With the MPSE's nominations logged and official, all of the guilds and industry groups have had their say in the nominees stage of the season, culminating with tomorrow's Oscar nominations. Leading the way with mentions from 11 separate groups each – and boy this must make Fox Searchlight happy – is “Birdman” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” Just behind with 10 is “The Imitation Game.”
What's interesting is what's just under that level. You have both “Gone Girl” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” chalking up eight groups. The former may or may not end up in the Best Picture category tomorrow (nothing would surprise me), but the latter sure did come on strong for its elements. After that, “American Sniper” has seven, “Boyhood,” “Nightcrawler,” “Interstellar,” “Into the Woods,” “The Theory of Everything” and “Unbroken” each have six and Sony Classics' hopefuls “Foxcatcher” and “Whiplash” ring in with five.
That pretty much covers the landscape, but the elephant in the room, of course, is “Selma,” which has three groups mentioning it while most others, including the major guilds, ignored it. But the question is whether they ignored it or didn't see it, as the issue of screeners has remained at the forefront of discussion on that title throughout the end of phase one. We'll find out tomorrow how much fire there is to that smoke. In my own predictions, I ended up expecting the film to land two nods, including Best Picture, but come up short elsewhere in hugely competitive races. It could just as easily pop in those categories and rack up as many as seven or more nominations, however. A curiosity this season.
I'm sort of stunned that “Mr. Turner” landed just a single mention – from the American Society of Cinematographers – but it's BAFTA showing (which isn't included in this rubric) was strong enough below the line. Maybe that will turn the key. Color me surprised either way. Even if AMPAS opted out, one would have expected BAFTA to be on board for elements like Timothy Spall. Alas…
I think with that, we've said pretty much all there is to say about things. It just seemed worth it to collect all this together. You can check out a rundown of all the guild and industry group mentions on the next page (let me know if there's an oversight) and of course find it all broken out in detail throughout The Circuit. I'll be very curious to see what happens tomorrow morning, as I'm sure you will be, too.
For now, check out our predictions here if you missed them (or just click through the gallery below). And feel free to use the comments section for any night-before mulling you might have to do on this subject or that.
The 87th annual Oscar nominations will be unveiled bright and early Thursday morning at 5:30am PST.
“Birdman” (11) – PGA, DGA, SAG, ADG, ASC, CDG, ACE, MHG, CAS, MPSE, VES
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” (11) – PGA, DGA, WGA, SAG, ADG, ASC, CDG, ACE, MHG, MPSE, VES
“The Imitation Game” (10) – PGA, DGA, WGA, SAG, ADG, ASC, CDG, ACE, MPSE, VES
“Gone Girl” (8) – PGA, WGA, SAG, ADG, CDG, ACE, MHG, MPSE
“Guardians of the Galaxy” (8) – WGA, ADG, CDG, ACE, MHG, MPSE, VES, Annie
“American Sniper” (7) – PGA, DGA, WGA, ADG, CDG, ACE, MPSE
“Big Hero 6” (6) – PGA, ACE, CAS, MPSE, VES, Annie
“The Boxtrolls” (6) – PGA, ACE, CAS, MPSE, VES, Annie
“Boyhood” (6) – PGA, DGA, WGA, SAG, CDG, ACE
“Interstellar” (6) – ADG, CDG, MHG, CAS, MPSE, VES
“Into the Woods” (6) – SAG, ADG, CDG, ACE, MHG, MPSE
“The LEGO Movie” (6) – PGA, ACE, CAS, MPSE, VES, Annie
“Nightcrawler” (6) – PGA, WGA, SAG, ADG, ACE, MHG
“The Theory of Everything” (6) – PGA, SAG, ADG, CDG, MHG, MPSE
“Unbroken” (6) – SAG, ADG, ASC, CAS, MPSE, VES
“Foxcatcher” (5) – PGA, WGA, SAG, ADG, MHG
“How to Train Your Dragon 2” (5) – PGA, CAS, MPSE, VES, Annie
“Whiplash” (5) – PGA, WGA, SAG, ACE, MPSE
“The Book of Life” (4) – PGA, MPSE, VES, Annie
“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” (4) – ADG, MHG, MPSE, VES
“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” (4) – ADG, MPSE, VES, Annie
“The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” (4) – SAG, CDG, MHG, VES
“CITIZENFOUR” (3) – DGA, ACE, MPSE
“Finding Vivian Maier” (3) – DGA, WGA, ACE
“Get On Up” (3) – SAG, MHG, MPSE
“Inherent Vice” (3) – ADG, CDG, ACE
“Maleficent” (3) – CDG, MHG, VES
“Noah” (3) – MHG, VES, Annie
“Selma” (3) – CDG, MHG, MPSE
“Wild” (3) – SAG, WGA, CDG
“X-Men: Days of Future Past” (3) – SAG, VES, Annie
“Edge of Tomorrow” (2) – VES, Annie
“Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me” (2) – ACE, MPSE
“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1” (2) – CDG, MHG
“Penguins of Madagascar” (2) – CAS, Annie
“Rio 2” (2) – VES, Annie
“St. Vincent” (2) – SAG, MHG
“Still Alice” (2) – SAG, MPSE
“Transformers: Age of Extinction” (2) – VES, Annie
“Virunga” (2) – PGA, DGA
“The Amazing Spider-Man 2” (1) – Annie
“Annie” (1) – MPSE
“Cake” (1) – SAG
“Deepsea Challenge 3D” (1) – MPSE
“Divergent” (1) – VES
“The Fault in Our Stars” (1) – MPSE
“Fury” (1) – MPSE
“The Green Prince” (1) – PGA
“Human Capital” (1) – MPSE
“The Internet's Own Boy” (1) – WGA
“Jersey Boys” (1) – MPSE
“Jodorowsky's Dune” (1) – MPSE
“The Judge” (1) – SAG
“The Kill Team” (1) – DGA
“Last Days in Vietnam” (1) – WGA
“The Liberator” (1) – MPSE
“Life Itself” (1) – PGA
“Lucy” (1) – VES
“Mr. Peabody & Sherman” (1) – Annie
“Mr. Turner” (1) – ASC
“Merchants of Doubt” (1) – PGA
“The Overnighters” (1) – DGA
“Particle Fever” (1) – PGA
“The Raid 2” (1) – MPSE
“Red Army” (1) – WGA
“Roar” (1) – MPSE
“Song of the Sea” (1) – Annie
“The Tale of Princess Kaguya” (1) – Annie
“Under the Electric Sky” (1) – MPSE
“Uzumasa Limelight” (1) – MPSE
“Warsaw Uprising” (1) – MPSE
“Winter's Tale” (1) – MHG