The Academy Award nominations were announced today!
And I saw two movies this week!  
So it’s time for a little movie chat!  

Nominated for BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR:

• American Hustle – I saw this the Monday before Christmas instead of seeing Anchorman 2, which everyone went to, but I’d already seen.  I’m glad I saw this. I thought that the performances by the four leads were incredible.  Christian Bale’s hair should get an award all by itself!  I’d like to see this one again!
• Captain Phillips – This was an incredible movie.  It’s a shame that Tom Hanks wasn’t nominated, because his performance was incredible – especially at the end.  It was tense and frightening and even though I knew the outcome, it was an amazing ending.  Probably my favorite of the movies on this list that I have seen.  
• Dallas Buyers Club – Incredible performances (wow, I keep saying that!) by the two leads, discouraging story about the FDA and pharmaceutical companies and their snail pace progress in approving drugs.
• Gravity – Another tense movie!  Saw it in 3D and the visuals were spectacular, the storyline was so nerve-wracking, and the performances were very good.
• Her – Saw this today!  I was super sleepy and we were the only people in the theatre for the first matinee. My eyes closed a few times (gasp!) and we were able to talk through the movie, because of having the theatre to ourselves.  It was thought-provoking and I thought Joaquin gave a great performance, again with no nomination.  The depiction of the not-so-distant-future was fascinating and disturbing.
• Nebraska – Didn’t see this one  – yet. 🙂
• Philomena – Really liked this little gem of a movie.  Love British movies, love Judi Dench, love Steve Coogan, love the premise.  Not a happy story, but a real-life story.  No Hollywood ending here.
• 12 Years a Slave – Haven’t seen this one – yet!
• The Wolf of Wall Street – Haven’t seen this one yet, either!

The other movie I saw this week was Inside Llewyn Davis – the story of a folk singer down on his luck.  It’s a week-in-the-life, and comes full circle.  It is another non-Hollywood ending, I loved the music and the 1961 era.  It was anticipated to be a big nominee but it wasn’t nominated for anything big.  The main man had quite a beard!

Performance by an ACTOR in a Leading Role

• Christian Bale, AMERICAN HUSTLE
• Bruce Dern, NEBRASKA
• Leonardo Dicaprio, THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
• Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 YEARS A SLAVE
• Matthew McConaughey, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB

Performance by an ACTOR in a Supporting Role

• Barkhad Abdi, CAPTAIN PHILLIPS
• Bradley Cooper, AMERICAN HUSTLE
• Michael Fassbender, 12 YEARS A SLAVE
• Jonah Hill, THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
• Jared Leto, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB

I haven’t seen all of the movies that the men are nominated for, but I did think that Christian Bale and Matthew McConaughey were both very incredible in their roles – and both had major physical transformations for their roles.  I thought that Jared Leto was beautiful as Rayon in the Dallas Buyers Club, as well.  

Performance by an ACTRESS in a Leading Role

• Amy Adams, AMERICAN HUSTLE
• Cate Blanchett, BLUE JASMINE
• Sandra Bullock, GRAVITY
• Judi Dench, PHILOMENA
• Meryl Streep, AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY

Performance by an ACTRESS in a Supporting Role

• Sally Hawkins, BLUE JASMINE
• Jennifer Lawrence, AMERICAN HUSTLE
• Lupita Nyong’o, 12 YEARS A SLAVE
• Julia Roberts, AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY
• June Squibb, NEBRASKA

This is tough.  I’ve seen four of the roles nominated in the leading actress category and would have a very difficult time picking one.  Cate Blanchett’s Jasmine in Blue Jasmine is most memorable – she plays someone who is chemically dependent and mentally ill very well.  It was quite the role in quite the movie.  

So I have some movies to see if I want to see them all before March 2 –  how about you?  Have you seen many of the nominated films or roles?  Who will you pick?  What are your favorites?