Dallas Buyers Club — which was a cover story for us, because it deals with a momentous time in the history of AIDS in Dallas and the U.S. — scored big at the Oscar nominations announcement this morning, taking six nominations including best picture, best actor Matthew McConaughey and best supporting actor Jared Leto. It is the apparent frontrunner in the acting categories, has an uphill battle for best picture, as Gravity and American Hustle won 10 nominations apiece, and 12 Years a Slave has nine.
McConaughey has momentum, but he’s hardly a lock, with best actor among the most competitive categories in recent years. The four other nominees — Hustle‘s Christian Bale, Slave‘s Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nebraska‘s Bruce Dern and The Wolf of Wall Street‘s Leonardo DiCaprio — all turning in career-best performances. That left no room for Robert Redford, Idris Elba, Tom Hanks and many other excellent actors in 2013.
The best actress list was more predictable, with the four sure-things — Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine, Sandra Bullock in Gravity, Judi Dench in Philomena and Meryl Streep in August: Osage County — being joined by wild card Amy Adams of American Hustle. This is Adams’ first leading actress nomination but her fifth over all; she has never won and is up against four previous winners.
The five best director nominees all led best picture nominees (Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity; Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave, David O. Russell, Hustle; Martin Scorsese, The Wolf of Wall Street; Alexander Payne, Nebraska), which leaves four best picture nominees (Dallas Buyers Club, Capt. Phillips, Her and Philomena) pretty much in the lurch — it’s rare that a film without a director nomination wins best pic. However, the last time it happened was just last year, with Argo, so there’s hope.
There were some notable snubs other than in the best actor category. The documentary God Loves Uganda by gay filmmaker Roger Ross Williams was overlooked, as was the Cannes favorite, the lesbian romance Blue is the Warmest Color.
All the nominees are after the jump.
Best picture: 12 Years a Slave; Gravity; American Hustle; The Wolf of Wall Street; Nebraska; Her; Philomena; Dallas Buyers Club; Capt. Phillips.
Best director: 12 Years a Slave; Gravity; American Hustle; The Wolf of Wall Street; Nebraska.
Best actor: Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club; Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave; Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street; Bruce Dern, Nebraska; Christian Bale, American Hustle.
Best actress: Amy Adams, American Hustle; Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine; Sandra Bullock, Gravity; Judi Dench, Philomena; Meryl Streep, August: Osage County.
Best supporting actor: Barkhad Abdi, Capt. Phillips; Bradley Cooper, American Hustle; Jonah Hill, The Wolf of Wall Street; Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave; Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club.
Best supporting actress: Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave; June Squibb, Nebraska; Julia Roberts, August: Osage County; Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine; Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle.
Best original screenplay: American Hustle; Her; Blue Jasmine; Nebraska; Dallas Buyers Club.
Best adapted screenplay: Before Midnight; Capt. Phillips; 12 Years a Slave; The Wolf of Wall Street; Philomena.
Best cinematography: Gravity; Inside Llewyn Davis; Nebraska; Prisoners; The Grandmaster.
Best film editing: 12 Years a Slave; American Hustle; Gravity; Capt. Phillips; Dallas Buyers Club.
Best production design: 12 Years a Slave; American Hustle; Gravity; The Great Gatsby; Her.
Best costume design: 12 Years a Slave; American Hustle; The Grandmaster; The Invisible Woman; The Great Gatsby.
Best makeup/hairstyling: Dallas Buyers Club; The Lone Ranger; Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa.
Best score: The Book Thief; Gravity; Her; Saving Mr. Banks; Philomena.
Best song: “Happy,” Despicable Me 2; “Let It Go,” Frozen; “Ordinary Love,” Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom; “Alone Yet Not Alone,” Alone Yet Not Alone; “The Moon Song,” Her.
Best sound mixing: Gravity: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug; Capt. Phillips; Lone Survivor; Inside Llewyn Davis.
Best sound editing: Gravity: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug; Capt. Phillips; Lone Survivor; All Is Lost.
Best visual effects: Gravity: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug; Iron Man 3; Star Trek: Into Darkness; The Lone Ranger.
Best foreign language film: The Hunt; The Broken Circle Breakdown; The Missing Picture; The Great Beauty; Omar.
Best animated feature: The Croods; Despicable Me 2; Frozen; The Wind Rises; Ernest & Celestine.
Best documentary feature: The Act of Killing; 20 Feet from Stardom; Cutie and the Boxer; Dirty Wars; The Square.
Best live action short: Aquei No Era Yo; Just Before Losing Everything; Hellum; Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?; The Voorman Problem.
Best animated short: Ferai; Get a Horse!; Mr. Hublot; Poseessions; Room on the Broom.
Best documentary short: Cavedigger; Facing Fear; Karama Has No Walls; The Lady in No. 6; Prison Terminal: The last Days of Pvt. Jack Hall.
