Oscar nominations: Many films came from the page
The Oscar nominations for this year included movies that have been frontrunners throughout the season (鈥�12 Years a Slave,鈥� 鈥淕ravity鈥�) as well as some films that snuck in despite pundits believing they had less of a chance to make it (鈥�The Wolf of Wall Street,鈥� 鈥�August: Osage County鈥�).
And as has been the case in recent years, many of the movies that received the nods are based on literary works of some kind.
In the Best Picture field, one of the leading contenders for the prize, 鈥�12 Years a Slave,鈥� is based on the 1853 memoir by Solomon Northup, who is played by Best Actor nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor. Meanwhile, the movie 鈥�Philomena鈥� is drawn from the book "The Lost Child of Philomena Lee" by journalist Martin Sixsmith, portrayed by actor Steve Coogan in the film.聽 鈥淭he Wolf of Wall Street鈥� used as its source material two memoirs 鈥� "The Wolf of Wall Street" and "Catching the Wolf of Wall Street" 鈥� both written by Jordan Belfort, the movie鈥檚 protagonist. In addition, the movie 鈥淐aptain Phillips鈥� is based on the book 鈥淎 Captain鈥檚 Duty,鈥� which is a memoir written by the movie鈥檚 main character Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks).
鈥�12 Years a Slave鈥� also received nominations for Best Director for Steve McQueen, Best Supporting Actor for Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyong鈥檕 for Best Supporting Actress, and for Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Production Design, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
鈥淧hilomena鈥� got nods for Best Actress for Judi Dench, Best Original Score, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
鈥淲olf of Wall Street鈥� snagged nods for Best Director for Martin Scorsese, Best Actor for Leonardo DiCaprio, Best Supporting Actor for Jonah Hill, and Best Adapted Screenplay. 鈥淧hillips鈥� received a nomination for Best Supporting Actor for Barkhad Abdi as well as nominations for Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
The film 鈥淎ugust: Osage County,鈥� for which Meryl Streep received a Best Actress nomination and actress Julia Roberts received a Best Supporting Actress nod, is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name by Tracy Letts.
Best Animated Feature nominees 鈥淓rnest & Celestine,鈥� 鈥淔rozen,鈥� and 鈥淭he Wind Rises鈥� also all have literary roots. 鈥淓rnest鈥� takes its source material from various books for children written by author and artist Gabrielle Vincent, while 鈥淔rozen鈥� is based on the Hans 海角大神 Andersen legend 鈥淭he Snow Queen.鈥� The film 鈥淲ind鈥� is based on the movie鈥檚 director Hayao Miyazaki鈥檚 manga, which he was inspired to create after reading the book 鈥淭he Wind Has Risen鈥� by Tatsuo Hori.
The movie 鈥淭he Great Gatsby,鈥� based on author F. Scott Fitzgerald鈥檚 classic of the same name, was nominated for Best Costume Design (and also for Best Production Design), as was the film 鈥淭he Invisible Woman,鈥� which used the Charles Dickens biography of the same name by Claire Tomalin as its source.
The film 鈥淭he Book Thief,鈥� which is based on the novel of the same name by Markus Zusak, received a nod for Best Original Score. Meanwhile, the song 鈥淎lone Yet Not Alone鈥� from the movie of the same name was nominated for Best Original Song. 鈥淎lone鈥� is based on the book of the same title by author Tracy Leininger Craven. 鈥淟et It Go鈥� from Frozen received a nomination for Best Original Song as well.
Best Animated Short Film nominee 鈥淩oom on the Broom鈥� is based on the children鈥檚 book of the same name by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler and Best Live Action Short Film nominee 鈥淭he Voorman Problem鈥� is based on the David Mitchell book 鈥渘umber9dream.鈥�
Best Sound Editing nominees 鈥淭he Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug鈥� and 鈥淟one Survivor鈥� both have literary roots as well 鈥� 鈥淗obbit鈥� is based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien and 鈥淪urvivor鈥� is based on the book of the same name by Marcus Luttrell.
Best Visual Effects nominee 鈥淚ron Man 3鈥� is based on the comic book character created by Stan Lee.
