Best Actress: Jennifer Aniston, "Cake"(01 of29)
Open Image ModalSNUBBED: How volatile is awards season? In September, Jennifer Aniston was barely considered a legitimate contender after "Cake" made its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival. By December, Aniston became a full-fledged favorite in the category, a possible upstart who could even unseat presumed winner Julianne Moore. Today, she's snubbed. Aniston was visible throughout the last two months, but this may have come down to the fact that not a lot of people actually saw "Cake." If they did, Aniston would have been a nominee. She's great in the movie. (credit:Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Best Director: Ava DuVernay, "Selma"(02 of29)
Open Image ModalSNUBBED: After "Selma" premiered in November, Ava DuVernay rose to the top of this category in the eyes of many pundits. Unfortunately, pundits don't vote for Oscars. DuVernay would have been the first black woman ever nominated for Best Director, but instead of taking victory laps over the last month, she was forced to battle back claims of historical inaccuracy. DuVernay's snub at this week's Directors Guild nominations felt like her campaign's last gasp. (credit:Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Best Picture: "Gone Girl"(03 of29)
Open Image ModalBest Actor: David Oyelowo, "Selma"(04 of29)
Open Image ModalSNUBBED: David Oyelowo plays Martin Luther King Jr. in "Selma," a performance that many have cited as the film's highlight. But a late start to awards season and the presence of too many other choices kept Oyelowo out of the Best Actor race. Future contenders, take note: Maybe come out in November instead of December. (credit:Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
Best Actor: Jake Gyllenhaal, "Nightcrawler"(05 of29)
Open Image ModalSNUBBED: Jake Gyllenhaal became one of awards seasons strongest -- and most visible -- contenders throughout the last two months, yet he was snubbed on Thursday in the Best Actor category. It comes as a shock, as Gyllenhaal previously grabbed nominations from the Screen Actors Guild, Golden Globes and BAFTA Awards. (credit:Scott Roth/Invision/AP)
Best Director: Clint Eastwood, "American Sniper"(06 of29)
Open Image ModalSNUBBED: After scoring a nomination from the Directors Guild on Tuesday, it felt like Eastwood's momentum in this race was unstoppable. On Thursday, however, it stopped. Eastwood would have been the oldest Best Director nominee in history had he been able to complete a stunning late-season push for awards glory. (credit:Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Best Director: Angelina Jolie, "Unbroken"(07 of29)
Open Image ModalSNUBBED: Recent history suggests the directors branch of the Academy doesn't take kindly to actors turned directors (just ask Ben Affleck). And while Angelina Jolie came into awards season as one of the favorites here, support for "Unbroken" never materialized. One reason why is Jolie the filmmaker: She wasn't able to lasso Louis Zamperini's incredible true story into a compelling narrative. (credit:Vince Bucci/Invision/AP)
Best Animated Feature: "The LEGO Movie"(08 of29)
Open Image ModalSNUBBED: After "Everything Is Awesome" was a surprise inclusion in the Best Original Song category, it seemed like "The LEGO Movie" would sail through to a nomination for Best Animated Feature. It didn't, despite being one of the year's best reviewed movies, animated or not. Everything is not awesome. (credit:Warner Bros.)
Best Director: Damien Chazelle, "Whiplash"(09 of29)
Open Image ModalSNUBBED: Damien Chazelle spent an actual year in the awards conversation, so the absence of his name in this category is a shock. Fortunately, Chazelle is still an Oscar nominee: his "Whiplash" script was nominated in the Adapted Screenplay category. (credit:Scott Roth/Invision/AP)
Best Picture: "Nightcrawler"(10 of29)
Open Image ModalSNUBBED: If "Nightcrawler" had earned a Best Picture nomination it would have counted as one of this year's big surprises, but that doesn't preclude it from ranking among the day's snubs. In addition to sparkling reviews, Dan Gilroy's debut feature rated very highly within the industry: "Nightcrawler" grabbed nods from the Producers Guild, Writers Guild and Art Directors Guild, while star Jake Gyllenhaal received nominations from the Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA Awards. That kind of support usually translates into a Best Picture nomination. In this case, it didn't. Maybe "Nightcrawler" was just too weird (or, cynically, too good) for Academy tastes. (credit:Open Road)
Best Director: David Fincher, "Gone Girl"(11 of29)
Open Image ModalSNUBBED: Fincher was going for his third Oscar nomination in six years for "Gone Girl," but the Academy never warmed to his icy cold black comedy. Even Gillian Flynn, who turned her best-selling novel into one of the year's best scripts, was left out of Best Adapted Screenplay category. (credit:Joel Ryan/Invision/AP)
Best Picture: "Foxcatcher"(12 of29)
Open Image ModalSNUBBED: Since its debut at the Cannes Film Festival last May, "Foxcatcher" has stood out as a major Best Picture contender. And it scored four big nominations on Thursday: Best Director for Bennett Miller, Best Actor for Steve Carell, Best Supporting Actor for Mark Ruffalo and Best Original Screenplay. Yet its Best Picture nomination never materialized. What happened? (credit:Sony Pictures Classics)
Best Picture: "Unbroken"(13 of29)
Open Image ModalSNUBBED: Thanks to an impressive list of collaborators -- cinematographer Roger Deakins, co-writers Joel and Ethan Coen, among many others -- Angelina Jolie's World War II drama came into awards season with the expectation that it would be a front-runner. It wasn't, and now it's done. The writing was on the wall for a while -- even the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a group notorious for courting favor with major stars, snubbed Jolie's film at the Golden Globes -- but Jolie shouldn't feel too bad: "By the Sea," which Jolie directed and stars in alongside Brad Pitt, will arrive sometime this year, meaning it could be one of next year's Best Picture contenders. (credit:Universal)
Best Picture: "Into the Woods"(14 of29)
Open Image ModalBest Picture: "A Most Violent Year"(15 of29)
Open Image ModalBest Picture: "Interstellar"(16 of29)
Open Image ModalSNUBBED: "Interstellar" may have been the year's most hyped film, but that didn't translate to any awards love. In spite of Paramount's best efforts -- pleas to voters to see the film on the big screen, where Christopher Nolan's film had the most power -- "Interstellar" was an expected snub. It's a shame: while far from perfect, "Interstellar" is the kind of big swing from a major filmmaker that should be recognized in a category that swelled its ranks to include a better array of quality features. (credit:Paramount)
Best Actor: Ralph Fiennes, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"(17 of29)
Open Image ModalSNUBBED: Was there a more disappointing snub on Thursday? Ralph Fiennes is wonderful in "The Grand Budapest Hotel": acerbic, heartbreaking, profane and hilarious. He's the best leading man in a Wes Anderson movie since Gene Hackman in "The Royal Tenenbaums." But a nod failed to materialize even after Fiennes was included among the BAFTA Award nominees for Best Actor. (credit:Joel Ryan/Invision/AP)
Best Actor: Timothy Spall, "Mr. Turner"(18 of29)
Open Image ModalSNUBBED: No amount of grunting could get Timothy Spall a first career Oscar nomination for playing J.M.W. Turner, this despite a surfeit of strong reviews that dated back to the film's debut at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Spall stayed on the fringe of the Best Actor race for months, but he was never able to become a serious contender. (credit:Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Best Picture: "Wild"(19 of29)
Open Image ModalSNUBBED: Last year, Jean-Marc Vallée's "Dallas Buyers Club" scored a surprise Best Picture nomination and stood as one of the year's strongest contenders. This year, "Wild" wasn't so lucky. The Reese Witherspoon drama had its fans and supporters, but a serious campaign never materialized as Fox Searchlight focused its efforts in on "The Grand Budapest Hotel" and "Birdman."
Best Actress: Amy Adams, "Big Eyes"(20 of29)
Open Image ModalSNUBBED: Let's call this a mini-snub. Once pundits felt Jennifer Aniston became a viable option for "Cake," Adams has consistently ranked sixth in a five-person race. (Adams' victory at the Golden Globes said more about the musical or comedy category than Adams' bona fides.) She's fine in "Big Eyes," but it pales in comparison to any of her previously nominated roles, including last year's "American Hustle" turn. Proof: even with Aniston's snub, Adams still wasn't nominated. (credit:Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Best Actress: Emily Blunt, "Into the Woods"(21 of29)
Open Image ModalBest Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain, "A Most Violent Year"(22 of29)
Open Image ModalSNUBBED: Jessica Chastain had a surfeit of Oscar contenders this year, and maybe that was the problem. She was a supporting contender for "Interstellar" and "A Most Violent Year," and while that latter film had gotten most of her awards attention it didn't make the final cut on Thursday. The perils of being Hollywood's most sought-after actress! (credit:Omar Vega/Invision/AP)
Best Documentary: "Life Itself"(23 of29)
Open Image ModalSNUBBED: Critics loved Steve James' documentary about Roger Ebert, but it didn't rate with Oscar voters on Thursday. One of the year's most-discussed docs was left off the list of contenders. (credit:ap)
Best Picture: "Selma"(24 of29)
Open Image ModalBest Picture: "American Sniper"(25 of29)
Open Image ModalBest Picture: "Whiplash"(26 of29)
Open Image ModalSURPRISE: Okay, not really. "Whiplash" ranked as one of the 2014's most-loved films for literally a year: it premiere at last January's Sundance Film Festival and rode a surge of strong reviews and further festival plays to major contender status. The key was peaking at the right time: "Whiplash" remained consistent throughout 2014, and then took a huge upward turn over the last month, culminating with a Producers Guild Award nomination. (credit:Sony Pictures Classics)
Best Actor: Bradley Cooper, "American Sniper"(27 of29)
Open Image ModalSURPRISE: Never bet against Bradley Cooper. The 40-year-old star scored his third Oscar nomination in as many years, and second for Best Actor. Cooper underwent a huge physical transformation to play former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle in "American Sniper," a commitment to his craft and performance that likely spoke to a many actors. (credit:Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
Best Actress: Marion Cotillard, "Two Days, One Night"(28 of29)
Open Image ModalBest Supporting Actress: Laura Dern, "Wild"(29 of29)
Open Image ModalSURPRISE: Sometimes the Oscars get things right. Laura Dern was as deserving as any of the nominees in this category, but she was considered a long shot going into Thursday morning. She was cited for "Wild," but this might as well be a cumulative nod: Dern was just as good in "The Fault in Our Stars." (credit:Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)