Oscar night is obviously the glamorous finale to awards season, but to be honest, my favorite moment comes a few weeks earlier, when all the nominees are gathered in one room for the Nominees Luncheon. I'm not sure it's actually that much fun to attend, since awards season is an endless blur of parties and hand-shaking for the nominees, but it results in the goofiest, most surprisingly intricate photo of the entire year: The Nominees Class Photo.
Gathering together nearly every single nominee for one picture (Daniel Day-Lewis, notably absent, was stuck home with the flu), from tiny Best Actress contender Quvenzhane Wallis to a whole army of sound designers, the photo is like the most awkward family reunion you can imagine-- if that family also includes some mega-stars like Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lawrence stuck up in the back row. Check out the photo below, and click for the super high-res version so you can scan through it face by face and pick our your favorites.
The guy with the flowing white Gandalf hair, obviously, wins some kind of major prize, though the dude in the purple velour suit standing right behind David O. Russell in the bottom right corner is also a superstar too. I love that Jessica Chastain and Hugh Jackman are standing together. I really love that Sally Field and Joaquin Phoenix-- looking thrilled to be there, as always-- are standing together. I wonder what Amy Adams and Tim Burton chatted about standing up there together on that riser.
Let us know in the comments about your favorite bits of the photo, and of course, see all these people in their finery at the Oscars on February 24.
