Hey, we’re always the first to say that fretting (or worse, being totally outraged) over the Oscar nominations is a fool’s game. It is what it is, and the idea of judging art like sports is pretty strange. Still, it’s a game we like to play nonetheless, and we’ve already listed our snubs and surprises regarding this morning’s Academy Award nods. But what if we got to pick the nominees?
Overall, the 2015 Oscar nominations are not bad all in terms of quality picks. That said, there are some different choices we would’ve made. But in doing this exercise, we’re not just going for pure wish-list choices that would’ve never had a chance in hell of being nominated (even if "Under The Skin" topped our list of the Best Films Of 2014, it was never going to land with Academy voters). These are more plausible, "within reason" choices given the narrative of the awards season in 2014 and how the guilds voted this year. So yeah, it’s a bit of compromise: given the field (much smaller than our taste), how about these substitute picks.
Anyhow, in our perfect world, the Academy Award nominations would have looked like this (note a few are extremely difficult choices, but with only five picks…)
Best Picture
“Birdman”
“Boyhood”
“Selma”
“The Theory of Everything”
“The Imitation Game”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Whiplash”
Replaced: “Nightcrawler”
Replaced: “Foxcatcher”
Removed: “American Sniper”
Actress in a Leading Role
Julianne Moore, “Still Alice”
Felicity Jones, “The Theory of Everything”
Rosamund Pike, “Gone Girl”
Reese Witherspoon, “Wild”
Marion Cotillard, “Two Days One Night”
Actor in a Leading Role
Michael Keaton, “Birdman”
Eddie Redmayne, “The Theory of Everything”
Steve Carell, “Foxcatcher”
Replaced: David Oyelowo, “Selma”
Replaced: Jake Gyllenhaal, “Nightcrawler”
Removed: Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Imitation Game”
Removed: Bradley Cooper, “American Sniper”
Directing
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, “Birdman”
Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Bennett Miller, “Foxcatcher”
Replaced: Ava DuVernay, “Selma”
Removed: Morten Tyldum, “The Imitation Game”
Actress in a Supporting Role
Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”
Emma Stone, “Birdman”
Keira Knightley, “The Imitation Game”
Replaced: Rene Russo, “Nightcrawler”
Replaced: Jessica Chastain, “A Most Violent Year”
Removed: Meryl Streep, “Into the Woods”
Removed: Laura Dern, “Wild”
Actor in a Supporting Role
J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash”
Edward Norton, “Birdman”
Ethan Hawke, “Boyhood”
Mark Ruffalo, “Foxcatcher”
Replaced: Tom Wilkinson, “Selma”
Removed: Robert Duvall, “The Judge”
Foreign Language Film
“Ida”
“Leviathan”
“Wild Tales”
“Timbuktu”
Replaced: “Force Majeure”
Removed: “Tangerines”
Writing – Adapted Screenplay
Graham Moore, “The Imitation Game”
Damien Chazelle, “Whiplash”
Paul Thomas Anderson, “Inherent Vice”
Replaced: Gillian Flynn, “Gone Girl”
Replaced: Paul Webb, “Selma”
Removed: Jason Hall, “American Sniper”
Removed: Anthony McCarten, “The Theory of Everything”
Writing – Original Screenplay
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo, “Birdman”
Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Dan Gilroy, “Nightcrawler”
E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman, “Foxcatcher”
Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki, “Birdman”
Dick Pope, “Mr. Turner”
Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lynzewski, “Ida”
Replaced: Bradford Young, “Selma”
Replaced: Robert Eslwit, “Inherent Vice”
Removed: Robert D. Yeoman, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Removed: Roger Deakins, “Unbroken”
Music – Original Score
Hans Zimmer, “Interstellar”
Alexandre Desplat, “The Imitation Game”
Alexandre Desplat, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Replaced: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, “Gone Girl”
Replaced: Micha Levi, “Under The Skin"
Removed: Johann Johannsson, “The Theory of Everything”
Removed: Gary Yershon, “Mr Turner”
Costume Design
Colleen Atwood, “Into the Woods”
Milena Canonero, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Jacqueline Durran, “Mr. Turner”
Mark Bridges, “Inherent Vice”
Replaced: Anushia Nieradzik, “Belle”
Removed: Anna B. Sheppard, “Maleficent”
Film Editing
Sandra Adair, “Boyhood”
Tom Cross, “Whiplash”
Joel Cox and Gary Roach, “American Sniper”
Barney Pilling, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Replaced: John Gilroy, “Nightcrawler”
Removed: William Goldenberg, “The Imitation Game”
Production Design
“Into the Woods”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Interstellar”
“Mr. Turner”
Replaced: “Inherent Vice”
Removed: “The Imitation Game”
Animated Feature Film
“Big Hero 6”
“The Boxtrolls”
“The Tale of the Princess Kaguya”
“Song of the Sea”
Replaced: “The Lego Movie”
Removed: “How to Train Your Dragon 2”
*Most tech categories that we don’t really have issue with, or can live with enough are not reflected on this list, but you can see the real 2014 Oscar nominations here.
The Oscars will be awarded on February 22nd.