Oscar Flashback 2014

Time for my annual day after the Oscars journey back through time to revisit past ceremonies to see if they got it right.  Every year I take ten year leaps back to look at what the Academy thought at then and if time has changed how we look at those movies.

2009 (5 years ago)

            Best Picture: The Hurt Locker

                        Other Nominations: Avatar, The Blind Side, District 9, An Education, Inglourious Basterds, Precious, A Serious Man, Up, Up In The Air

            Best Actor: Jeff Bridges-Crazy Heart

                        Other Nominations: George Clooney-Up In The Air, Colin Firth-A Single Man, Morgan Freeman-Invictus, Jeremy Renner-The Hurt Locker

            Best Actress: Sandra Bullock-The Blind Side

                        Other Nominations: Helen Mirren-The Last Station, Carey Mulligan-An Education, Gabourey Sidibe-Precious, Meryl Streep-Julie & Julia

            This was one of those great years for movies.  I certainly can’t argue with The Hurt Locker as best film, but Avatar, An Education, Inglourious Bastards, Precious and Up In The Air could have all easily won as well.  If I remember right, there was a lot of talk about Up In The Air winning, but I don’t remember The Hurt Locker being a surprise.  The interesting thing is how many of these have kind of been forgotten.  Nobody really talks about these movies much anymore.  Our deposable society continues to make me wonder if there will be such things as classics anymore.  Of all these movies, it seems like the most lasting movie would be Avatar or Up, so looking back maybe we can say one of those two should have won.

            Remember when Gabourey Sidibe got nominated and everyone proclaimed that it was opening the door for over weight girls to get good roles in Hollywood?  Ask Gabby how her career turned out.  I’m not saying she isn’t a good actress, after seeing her in other roles and in interviews, her turn as Precious was amazing, the point is, Hollywood has no interest in casting over weight women unless it’s a comedy or that once in a life time character like Precious.  Let’s look at this year’s nominations… color aside, would Sidibe have been any worse in Emma Stone’s role?  I bet she would have been ten times better since I’ve never seen Emma Stone play anything other than Emma Stone, but I will also bet no casting director in Hollywood would have even considered her.  Every five years or so the Academy decides to throw a bone to an over weight actor or an actor of race and then we get to hear how the industry is changing.  Well, as this year proved, that’s just not the case.  Hollywood is a white male world and the Academy just perpetuates that ideal.

And Sandra Bullock?!?  I feel her getting the award is like Tony Perez getting elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, it kind of lowers the honor for everyone else.  Carey Mulligan was my favorite of this bunch, but of course, Meryl could easily have taken the prize.  Jeff Bridges was given a life time achievement award for a role that nobody even remembers happened.  This was Clooney’s award.

2004 (10 years ago)

            Best Picture: Million Dollar Baby

                        Other Nominations: The Aviator, Finding Neverland, Ray, Sideways

            Best Actor: Jamie Foxx-Ray

                        Other Nominations: Don Cheadle-Hotel Rwanda, Johnny Depp-Finding Neverland, Leonardo DiCaprio-Aviator, Clint Eastwood-Million Dollar Baby

            Best Actress: Hilary Swank-Million Dollar Baby

                        Other Nominations: Annette Bening-Being Julia, Catalina Sandino Moreno-Maria Full of Grace, Imelda Staunton-Vera Drake, Kate Winslet-Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

            I remember everyone going crazy for The Aviator and me just not getting it.  I loved Million Dollar Baby at the time and know that I was ecstatic that it won.  Again, I don’t know that any of these movies have had any type of shelf life.  Sideways is the only one that I continue to hear people talk about.  Finding Neverland was a piece of crap made for TV movie that somehow got put on the big screen.  I have no idea how it got so many nominations.  Same thing goes for Ray, it had a great performance but it was a terrible movie.  All in all, I would say the best movie won.

            Jamie Fox was a no brainer for his performance in Ray, but if I reviewed these awards today I would go on a tirade about how he was just imitating.  There might be something to that argument since I can’t name another role in the last 20 years that Jamie Foxx was memorable in.  The thing is none of the other nominations are very strong.  Don Cheadle was probably the only other one that felt like an award worth turn.  Same goes for the ladies.  There just isn’t much to comment on.  I do find it interesting that the Best Actress category is traditionally filled with a bunch of movies that aren’t mentioned in any other category.  In other words, the movies that are up for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, are also in Best Actor, but most of the Best Actress nominations come from a totally different set of movies.  For example, this year 4 of the 5 Best Actors came from Best Picture nominated movies.  Only one of the Best Actress nominations came from the same list.  Wouldn’t it be nice to see a movie up for Best Picture or Best Screenplay that has a Best Actress in it but not a Best Actor?  Just a little more fodder for those who are upset by the Selma snubs this year.

           

1994 (20 years ago)

            Best Picture: Forrest Gump

                        Other Nominations: Four Weddings and a Funeral, Pulp Fiction, Quiz Show, The Shawshank Redemption

            Best Actor: Tom Hanks-Forrest Gump

                        Other Nominations: Morgan Freeman-The Shawshank Redemption, Nigel Hawthorne-The Madness of King George, Paul Newman-Nobody’s Fool, John Travolta-Pulp Fiction

            Best Actress: Jessica Lang-Blue Sky

                        Other Nominations: Jodie Foster-Nell, Miranda Richardson-Tom & Viv, Winona Ryder-Little Women, Susan Sarandon-The Client

            This year is one of the years that caused me to start this exercise of looking back years later at who got the awards and who should have.  Forrest Gump is a perfectly fine movie that was very fun and very much a cultural phenomenon when it came out, but is there anyone today who would argue it was a better movie than The Shawshank Redemption or Pulp Fiction, two movies that are now considered two of the all time greats?  If we gave this award out today it would be a tight race between Shawshank and Pulp Fiction, I think Shawshank would win, but Gump would not even be in the conversation.  Time has proven that this award went to the wrong movie.

            That being said, I would still give the Best Actor to Hanks.  None of the other performances blew me away.  Morgan Freeman’s role has kind of become iconic, but it’s just Morgan Freeman being Morgan Freeman.  The only of the female performances I’ve seen was Susan Sarandon and nothing about what I remember from The Client was Oscar worthy.  Just to keep the tally going, 3 of the 5 men were in Best Picture movies… none of the women.

1984 (30 years ago)

            Best Picture: Terms of Endearment

                        Other Nominations: The Big Chill, The Dresser, The Right Stuff, Tender Mercies

            Best Actor: Robert Duvall-Tender Mercies

                        Other Nominations: Michael Caine-Educating Rita, Tom Conti-Reuben, Reuben, Tom Courtenay-The Dresser, Albert Finney-The Dresser

            Best Actress: Shirley MacLaine-Terms of Endearment

                        Other Nominations: Jane Alexander-Testament, Meryl Streep-Silkwood, Julie Walters-Educating Rita, Debra Winger-Terms of Endearment

            This is another year where the movie that won was a big deal when it came out but hasn’t really lasted the test of time.  The Big Chill and The Right Stuff seem like they would probably win if we held this race today.  That’s not even mentioning that Silkwood didn’t get a Best Picture nod.  I’m sure there are plenty of people that would argue with me about this one, but honestly, when was the last time you heard someone talk about how great a movie Terms of Endearment was?

            As far as the other awards go, I haven’t heard of hardly any of these movies, forget about seen them.  I know this was before Meryl Streep was Meryl Streep, or at least about when she was becoming Meryl Streep, but I find it kind of surprising that she lost to Shirley MacLaine.  Something tells me it was a life time achievement win for MacLaine, but today Streep’s turn in Silkwood would be a hands down winner.  The other thing I find interesting is that The Big Chill got a Best Picture nob but its star studded cast only got one Supporting Actress nomination.  I would have thought that it would have been recognized for multiple acting performances.

1974 (40 years ago)

            Best Picture: The Godfather Part II

                        Other Nominations: Chinatown, The Conversation, Lenny, The Towering Inferno

            Best Actor: Art Carney-Harry and Tonto

                        Other Nominations: Albert Finney-Murder on the Orient Express, Dustin Hoffman-Lenny, Jack Nicholson-Chinatown, Al Pacino-The Godfather Part II

            Best Actress: Ellen Burstyn-Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore

                        Other Nominations: Diahann Carroll-Claudine, Faye Dunaway-Chinatown, Valerie Perrine-Lenny, Gena Rowlands-A Woman Under the Influence

            Um… we’re going to skip over the Best Picture.  It sucks for Chinatown that it was released the same year as The Godfather Part II, but anyone who argues that The Godfather shouldn’t have won it insane.  And I’m just going to ignore that Towering Inferno is on this list.  What really blows my mind this year is the Best Actor award.  This has to be one of the biggest upsets in the history of the Oscars.  I can only assume that this was a life time achievement style win for Carney, but look at the performances he was up against.  Pacino in The Godfather, Nicholson in Chinatown, Hoffman in Lenny, Finney in Orient Express.  These are some of the greatest performances in film and they lost to a movie I’ve never heard of.  If this award is given out today I would think that Nicholson would win.  But, of all these performances… Carney?  Really?  This is beyond silly.

1964 (50 years ago)

            Best Picture: My Fair Lady

                        Other Nominations: Becket, Dr. Strangelove, Mary Poppins, Zorba the Greek

            Best Actor: Rex Harrison-My Fair Lady

                        Other Nominations: Richard Burton-Becket, Peter O’Toole-Becket, Anthony Quinn-Zorba the Greek, Peter Sellers-Dr. Strangelove

            Best Actress: Julie Andrews-Mary Poppins

                        Other Nominations: Anne Bancroft-The Pumpkin Eater, Sophia Loren-Marriage Italian Style, Debbie Reynolds-The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Kim Stanley-Séance on a Wet Afternoon

            Another fantastic year in film with four of these being all time classics and a third that has two great performances.  For me Dr. Strangelove is clearly the best of this bunch, but pretty much anyone could argue that My Fair Lady and Mary Poppins should win here.  Zorba the Greek has its following as well.  My Fair Lady isn’t my cup of tea but I really can’t argue with it winning.  I guess the same goes for Rex Harrison winning Best Actor, but I really find it hard to say anyone in this group was better than Peter Sellers.  He played three roles in the film and made them so distinct there is never a moment where you realize he’s doing it.  It is one of the best performances in film history, let alone of 1964.  As far as the women go… aside from Julie Andrews, I have no idea what these film are.  Once again, 5 out of 5 male nominations from Best Picture, one woman.  So far this post 21 men and 9 ladies.

1954 (60 years ago)

            Best Picture: On the Waterfront

                        Other Nominations: The Caine Mutiny, The Country Girl, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Three Coins in the Fountain

            Best Actor: Marlon Brando-On the Waterfront

                        Other Nominations: Humphrey Bogart-The Caine Mutiny, Bing Crosby-The Country Girl, James Mason-A Star is Born, Dan O’Herlihy-Robinson Crusoe

            Best Actress: Grace Kelly-The Country Girl

                        Other Nominations: Dorothy Dandridge-Carmen Jones, Judy Garland-A Star is Born, Audrey Hepburn-Sabrina, Jane Wyman-Magnificent Obsession

            This is turning out to be quite a run of ceremonies.  I would like to say that On the Waterfront is the hands down winner here, but The Caine Mutiny and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers could certainly argue they deserve the prize as well.  In my attempts to be as informed for this post as possible I saw Three Coins in the Fountain… it doesn’t hold up and is by no standards an Oscar movie, but the other movies are great.  I’m pretty sure no one will argue the Best Actor and Actress awards, even though Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina was more in lines with my taste than Grace Kelly.

1944 (70 years ago)

            Best Picture: Going My Way

                        Other Nominations: Double Indemnity, Gaslight, Since You Went Away, Wilson

            Best Actor: Bing Crosby- Going My Way

                        Other Nominations: Charles Boyer-Gaslight, Barry Fitzgerald-Going My Way, Cary Grant-None But the Lonely Heart, Alexander Knox-Wilson

            Best Actress: Ingrid Bergman-Gaslight

                        Other Nominations: Claudette Colbert-Since You Went Away, Bette Davis-Mr. Skeffington, Greer Garson-Mrs. Parkington, Barbara Stanwyck-Double Indemnity

            This is obviously a ceremony that was a product of the era in movie making.  Going My Way is a song and dance musical that is totally out of style today and a movie that nobody would even think of making, forget about nominating, in today’s Hollywood.  There is zero doubt in my mind that if this was voted on today Double Indemnity would win.  Gaslight would probably run a distant second, even thought it is a well acted, very creepy movie.  I think the same would go for the Best Acting award.  I really can’t imagine Bing Crosby beating out Carey Grant or Charles Boyer if we voted today.  I’m not sure what that really says about Going My Way as a movie.  The fact that it was rewarded in an era where this was a popular style of movie speaks to how well made it was but at the same time it obviously isn’t timeless, a trait I think is important when considering movie greatness.  I don’t really have to say anything about Bergman.  She was fantastic in Gaslight.

1934 (80 years ago)

            Best Picture: It Happened One Night

                        Other Nominations: The Barretts of Wimpole Street, Cleopatra, Flirtation Walk, The Gay Divorcee, Here Comes the Navy, The House of Rothschild, Imitation of Life, One Night of Love, The Thin Man, Viva Villa!, The White Parade

            Best Actor: Clark Gable-It Happened One Night

                        Other Nominations: Frank Morgan-The Affairs of Cellini, William Powell-The Thin Man

            Best Actress: Claudette Colbert-It Happened One Night

                        Other Nominations: Bette Davis-Of Human Bondage, Grace Moore-One Night of Love, Norma Shearer-The Barretts of Wimpole Street

            Part of the fun of doing this post is being able to see what films have been able to last the test of time.  When you get to the 30’s, very few of the films stand up.  The Thin Man was an extremely popular series of movies at the time, but watching it now, it just doesn’t hold up.  Same goes for Bette Davis in Of Human Bondage.  It just isn’t good acting by our standards today.  It Happened One Night is a classic for a reason, though.  Of all these movies, this one stands out and still feels like it works today.  A lot of it feels like cliché, but then you realize that this is the movie that every rom-com took its clichés from.  The chemistry between Gable and Colbert feels fresh and real, something that wasn’t always the case in the early day of film.  These weren’t caricatures like in Cleopatra, these felt like real people.  It was funny and interesting and clearly the Best Picture.

            By the way, the final tally over the ceremonies that I wrote about… out of 43 nominations 30 men came from Best Picture nominations, and only 15 woman.  Do with that what you will.

87th Annual Academy Awards

It’s my favorite time of year, Oscar season!  Due to some major life events (new career, wedding planning, moving, starting a new blog about old movies didwejustwatchthesamemovie.com) I am as unprepared to write this post as I have ever been.  But who am I to let facts and preparation get in the way of my opinions?  I love to document my year in moving watching and this is the best, most fun way to accomplish that.  There will be a lot of caveats this year, but here are my thoughts on this year’s awards…

Best Cinematography

Nominations: Birdman (Emmanuel Lubezki), The Grand Budapest Hotel (Robert Yeoman), Ida (Lukasz Zai and Ryszard Lenczewski), Mr. Turner (Dick Pope), Unbroken (Roger Deakins)

Who I Want To Win: Lukasz Zai and Ryszard Lenczewski

            Who I Think Will Win: Emmanuel Lubezki

            Who Won: Emmanuel Lubezki

            This category kills me to write about.  In a year filled with okay movies, but nothing great, this category is stacked with great work.  If you have ever read my Oscar posts, you know of my deep love and appreciation of Roger Deakins work and my campaigns to have the many wrongs done to him by the Academy assuaged with his first award, but I didn’t get to see Unbroken, so I can’t say with good conscience that I want him to win.  If his name gets called on Sunday I will be ecstatic, but this is the first year since Skyfall that I don’t think he should win.  It looks like Lubezki is a shoe in for back to back wins, and while Birdman is a very interesting visual movie, I can’t help but feel it’s a stunt, like giving the best actor award to someone doing an imitation of a handicapped person (we’ll get to that later).  The steady cam, one camera, one take, style is impressive and fun to watch but I feel that people will just vote for it because they don’t see it much, not that they really understand the technical aspects of it.  As much as I enjoyed Birdman and was impressed by the camera work, there is very little question in my mind that Ida should get this award.  It’s a small foreign film that very few people probably saw.  It’s streaming on Netflix, take the time to watch it.  Like my fiancé commented, you could pause the movie at any point and have an amazing still picture, something you would frame and hang on your living room wall.  You could see the time and care that went into framing every shot perfectly.  The movie is an amazing piece of visual art and should be rewarded for its accomplishments.

Best Animated Feature

            Nominations: Big Hero 6, The Boxtrolls, How to Train your Dragon 2, Song of the Sea, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

            Who I Want To Win: Anyone except Big Hero 6

            Who I Think Will Win: Big Hero 6

            Who Won: Big Hero Six

            I really shouldn’t be writing about this category, I haven’t seen one of these films.  Still, I feel like I have a bit to say no matter how uninformed I may be.  The Oscar snub that incensed me the most this year was hands down The Lego Movie.  I don’t think there was a bigger consensus in all of film.  Everyone enjoyed this film.  It crushed everything at the box office, critics raved about it, it was funny and well done.  Yet, it doesn’t get a nomination.  How is that possible? The Lego Movie should be winning this award this year.  That being said, it feels like this category is in place just so Disney/Pixar can win an Oscar every year.  Again, I haven’t seen any of these movies, Big Hero 6 might be great, and I do love Disney and Pixar movies, but I would love to see a non-Disney movie win here.   There is quality animation and storytelling going on in places other than Burbank and Emeryville.  Maybe this isn’t the year for me to be arguing this, but I’d love to see a surprise win here.

Best Documentary Feature

            Nominations: CitizenFour, Finding Vivian Maier, Last Days in Vietnam, The Salt of the Earth, Virunga

            Who I Want To Win: Finding Vivian Maier

            Who I Think Will Win: CitizenFour

            Who Won: CitizenFour

            From everything I am hearing CitizenFour is a sure thing.  It’s everything the Academy loves in its documentary, a cause they can get behind.  CitizenFour is the story of Edward Snowden and the NSA spying.  Everything I hear also says this isn’t much of a movie.  The story may be a big deal, so big that the movie is getting a lot of notice, but there really isn’t much film making going on.  Virunga seems like a much better choice.  It’s a great cause that Hollywood can get behind and it is a beautiful piece of film.  The shots of the African wilderness are breathtaking and the story is suspenseful and moving.  My favorite of these films by far, though, was Finding Vivian Maier.  It’s a pretty crazy story about a fascinating person.  It’s about a filmmaker who stumbles across tons of old photos.  The movie follows his journey to find out who the photographer was and get her work into museums where they belong.  There are a few wonderful twists and the photography is truly amazing.

Best Original Screenplay

            Nominations: Birdman, Boyhood, Foxcatcher, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Nightcrawler

            Who I Want To Win: The Grand Budapest Hotel

            Who I Think Will Win: The Grand Budapest Hotel

            Who Won: Birdman

            Wait… there was a screenplay for Boyhood?  You are going to see a theme start to emerge in this post, a theme dealing with my strong dislike of Boyhood and everything to do with it.  There always seems to be one movie every year that I feel is getting WAY more attention then it deserves.  Boyhood is that movie this year.  There was nothing interesting or well written about this movie.  The film was filmed over 15 years and it felt like it was written over those years as well, plot points just popping up with no previous set up, characters doing things that didn’t go along with anything we knew about them previously.  Nothing about this film, le alone it’s writing, says Oscar worthy.

            Everything seems to be pointing towards a big night for Birdman, but Best Screenplay is usually where we see quirky, original movies get some recognition.  The Grand Budapest Hotel was another wonderful, funny, heartwarming, film from Wes Anderson.  It’s weird to me that Anderson hasn’t won in this category, and even weirder that he was only nominated one other time.  This feels like the movie that will give Anderson the Academy credit he deserves for being one of the most original and quirky film makers in Hollywood.

Best Adapted Screenplay

            Nominations: American Sniper, The Imitation Game, Inherent Vice, The Theory of Everything, Whiplash

            Who I Want To Win: Inherent Vice

            Who I Think Will Win: Whiplash

            Who Won: The Imitation Game

            This is an interesting category and I really wish that I had seen a few more of these films so I could weigh in a bit more.  The two movies I did see in this category I hated.  The Theory of Everything is everything that makes biopics something to avoid.  There is nothing interesting or compelling about this movie, but the Academy loves its biopics, so here it is. 

            Whiplash I could probably write a full post about.  It kind of bothers me how much people love this movie because the message is so disturbing.  Yes, the acting is great, but the premise and how the movie is resolved is so God awful, I can only pray it doesn’t win.  Unfortunately, the writing categories are where movies critics like but don’t stand a chance of winning the big prize get rewarded.  I have a creeping suspicion that Whiplash will win this, but I am praying it doesn’t.

            I have a small dash of hope that American Sniper pulls out a win.  People are starting to say its popularity at the box office may let it creep into contention for the big prize.  I don’t think it has a shot at that, so maybe they throw Clint this bone.  I would love to see Inherent Vice win based on nothing else than I loved the book.  Yes, usually that means I will hate the movie, but it’s Paul Thomas Anderson, so how bad could it really be?

Best Supporting Actress

            Nominations: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood), Laura Dern (Wild), Keira Knightley (The Imitation Game), Emma Stone (Birdman), Meryl Streep (Into The Woods)

            Who I Want To Win: Emma Stone

            Who I Think Will Win: Laura Dern

            Who Won: Patricia Arquette

            There are times when I watch a movie and feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone or something, watching a completely different movie than the rest of the world.  Boyhood gave me this feeling.  I’ve heard plenty of mixed reviews about the movie as a whole, but the one thing everyone seems to agree on is how amazing Patricia Arquette was.  I must have watched a version of the movie pieced together with outtakes and sold as the real thing because I thought she was horrible (as was everyone in this movie).  She was stiff as a board, had zero charisma, and delivered her lines like she was reading them off a cue card.  The scenes where she broke into crying fits felt so incredibly forced and fake it made the scene feel weird.  Is she supposed to be crying or laughing?  I didn’t believe a single person in this movie was real and she was the worst of the bunch.  I refuse to believe that she is a serious contender for this award.  I’m hoping that Laura Dern sneaks in, even though I hear she is only in Wild for 5 minutes, something I would usually rant about being an injustice, just so I can not feel anymore off by thinking Arquette is a horrible actress.

            I put Emma Stone as the one I want to win simply because Birdman was the only of these movies I saw other than Boyhood.  There’s part of me that really wanted to predict Streep will win this because we all know how much the Academy loves her.  It’s hard to pick anyone else in a race that Streep is running in, but on the other hand, absolutely nobody is talking about this movie or this performance, so really, what are her chances?

Best Supporting Actor

            Nominations: Robert Duvall (The Judge), Ethan Hawke (Boyhood), Edward Norton (Birdman), Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher), J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

            Who I Want To Win: Edward Norton

            Who I Think Will Win: J. K. Simmons

            Who Won: J.K. Simmons

            There isn’t really much to say about this one.  Simmons is going to win and I guess I really don’t have much of an issue with that.  He’s a great actor and, as much as I hated the movie, he was pretty amazing in it.  I certainly enjoyed Norton in Birdman more, though.  I thought he was great.  It’s been a while since he has had a quality role and I would love to see him get recognized for it.  The noise you hear if for some odd reason Ethan Hawke wins will be my brain exploding.

Best Actress

            Nominations: Marion Cotillard (Two Days, One Night), Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything), Julianne Moore (Still Alice), Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl), Reese Witherspoon (Wild).

            Who I Want to Win: Rosamund Pike

            Who I Think Will Win: Julianne Moore

            Who Won: Julianne Moore

            I got nothing… I didn’t see any of these movies.  I really liked the book, Gone Girl and David Fincher is one of my favorite directors, so I’ll be routing for Rosamund Pike.  I hear Julianne Moore will get the award, though. 

Best Actor

            Nominations: Steve Carell (Foxcatcher), Bradley Cooper (American Sniper), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game), Michael Keaton (Birdman), Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything)

            Who I Want to Win: Michael Keaton

            Who I Think Will Win: Eddie Redmayne

            Who Won: Eddie Redmayne

            I write this thing once a year, so I’m never sure if I should assume people know some of my Oscar theories or if I should jump up on the same soap box every year.  It looks like Eddie Redmayne is going to win this, he hit the Oscar daily double of a role that is a famous person and a handicapped person.  The Academy loves, LOVES people who can imitate other famous people.  So much so that it makes the snub of David Oyelowo’s turn as Martin Luther King Jr appear to be nothing but racism.  The only thing the Academy loves more than famous imitations is actors who take on handicaps.  Put the two together and Eddie Redmayne is pretty unbeatable.  Once again, this year I am going to have to enact my gimmick theory. The theory says that people fawn over people who play gimmick roles even though those gimmick roles are easier to make interesting than a straight role.  In other words, it’s not hard to pull of a character that comes with set traits that make them interesting, like being a ALS patient or being mentally disabled, you’re given a set of behaviors that you just have to mimic.  Taking a normal person off a page and making them interesting with out a bunch of clichés to play off of is much more skillful.  Eddie Redmayne did a great imitation but I don’t think imitation is great acting.

            Michael Keaton is my pick this year.  I loved the job he did.  Some may argue that he was essentially just playing himself, but there was a bit of over the top edge his character had that made him interesting.  It was a subtle bit of craziness that gave the movie character.  I wouldn’t mind if Bradley Cooper wins either.  Yes, he’s playing a real life person, but not someone who everyone knows or could pick out of a crowd.  I didn’t see the movie, but I’ve been a fan of Cooper since his Alias days, and he’s never really had a bad role.

Best Director

            Nominations: Alejandro G. Inarritu (Birdman), Richard Linklater (Boyhood), Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher), Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel), Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game)

            Who I Want To Win: Wes Anderson

            Who I Think Will Win: Alejandro G. Inarritu

            Who Won: Alejandro G. Inarritu

            I will save my Boyhood tirad for one more segment, but let’s just say that I’m not the biggest fan of Richard Linklater’s arty films.  Dazed and Confused is great, School of Rock is funny, Bernie was really interesting, but all the shit that he gets nominated for just sucks.  Yes, he shot the movie over 15 years, but that was a choice not a display of directing skill.  I really hope the Academy doesn’t buy into that gimmick and give him the award.  I really want to see Wes Anderson walk away with this.  I love all his stuff and really think he deserves to be awarded for the creative and original style he infuses into his movies.  He does things that are different and stylistic and interesting, the type of stuff that the Academy should be trying to promote in film making.  That being said, I think that Birdman is going to be the big winner and walk away with a bunch of awards, the director nod being one of them.

Best Picture

            Nominations: American Sniper, Birdman, Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, Selma, The Theory of Everything, Whiplash

            Who I Want To Win: The Grand Budapest Hotel

            Who I Think Will Win: Birdman

            Who Won: Birdman

            This was a pretty weak year for movies.  I liked a few of these nominations, one was a well made movie with a horrible message, I hated a couple too, but nothing blew my mind.  It’s weird to compare this years crop to last year where I felt that any of those films could have won the award and I was moved by many of them.  I wish a movie or two from last year could have been moved to this year to balance things out, but that’s not how this works.  I didn’t get a chance to see American Sniper which seems to be the public’s choice.  I didn’t see The Imitation Game either, which I heard good things about, or Selma, which I would love to see win just because of all the hubbub around it.  All the others left a lot to be desired.

            Birdman is a fun, entertaining movie that makes some interesting style decisions but really doesn’t say much at the end of the day.  I feel like most years this movie wouldn’t even have been talked about come Oscar time, but the weak field has made it a favorite.  I think it’s going to win the big prize, mostly because I refuse to believe that Boyhood is award caliber film.  I loved the performances in this movie and was impressed by the one camera, one take; the way they made time move while never making a cut was fun to watch.

            Boyhood is not as bad a movie as I have been making it out so far in this post, but it certainly should not be a highly nominated and heralded film.  I don’t care how many years it took to shot, it wasn’t well acted, it wasn’t well written, and it wasn’t interesting at all.  This is a gimmick movie and all these critics and award givers that tell you it is great are just buying into the gimmick.  If this movie cast 4 different people in the boy’s role and used special effects to age the other actors, nobody would be talking about this movie.

            The Grand Budapest Hotel was probably my favorite movie of this bunch.  I really enjoy Wes Andserson’s work.  This isn’t his best movie, which makes me wonder why it has gotten so much more attention then his other stuff, but it still has all the elements that make Anderson’s stuff so much fun.  I’m sure his stylistic approach might turn some people off, but I think it’s the type of film making that Hollywood should be promoting. 

            The Theory of Everything is a horrible cookie cutter biopic.  It’s the kind of stuff that the Academy seems to love and I hate.  I’m sure there is an interesting story somewhere in there, Stephen Hawking is an amazing enough person that there has to be a movie in there somewhere, but this movie didn’t find it.  I get why it got nominated, but I can’t support any of those reasons.  To me, this just isn’t good film making.

            Whiplash was the movie that angered me the most.  Not because of the acting or the film making, all of that was top notch.  It was the movie’s message that had be tied in knots.  Mental and physical abuse is more than okay, it creates genius, is the only thing one can take from the movie.  I wanted so much to walk away from this film feeling that the abuse the main character was put through would be painted as the horrible underbelly of the world he was trying to be a part of, but what the movie really presented is that the abuse is essential to being great.  I’m sorry, but there is a clear line between hard work and abuse.  You do not need to cross that line to be great, hard work will do just fine.  The one scene that really pushed me over the edge, other than the ending which validated the character who should have been the movie’s villain, was when the main character gets into a car crash that flips his car and he climbs out of the car, runs to the theater, and tries to perform.  It was absurd.  I really wish all the people who loved the performances in this movie would talk about the horrible message it contains as well.