Why the Academy got it wrong this year...

Here's is the full list of Oscar nominations this year:

http://oscar.go.com/nominees

There are snubs and surprises every year, though this year in particular there were egregious snubs and some troubling signs that the Academy just didn't get it right this year. Granted, 2014 was an underwhelming year at the movies, and this showed in the fact there are only 8 nominees for Best Picture instead of 9 or 10. I'm not complaining too much. There were some pleasant surprises and some good films nominated, but this year shows some troubling signs from the Academy.

Among them:

1. Lack of diversity. For the first time since 1998, there are no acting candidates of any color but white. David Oyelowo, who played Martin Luther King in the powerful "Selma," which was tragically overlooked with only 2 nominations (song and picture), was seemingly a shoo-in for a nomination until it was taken by Bradley Cooper in Clint Eastwood's "American Sniper," a solid and true-story film that benefited from a marketing campaign and incessant TV ads. Oyelowo was my top choice for actor this year, even over Michael Keaton's fine (though showy) turn in "Birdman."

In addition, there are no female candidates in the screenplay categories, and the directing category, which just a month ago was buzzing about having the possibility of not just one, but two women in the category - Angelina Jolie and Ana Du Vernay (who would've been the first African-American female nominee in the category), but now all of them are white men, which makes up most of the Academy members. Jolie's "Unbroken" in particular had lost some ground, but DuVernay seemedpoised to make the final cut until it became obvious on Thursday morning that it was being shut out.

2. Lack of creativity. I'm super excited that "The Lego Movie" was nominated for Best Song for the infectious "Everything is Awesome," which still rings in my head everytime I think of the movie, nearly a year later, but its snub from the Animated Film category was the most egregious and shocking of the whole day. It was a lock in this category not only for a nomination, but for the win. I can only think that it's release date way back in February 2014 did more harm than good for it. Some may have just forgot about it.

The second most shocking snub was overlooking the Roger Ebert documentary "Life Itself," one of my top film choices for the year - a fascinating, touching and very emotional tribute to the film critic who set the standard for the rest of us. At least his widow Chazz handled it very well. A classy lady in the midst of disappointment.

3. Lack of commercialism. In 2009 the Academy expanded the list of Best Picture nominees to give more opportunities to films that some of the general public have seen in hopes of increasing ratings and providing a better show. This year's list of nominees, while all fine films, are the lowest grossing bunch since they expanded it, though Eastwood's "American Sniper" is expanding to wide release this weekend and should easily be the top grosser of the list. But we're basically back to a list of films the general public hasn't seen, and if there are cries of white elitism from this year's awards, I can see how it'd be justified.

4. Ho-hum leader board. This year, the front-runner for Best Picture, Director, and several other major categories is a good film from Richard Linklater called "Boyhood." It's a fine film that has been wowing critics (except for maybe this one) since Sundance, but I will tell you, if it wins, it'll be the most underwhelming film to win Best Picture in years. It's good, but the Academy and other groups honoring it are honoring the 12-year effort that Linklater took to make it, rather than the solid, but not superb, end effort. It could suffer a mild backlash, but at the moment it seems to be picking up steam; it was in my top 10 list, but at around 9 or 10. I would take any of the other films nominated as Best Picture. Here's how I would vote if I were an Academy member, but this is just me:

               1. Whiplash
               2.  Selma
               3.  The Grand Budapest Hotel
               4.  Birdman
               5.  The Imitation Game
               6.  The Theory of Everything
               7.  American Sniper
               8.  Boyhood

"Boyhood" is not a terrible film by any means. It may even deserve a writing or editing award. But NOT Best Picture (and while I personally like Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette, I find their nominations dubious here, just saying). As a matter of speaking, I'd actually put "Boyhood" at number 12, after "Gone Girl" (which should've been nominated) and "Foxcatcher" neither of which scored a Best Pic nom and one of my personal favorite films of last year, "Snowpiercer."

Academy, I have a lot to say about this year's awards, because you just got it wrong. A J.K. Simmons win for "Whiplash" in the Supporting Actor category is the best thing about this year, but otherwise, we will look back on 2014 and think, "Boyhood" for Best Picture, really? No people of color? No women, really? Hoping that next year the Academy (not to mention movies themselves) get back on track for a much better year.

Anyway, I'm done for now. Maybe I'm done, maybe not. But I'm still disappointed.