Oscars 2015 Nominations: The Whitest Oscars Yet?

The nominations for the 87th Academy Awards have been revealed and as expected ‘Birdman’, ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’, ‘The Imitation Game’ and ‘Boyhood’ are all in the mix.

Read the full list of Oscars 2015 nominations here.

However, the Academy has proved to be as idiosyncratic as ever, offering up its fair share of surprises.

The whitest Oscars ever?

Out of the twenty available acting nominations, not a single one has gone to an actor of colour. We don’t expect the Academy to honour black actors out of tokenism but when there are films like ‘Selma’ and ‘Belle’ in the mix; questions have to be asked.

David Oyelowo should certainly feel snubbed for his amazing portrayal of the civil rights movement leader Martin Luther King. However, ‘Selma’ only received two nods (Best Picture and Original Song) with no plaudits for its cast at all.

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Ava DuVernay could have been the first black female director to earn an Oscar nomination, but the Academy decided against it.

Everything is not awesome

Box-office busting smash ‘The LEGO Movie’ was inexplicably overlooked in the Animated Feature Film category, which found room to honour the relatively obscure ‘Boxtrolls’ and ‘The Tale of the Princess Kaguya’.

One nice surprise in that category was a nomination for Irish animation ‘Song of the Sea’, which debuted ay the London Film Festival last year but is yet to be released in the UK.

‘The LEGO Movie’ team can take some solace in the fact that the impossibly catchy ‘Everything Is Awesome’ is up for Best Original Song.

Aniston can’t have her ‘Cake’ AND eat it

‘Friends’ star Jennifer Aniston was expected to garner a Best Actress nod for ‘Cake’, but alas she was completely overlooked. Critics adored her dressed down performance as a chronic pain sufferer, but it wasn’t enough for the Academy.

It should open up doors for her to take on more dramatic serious roles though… as long as the casting directors don’t watch ‘Horrible Bosses 2’ first.

‘American Sniper’ takes aim

Clint Eastwood’s weighty war film hits UK cinemas this weekend, but it already seems to have found its target with Academy voters.

The Bradley Cooper-starring true story has emerged as a serious Oscar contender earning 6 nominations, including one for the ‘Hangover’ star who’s become the first actor to be nominated 3 years on the trot since Russell Crowe.

Unfortunately, Cooper’s last minute surge seems to have edged out Jake Gyllenhaal, whose incredible turn in ‘Nightcrawler’ looks destined to go unrewarded.

Mixed messages

‘Foxcatcher’ bagged 5 nominations in total, including two acting nods for Steve Carrell and Mark Ruffalo (no love for Channing Tatum?), and one for hair and makeup, but the biggest surprise was the lack of a Best Picture nom.

Bennett Miller is up for Directing which makes it the first film to receive a directing nomination but not Best Picture since ‘The Diving Bell and the Butterfly’ in 2008.

Conversely, Oscar darling Clint Eastwood missed out on a Directing nomination, but his film ‘American Sniper’ is in contention for ‘Best Picture’.

Are there any other major omissions in this year’s nominations? Let us know below.

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Image credits: Warner Bros./Pathe/eOne