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| FILE - This Dec. 3, 2013 file photo shows director David O. Russell at a special screening of "American Hustle"in Los Angeles. Russell was nominated for an Academy Award for best director on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2014, for the film. The 86th Academy Awards will be held on March 2. |
In a hydra-headed
Oscar race, "American Hustle," "12 Years a Slave" and "Gravity" all have
legitimate claims to favorite status. And that's a good thing.
Even
if a front-runner emerges from the much-nominated trio over the six
weeks leading up to the 86th Academy Awards on March 2, the credentials
of each film should be plenty to heighten nerves and add to the drama on
Oscar night.
"It's an extremely competitive
year," said David O. Russell, whose "American Hustle" landed 10 nods,
tied for most with "Gravity," in nominations announced Thursday from
Beverly Hills, Calif. "It could go any which way."
Steve
McQueen's "12 Years a Slave," an unflinching depiction of 19th century
American slavery, trailed close behind with nine nominations, including
nods for McQueen, lead actor Chiwetel Ejiofor and supporting players
Michael Fassbender and Lupita Nyong'o. Since its festival debut, it's
been seen by many as the movie to beat, a film bearing heavy historical
gravitas that the lighter "American Hustle" and the literally weightless
"Gravity" can't match.
But Russell's wild
Abscam comedy, thick in 1970s style, has ridden a wave of enthusiasm for
its manic performances. It's three in a row for Russell, too, who may
be due for bigger Oscar wins than his much-nominated films "Silver
Linings Playbook" and "The Fighter" managed. A year after "Silver
Linings Playbook" landed nominations in all four acting categories,
"Hustle" managed the same feat with Amy Adams, Christian Bale, Jennifer
Lawrence and Bradley Cooper all receiving nods.
Then
there's "Gravity," which, along with nominations for director Alfonso
Cuaron and lead actress Sandra Bullock, exerted its force with
nominations in all seven technical categories. With $670 million in
worldwide box-office, the 3-D space odyssey is easily the most popular
of the best-picture nominees, widely credited with reinvigorating the
spectacle of the big-screen experience.
The
three films will vie in the best picture category with "Captain
Phillips," "Dallas Buyers Club," "Her," "Nebraska," "The Wolf of Wall
Street" and "Philomena." If any of them poses a dark-horse threat, it's
Martin Scorsese's "The Wolf of Wall Street," a nearly three hour-long
portrait of hedonism and greed that some have said glorifies former
trader Jordan Belfort.
"The Wolf of Wall
Street" landed five big nominations, including best director (Scorsese,
his eighth for directing), best actor (Leonardo DiCaprio), best
supporting actor (Jonah Hill), and best adapted screenplay (Terence
Winter). DiCaprio, now a four-time nominee, said he felt vindicated.
"To
be recognized like this and to see that there were enough people out
there who said, `Look, we get what this film is' - not what it's trying
to say, but what it's trying to reflect," said DiCaprio. "Nobody wants
to be misunderstood."
The nominations seemed
to favor new blood over esteemed veterans. In an especially strong best
actor race, Tom Hanks ("Captain Phillips") and Robert Redford ("All Is
Lost") were surprisingly left out. Emma Thompson was omitted from best
actress, and her film, Disney's making-of "Mary Poppins" tale "Saving
Mr. Banks," was overlooked in the best picture category.
The
best actor category is led by first-time nominee Matthew McConaughey,
whose Texas HIV drama "Dallas Buyers Club" earned six nominations.
"I'm
at home in Malibu, having a cup of tea, catching the sunrise. My
newborn's walking around," said McConaughey, whose nod capped a
remarkable reinvention by the actor after sliding into mediocrity. "What
a great alarm clock and news to wake up to this morning."
Others
enjoying their first nod were Ejiofor, McQueen, Fassbender, Barkhad
Abdi (a limo driver before being cast as a Somali pirate in "Captain
Phillips"), 84-year-old June Squibb ("Nebraska") and Jared Leto, who had
devoted himself to music before returning to play a transsexual in
"Dallas Buyers Club."
Said Leto: "Yesterday I was doing jury duty, today I woke up with an Academy Award nomination. Only in America."
Even
77-year-old Bruce Dern, nominated for best actor for his performance as
a gruff, taciturn wandering Montana man in "Nebraska," has an uncommon
youthful vigor. Few have taken more pleasure in awards season than Dern
(nominated 35 years ago for Hal Ashby's "Coming Home"), revitalized by a
film he's happily viewed, he estimates, "approaching the upper 30s."
"I
can't see it enough to realize how lucky we all were with the
collaboration that went on on this particular movie," said Dern. "I feel
somehow that the industry has suddenly today put their arms around our
little movie."
The black-and-white "Nebraska" earned six nominations, including best director for Alexander Payne.
One
of the day's biggest winners was the 27-year-old producer Megan
Ellison, the daughter of billionaire Larry Ellison. Her Annapurna
Pictures produced two of the best-picture nominees ("American Hustle"
and "Her") as well as the Wong Kar-Wai martial arts drama "The
Grandmaster." She is the first woman and only the fourth person to
receive two best picture nods in the same year. She celebrated by
tweeting "17!" - the total nominations her films received.
"Her,"
Spike Jonze's futurist romance, scored five nominations Thursday,
including best original screenplay for Jonze. He actually earned three
nods in all, including best song, having co-written "The Moon Song" with
Karen O.
There were plenty of familiar faces,
though, too. Meryl Streep padded her acting record with her 18th
nomination, best actress for her truth-telling, pill-popping matriarch
in "August: Osage County." Streep, Adams and Bullock are joined by Cate
Blanchett (her sixth nom) for "Blue Jasmine" and Judi Dench (her
seventh) for "Philomena."
Along with Nyong'o,
Squibb and Lawrence, the best supporting actress nominees were Julia
Roberts ("August: Osage County") and Sally Hawkins ("Blue Jasmine").
Woody
Allen scored his record 16th screenwriting nomination for "Blue
Jasmine." Also up for original screenplay are "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."
Joel and
Ethan Coen's folk tale "Inside Llewyn Davis," one of the most
critically acclaimed films of the year, garnered only nominations for
cinematography and sound mixing. And while 2013 was trumpeted as one of
the best years for African-American cinema, movies like "Lee Daniels'
The Butler" and "Fruitvale Station" were shut out.
Though
historically the most-nominated films have taken home best picture,
that's not recently been the case. In six of the last 10 years, the
most-nominated film hasn't triumphed in the end, including last year
when Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln," with 12 nominations, was beaten by
Ben Affleck's "Argo."
This year's Oscar
telecast on ABC, with Ellen DeGeneres hosting for the second time, has
particular pressure on it to live up to the increasingly popular Golden
Globes, led by hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. The Academy Awards have
struggled to freshen up its more prestigious brand.
But
comebacks are always possible. The most notorious flop of 2013, "The
Lone Ranger," managed to land two nominations, for visual effects and
makeup and hairstyle.
