Lee Daniels' The Butler Snubbed Again, plus The Complete 2014 Oscar Nominees List

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buzzz worthy. . .

 Viewers waited and hoped today would be the day  award show gods would acknowledge one of the most praised films of 2013, "Lee Daniels' The Butler. " Yet again this morning during the televised Oscar nominations announcement, The Butler was left out completely at a major award show recognizing films. First the Golden Globes, now this.

 Before I get to the 2014 class of Oscar  nominees (which are all listed below) I want to dedicate a paragraph to the one that got away. 

 While canvassing around the Civil Rights Era, The Butler retold the real life story of an African American  White House butler who served 8 presidents. Some say The Butler came out of the lab fit for high honors, ranking #1 on opening weekend. I would agree that the film was  built with the components Oscar worthy films are made of. It had a glaringly capable (nearly all-star) cast, profound story, excellent cinematography and costuming, but it got zilch. Most of all, I think The Butler performed where it really counts--it made the proverbial human connection with audiences in a manner that elicited an emotional response.That is to say, Lee Daniels' picture was emotionally jarring in the right way in all the right places, causing viewers to be inwardly contemplative as the watched America's journey toward civility. It was an America that some people would like to water down, if not wash away. Daniels chose to tackle a part in the country's story that has left generations of people with complex emotional ties to those times as some wounds from the period remain agape.  In parts of the country police were on hand at movie theaters "just in case" emotions ran to high.  That description could also apply to "12 Years A Slave." Maybe there was not room enough for two similar films (i.e., Black history oriented works).   "Her", a film about a man's peculiar and uncomfortable romance with a computer generated girlfriend is on the list.  . .thankfully for music. It opened in theaters recently and got recognized. There is that wide open tenth spot in best picture category, a slot that this swell film and several others could have occupied.  I'll leave the theorizing  as to why The Butler got snubbed  to the futon critics of the world this time around and see how the film performs at the NAACP Image Awards next month. There are other snubs, I could discuss, but none more obvious than this.

 Now on to the fortunate ones. . .

Many of the films that had strong showings at the Golden Globes last week made this year's Oscar list.  "American Hustle" and Gravity" scored the most nominations with 10 each, followed closely by "12 Years A Slave" with 9.  (Scroll down for he full list.)

 Have you been curious about how the selections are made?  Here are the details directly from The Academy: 
Academy members from each of the branches vote to determine the nominees in their respective categories – actors nominate actors, film editors nominate film editors, etc.  In the Animated Feature Film and Foreign Language Film categories, nominees are selected by a vote of multi-branch screening committees.  All voting members are eligible to select the Best Picture nominees. 
Official screenings of all motion pictures with one or more nominations will begin for members on Saturday, January 25, at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater.  Screenings also will be held at the Academy’s Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood and in London, New York and the San Francisco Bay Area. 
Active members of the Academy are eligible to vote for the winners in all categories.
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2013 will be presented on Oscar® Sunday, March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® and televised live on the ABC Television Network.  The Oscars, produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.
We have the complete list of 2014 Oscar Nominees below.  The 86th Academy Awards will air on March 2 on ABC at 7 EST/4 PST.

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