Let's Meet the Nominees - 2015 Oscars (Part 1)

Every year, the Academy changes the lives of several actors... bestowing upon them, a coveted Oscar nomination. This year the Oscar newbies are:

Felicity Jones - Best Actress Nominee

"The Theory of Everything"

Rosamund Pike - Best Actress Nominee

"Gone Girl"

Eddie Redmayne - Best Actor Nominee

"The Theory of Everything"

Michael Keaton - Best Actor Nominee

"Birdman"

Benedict Cumberbatch - Best Actor Nominee

"The Imitation Game"

Steve Carell - Best Actor Nominee

"Foxcatcher"

Patricia Arquette - Best Supporting Actress Nominee

"Boyhood"

Emma Stone - Best Supporting Actress Nominee

"Birdman"

JK Simmons - Best Supporting Actor Nominee

"Whiplash"

Brit of the Week

Felicity Jones (Oct. 17, 1983) was born in Birmingham, England to a journalist father and a mother in advertising. She attended Kings Norton Girls School, followed by King Edward VI Handsworth School, and finally Wadham College, Oxford. She soon pursued acting, landing a recurring role on "The Worst Witch". She then appeared in "Weirdsister College", "The Archers", "Brideshead Revisited", and "Cemetery Junction", all before landed the role of 'Anna' in 2011's "Like Crazy". She garnered Best Breakthrough Awards from the the Sundance Film Festival, the Gotham Awards, and the National Board of Review. Next up: "Cheerful Weather for the Wedding (with Elizabeth McGovern and Luke Treadway) and "Hysteria" (with Hugh Dancy, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Rupert Everett).

NBR Winners (2011 films)

Best Film: Hugo

Best Director: Martin Scorsese, Hugo

Best Actor: George Clooney, The Descendants

Best Actress: Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin

Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Best Supporting Actress: Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

Best Original Screenplay: Will Reiser, 50/50

Best Adapted Screenplay: Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash, The Descendants

Best Animated Feature: Rango

Breakthrough Performance: Felicity Jones, Like Crazy

Breakthrough Performance: Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Debut Director: J.C. Chandor, Margin Call

Best Ensemble: The Help

Spotlight Award: Michael Fassbender (A Dangerous Method, Jane Eyre, Shame, X-Men: First Class)

NBR Freedom of Expression: Crime After Crime

NBR Freedom of Expression: Pariah

Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation

Best Documentary: Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory

Special Achievement in Filmmaking: The Harry Potter Franchise - A Distinguished Translation from Book to Film

Top Films
(in alphabetical order):

"The Artist"
"The Descendants"
"Drive"
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
"The Ides of March"
"J. Edgar"
"Tree of Life"
"War Horse"

Top 5 Foreign Language Films
(In Alphabetical Order):

"13 Assassins"
"Elite Squad: The Enemy Within"
"Footnote"
"Le Havre"
"Point Blank"

Top 5 Documentaries
(In Alphabetical Order):

"Born to be Wild"
"Buck"
"George Harrison: Living in the Material World"
"Project Nim"
"Senna"

Top 10 Independent Films
(In Alphabetical Order):

"50/50"
"Another Earth"
"Beginners"
"A Better Life"
"Cedar Rapids"
"Margin Call"
"Shame"
"Take Shelter"
"We Need To Talk About Kevin"
"Win Win"

Gotham Awards (2011 films)

BEST FEATURE (tie)

**"Beginners"**

**"The Tree of Life**

"The Descendants"


"Meek’s Cutoff"

"Take Shelter"


BEST DOCUMENTARY



**"Better This World"**

“Bill Cunningham New York"

"Hell and Back Again”

"The Interrupters"


"The Woodmans"

BEST ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE

**"Beginners" - Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Mélanie Laurent, Goran Visnjic, Kai Lennox, Mary Page Keller, Keegan Boos**

"The Descendants" - George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Beau Bridges, Robert Forster, Judy Greer, Matthew Lillard, Nick Krause, Amara Miller, Mary Birdsong, Rob Huebel

"Margin Call" - Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci, Aasif Mandvi

"Martha Marcy May Marlene" - Elizabeth Olsen, Christopher Abbott, Brady Corbet, Hugh Dancy, Maria Dizzia, Julia Garner, John Hawkes, Louisa Krause, Sarah Paulson

"Take Shelter" - Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, Tova Stewart, Shea Whigham, Katy Mixon, Kathy Baker, Ray McKinnon, Lisagay Hamilton, Robert Longstreet

BREAKTHROUGH DIRECTOR

Mike Cahill, "Another Earth"

Sean Durkin, "Martha Marcy May Marlene"

Vera Farmiga, "Higher Ground"

Evan Glodell, "Bellflower"

**Dee Rees, "Pariah"**

BREAKTHROUGH ACTOR

Felicity Jones, "Like Crazy"

Elizabeth Olsen, "Martha Marcy May Marlene"

Harmony Santana, "Gun Hill Road"

Shailene Woodley, "The Descendants"

Jacob Wysocki, "Terri"

BEST FILM NOT PLAYING AT A THEATER NEAR YOU

"Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same"

"Green"

"The Redemption of General Butt Naked"

**"Scenes of a Crime"**

"Without"

The inaugural euphoria Calvin Klein Spotlight on Women Filmmakers ‘Live the Dream’ grant,($25,000 cash award for an alumnus of IFP’s Independent Filmmaker Labs)

Jenny Deller, director, FUTURE WEATHER

**Lucy Mulloy, director, UNA NOCHE**

Rola Nashef, director, DETROIT UNLEADED