Earlier today, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominations for this year’s Oscars ceremony. It’s a solid if unsurprising list: Birdman and Boyhood earned big nods, and Jake Gyllenhaal is sadly nowhere in sight. For a full list of nominees that you’ll have to start learning the names of, check out the Washington Post’s list.
(ADDENDUM: One of our staff members points out that this is the whitest and most male Oscar ceremony in decades. No women are nominated in the major awards outside of the actress categories; Iñárritu is the only person of color in those categories. Somewhat a letdown considering the diversity among directors and writers this year.)
Most of the nominated films were released in the last few months, as tends to happen for award-seeking movies, so very few are available on DVD yet. We have a few in process (Boyhood, Gone Girl, and Guardians of the Galaxy are on their way…), but a handful of the foreign and documentary films have already seen home video release. And to be honest, those are the ones you probably needed to watch anyway.
There’ll probably be repertoire theaters replaying some of the nominees in the coming weeks, but if you find yourself in the library, consider watching these award contenders in advance of the big ceremony.
The Grand Budapest Hotel – HU DVD 11444
Nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Production Design
The Lego Movie – HU DVD 11466
Nominated for Best Original Song
Ida – HU DVD 11538
Nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Foreign Language Film
Finding Vivian Maier – HU DVD 11547
Nominated for Best Documentary Feature
Maleficent – HU DVD 11584
Nominated for Best Costume Design