In two decades, the only years the SAG winners matched up 100% with the Academy’s individual acting category winners were 2010, 2009 and 2004. Sometimes it’s because the early deadline rears its head. For instance, the SAG nominating committee didn’t fully catch up to “Django Unchained” last year, so they didn’t even nominate eventual Oscar winner Christoph Waltz. Other times, it’s category placement that causes a shift; Kate Winslet being nominated in and winning supporting for “The Reader” but going on to win lead at the Oscars. Still others, it’s because the buzz wave has a certain shape to it, Oscar winners like Alan Arkin and Judi Dench supplanting SAG champs like Eddie Murphy and Kathy Bates.

So it’s a fair bet that tonight’s winners (with the ensemble prize subbing for “Best Picture,” even though the guild doesn’t quite view it that way all that time) won’t all be holding matching Oscars in their hands in March. Nevertheless, I think this year might just go that way, at least in the individual acting categories, because the line-up is beginning to settle in as a sure quartet.

The evening began with Lupita Nyong’o giving yet another amazing, eloquent, natural speech that continues to make her a wonderful spokesperson for this film. One even wonders if her presence and impact on these shows might give the film an overall boost moving into the Oscar voting (which by the way, doesn’t even start for another month). I fully expect her to win the Oscar as I have a hard time imagining Jennifer Lawrence walking away with two-straight wins at her age and Nyong’o is really quite undeniable. It’s also the perfect way to honor “12 Years a Slave” on Oscar night with a major prize.

Jared Leto followed that up with yet another win in the supporting actor field as the path to Oscar looks pretty clear of obstacles by now. His speech, like it was at the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards, was improved, thoughtful, and he’s surely feeling it as “Dallas Buyers Club” looks primed (and this is amazing to say) to win three Academy Awards on Oscar night.

Speaking of “Dallas Buyers Club,” Matthew McConaughey continued to run the table tonight with yet another Best Actor win and yet another smoothly delivered speech. Keep in mind, he’s the only actor voters will be seeing on a weekly basis via HBO’s “True Detective,” putting his range and the narrative of his career right now on full display every Sunday night. He’s done a great job of calling attention to this great year of work throughout the season. He’s on his way.

And then, the category completely bereft of intrigue this season played out accordingly. What more can you say about Cate Blanchett at this point? And she still has ANOTHER day in the sun coming at a Santa Barbara Film Festival tribute in a few weeks. That’s a runaway train.

The only intrigue, really – and interestingly – is Best Picture. And tonight’s ensemble win for “American Hustle” was as predictable as the other winners. But the question is, is it the same harbinger of things to come as “Argo’s” win on this night a year ago was? It very well may be. And if the film wins tomorrow night at the Producers Guild of America awards, then it’s pretty much sealed, as that group is the only other one to use the preferential balloting system the Academy uses. It gets at consensus more than any other, and, well, that’ll be a big clue. And if David O. Russell wins the DGA prize next weekend? I imagine all doubters will hop on board at that point, but all eyes are on PGA now. How will the producers shift up the race? Or will they?

If you want to relive the evening, be sure to check out Dan Fienberg’s live blog.

The 20th annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards were be held Saturday night at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Kudos were dished in an array of acting categories, for stars of both film and television. Check out the full list of winners below, and be sure to check out Dan Fienberg’s live blog of the proceedings and don’t forget to keep track of the whole season via The Circuit.

THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Matthew McConaughey, “Dallas Buyers Club”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine”

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Jared Leto, “Dallas Buyers Club”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Lupita Nyong’o, “12 Years a Slave”

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
“American Hustle” (Amy Adams, Christian Bale, Louis C.K., Bradley Cooper, Paul Herman, Jack Huston, Jennifer Lawrence, Alessandro Nivola, Michael Peña, Jeremy Renner, Elisabeth Röhm, Sea Whigham)

TELEVISION PROGRAMS

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Michael Douglas, “Behind the Candelabra”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Helen Mirren, “Phil Spector”

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Maggie Smith, “Downton Abbey”

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Ty Burrell, “Modern Family”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Julia Louis-Drefus, “Veep”

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
“Breaking Bad” (Michael Bowen, Betsy Brandt, Bryan Cranston, Lavell Crawford, Tait Fletcher, Laura Fraser, Anna Gunn, Matthew T. Metzler, RJ Mitte, Dean Norris, Bob Odenkirk, Aaron Paul, Jesse Plemons, Steve Michael Quezada, Kevin Rankin, Patrick Sane)

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
“Modern Family” (Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Aubrey Anderson Emmons, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Nolan Gould, Sarah Hyland, Ed O’Neill, Rico Rodriguez, Eric Stonestreet, Sofia Vergara, Ariel Winter)

SAG AWARDS® HONORS FOR STUNT ENSEMBLES

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
“Lone Survivor”

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series
“Game of Thrones”

LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Screen Actors Guild 50th Annual Life Achievement Award
Rita Moreno

With a little less than two weeks away from opening night, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival has slid in one more honor for its big round of tributes held throughout: the Outstanding Director Award to “American Hustle” helmer David O. Russell.

Now is as good a time as any to give Russell an honor like this. He’s stuck the awards season landing with three films in a row (though some might say films like “Three King” and “I Heart Huckabees” remain is most daring and compelling work). “American Hustle” is set to be a dominant force this season, and that could all begin tonight with a SAG ensemble win. It could frankly continue tomorrow with a PGA win and I would not be at all surprised if Russell wins the DGA honor next weekend.

“It was at the first-ever screening of ‘American Hustle’ for the SBIFF Cinema Society last November that I knew precisely who should receive our Outstanding Director Award,” festival executive director Roger Durling said. “Now I’m glad I can let the cat out of the bag. Russell has matured into one of the most essential voices in film today. His deeply personal trilogy, comprised of ‘The Fighter,’ ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ and ‘American Hustle’ tap deeply at the core of the American dream where anyone should be guaranteed the opportunity of a second chance, of reinvention and triumph. As a writer and director, he is not afraid to push the envelope in the cinematic world. He has the eye for the picture he wants to present and then does so, with an expertise that is as bold as it is a joy to watch.”

It’s interesting watching that “reinvention” narrative continue to find purchase this season. It’s certainly well spun, though there are those – like The Dissolve’s Andrew Lapin – who have taken specific umbrage with it. But a strong narrative is part of the winning formula this time of year, and Russell’s could finally be set to run the table. Or maybe “Gravity” and “12 Years a Slave” still have something to say about all that. We’ll see how it goes the next couple of weeks.

Russell will receive the Outstanding Director Award tribute at the Arlington Theatre in Santa Barbara on Friday, Jan. 31.

The 29th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival runs Jan. 30 – Feb. 9.

PARK CITY – Transitioning from being in front of the camera to behind it is never easy. And, yes, there are just as many success stories (Clint Eastwood, George Clooney, Ben Affleck, Ben Stiller) as disappointments (William H. Macy, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kevin Spacey, David Duchovney), many of whom made this sad discovery at the Sundance Film Festival. On Monday, Sundance is celebrating the inaugural “Free Fail” event with a special day of workshops that will center on artists’ failures and how they allowed them to eventually succeed. John Slattery, best known for his work on “Mad Men,” may want to pop into a few for some tips after the world premiere of his feature directing debut “God’s Pocket” Friday afternoon.

The film is based on the 1983 novel by Pete Dexter who had made a name for himself as a screenwriter in the ’90s writing scripts for films such as “Michael,” “Mulholland Falls” and the adaptation of his own book, “Paris Trout.” Last year, Lee Daniel’ adapted Dexter’s tome “The Paperboy” into what turned out to be a somewhat controversial if underrated feature film. “Pocket” doesn’t veer into the latter’s Southern camp. Instead, the film focuses on the inhabitants of God’s Pocket, a fictional city which appears to be standing in for Philadelphia, Newark or somewhere in between.

The citizens of this broken down, East Coast working city are blue collar, lower middle class people who borrow from Peter to pay Paul and are incredibly protective about everyone who was “born here.” And if you weren’t? Don’t expect to be trusted by anyone at the local bar anytime soon. Appropriately, the picture’s storyline is filled with bookies, a murder cover-up and an impromptu affair that all essentially plays out as a pretty serious drama. Every few scenes, however, it throws in a “shocking” dark comedy moment. A few of these moments are admittedly funny. Overall, the film’s major problem is the tone is uneven and unwieldy. And even the impressive cast Slattery assembled can’t save it.

Not surprisingly, Philip Seymour Hoffman is his usual grand self as a hustling man trying to make his gorgeous wife (Christina Hendricks) happy after the passing of her mentally unstable son at the beginning of the movie. Hoffman’s character is best pals with another hustler played by John Turturro and the duo have, as you’d expect, great chemistry together. But when Turturro’s character disappears in the third act, the film’s energy drops considerably. Richard Jenkins seems to be going through the motions a bit as a local newspaper columnist with a bit of a drinking problem who is assigned to investigate the death of Hendrick’s son. Eddie Marsan sports a nice Jersey-esque accent as a funeral parlor owner (you wish he had more to do) and Glenn Fleshler has some memorable moments as one of the few good guys in town. Slattery also peppers the picture with a slew of other veteran and relatively unknown character actors who are all game, but can’t help the movie escape its increasingly dour tone.

Slattery, who co-wrote the screenplay, has helmed a number of “Mad Men” episodes in the past and understands the need for a strong ensemble, realistic production design and professional cinematography (although a little more color and light might have helped keep things visually interesting). Oscar winning and nominated actors can’t replace a mixed bag of a script and listless direction, thoguh. But like many before him, he’ll learn some lessons from this endeavor, get up off the floor and try again.

As for its acquisition fate, “God’s Pocket” will likely find its way to audiences with a very limited theatrical release timed to VOD.

A day after the Academy dropped its array of surprises throughout its 24 categories, and notably the 10 crafts fields, it’s time to reflect on what the months of build-up have left us with. A few trends come to mind…

The (Near)Shut-outs
The lack of love for “Saving Mr. Banks” (already discussed at length) went through the crafts categories in a big way, leaving only Thomas Newman standing, despite costumes and sets that were the stuff the branches usually embrace. Expectations for “All is Lost” weren’t as high, but it was similarly left with just a single nod, for Steve Boedekker and the great Richard Hymns in Best Sound Editing. “Rush” and “Lee Daniels” The Butler,” meanwhile, found themselves completely shut out. One would have thought the former would have been a shoo-in for at least the editing and sound categories, while the latter had songs, makeup (which failed to make the bake-off stage), costumes and sets that evidently didn”t interest AMPAS.

The (Near)Sweepers
“American Hustle,” on the other hand, scored in virtually every category imaginable, with only a single strange omission in Best Makeup and Hairstyling (I’ll get to that). But it landed more difficult to come by nominations in Best Film Editing and especially Best Production Design. “Gravity” got a clean sweep in every plausible craft category. Best Costume Design, Original Song and Makeup and Hairstyling were never going to happen. “Dallas Buyers Club” missed Best Costume Design after landing a guild nod but its nominations in Best Film Editing and Best Makeup and Hairstyling show the esteem in which it is clearly held by AMPAS members.

The In-Betweeners
“12 Years a Slave,” with nine nominations, could not complain. But what should we make of the omissions in Best Cinematography, Best Original Score and the sound categories? Very unusual for a film that many think is set to win the big prize. Meanwhile, “Inside Llewyn Davis” can”t be too devastated about its crafts category tally – it got in a few places where expected. But the fact that Best Cinematography and Best Sound Mixing are its only two nominations will likely, as Kris noted yesterday, be a source of embarrassment for years to come. “The Lone Ranger” and “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” were probably expected to score in Best Makeup and Hairstyling and Best Visual Effects respectively. But their respective nods in the latter category and for “The Hobbit” in the sound fields were very unexpected. And “Prisoners,” “The Book Thief,” “The Invisible Woman,” “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa,” “Star Trek Into Darkness” and “Iron Man 3” also grabbed nods, but they weren”t altogether surprising, being anticipated at this very outlet.

Turning to the particular categories…

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Well, I was right that Roger Deakins would get yet another nomination that will yield yet another loss. His citation for “Prisoners” marks his 11th trip to the Oscars. The surprise in this category, however, came from Philippe Le Sourde getting in for “The Grandmaster” over Sean Bobbitt and “12 Years a Slave.” I guess a Wong Kar-wai movie had it coming, but it”s an unusual miss for an arguable Best Picture frontrunner. Emanuel Lubezki (“Gravity”) got a very predictable nomination, Bruno Delbonnel (“Inside Llewyn Davis”) survived the collapse of support for his film and Phedon Papamichael (“Nebraska”) proved yet again that lensing a black-and-white Best Picture nominee will lead to a nomination as he earned a long-coming first nod for “Nebraska.”

WINNER?: Lubezki was always going to be difficult to beat here. With fellow nominees from films with not a lot of love (“Prisoners,” “The Grandmaster”, “Inside Llewyn Davis”) or that might be considered too subtle (“Nebraska”), it”s looking even likelier, criticisms around the role of computers aside.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
The hunch of most In Contention contributors (not just yours truly) that Michael O”Connor”s luck would continue for “The Invisible Woman” proved well founded. The surprise, instead, came as William Chang Suk Ping earned a long-overdue first nomination for “The Grandmaster.” Good for him. Alas, Daniel Orlandi is still waiting for his first nod as “Saving Mr. Banks” just didn”t catch on. Michael Wilkinson (“American Hustle”), Patricia Norris (“12 Years a Slave”) and Catherine Martin (“The Great Gatsby”) were predictable nominees.

WINNER?: Will the veteran Norris FINALLY receive an Oscar? Or will Martin”s glamorous threads on “The Great Gatsby” earn her a second win in this category? Maybe Wilkinson can ride love for his film to a victory for the epitome of 70s outlandishness? We”ll see.

BEST FILM EDITING
We “knew” it would come down to six. We were wrong. Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger (“Gravity”), Christopher Rouse (“Captain Phillips”), Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten (“American Hustle”) and Joe Walker (“12 Years a Slave”) made it in as expected. But the final slot went to neither the great Thelma Schoonmaker for the wild ride that was “The Wolf of Wall Street,” nor branch favorites Daniel P. Hanley and Mike Hill for the car racing movie “Rush.” Rather, it was John Mac McMurphy and Martin Pensa for “Dallas Buyers Club.” That film is loved.

WINNER?: “Gravity” is likely the favorite here (and perhaps Alfonso Cuarón”s surest chance to win an Oscar) but I wouldn”t dismiss the contenders just yet. Cases could be made for all of them except “Dallas Buyers Club.”

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
The most original/creative of Oscar categories kept up its reputation this year, giving deserved nominations to “The Lone Ranger” and “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa.” Those were not surprises to those who watch the race. What was surprising, however, was “American Hustle” being left off for “Dallas Buyers Club.” While I thought highly of the subtle work on Jean-Marc Vallée”s film, this branch is clearly immune to sweeps, even when the work in question is very showy. (See also: “Lincoln.”)

WINNER?: Now that the whole Academy gets to vote on the race for the win, “Dallas Buyers Club” is highly likely to win this. But one never knows.

BEST MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
Is Hans Zimmer on the outs again? His omission for “12 Years a Slave” is nearly as surprising as Arcade Fire”s inclusion for “Her.” The latter is hardly what one thinks of when thinking about this branch, which is not to say their nomination was not deserved! Alexandre Desplat got in for a lovely “Philomena” score in the absence of precursors, which was a hunch I regret not following up on. Steven Price (“Gravity”), John Williams (“The Book Thief”) and Thomas Newman (“Saving Mr. Banks”) likely sailed to nominations fairly easily.

WINNER?: When first-time nominees are nominated, they usually win, so I”d look to Price or Arcade Fire to take the Oscar. “The Book Thief” and “Saving Mr. Banks” are confined in nominations to this category while I think Desplat will need a bigger movie/score to finally win.

BEST MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
Guy Lodge said it all yesterday. I have little to add to the hilarity that is “Alone Yet Not Alone” getting nominated in this category. Pharrell Williams” nod for “Happy” was still pretty surprising but rather refreshing (and the result of an exhaustive campaign). In hindsight, Lana Del Rey should have been an obvious snub for “Young and Beautiful” but the failure of either song from “Lee Daniels” The Butler” to get in here is a little surprising.

WINNER?: We”ll see if Disney”s submitting only one song from “Frozen” (and thus probably costing it an additional nomination) pays off in the race to the win. U2″s personal song could be the chance to get Bono and company on stage. Or maybe this could be where Spike Jonze is rewarded for “Her?”

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
I said I”d be glad to be proven wrong about K.K. Barrett”s “Her” being a likely snub. And I am! This film, set in the near future, also ended Middle Earth”s run of good luck in this category as “The Hobbit: The Desolation of ” is on the outside looking in. “American Hustle” and “Gravity,” which I expected to be battling it out for a spot, both ended up scoring as “Saving Mr. Banks” was also left behind in accordance with its film”s general lack of success.

WINNER?: “The Great Gatsby” and “12 Years a Slave” were easy gets. I now expect them to battle it out for the win.

BEST SOUND EDITING
“Gravity,” “Captain Phillips,” “Lone Survivor” and “All is Lost” (which mercifully survived here) were relatively easy gets. “Rush,” however, finished its collapse with an omission here, missing for “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” which becomes only the second of Peter Jackson”s Middle Earth films to score here. There you go.

WINNER?: Expect this to be part of a massive crafts category haul for “Gravity” as Glenn Freemantle gets the Oscar he was likely close to getting for “Slumdog Millionaire.”

BEST SOUND MIXING
“Gravity,” “Captain Phillips” and “Inside Llewyn Davis,” with CAS and BAFTA nods, were great bets. “Lone Survivor” was probably an easy get given that it is a sound showcase. I thought the crew, who are all first-time nominees, might pose a problem. I was wrong. “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” meanwhile, becomes nominee number five, which shouldn”t be surprising, given its extremely respected crew, but kind of is given its predecessor”s omission here and its lack of precursors.

WINNER?: “Gravity” will be tough to beat.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
If “Gravity” will be tough to beat in the sound categories and Best Cinematography, it will be impossible to beat here. Instead, we merely found out which four films will have the honor of losing to it. After BAFTA and BFCA went for the five films that were also the most acclaimed/successful, it seemed too predictable and indeed it was. While “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” was an easy guess for slot number two, most people suspected “Star Trek Into Darkness” or “Iron Man 3” would ultimately end up sitting out for other films. Alas, it was “Pacific Rim” that yielded to “The Lone Ranger.” This branch doesn”t like Jaegers, evidently.

WINNER?: Again,this is “Gravity’s” in a cakewalk.

So that”s that! Tune in over the next few weeks as we speak to more nominees and continue to analyze the races.

Landing an Academy Award is usually a moment someone will remember for the rest of his or her life. As “American Hustle” producer Richard Suckle noted this morning, he’s been instructed to “take it all in and enjoy the moment.” Because, unless you’re Scott Rudin, this doesn’t happen often.

For Suckle and fellow “Hustle” producer Charles Roven, the success of the picture both critically and at the box office has been incredibly rewarding. Neither man, no matter what the pundits predicted, was taking anything for granted before Thursday’s announcement.

“I think the thing about the Academy is it doesn’t really matter what has gone on before, they sort of go to the beat of their own drum,” Roven says. “Personally, I’m just thrilled that all the people who worked on this film in all these different areas got recognized. Also, its speaks volumes to David Russell with him being nominated in both the writing and the directing categories. And then getting four nominations back-to-back, I don’t think that’s ever happened before. These are things you don’t think about when you’re hoping to do well.”

One of the more remarkable things about “Hustle’s” success is the movie began principal photography last March. In fact, Russell was working on a re-write and prepping during the awards campaign for “Silver Linings Playbook” and Roven and Suckle decided to schedule the film’s shoot around it. Principal photography wrapped in May.  With a December release date on the books an accelerated shoot and post-production schedule might have actually turned into something of a blessing.  Suckle says. “In some ways, I thought it was extra positive pressure in some sense.”

On the opposite side of the spectrum are “Dallas Buyers Club” duo of Robbie Brenner and Rachel Winter. Their film’s six nominations was just another amazing result for an indie that took 20 years to get into production. Brenner was so nervous about the nominations she was up most of the night recalling that 5:40am couldn’t come soon enough.

“This is the moment you dream of your whole entire life, to be recognized by your peers and the people who make up the movie business,” she says. “We are so honored and humbled and just elated today. My husband filmed my reaction on his iPhone. It was pretty unbelievable. [And] I could hear Rachel shriek from Beverly Hills.”

Winter notes that stars Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto “worked so hard. And they brought all their passion and all their commitment and they led our entire amazing cast, including Jennifer Garner, who is so f-ing incredible in the movie. Obviously what this means for the crew who worked so hard, because we made this movie for so little money in 25 days — the whole thing is kind of mind-blowing.”

For all of the joy surrounding the film’s six nods, it was somewhat bittersweet given the disappointment that director Jean-Marc Vallée didn’t earn some sort of recognition. As Brenner remarks, “None of us would be here without Jean-Marc. We started with an amazing building block and it was really his vision that brought this movie to life. And he deserves so much credit a lot of the time. I don’t know if he gets overlooked, but I think he is an important part of this puzzle and making this magic and really making all the building blocks work together.”

“Gravity” producer David Heyman has found the critical and box office success of Alfonso Cuarón’s epic “humbling.”

“It’s an incredible year for film and it’s very exciting to be a part of that,” he says. “I’m sure there are all sorts of theories as to why this year is what it is. But it is an amazing thing to be named with so many other films.”

The longtime “Harry Potter” producers continues: “The journey of ‘Gravity’ is a lot about the themes of the film, which is adversity. It was a challenging film to get made and we had incredible support ultimately from Warner Bros. But it’s about a woman alone in space, not obvious. A woman in her late-40s, not obvious. A woman with a visor and a spacesuit, her voice muffled, not obvious. To have it embraced in such a year is just incredibly gratifying.”

The 86th Academy Awards will be broadcast live at 5:30pm PT, 8:30pm ET March 2nd on ABC.

Kristopher Tapley also contributed to this report.

http://players.brightcove.net/4838167533001/BkZprOmV_default/index.html?videoId=4911813224001

PARK CITY – Oscar nominations day is always busy, but before transitioning to Sundance Film Festival coverage, Gregory Ellwood and Guy Lodge took a few minutes to chat about what today’s nods mean as the march continues toward the 86th Academy Awards.

From “Alone Yet Not Alone”-gate (one of the more embarrassing moments for the Academy in recent memory) to the top tallies for “American Hustle” and “Gravity” to predictions for the big show, Lodge and Ellwood give their insights into the day’s big news.

Check out their thoughts in the video embedded at the top of this page. Agree or disagree? Share your thoughts below.

SANTA MONICA, Calif. – The Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) has found a bit of a sweet spot for its annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards by holding them on the very night of the Oscar nominations. This evening marked the second such occasion after necessity forced the organization’s hand last year and ended up working out for them, and spirits were certainly high amongst the many Oscar nominees in attendance this time around.

“The Wolf of Wall Street” star Leonardo DiCaprio, who kicked the evening off with a win for Best Actor in a Comedy (beating out Christian Bale in “American Hustle,” who was nominated in the DiCaprio-less general Best Actor – go figure that one out), was beaming after sliding through onto a very contentious lead actor Oscar slate. He said his first call this morning, however, was to co-star Jonah Hill, also Oscar-nominated for his work in the film. DiCaprio was clearly psyched that they could go to the Academy’s big March bash hand in hand.

Team “American Hustle,” meanwhile, was noticeably ecstatic after sharing a field-leading 10 nominations this morning with “Gravity.” Amy Adams’ acceptance speech for Best Actress in a Comedy reflected someone truly elated at having picked up her first lead actress Oscar nomination, and certainly not one that was guaranteed. Producer Megan Ellison made her way back and forth between the “Hustle” and “Her” tables, a three-time Best Picture nominee at 27 years old, relishing the moment.

“Nebraska” star Bruce Dern could be seen offering heartfelt gratitude to the hard-working awards consultants of Paramount Pictures, who helped usher him to his first-ever Best Actor nomination. Harvey Weinstein was pleased his company’s “Philomena” pushed through to a Best Picture nod (and delighted in knocking New York Post reporter Kyle Smith’s well-publicized bone-headed assessment of the film). Matthew McConaughey was jacked on the love, and delivered a great acceptance speech for the evening’s Best Actor prize. And team “12 Years a Slave,” despite maybe coming up a touch shy of the nominations mark many may have expected, went from happy to happier throughout the evening as first Lupita Nyong’o picked up the Best Supporting Actress prize (delivering an absolutely exceptional speech) and, ultimately, the film won Best Picture.

But there comes with an evening like this the danger of being all dressed up with seemingly nowhere to go after the show. Daniel Brühl put on a brave face. The “Saving Mr. Banks” table was easily the loudest and most raucous of the bunch. It’s a mixed bag, but what is in the air is the aroma of the morning’s news, and as such, the BFCA would do well to keep the show on this date going forward.

That having been said, there remains something unfortunate about the way certain awards are announced. I was incredibly hard on the organization last year for presenting certain honors – screenplays, animated feature – during commercial breaks, Pulitzer Prize-winning authors trying to get speeches out over the dull roar of a crowd not exactly content with staying seated as The CW pays some bills. Such criticism was taken to heart as early meetings with studios this year brought with them an apology from BFCA president Joey Berlin for things having played out that way.

But simply announcing award winners like the screenplay categories (in particular) and the crafts (which has been a tradition since they were instituted a few years back) remains in lesser taste. I imagine Spike Jonze was left wondering why he bothered to show up if he wasn’t going to take to the stage to accept his Best Original Screenplay honor, and I feel sorry for T Bone Burnett, who had no idea his category (Best Original Song) was going to be announced via commercial bumper until he heard the words “Let It Go.”

The problem is the recent addition of genre categories, and on one hand, you can understand the organization’s plight. Having fields like sci-fi/horror, comedy and action in addition to the typical main categories allow for, say, three of the year’s top tier Best Actress players – Amy Adams, Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett – to accept prizes. It allows for a number of films to be recognized that have most likely been seen by the CW audience that is tuning into the show. But is that the identity to chase, a hybrid of People’s Choice and Golden Globes that doesn’t seem reconciled even within itself. (For instance, “Gravity” won Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie while Bullock won Best Actress in an Action movie and “Lone Survivor” won Best Action Movie in a category that didn’t even see “Gravity” nominated.) It reeks of stacking the deck and, therefore, comes across disingenuous. With all the knocks this crowd takes as it is, do they really want to provide one more angle for justified criticism?

It’s a problem I’m glad I don’t particularly have to solve, and really, maybe it’s not a problem at all. I personally cringe at knowing jabs from talent accepting awards (like Bullock’s jokes about her being an action star or DiCaprio’s refrain of somehow being a comedian). Not because they aren’t funny but because they’re part of an overall erosion. But maybe the ratings are fine and the show is glitzy enough that these become minor issues in some bigger picture. I don’t think the BFCA needs to aim for stuffy prestige but the right balance isn’t being struck. Not yet.

Nevertheless, it’s a well-positioned ceremony and at least in the room, seemed to be paced at a clip. Though hostess Aisha Tyler seemed to be bombing both in the room and on television (to go by Twitter reaction). I love her but she seemed ill at ease, to say the least. Whatever the case, it’s my seventh of these in the books and it’s been interesting to see it try to find itself. Trial and error. Trial and error.

Will “12 Years a Slave’s” win be duplicated at the Oscars? I wasn’t at all surprised that it won, given that it has dominated the regional critics landscape with over 20 Best Picture prizes. The BFCA has a pretty good track record of predicting the Oscars because, unlike the other critics organizations, it has a vast membership. And like the Academy, those sort of numbers start to find consensus. But the film showed some weaknesses in the nominations announcement this morning. If it wins the PGA, then I’m on board. But I’m still waiting and seeing.

Check out the full list of Critics’ Choice Movie Award winners here and feel free to offer up your thoughts on the show, if you managed to catch it.

Winners were announced for the 19th annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards this evening in Santa Monica, Calif. Largely considered a barometer for which way the Academy might vote, they recognize accomplishments in an array of genres and crafts. “12 Years a Slave” won Best Picture honors, as well as Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress, but it was “Gravity” that led the way with wins far and away with seven trophies. “American Hustle” picked up four, including Best Comedy and Best Actress in a Comedy. Check out the nominees here, the full list of winners below and remember to follow the season at The Circuit.

Best Picture: “12 Years a Slave”
Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón, “Gravity”
Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey, “Dallas Buyers Club”
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine”
Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, “Dallas Buyers Club”
Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong’o, “12 Years a Slave”
Best Adapted Screenplay: “12 Years a Slave”
Best Original Screenplay: “Her”
Best Young Actor/Actress: Adèle Exarchopoulos, “Blue is the Warmest Color”
Best Acting Ensemble: “American Hustle”

Best Action Film: “Lone Survivor”
Best Actor in an Action Film: Mark Wahlberg, “Lone Survivor”
Best Actress in an Action Film: Sandra Bullock, “Gravity”
Best Comedy: “American Hustle”
Best Actor in a Comedy: Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Best Actress in a Comedy: Amy Adams, “American Hustle”
Best Sci-Fi/Horror Film: “Gravity”

Best Art Direction: “The Great Gatsby”
Best Cinematography: “Gravity”
Best Costume Design: “The Great Gatsby”
Best Film Editing: “Gravity”
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: “American Hustle”
Best Original Score: “Gravity”
Best Original Song: “Let It Go” from “Frozen”
Best Visual Effects: “Gravity”

Best Animated Feature: “Frozen”
Best Documentary Feature: “20 Feet from Stardom”
Best Foreign Language Film: “Blue is the Warmest Color”

Joel Siegel Award: Forest Whitaker
Louis XIII Genius Award: Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater

http://players.brightcove.net/4838167533001/BkZprOmV_default/index.html?videoId=4911801533001

PARK CITY – J.C. Chandor”s “All Is Lost” earned exactly one Academy Award nomination this morning, and actor and filmmaker Robert Redford powered through his reaction right at the top of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.

On the first day of the fest, its founder called the the film a “pure cinematic experience,” and noted how “All Is Lost” bucked traditional, commercial film elements like voice-overs and special effects. However, the back-end of distributing the flick seemed to hurt the awards campaign, he said.

“In our case, I think we suffered from little to no distribution,” Redford said. “And so as a result, our distributors either… I don’t know why. They didn’t want to spend the money, they were afraid. I don’t know why. Or they just were incapable. But whatever, we had no campaign to help us cross over into the mainstream. Would it have been wonderful to be nominated? Of course. But I don’t… I’m not disturbed by it, or upset by it.”

“All Is Lost” has earned a number of industry accolades this winter, including two Golden Globes nods (and one win) for Best Original Score and Best Actor. Redford acts alone for the entirety of the movie.

The Sundance Film Festival runs Jan. 16 to Jan. 25.

Here is the full transcription of Redford”s reaction to the Academy Awards passing on any nominations for “All Is Lost”:

Well look, first of all, what I don’t want is for that — I expect there will be some response and some questions about it — but I don’t want that to get in the way of why we’re here. Because this is very important to me and the staff here.

Let me just speak frankly about how I feel about it. I think that first of all, the film I made with J.C. Chandor is a film I’m very proud of. It’s independent, so it conforms to why we’re here, that gave me great pleasure. I love working with him, we premiered his first film at our festival, so there was that connection. It was so stripped down of elements that are in most films, like voice-overs, dialogue, special effects. It was for me more of a pure cinematic experience, I love that. But also, almost more than anything, it gave me the chance as an actor to go back to my roots, and the way…and where I started. And so I’m very happy about that film.

Now the fact that the film did not cross over into the mainstream, into the more commercial parts of our industry, it didn’t, and I think that probably Hollywood…let’s spend a moment on Hollywood. Hollywood is a business, and it’s a very, very good one. And I have nothing but respect for that. I have been a part of the Hollywood film industry for much of my career. I’m very happy about it, so this is not so much about Hollywood. Hollywood is what it is, it’s a business. And so when these film go before…to be voted on, usually they’re dependent on campaigns that distributors provide. There’s a lot of campaigning that goes on, and it can get very political, but that’s okay, because it is a business.

In our case, I think we suffered from little to no distribution. And so as a result, our distributors either… I don’t know why. They didn’t want to spend the money, they were afraid, I don’t know why. Or they just were incapable. But whatever, we had no campaign to help us cross over into the mainstream. So I suspect that had something to do with it.

I don’t feel…would it have been wonderful to be nominated? Of course. But I don’t…I’m not disturbed by it, or upset by it, because of what I just said. It is a business and we couldn’t conform to that. So having said that, what I…what it does connect to is the fact that I was so happy to be able to do this film because it was independent. And it stood the chance of having a wider distribution had they stepped up.

So that’s what’s on my mind, is the chance it gave me, and I’m really happy about it, and I will stay happy about it. The rest is not my business, it’s somebody else’s business. I’m fine.

The Oscar nominations brought with them joy for some, despair for others. Perhaps indifference for a few (like Robert Redford, taking it in stride up in Park City at this very moment). As ever, there are winners and losers to be assessed from the morning’s announcement, and Team HitFix has tee’d them up for you in the gallery story below. Click through to see who’s glad and who’s mad.

It’s their party. That’s what I always say. Though “and I’ll cry if I want to” often follows, and today, I have to say, I’m crying over “Inside Llewyn Davis.”

The writing was a bit on the wall for this film. Even with some solid below-the-line guild/society recognition, the Coen brothers’ latest was clearly landing with a thud in the industry; it received nothing from the major guilds – PGA, DGA, WGA, SAG. There was no major support from the critics awards circuit to push the issue until the National Society of Film Critics chimed in, too late (though bless them for actually waiting until the year is over to vote).

This film, that is so textured, so of a piece with the best of the Coen canon, that has inspired so much great film writing this year, in fact (including one of the best reviews A.O. Scott has ever delivered). managed a paltry two Oscar nominations for Best Cinematography and Best Sound Mixing. Both are of course well-deserved, but Oscar Isaac gave, to my mind, the single greatest performance of the year. The Coens outdid themselves on the page, behind the camera and in the editing suite. Jess Gonchor’s meticulous production design, Susan Bode’s detailed set decoration, Mary Zophres’ singular costume design, it was all immaculate, across the board. And it’s such a shame.

I don’t think it’s telling stories out of class to say that Scott Rudin phoned me up not long ago to talk about the film’s chances, and he was still trying to be optimistic. What I said to him, though, is this: “Inside Llewyn Davis” is a film with treasures that reveal themselves to you upon multiple viewings. It is something that does not gratify instantly and asks for you to experience it a few times, if you’re willing, to discover its density. The Oscar season, I told him, has no patience for this sort of thing. And so it played out the way it did this morning.

I watched the film for a third time earlier this week. It was so much richer to me yet again, a film so elegantly about giving up. In Llewyn Davis, so many see an annoying ne’er-do-well. I see a figure ultimately (tragically) self-aware. A man whose passion passed him by. An artist who didn’t have “it,” and who came to unflinching terms with that with an “au revoir.” It’s a masterpiece. And some time after publication, it bumped up a tick on my list of the year’s best films to #2 because, well, it’s my list (and I’ll cry if I want to).

I don’t know what I’m trying to say here. That’s an overt headline, I know. No one needs to be “ashamed” for not chalking the film up because, again, it’s not something that is instant in its brilliance. It’s a lingerer. And I think, should they give it the opportunity, many of the artists who did not give it the proper support to see it through to more than two nominations today will in time register this as a missed opportunity. And “Inside Llewyn Davis” will be filed away as one that just wasn’t to be in its time. I get it. I found it “minor” upon first viewing. I find it staggering now. But I had that privilege to keep revisiting. It’s my job to do so, in fact. I get it.

But boy is it a bummer.

Every year, statistics geeks and record-book keepers have a field day with the Oscar nominations announcement, as the list is scoured for unique anomalies, imposing numbers and ways in which history — however obscurely — may have been made. And this year brought its share of records that have been extended, runs that have been broken and any number of trivia bits and bobs. Let’s check out a few of them after the jump.

– Meryl Streep extends her long-standing record as the most-nominated actor in Oscar history: her Best Actress nod for “August: Osage County” is her 18th overall, six ahead of her nearest challenger.

– Still, she’s never catching up with composer John Williams, who scored his 49th nod today for “The Book Thief.” That’s a record among living individuals, and 10 away from Walt Disney’s all-time record.

– Woody Allen, meanwhile, extends his record for Best Original Screenplay nominations, scoring his 16th for “Blue Jasmine.”

– Like “Silver Linings Playbook” last year, “American Hustle” scored nods in all four acting categories — only the 15th film of Oscar history to do so.

– All four of those actors, meanwhile, have previously been nominated for David O. Russell films.

– From that quartet, Amy Adams scored her fifth nomination in nine years, and her first in the Best Actress category.

– This is the first year since 1994 that the Best Actress category features no first-time nominees. Adams is the lone non-winner in the group.

– “The Wolf of Wall Street” is the fifth of Martin Scorsese’s last six films to score nods for Best Picture and Director, and landed Scorsese his 12th career nomination.

– Roger Deakins landed his 11th nomination for “Prisoners” today — he is the most nominated living cinematographer never to have won.

– “The Great Beauty” is Italy’s 29th nominee for Best Foreign Language Film — second only to France — and its first since 2005.

– Cambodia’s “The Missing Picture” is only the second documentary to be nominated in the foreign-language category — and certainly the first to enacted by clay puppets.

– Spike Jonze has now been nominated in four different Oscar categories — his Best Picture, Original Screenplay and Original Song nomination for “Her” join his 1999 Best Director nod for “Being John Malkovich.”

– At just 27, Megan Ellison becomes only the fourth producer to land two Best Picture nominations in a single year, for “Her” and “American Hustle.” (The others include Francis Ford Coppola and Scott Rudin.)

– After John Singleton and Lee Daniels, Steve McQueen becomes only the third black filmmaker to receive a Best Director nod — and the first of non-US origin.

– Three actors of African parentage are nominated this year: Chiwetel Ejiofor (Nigerian), Lupita Nyong’o (Kenyan) and Barkhad Abdi (Somalian). 

– “Despicable Me 2” is nominated for Best Animated Feature where its predecessor was not — a first in the category.

– Meanwhile, Pixar’s only two misses in the category — “Cars 2” and, today, “Monsters University” — have been sequels to nominated films.

– Thomas Newman and Alexandre Desplat score their 12th and sixth Best Original Score nods, respectively. Both men are awaiting their first win.

– With the nominee for “20 Feet From Stardom” still unconfirmed, three women — Signe Byrge Sorenson, Lydia Dean Pilcher and Jehane Noujaim — are nominated for Best Documentary Feature.

– Bruno Delbonnel’s cinematography nomination for “Inside Llewyn Davis” pits him against two DPs — Emmanuel Lubezki and Roger Deakins — who have previously shot films for the Coen Brothers.

Ethan Hawke picked up his third nomination to date this morning and his second nomination from the writers branch for co-penning the screenplay for Richard Linklater’s “Before Midnight.” It’s a special mention for the actor because he, Linklater and his co-star and co-writer Julie Delpy were chalked up nearly a decade ago for the very same nomination for “Before Sunset.”

Interestingly enough, a year before production began on that 2004 mid-section to what has come to be one of the most unique trilogies in cinema, Hawke and Linklater kicked off a whole other experiment that will finally be unveiled at the Sundance Film Festival Sunday night. “Boyhood,” filmed over the course of 12 years, will tell a story of childhood and growing up, the years ticking by as Linklater and his team revisited the story consistently throughout that span of time, ending up with what will be another unique glimpse at the drama and minutiae of everyday life, the very purview of Linklater throughout his career.

Hawke hopped on the phone this morning to react to his Oscar nomination and to tell us what we can expect from “Boyhood” when it premieres this weekend. Check out the back and forth below.

********

HitFix: Hey man.

Ethan Hawke: Hey, Kris, how are you?

Good to talk to you.

Yeah, you, too. And thanks for that nice article you wrote.

It was a lot of fun to put that one together and focus so much on the writing, which is what you were recognized for today, so congratulations.

Thanks. I appreciate that.

Do you consider yourself a writer?

Um, I wonder if – what an interesting question. Because I write a lot. I’ve written novels and I write all the time. I’ve been acting since I was 13, so my identity is kind of rooted in that. But I do. I guess the real answer is that I do. The funny thing is that people always think that these things are so different, but I think there are a great many actors who love writing and are great writers. Because so much of acting is about sharing writing. But anyway, yeah. I’m always hesitant to say it, but yeah, I guess I do.

It’s interesting because it’s such a thing to kind of identify with. I remember when “Before Sunset” got the nomination nearly 10 years ago, I thought it was great that the three of you were credited as writers. How did that happen?

It happened on the first movie. What happened on the first movie is Rick and Kim Krizan had written a rough draft of a screenplay, something Rick wanted to use as a jumping off point. What he was really aiming to do was make a movie using the two actors and make a film about a connection between two people, which we knew would be incredibly hard to do, if we knew that’s what the movie was going to be about. It’s like, what’s that connection. So what we did is for about four or five weeks in Vienna when we were 24 years old, Julie and I, we chatted with Rick in a room and we re-wrote his script. And it was incredibly fun and exciting. Rick really empowered us and he really believed in us as filmmakers. He wanted this to be a movie that, when it was done, we felt like it was all our film. Lots of people are encouraging and ask you to be a part of something, but they never ask you to have vision. Rick was asking us to actually have vision and contribute. So when the first movie was over, we were uncredited because – it never really came up. The script was a pre-existing script and that made sense. But after it was over, Julie and I were really encouraged. Julie went off and wrote her own movies and I wrote a book. We both felt really excited by writing and the possibilities of it, and believed in ourselves in a new way. Then Rick asked us to contribute on ‘Waking Life’ and we came in and all wrote our scene in “Waking Life.” We talked about the themes and where Jesse and Celine would be if they were in a dream. At the end of that we all went out to dinner and said, ‘You know what? We should all write a movie together. The three of us.’ And we did.

This year is marked by being so dense with quality. It’s been one of the great film years I’ve had the pleasure of covering.

Definitely.

To have a film like “Before Midnight” survive the Sundance grind and an early-year release in May and still be top of mind for critics awards and now an Oscar nomination, to avoid the boring question of “How does it feel to be nominated,” how does it feel to be nominated in that context, in the context of such a great year?

You said how I would answer that. That’s exactly how I would answer it. It is only more difficult now than when I first started to make a personal film to have it released and have it find an audience and connect with people. It’s very out of fashion and it’s a testament to what a remarkable year this has been, a resurgence of so many movies you can point to that are the kind of movies that are why I wanted to get into filmmaking. It’s been a great year. For me, this has been an 18 year experiment that has its resolution in “Before Midnight.” So for Rick and I and Julie to get invited to this big party to end this year and to end this experiment for us, how could it not make me happy?

Well I have to tell you, I wasn’t too concerned about missing Sundance this year until you guys decided to drop “Boyhood” up there. I’m so stoked to see that movie.

[Laughs] Dude, I’ve got to tell you, it’s the most exciting thing I’ve ever been a part of.

I imagine so. I mean, talk about an experiment.

The thing about the “Before” series is it happened slowly over these years. It happened to us, in a way. We didn’t set out with “Before Sunrise” and say, “Let’s do an exploration of male-female love over a 20-year period.” But with the 12-year [project] we did. It’s about growing up. It’s about childhood. We started “Boyhood” a year before we started “Before Sunset.” So I’ve been working on this movie – it’s just been so interesting and do all this work that nobody’s seen. I mean, the first scene in the movie, I’m 32 years old. I look great, man! At the beginning of the movie? I look great!

Yeah, that’s got to be weird to have all this stuff sitting around that no one’s seen.

Yeah. It’s awesome. And we’re gonna unveil it on Sunday night. I can’t wait.

Have you seen it yet?

Yeah. I’m like one of two people who have seen it.

What can we expect out of it?

I don’t want to over-hype it but I feel like I’m friends with somebody who wrote “To Kill a Mockingbird.” That’s what I feel like. I feel like my friend, Richard Linklater, did something really, really special. I don’t know what the world will make out of it, but it’s as unique to him as “Slacker” was. Who else in the world would have made “Slacker,” or “Waking Life,” for that matter? Or, to be honest, the “Before” series? These movies are just so Rick. I don’t think another filmmaker would be interested in these subject matters.

I remember when I saw “Dazed and Confused,” I didn’t know Rick, and there’s a little moment in the movie where he makes a big deal of – there’s a baseball game, and he films them all saying “good game” to each other afterwards.

I love that scene! It’s just so true.

It’s this little moment where you just see all these kids being taught insincerity! [Laughs]

Exactly!

It’s so kind of amazing, and the 12-year project is an epic about minutiae. Nobody else would make the movie. I feel really excited. The central performance of the movie is a young man named Ellar [Coltrane] who just does a tremendous job. I’m real excited to show it to people, but again, I don’t want expectations to be too high. It’s a little movie. It was made on a micro-budget. We made it on a shoestring all of these years. In a lot of ways it’s the smallest epic ever made. If you can’t tell, I’m excited about it.

Well look, man, too late on being hyped up. In my circles, anyway, people are just frothing at the mouth for this one. We can’t wait.

Well, it won’t disappoint. If you’re interested, it won’t disappoint.

Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy and Richard Linklater will receive the Louis XIII Genius Award at tonight’s Critics’ Choice Movie Awards.

It was a “bittersweet” morning according to Sony Pictures Classics co-president Michael Barker. On one hand his company’s films “Before Midnight,” “Blue Jasmine” and “The Invisible Woman” combined for a total of five nominations, including a somewhat surprising bid for “Blue” supporting actress Sally Hawkins. On the other, it was a rare occasion where the indie distributor had no nominees in either the Best Documentary Feature or Best Foreign Language Film categories, and neither “Blue” nor “Midnight” was able to push into the Best Picture field.

“The thing with foreign language film is that it’s so unpredictable,” he told HitFix this morning. “When India did not submit ‘The Lunchbox,’ that kind of blindsided us. We thought France would submit ‘The Past,’ but Iran submitted ‘The Past.’ Then it didn’t make the shortlist. Something unpredictable happened at every stage.”

Indeed, after none of the studio’s foreign film crop landed on the shortlist in advance of this morning’s nominations announcement, he and Sony Classics partner Michael Bernard bought back in by acquiring Hungary’s entry “The Notebook.” It stood a fair shot at making the final five this morning, but in the end, it, too, was squeezed out.

“We bought ‘The Notebook’ because it’s the kind of movie that does business with the public,” Barker said. “We thought it deserved to be in the five but there was something to be said for all the films. And it was also a year where there were so many documentaries, it was hard to pick five. I think that category, like Best Actor, was probably the most competitive as far as the number of quality films to consider. The fact that Sarah Polley is not included for ‘Storeis We Tell,’ that makes no sense to me. As well as our films, ‘Tim’s Vermeer’ and ‘The Armstrong Lie.’ But we’re thrilled with what we have.”

Taking some of the sting off falling short in any number of areas is certainly seeing Richard Linklater land his second nomination to date in the Best Adapted Screenplay category for “Before Midnight.” Sony Classics’ acquisition of the title at Sundance nearly a year ago brought Barker and Bernard back into business with a filmmaker they have a hefty hand in putting on the map way back in the Orion Classics days with “Slacker.”

“That relationship with Rick Linklater is what Sony Classics is all about,” Barker said. “To be with him and release his first film, ‘Slacker,’ in 1990, and to actually come to Sundance with it – what I remember is at the first screening of that film is the audience was like a quarter full and people kept coming to each screening. Eventually they were turning people away. To watch his career grow and be here in 2014 when he’s nominated for an Oscar, I think it’s one of the finest feelings you can ever have professionally, to have a link with someone like that over such a long period of time. And to grow as a distributor at the same time that Rick grows as an artist.”

They have also maintained a consistent relationship with filmmaker Woody Allen, nomianted today for writing “Blue Jasmine” and someone who also stretches back to their Orion days.

“We just saw a cut of the new one and as far as we’re concerned he’s the youngest mind in the room,” Barker said. “You’re just astounded. It’s a privilege to be part of his evolution as a filmmaker.”

Stay tuned to HitFix throughout the day for more coverage and reactions to today’s Oscar nominations announcement.

The Academy’s music branch can always be counted on for at least one out-of-nowhere surprise in the Best Original Song category. Remember “Paris 36?” Or “Chasing Ice?” Or “August Rush?” Forgotten them all? No one would blame you. Anyway, they seem to have truly outdone themselves this year. There were audible gasps and chuckles when Cheryl Boone Isaacs began reading the list of nominees in the category, and first off the bat was “Alone Yet Not Alone” from, er, “Alone Yet Not Alone.”

If you already knew what the movie was when the nomination was announced, give yourself a pat on the back, since it doesn’t seem a stretch to call this Christian drama the most obscure feature film nominated for an Oscar this year. As I scoured the internet to find out what exactly it was, not a whole lot came up: there is no trace of the film’s existence on Metacritic, while its Rotten Tomatoes page features not a single review. Okay, so it’s not the critical radar, but how about commercially? I’d like to tell you, but Box Office Mojo hasn’t heard of it either.

Turns out the film received a limited release in September, specifically within the Christian market. Production company Enthuse Entertainment describes themselves as producing “God-honoring, faith-based, family-friendly films that inspire the human spirit to seek and know God.” A true-life historical drama set in 1755, it tells the story of two young sisters captured by native Americans during a raid on their family’s farm. As the poster informs us, a “forced marriage” and “desperate escape” ensue. (I really hope this isn’t as politically dubious as it sounds.) Cue the titular song, a family hymn that provides them with solace and inspiration during their ordeal.

And a hymn it very much is: composed by Bruce Broughton and Dennis Spiegel, it’s a slow, solemn ode to constant spiritual presence. I’ll be diplomatic and say that it certainly sounds authentic — but it’s not exactly going to light up the Oscar telecast if performed live. Which, if recent years are anything to go by, it almost certainly won’t be. Still: as a mash-up with Pharrell Williams’ “Happy?” Or maybe let Lana del Rey sing it on the show as a consolation prize for her “Great Gatsby” snub? Now’s your opportunity to get creative, Academy.

Anyway, I suppose you can call it a triumph of sorts for genuine independent filmmaking — even if the independent film in question looks a wee bit sludgy. Or, you know, for AMPAS peer loyalty, given that Broughton is a former Academy Governor and, oh, the former chief of the music branch.

For your listening pleasure, ladies and gentlemen, I give you the vocal stylings of Joni Eareckson Tada on “Alone Yet Not Alone”: 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWVyVMbSzM4&w=640&h=360]

It’s always inevitable that the Academy will end up snubbing a deserving nominee in one category or another, but one big snub this year was Sarah Polley’s “Stories We Tell” in the feature documentary category. “Stories” won both the NYFCC and LAFCC best documentary honors and was a fixture on many critics’ end-of-year top 10 lists. It was almost seen as a lock to make the cut, but appears to have been pushed out by either “Dirty Wars” or “Cutie and the Boxer.” Leave it to the always classy Polley to send out a tweet flipping the narrative and heaping praise on one of the actual nominees, Joshua Oppenheimer for “The Act of Killing.”

So happy for @TheActofKilling. A movie that should and will have a great life and may change things for the better. Yay @JoshuaOppenheim!

– Sarah E. Polley (@SarahEPolley) January 16, 2014

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If that can’t make you smile on Oscar morning, not sure what else will.

Oscar nomination morning may bring joy to the chosen few, but “few” is the operative word — the list of who’s out is always going to be longer than the list of who’s in. A few shock omissions are par for the course, but it seems this morning’s announcement brought even more than usual, and in a multitude of categories — from Tom Hanks to Emma Thompson to Sarah Polley to Lana del Rey. After the jump, we list a few of the no-shows that surprised us most.

– Remember when Tom Hanks was touted as a likely double nominee? His supporting campaign for “Saving Mr. Banks” fell off the rails a while ago, but missing the Best Actor cut for “Captain Phillips” stings.

– It wasn’t a great morning for “Captain Phillips,” in fact: former nominee Paul Greengrass was shut out of the Best Director lineup — the one DGA nominee to miss.

– While we’re talking the woes of Hanks-starring films, “Saving Mr. Banks” — predicted by many, including Kris, for a Best Picture nod — received only one nomination, for Best Original Score.

– That, of course, means Emma Thompson was omitted from the Best Actress roster. All this time we were wondering if it was Amy Adams or Meryl Streep for the fifth slot: turns out Thompson was the vulnerable one.

– Daniel Brühl could have been forgiven for thinking that his “Rush” co-star Chris Hemsworth reading the nominees was a good omen. It wasn’t: despite SAG and Globe nods, he missed the Supporting Actor cut.

– Back in August, some prognosticators made bold claims that Oprah Winfrey would win Best Supporting Actress for “Lee Daniels’ The Butler.” Instead, the Academy followed the Globes’ lead and left her out.

– In fact, “The Butler” — a summer prestige hit that performed extremely well with SAG — didn’t score a single nomination.

– We’d been optimistic that, despite the poor Guild showing for “Inside Llewyn Davis,” the Academy might rescue the Coens in the Best Original Screenplay category. No such luck.

– With seven wins, Pixar may be the kings of the Animated Feature category, but not this year: “Monsters University” was left out, just like “Cars 2” a few years back.

– In a competitive Documentary Feature category, Sarah Polley’s “Stories We Tell” is the most eyebrow-raising omission — it won the NYFCC and LAFCA awards, among others.

– The Academy evidently responded to Wong Kar-wai’s gorgeous “The Grandmaster” — it was nominated for cinematography and costumes — but not that much: it missed the Best Foreign Language Film lineup.

– Something to give the “12 Years a Slave” camp cause for concern: ASC nominee Sean Bobbitt didn’t score a nomination for Best Cinematography.

– Hans Zimmer, meanwhile, didn’t make the Best Original Score lineup for any of the 2013 scores, including “12 Years a Slave” and “Rush.”

– An impressive technical showcase that scored a Globe nod for Best Picture, “Rush” was left out across the board.

– “American Hustle” may share the top nomination tally with “Gravity,” but one surprising miss prevented it from an overall lead: all those amazing hairdos weren’t good enough for the Makeup & Hairstyling category.

– More heartbreak for Lana del Rey to croon mournfully about: “Young and Beautiful,” her love theme for “The Great Gatsby,” was left out of Best Original Song.

– Thought the visual effects in “Pacific Rim” were impressive? So did we. But not impressive enough for the Academy, it turns out.

What omissions surprised you the most this morning? Tell us in the comments!