witherspoon (@RWitherspoon) January 15, 2015
5 Oscar nominations for Whiplash?!! Booya!
— Miles Teller (@Miles_Teller) January 15, 2015
Meanwhile, Eddie Redmayne, nominated for best actor, told Good Morning America:
I cannot tell you how surreal this is. I’ve literally gone from an incredibly deep sleep to a 100 mile an hour insane euphoria in about three seconds – so I have no idea what planet I’m on. I wasn’t watching like everyone else I’m in Los Angeles and I was asleep and there’s suddenly this rap on the door and I was in pitch black and I stumble towards the door and it was my manager Jason who was staying at the same hotel with this wonderful group of people who were all on the phone who I’ve been working with for years and there was just this eclectic company of screaming going on on the phone.
Updated
The Irish Times has pointed out that The Lego Movie’s loss was Song of the Sea’s gain. The film was directed by Tomm Moore, whose Cartoon Saloon studio is based in Kilkenny.
Vox have an interesting piece breaking down why Selma didn’t get more nominations.
Their first reason is in their title: the average age of an Academy voter is 63, 94% of them are white and 77% male. Todd VanDerWerff writes:
Certainly, those demographics help in cases where a film deals with recent history (like Selmadoes), but they also hurt films that shift out of the white, male perspective, or films that play around with nontraditional storytelling styles. (The latter may be why fans of the movieNightcrawler are also licking their wounds this morning.)
The Academy is diversifying, and that has led to bolder choices in recent years. (Movies like 12 Years a Slave or Her would never have won Oscars even 10 years ago.) But it’s a slow process, and that’s reflected in the artistic conservatism of this year’s nominees.
More strong stuff on Selma’s lack of nominations, from Vanity Fair:
Selma’s short-shrifting is particularly galling when you consider that American Sniper got more nominations, two of them in “major” categories (best actor and editing). Clint Eastwood’s messily reverent biopic of Navy Seal sniper Chris Kyle does exactly the opposite of what Selma does, occluding truths behind a veil of macho patriotism. It’s not exactly a surprise that older Academy members are enamored of its aggressive jingoism. But when that fusty predilection makes collateral damage of a movie like Selma—such a searching, galvanizing, genuinely enriching film, perfectly tuned for such troubled political and social times—the crusty old Academy begins to look, as it does from time to time, like a deeply flawed voting body.
Stone’s Birdman co-star Michael Keaton has been talking to the New York Times about his nomination. He said:
There’s a little bit of exhalation – a sweet one, it’s really, really sweet. I’m not very good at this, and some day I’ll have way more to say about all of this. But just this morning all I can say is I’m grateful.
Emma Stone has also responded in sweary style to her best supporting actress nomination for Birdman:
Well, this is surreal. I am completely knocked out. Thank you to the Academy for this incredible honor. I am very proud and lucky to be a part of Birdman and can’t believe it came to this. I am so fucking excited. Are you allowed to say fuck when you’re making a statement for the Oscars? I’m just really fucking excited.
Thanks to HoldenCarver for posting this, about the lighting of brown skin on film.
Over on Vulture, David Edelstein has written a scorching piece about the shortcomings of this year’s nominations, starting with the just two for Selma. Some commentators are saying that screeners (DVDs) of the film weren’t made available to the Academy in time – can this be true?
He’s not happy about American Sniper’s relative success:
American Sniper did amazingly well given how despicable it is, but its strong box-office showing and the well-organized hate campaign against anyone who protested its flagrant inaccuracies and the way it affirmed the nonexistent connection between 9/11 and the cataclysmic US invasion of Iraq evidently counted for much. It was also a tribute to the bizarre standing of Clint Eastwood, whose omission from the best director category was probably the result of his semi-demented monologue to an empty chair at the last Republican National Convention. A curious split vote, but explicable.
More on the Lego movie’s lack of nominations:
Why don't you check the Oscars ballots again, maybe you made a mistake pic.twitter.com/tDtMCE2tEg
— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) January 15, 2015
This piece is being tweeted quite a bit: our Reel History column, which checks the historical veracity of films every week, and which was unimpressed with The Imitation Game’s rendering of the life of Alan Turing.
Indiewire have a list: the 10 biggest surprises of the 2015 Oscars nominations. Marion Cotillard’s best actress nomination for Two Days, One Night was surely a very welcome one.
They also raise eyebrows at the absence of Life Itself, about the late film critic Roger Ebert, from the best documentary feature award.
Nightcrawler was another notable snub, though it got nominated for best original screenplay, as Roquentin points out:
Nightcrawler not nominated for a single Oscar? A Crime
— matthew williams (@mattabaster) January 15, 2015
Updated
Variety have written a story about the lack of diversity in this year’s awards nominations. It will be the whitest Oscars for 17 years. They point out:
Oscar voters had a chance to make history by nominating the first African-American woman in the Best Director category with Selma helmer Ava DuVernay, but instead they opted to reward a contingent that was all-male and heavily white. Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu, rewarded for Birdman, was the sole instance of diversity in that category.
Moreover, Selma star David Oyelowo has earned raves for his work as Dr Martin Luther King Jr., but he was also left off of too many ballots to make the final cut.
DuVernay seemed to take it in stride, emphasizing “Selma’s” Best Picture and Best Song nods and tweeting, “Happy Birthday, Dr. King. An Oscar gift for you. To SELMA cast + crew led by our miracle David Oyelowo! To Common + Legend! Kudos! March on!”
Updated
Dick Pope (pronounced as Dick Poop) at the ceremony has responded to his nomination for best cinematography for Mr Turner. Catherine Shoard writes:
Dick Pope, Leigh’s longtime cinematographer, reacted with elation to his second Oscar nomination, and first for his work with Leigh. The lack of nominations in headline categories was, he said, a happy change from the norm. “It would be churlish of me to whinge and nitpick. It’s been many years that actors have taken the front stage. It’s great that we, Mike’s company of players, have finally taken one for the team.”
When Pope’s name was read out, Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs managed an unfortunate mispronunciation of Pope’s surname as “Poop”. Pope had not heard this as he was otherwise engaged – revisiting the Late Turner show at Tate Britain.
Benedict Cumberbatch has responded to his Academy award nomination:
I am knocked for six by this. So excited and honoured to receive this recognition. It’s wonderful to be included by the academy in this exceptional year of performances. To ring my parents who are both actors and tell them that their only son has been nominated for an Oscar is one of the proudest moments of my life.”
More of those #oscarssowhite tweets:
#OscarsSoWhite it thinks Macklemore actually DESERVED that Grammy.
— Jawjuh Peach (@NrdLovnNetta) January 15, 2015
#OscarsSoWhite they can't be racist because they totally intended on seeing Selma, and it's like the thought that counts.
— Rachael Krishna (@RachaelKrishna) January 15, 2015
#OscarsSoWhite they want to touch your hair
— Ijeoma Oluo (@IjeomaOluo) January 15, 2015
#OscarsSoWhite Exodus was snubbed because it was too diverse.
— Dave Zirin (@EdgeofSports) January 15, 2015
Here’s a gallery of the big winners and losers in this year’s Oscar nominations.
Possibly the perfect tweet from the director of The Lego Movie:
It's okay. Made my own! pic.twitter.com/kgyu1GRHGR
— philip lord (@philiplord) January 15, 2015
This is also very interesting on the diversity, or lack of it, in the Oscars so far:
The diversity gap in the Academy Awards via @WritersofColour #Oscars2014 #Oscars pic.twitter.com/LvnOUZ2H3d
— Amélie Koulanda (@akoulanda) March 2, 2014
There’s an #OscarsSoWhite hashtag which is, as they say, blowing up on Twitter. Here are some highlights:
#OscarsSoWhite they're serving kale chips as an appetizer this year.
— Right Up Your Ali (@mstharrington) January 15, 2015
#OscarsSoWhite It felt like LBJ was the real hero of Selma.
— Miles Morales (@Ljay90) January 15, 2015
#OscarsSoWhite there's a mayo recipe in the winners envelopes.
— Amadi (@amaditalks) January 15, 2015
You can read all our coverage of the films nominated for best picture here:
Selma
The Grand Budapest Hotel
American Sniper
Birdman
Boyhood
The Imitation Game
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash
We’ve updated and expanded our story on today’s nominations. Catherine Shoard writes:
Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel have scored nine nominations at the 87th Academy Awards, which have been announced in Los Angeles. Alejandro González Iñárritu’s experimental satire about a fading movie actor (played by Michael Keaton) tied for top place going into the awards with Wes Anderson’s whimsical comedy.
That left Boyhood, Richard Linklater’s audacious 12-years-in-the-making coming-of-age epic, trailing with just six nominations, the same as Clint Eastwood’s Iraq war drama American Sniper, which has recently picked up momentum.
Vanity Fair points out that Bradley Cooper is the first person to receive an Oscar nomination three years in a row since Renee Zellweger (2004). Can he beat Michael Keaton and the Brits Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne with his portrayal of Chris Kyle in American Sniper?
Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice, meanwhile, is this year’s Inside Llewyn Davis – a seeming dead cert that got nary a nod.
*suddenly realises about Inherent VIce* Oy! What about Inherent Vice? #Oscars2015 #OscarNoms
— Peter Bradshaw (@PeterBradshaw1) January 15, 2015
Updated
Linda Holmes of NPR has an interesting take about this year’s prevailing trend in nominations. Her first thoughts include:
Even for the Oscars — even for the Oscars — this is a really, really lot of white people. Every nominated actor in Lead and Supporting categories — 20 actors in all — is white. Every nominated director is male. Every nominated screenwriter is male. Shall we look at story? Every Best Picture nominee here is predominantly about a man or a couple of men, and seven of the eight are about white men, several of whom have similar sort of “complicated genius” profiles, whether they’re real or fictional.
It’s been a decent morning for superheroes:
"Captain America," "Guardians of the Galaxy" & "X-Men" Land Oscar Nominations http://t.co/T2tiVYFsHC pic.twitter.com/j2d1EBjP8E
— Comic Book Resources (@CBR) January 15, 2015
More interesting titbits: it’s Michael Keaton’s first Oscars nomination ever. It seems likely that we’ll see a big song-and-dance number to Everything is Awesome at the ceremony. If you’re in the US and sign up to Netflix and other streaming services, here are the Oscar-nominated films you can watch tonight.
Meanwhile, Variety points out that while black actors have entirely missed out in their categories, Meryl Streep just received her 19th nomination:
GAWD RT @Variety: Meryl Streep continues her run as the actor with the most #OscarNoms ever, now with 19: http://t.co/06skyTJ9hM
— Stephen Dacres (@SRDtv) January 15, 2015
A lot of sorrow about the lack of nominations for Selma.
One of Oscar's biggest "Selma" oversights is, without a doubt, cinematographer Bradford Young. Rarely has our skin looked so good on film.
— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) January 15, 2015
My colleague Ben Beaumont-Thomas has written about Citizenfour’s best documentary nomination. Directed by Laura Poitras, it spends eight days with Edward Snowden in Hong Kong as the Guardian publishes his revelations about the NSA. Ben writes:
With its incredible access and agenda-setting subject, Citizenfour could well consider itself the favourite in the category. It faces competition from Wim Wenders’ The Salt of the Earth, a biographical doc looking at photographer Sebastian Salgado; the similarly-minded Finding Vivian Maier, whose stunning street photography was discovered long after her death; Last Days in Vietnam, looking at the chaos of Saigon as the Americans departed following the war; and Virunga, a Netflix-produced doc exploring a national park in Congo under threat from militia.
Sorry about my terrible spelling earlier by the way:
Absolutely knocking it out of the ballpark with the typos today Graun.
Some more reaction about the lack of a best director award for Ava DuVernay, whose Selma got nominated for best picture and best song, far fewer than expected.
Anderson was nominated for Best Director?? Sorry I'm slow, but that's huge. Maybe Ava will be nominated a decade after she deserved it, too
— Miriam Bale (@mimbale) January 15, 2015
The fact that American Sniper has got six nods will prove controversial - some have seen it as a straightforward celebration of American military might. This Lindy West piece sets out the case for the prosecution.
Twitter is swinging between anger at the lack of nominations for The Lego Movie and the lack of diversity in the awards, and mirth at the mispronunciation of Mr Turner cinematographer Dick Pope’s name.
Fingers crossed for Dick Poop.
— Shaun Usher (@ShaunUsher) January 15, 2015
There’s a lot of disappointment about Selma.
So ... the Academy includes not a single actor or actress of color in nominations, throws "Selma" in for 10-film Best Pic round. #Hollywood
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) January 15, 2015
So the nominations see Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel get nine apiece; The Imitation Game gets eight; and Boyhood and American Sniper get six each. Selma has been snubbed - it got just two nominations. There were surprise nominations for Marion Cotillard, Laura Dern and Robert Duvall. Read our story on it all here.
Selma also largely missed out
Shocked by SELMA's nomination fate. (Cue people telling me I'm naive) (seriously, don't do that please, I'm depressed enough)
— Farran Nehme (@selfstyledsiren) January 15, 2015
Not much for Mr Turner
That faint scream you can hear from anywhere in the world is Mike Leigh #Oscars2015 #OscarNoms
— Peter Bradshaw (@PeterBradshaw1) January 15, 2015
So that’s it. Some quick reaction from Twitter:
SELMA getting nominated for Best Picture is great, but its absence from so many other categories is so damned frustrating.
— Bilge Ebiri (@BilgeEbiri) January 15, 2015
Best Picture
Boyhood (Golden Globe winner)
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
The Grand Budapest Hotel (Golden Globe winner - for best comedy or musical)
Birdman
American Sniper
Whiplash
Updated
Best actor
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything (Golden Globe winner)
Michael Keaton, Birdman (Golden Globe winner, for actor in a comedy or musical)
Updated
Best actress
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore, Still Alice (Golden Globe winner)
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild
Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
Updated
Best Director
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game
Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher
Alejandro González Inñárritu, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood (Golden Globe winner)
Updated
Best foreign language film
Wild Tales
Timbuktu
Ida
Leviathan (Golden Globe winner)
Tangerines Madanriinid
Updated
Best original score
Johann Johannsson, The Theory of Everything (Golden Globe winner)
Alexandre Desplat, The Imitation Game
Alexandre Desplat, Grand Budapest Hotel
Hans Zimmer, Interstellar
Gary Yershon, Mr Turner
Updated
Original screenplay
Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo - Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler
Dan Futterman and E Max Frye, Foxcatcher
Updated
Best Adapted Screenplay
Graham Moore, The Imitation Game
Anthony McCarten, The Theory of Everything
Damien Chazelle, Whiplash
Jason Hall, American Sniper
Paul Thomas Anderson, Inherent Vice
Updated
Best cinematography
Unbroken
Mr Turner
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ida
Birdman
Updated
Best costume design
Into The Woods
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Maleficent
Inherent Vice
Mr Turner
Updated
Best makeup and hairstyling
Foxcatcher
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy
Updated
Best actress in a supporting role
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood (Golden Globe winner)
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman
Meryl Streep, Into The Woods
Laura Dern, Wild
Updated
Group two nominations
Best actor in a supporting role
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
JK Simmons, Whiplash (Golden Globe winner)
Updated
Upsets/surprises so far - no Life Itself, Interstellar doing well, Unbroken got two and there’s something for Mr Turner.
WHERE IS THE BLOODY LEGO MOVIE?!
— HenryHBarnes (@HenryHBarnes) January 15, 2015
Updated
Sorry for the typos and missed categories - cleaning those up now.
Updated
Best animated feature
Big Hero 6
The Book of Life
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2 (Golden Globe winner)
Song Of The Sea
The Tale of Princess Kaguya
Updated
Best animated short
The Bigger Picture
The Dam Keeper
Feast
Me and My Moulton
A Single Life
Updated
Sound mixing
American Sniper
Birdman
Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies
Whiplash
Updated
Best editing
American Sniper
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Imitation Game
Whiplash
Updated
Best documentary (short subject)
Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Joanna
The Reaper (La Parka)
White Earth
Our Curse
Best documentary
Updated
The Oscar nominations are being announced
Best original song
Everything is Awesome, The Lego Movie
Glory, Selma
Grateful, Beyond the Lights
Glenn Campbell: I’ll Be Me
Lost Stars, Begin Again
Updated
While we wait, here’s a great picture of Cher. Wish people still dressed like this at the Oscars.
#OSCARSNOMINATIONS in TWO MINUTES: while waiting, check out #Oscars red carpet fails gallery: http://t.co/OJkq5Bh234 pic.twitter.com/4sKG65wQ5q
— Yahoo Lifestyle UK (@YLifestyleUK) January 15, 2015
Updated
And the stream is live! People are milling about and settling down before the moment of truth.
Watch it here:
Updated
The person running the Academy’s official Twitter account is regretting the early start …
Yeah, it’s early. #OscarNoms #530AMSeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) January 15, 2015
Updated
Yahoo! reports that none of the films expected to be nominated for best picture have grossed over $100m – unless Gone Girl or Interstellar get surprise nods. We’re a long way from the days when Titanic swept the board.
Updated
For those watching in the UK and looking forward to Eddie Redmayne, Benedict Cumberbatch and Rosamund Pike getting nods, you can add one more to that number. Julianne Moore told Simon Hattenstone about her dual nationality. Rule Britannia. The British are coming, etc …
“You know,” she says out of nowhere, “I’m British now.” All bright again, she tells me how she claimed dual nationality. Her mother moved from Scotland to America aged 10, and when she married Moore’s father, she had to renounce her nationality and swear allegiance to America. “I remember she was 27 and came home with an American flag in her hand, crying. She was so upset. I would have been six. My father was applying for law schools and you couldn’t be married to a foreign national.” Moore has always felt partly British: “I feel my mother became a citizen under duress, and she never let us forget that we weren’t fully American. She’d say, ‘You’re not American, you know? You’re only half American.’ She was very Scottish.”
Updated
Here’s the scene at the Samuel Goldwyn theatre in LA where it’s a bracing 5.20am.
At 5:30PST nominations for a whopping 24 film categories will be announced. #Oscars2015 has officially begun! pic.twitter.com/gJoORpcLAa
— Erin Cebula (@celebula) January 15, 2015
Lanre and I are feeling a bit underdressed. The Good Morning America Oscars team have gone to town:
The @GMA Crew is in Oscar mode this morn! This is how we always dress for work…NOT! :) #OscarNominations coming up. pic.twitter.com/WXPuseYUsl
— Robin Roberts (@RobinRoberts) January 15, 2015
A shoo-in for the 2016 Oscars?
#TheForceAwakens early to announce the Oscar nominations. pic.twitter.com/mSSaB7QZGY
— Leandro Prieto (@leandroprieto) January 15, 2015
Here’s a quick rundown of our predictions for each category:
Best picture
Locks: Birdman, Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, Selma, The Theory of Everything
Likely: Foxcatcher, Gone Girl, Whiplash
Outside bets: Nightcrawler, American Sniper
Very outside bets: Unbroken, A Most Violent Year
Best director
Locks: Alejandro González Iñárritu (Birdman), Richard Linklater (Boyhood)
Likely: Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel), Clint Eastwood (American Sniper), Ava DuVernay (Selma)
Outside bet: Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher), Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game), Damien Chazelle (Whiplash), David Fincher (Gone Girl)
Best supporting actress
Locks: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)
Likely: Keira Knightley (The Imitation Game), Emma Stone (Birdman), Meryl Streep, (Into the Woods), Rene Russo (Nightcrawler)
Outside bet: Jessica Chastain (A Most Violent Year)
Best supporting actor
Locks: JK Simmons (Whiplash), Ethan Hawke (Boyhood)
Likely: Edward Norton (Birdman), Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher)
Outside bet: Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler), Steve Carell (Foxcatcher), Tom Wilkinson (Selma), Robert Duvall (The Judge)
Best actress
Locks: Julianne Moore (Still Alice), Reese Witherspoon (Wild)
Likely: Jennifer Aniston (Cake), Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything)
Outside bets: Amy Adams (Big Eyes), Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl)
Best actor
Locks: Michael Keaton (Birdman), Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything)
Likely: Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game), Steve Carell (Foxcatcher), David Oyelowo (Selma)
Outside bets: Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler), Bradley Cooper (American Sniper), Ralph Fiennes (The Grand Budapest Hotel), Timothy Spall (Mr Turner)
Best original screenplay
Locks: Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo (Birdman); Richard Linklater (Boyhood); Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
Likely: Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler); Paul Webb (Selma)
Outside bets: Chris Rock (Top Five); Dan Futterman and E Max Frye (Foxcatcher)
Best adapted screenplay
Locks: Anthony McCarten (The Theory of Everything), Graham Moore (The Imitation Game), Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl)
Likely: Damien Chazelle (Whiplash), Nick Hornby (Wild)
Outside bets: Paul Thomas Anderson (Inherent Vice), James Gunn and Nicole Perlman (Guardians of the Galaxy)
Best foreign language film
Locks: Ida, Leviathan, Force Majeure
Likely: Tangerines, Timbuktu
Outside bets: Wild Tales, Corn Island
Best documentary
Locks: Citizenfour, Finding Vivian Maier, Life Itself
Likely: The Internet’s Own Boy, The Case Against 8
Outside bets: Tales of the Grim Sleeper, The Salt of the Earth
Updated
Naturally the definitive Oscars predictions are our ones. However, a few other publications are also having a bash. Variety says that the categories to watch are best actor, where competition is stiff, and naturally best picture, where they expect to see both Gone Girl and American Sniper nominated. There has been a lot of debate about the latter film in particular. Will it be too bellicose for the Academy?
Updated
Here in New York Lanre and I (Alex) are currently staring at a clock which is counting down to the nominations. In that, as in so many other ways, we’re unlike Jennifer Aniston, who has told E! online that she won’t be watching the nominations, despite being in the frame for her role in Cake.
To be honest, even if she is nominated she stands next to no chance of taking the gong – it’s all but got Julianne Moore’s name already etched on it for the ultra-depressing Alzheimer’s drama Still Alice.
The 2015 Oscar nominations will be announced in just over half an hour
We’ve had the Golden Globes, the Bafta nominations have been announced and now it’s time for the biggie – the Oscar nominations. Who will the Academy decide deserves to take home the coveted golden statuette? Boyhood and Birdman seem set to grab a clutch of nominations, but will there be an upset? Last year, Inside Llewyn Davies was snubbed by the voters, to the astonishment of many critics.
We’ll be rounding up reaction from around the web and, of course, announcing the nominations themselves live. Please add your thoughts below.
Updated
Regarding Jamil Smith's tweet, posted at 14:17 in this liveblog; if anyone is wondering why this is notable and what sort of issues are behind it, this Jezebel post is a good round-up of several people's posts on the issue: http://jezebel.com/the-truth-about-photography-and-brown-skin-1557656792
(I was originally looking for the comments about Boardwalk Empire being badly lit, and that's linked to from the above.)