MUMBAI: The 86th Academy Awards nominations were announced on the morning of 16 January in Beverly Hills, Calif. The nominations were led by the 3-D space odyssey Gravity and the con artist caper American Hustle, both with 10 nominations. The harrowing historical epic – 12 Years a Slave trailed closely with nine nominations.
The three are among the nine films nominated for Best Picture. The other nominees are Captain Phillips, ‘Dallas Buyers Club, Her, Nebraska, The Wolf of Wall Street and Philomena.
The best director nominees are David O. Russell for American Hustle, Alfonso Cuaron for Gravity, Alexander Payne for Nebraska, Steve McQueen for 12 Years a Slave, and Martin Scorsese for Paramount’s The Wolf of Wall Street.
The Best Actor nominees include Chiwetel Ejiofor for 12 Years a Slave, Bruce Dern for Nebraska, Leonardo DiCaprio for The Wolf of Wall Street, Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club and Christian Bale for American Hustle. The 77-year-old Dern is an Oscar nominee for the second time, 35 years after his nomination for Hal Ashby’s Coming Home.
The Best Actress nominees are Amy Adams for American Hustle, Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine, Sandra Bullock for Gravity, Judi Dench for Philomena and Meryl Streep for August: Osage County. With her nomination, Streep pads her record for most acting nominations. This is her 18th nod, including three wins, the last for 2011’s The Iron Lady.
Woody Allen scored his record 16th screenwriting nomination for Blue Jasmine. Also up for original screenplay is American Hustle, Dallas Buyers Club, Her and Nebraska. In the adapted screenplay category are Before Midnight, Captain Phillips, Philomena, 12 Years a Slave and The Wolf of Wall Street.
Pixar, usually a mainstay in the Best Animation category, wasn’t in the list this time. Monsters University, however, ruled the segment with Frozen, The Wind Rises, Despicable Me 2, The Croods and Ernest & Celestine.
The first original song finalist announced was the title song from a rookie film called Alone Yet Not Alone in the mix with U2, Pharrell Williams, Karen O and the traditional Disney entry.
