Best of 2014: The Nominees

Celebrating the best movies, performances, and contributions of the year in this manner always feels a bit silly to me.  Unlike other sites and blogs, there's no staff here at Such Moving Pictures.  It's just me.  Which is why it seems pointless to post nominees instead of just listing my personal preferences across a slew of categories.  (That's why, last year, I ended up ranking each category.  But I didn't really like doing it that way, either.)

Nonetheless, I like writing up a list of nominees because it gives me the chance to celebrate more.  And that's a good thing to do, because filmmakers around the world gave us lots to celebrate in 2014.

I didn't bother with Best Picture and Best Documentary, as you can look at the lists I've posted for those categories here and here.

Best Director
Dietrich Bruggeman, Stations of the Cross
Xavier Dolan, Mommy
David Fincher, Gone Girl
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Miroslav Slaboshpitsky, The Tribe

Best Debut Director
Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler
Jennifer Kent, The Babadook
Daniel Ribeiro, The Way He Looks
Gillian Robespierre, Obvious Child
Miroslav Slaboshpitsky, The Tribe

Best Actor
Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Brendan Gleeson, Calvary
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
Tom Hardy, Locke
Ghilherme Lobo, The Way He Looks

Best Actress
Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
Anne Dorval, Mommy
Lisa Loven Kongsli, Force Majeure
Jenny Slate, Obvious Child
Lea van Acken, Stations of the Cross

Best Supporting Actor
Michael Fassbender, Frank
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Jonny Weston, Kelly & Cal

Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Rose Byrne, Neighbors
Julianne Moore, Maps to the Stars
Elisabeth Moss, Listen Up Philip
Rene Russo, Nightcrawler

Best Ensemble
Boyhood
A Field in England
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy
Pride

Best Original Screenplay
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Stephen Beresford, Pride
Anna and Dietrich Bruggemann, Stations of the Cross
Phil Lord and Chris Miller, The LEGO Movie
John Michael McDonagh, Calvary

Best Adapted Screenplay
Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl
Javier Gullon, Enemy
Roman Polanski and David Ives, Venus in Fur
Gillian Robespierre, Obvious Child
Michael Winterbottom, The Trip to Italy

Best Editing
Sandra Adair, Boyhood
Kirk Baxter, Gone Girl
Tom Cross, Whiplash
James Herbert and Laura Jennings, Edge of Tomorrow
Amy Jump and Ben Wheatley, A Field in England

Best Cinematography
Jeff Cronenweth, Gone Girl
Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman
Dick Pope, Mr. Turner
Robert D. Yeoman, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Bradford Young, Selma

Best Original Score
Alexandre Desplat, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Mica Levi, Under the Skin
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Gone Girl
Antonio Sanchez, Birdman
Hans Zimmer, Interstellar

Best Original Song
"Everything is Awesome," The LEGO Movie
"Hate the Sport," We Are the Best!
"Jigoku De Naze Warui," Why Don't You Play in Hell?
"Lost Stars," Begin Again
"Split the Difference," Boyhood

Best Production Design
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy
Interstellar
Magic in the Moonlight
The Maze Runner

Best Costume Design
Colleen Atwood, Into the Woods
Milena Canonero, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Emma Fryer, A Field in England
Sonia Grande, Magic in the Moonlight
Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive, Maleficent

Best Makeup
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy
Maleficent
The Theory of Everything
X-Men: Days of Future Past

Best Visual Effects
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Edge of Tomorrow
Godzilla
Guardians of the Galaxy
Interstellar

Best Foreign Film
Mommy
The Raid 2
Stations of the Cross
The Tale of Princess Kaguya
The Tribe

Best Animated Feature
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
The LEGO Movie
The Tale of Princess Kaguya
Wrinkles

Best Voice Performance
Will Arnett, The LEGO Movie
Bradley Cooper, Guardians of the Galaxy
Ben Kingsley, The Boxtrolls
Chris Pratt, The LEGO Movie
Scott Adsit, Big Hero 6

Funniest Movie
22 Jump Street
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy
The LEGO Movie
The Trip to Italy

Funniest Performance
Rob Brydon, The Trip to Italy
Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Chris Pratt, Guardians of the Galaxy
Jenny Slate, Obvious Child
Channing Tatum, 22 Jump Street

Biggest Tearjerker
Boyhood
The Case Against 8
The Fault in Our Stars
Keep On Keepin' On
Pride