30 Random Thoughts On the 2014 Oscar Nominations

Well, it's my favorite day of the year, and no matter what happens, there's always a series of presents underneath your tree (and occasionally some things you really didn't want from Santa).  Here are my random thirty thoughts on this year's Oscar nominations, announced this morning (in no particular order):

1. Cheryl Boone Isaacs has a thing for hot guys named Chris.  First Hemsworth, then Pine-is Pratt next year?

2. Guardians of the Galaxy was part of what was a major end to the Marvel feud, as we had three Marvel movies nominated in Visual Effects, and none of them starred Robert Downey, Jr.

3. The Judge is easily the worst nominated film of the year (at least that I've seen).

4. Bradley Cooper's back-to-back-to-back nominations mean that he's the first person since Renee Zellweger to pull off an Oscar turkey (bowling term!).  Also, didn't they date at some point?

5. It feels weird that American Sniper did so well but somehow Clint Eastwood fell to Bennett Miller.  Was the director's branch too worried Dirty Harry would actually end up winning again?

6. Bennett Miller makes Foxcatcher the first film to be nominated for Directing but not Best Picture since they expanded the list.

7. Anyone think that 2014 was a lesser film year than 2012 or 2013, since that's what it looks like with only eight films in the Best Picture lineup.

8. Someone will write an article about what we learned from Nightcrawler, which almost went home empty-handed after dominating the guilds and precursors.

9. I feel really bad for Jennifer Aniston, as this felt like her only shot at the trophy.  Julianne Moore has to be feeling pretty good, though, as her chief competition didn't even make the cut.

10. With The Lego Movie missing in Animated Feature (my choice for most shocking upset of the morning), the dreadful How to Train Your Dragon 2 seems certain to take the trophy.

11. I hate that Marion Cotillard, one of my favorite actors, got nominated for a film that has absolutely no release date between the coasts still.

12. Anyone think that, despite its nomination in two categories, Ida could be vulnerable to Globe winner Leviathan?

13. Diane Warren, back in the game!

14. I'm going to discuss it more tomorrow in my rant, but Selma clearly should have been released earlier or sent screeners to everyone.  That was a film that needed to build.

15. The same goes for Cake.

16. A Most Violent Year, Fury, Godzilla, and Big Eyes feel like the biggest films to not get nominated anywhere.

17. Peter Jackson's six-film Lord of the Rings set finishes it off in the same place the Star Wars trilogy did-with one random nomination (interestingly they both landed in categories they'd had trouble with before-Star Wars with Makeup, which had never been cited for previously, and The Hobbit with Sound Editing, which it famously wasn't even nominated for in 2003, which would have gotten it the Academy record if it had won).

18. Anyone sort of get the feeling that Meryl is about to start a drought at the Oscars?

19. Despite many informed pundits thinking otherwise, Interstellar got in at Sound Mixing.

20. I have 14 OVP films left to go with this announcement, though Selma, American Sniper, and Inherent Vice are all coming quickly (and I already saw The Hobbit).  On the plus side, I don't have to see Exodus or Transformers 4 now!

21. So is Grand Budapest Hotel a legitimate threat to win Best Picture?  The Wes Anderson pic and Birdman are the nomination frontrunners, but I cannot fathom either actually beating The Imitation Game or Boyhood-am I wrong?

22. Also, am I wrong for thinking Selma could still come out of nowhere to win Best Picture?  Original Song seems to be a certainty.

23. Isn't it a bit strange that Mike Leigh didn't get nominated for writing when Mr. Turner kind of cleaned house?

24. Had we still been in the ten-wide fields, I think that Foxcatcher and Nightcrawler would have been in.  Had we still been in five-wide, my thinking is that Selma, The Theory of Everything, and Whiplash would be cut.

25. Bradley Cooper, Clint Eastwood, and Oprah Winfrey are the actors nominated for Best Picture.

26. Rory Kennedy just became the first member of the Kennedy clan to get an Oscar nomination.  Somewhere Arnold Schwarzenegger is calling his agent.

27. Wim Wenders, cinematic legend, gets his third Oscar nomination as he continues his quest for a win.

28. Feast, that short film about the dog you saw before Big Hero 6, got an Oscar nomination.

29. Can Colleen Atwood actually win an Oscar in a year where Sandy Powell isn't nominated, or will Milena Canonero win her fourth Oscar (they're going to have to go with Grand Budapest somewhere)?

30. Laura Dern has officially tied her dad and is one short of her mom in terms of the Oscars.

And those are my thoughts this lovely Thursday morning-what about yours?  What were you shocked/upset/thrilled by this Oscar nomination morning?