Here we go again. Take a deep breath, I tell myself. It's just the Oscars (taking place Feb. 22).
Yes, I reply, but there were just so many terrible decisions! How can I not be upset? To elaborate, starting with a few reasons to be happy about the nominations announced Thursday morning:
Best
Laura Dern squeezes into the Best Supporting Actress category for "Wild." She's wonderful in the movie. Fantastic call by the Academy.
Wes Anderson ("The Grand Budapest Hotel") earns deserved nominations for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. Said it before, will say it again: Best movie of the year.
"Selma" gets nominated for Best Picture, despite the controversy. It's such a powerful, relevant movie, and the Best Pic field would have been so much worse without it.
Marion Cotillard, excellent in "Two Days, One Night," edges out presumed nominee Jennifer Aniston ("Cake") for the fifth Best Actress slot. As I, like most critics, haven't seen "Cake," I can only assume this was the right choice.
"Whiplash," a "small" movie that opened the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, earns a Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay nod for not-quite-30-year-old Damien Chazelle (along with the guaranteed Best Supporting Actor nod for J.K. Simmons).
Bradley Cooper is really good in "American Sniper," and while I'm sorry about many people not included in the Best Actor category, I also can't complain about recognizing Cooper. It was a very crowded field this year; many were deserving of attention.
While there was no doubt, I'm happy that nomination locks like Eddie Redmayne ("The Theory of Everything"), Emma Stone ("Birdman"), Edward Norton ("Birdman") and Mark Ruffalo ("Foxcatcher") actually happened.
Worst
Steve Carell, the weakest link in "Foxcatcher," gets in, while so many more deserving performances-Jake Gyllenhaal in "Nightcrawler"; Ralph Fiennes in "The Grand Budapest Hotel"; David Oyelowo in "Selma"; Miles Teller in "Whiplash"-don't. Terrible, terrible choice.
Likewise, Bennett Miller ("Foxcatcher") steals the Best Director nod from Ava DuVernay ("Selma"), who would have been the first woman of color to earn a nomination in that category. Hard to understand how "Foxcatcher" gets a best Director nod and not Best Picture while the opposite happens to "Selma."
Meryl Streep gets nominated for Best Meryl Streep-I mean, Best Supporting Actress-for "Into the Woods." An OK performance in a bad movie. Totally unjustified as Jessica Chastain ("A Most Violent Year," my No. 2 movie of 2014, which got squat) was left out.
"Life Itself," Steve James' great documentary about late, legendary film critic Roger Ebert, doesn't get the nod for Best Documentary Feature. One of many snubs about which I'll be shaking my head for days.
Robert Duvall makes it into the Best Supporting Actor category for "The Judge," which is almost as lousy as "Into the Woods." This should have gone to Josh Brolin for "Inherent Vice."
While I don't love "Force Majeure" as much as most, it's pretty good, and it's surprising to see it left out of the Best Foreign Language Film. Meanwhile, vastly overrated, 2-star movies ("Ida" and "Leviathan") earn their expected nods.
How is "The Lego Movie" not up for Best Animated Feature? Careful, or someone may change the Oscar-nominated song "Everything is Awesome" to "Everything is Ridiculous."
Watch Matt review the week's big new movies Fridays at 11:30 a.m. on NBC.
mpais@tribune.com
Want more? Discuss this article and others on RedEye's Facebook page.