The Academy Awards 2015: Nominees

This morning, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released their nominations for the Oscars. I got up in time to see the live stream which was, finally, underwhelming except for watching these poor people struggle with the names at the crack of dawn.

No matter, here are the films deemed to be the best of 2014. The awards ceremony will be held Sunday, February 22nd and is being hosted by Neil Patrick Harris. Be sure to join sunbunny and me on the night for our tweetathon and round-up of the ceremony, the winners and losers, and, most importantly, what everyone wore.

Best Motion Picture of the Year:
American Sniper
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

Performance By An Actor in a Leading Role:
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

Performance By An Actress in a Leading Role:
Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild

Performance By An Actor in a Supporting Role:
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

Performance By An Actress in a Supporting Role:
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Laura Dern, Wild
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods

Achievement in Directing:
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year:
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of The Princess Kaguya

Best Animated Short Film:
The Bigger Picture
The Dam Keeper
Feast
Me and My Moulton
A Single Life

Best Foreign Language Film:
Leviathan
Ida
Tangerines
Timbuktu
Wild Tales

Best Documentary Feature:
CITIZENFOUR
Finding Vivian Maier
Last Days in Vietnam
The Salt in the Earth
Virunga

Best Documentary Short Subject:
Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Joanna
Our Curse
The Reaper
White Earth

Best Live-Action Short Film:
Aya
Boogaloo and Graham
Butter Lamp
Parvaneh
The Phone Call

Original Screenplay:
Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Dan Futterman and E. Max Frye, Foxcatcher
Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood

Adapted Screenplay:
Paul Thomas Anderson, Inherent Vice
Damien Chazelle, Whiplash
Jason Hall, American Sniper
Anthony McCarten, The Theory of Everything
Graham Moore, The Imitation Game

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score):
Alexandre Desplat, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alexandre Desplat, The Imitation Game
Johann Johannsson, The Theory of Everything
Gary Yershon, Mr. Turner
Hans Zimmer, Interstellar

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song):
"Everything is Awesome" from The LEGO Movie (written by Shawn Patterson)
"Glory" from Selma (written by Common and John Legend)
“Grateful,” from Beyond the Lights (written by Diane Warren)
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You,” from Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me (written by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond)
"Lost Stars" from Begin Again (written by Gregg Alexander, Danielle Brisebois, Nick Lashley and Nick Southwood)

Achievement in Film Editing:
Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach, American Sniper
Sandra Adair, Boyhood
Barney Pilling, The Grand Budapest Hotel
William Goldenberg, The Imitation Game
Tom Cross, Whiplash

Achievement in Cinematography:
Roger Deakins, Unbroken
Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman
Dick Pope, Mr. Turner
Robert Yeoman, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski, Ida

Achievement in Production Design:
Adam Stockhausen (Production Design) and Anna Pinnock (Set Decoration), The Grand Budapest Hotel
Maria Djurkovic (Production Design) and Tatiana Macdonald (Set Decoration), The Imitation Game
Nathan Crowley (Production Design) and Gary Fettis (Set Decoration), Interstellar
Dennis Gassner (Production Design) and Anna Pinnock (Set Decoration), Into the Woods
Suzie Davies (Production Design) and Charlotte Watts (Set Decoration), Mr. Turner

Achievement in Costume Design:
Milena Canonero, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Mark Bridges, Inherent Vice
Colleen Atwood, Into the Woods
Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive, Maleficent
Jacqueline Durran, Mr. Turner

Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling:
Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard, Foxcatcher
Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White, Guardians of the Galaxy

Achievement in Sound Editing:
Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman, American Sniper
Martin Hernández and Aaron Glascock, Birdman
Brent Burge and Jason Canovas, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Richard King, Interstellar
Becky Sullivan and Andrew DeCristofaro, Unbroken

Achievement in Sound Mixing:
John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin, American Sniper
Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and Thomas Varga, Birdman
Gary A. Rizzo, Gregg Landaker and Mark Weingarten, Interstellar
Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and David Lee, Unbroken
Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley, Whiplash

Achievement in Visual Effects:
Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill and Dan Sudick, Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett and Erik Winquist, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Stephane Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner and Paul Corbould, Guardians of the Galaxy
Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher, Interstellar
Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie and Cameron Waldbauer, X-Men: Days of Future Past

There are dozens of other categories, so for a complete list, click here. Here's your chance! Tell us what you think. Who is deserving and who was the surprise? Comment away.

ChrisB is a freelance writer who spends more time than she ought in front of a television screen or with a book in her hand.