My Reaction to the Oscar Nominees

The Oscars are always one of my favorite events of year. Even when I don’t agree with some of the nominees and winners, it’s still a fun show and I love having a celebration of the year in film. Well, the nominees for the 87th Academy Awards were announced a few days ago, and I’ve finally gotten all my thoughts on them straight.

DISCLAIMER: All film is subjective, so just like my reviews this list will be completely opinion-based.

BEST PICTURE

American Sniper: This should definitely not be on here. Great lead performance, bad movie.

Birdman: Terrific. This belongs here, and is probably gonna be the winner.

Boyhood: This is my pick for most overrated movie of the year. It wasn’t bad, but I wasn’t enthralled by it like most people.

The Grand Budapest Hotel: Sure, why not?

The Imitation Game: My favorite movie on this list, but it doesn’t have a strong chance of winning.

Selma: CONTROVERSY: It was just okay. Not worth a nomination in my opinion.

The Theory of Everything: Very nice to see this nominated.

Whiplash: Even nicer to see this nominated. One of the best movies of the year, and it gets better every time I see it. If I haven’t seen it I won’t comment.

Will win: Either Birdman or Boyhood

Should win: The Imitation Game

BEST ACTOR

Steve Carrell, Foxcatcher

Bradley Cooper, American Sniper: In a weaker year, I would’ve put him on here. But this was a stacked year, and I would rather have seen David Oyelowo or Jake Gyllenhaal in his spot.

Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game: He belongs here for sure.

Michael Keaton, Birdman: So does he. One of Keaton’s best performances.

Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything: Yet another extremely strong contender. This is Redmayne’s best performance to date.

Will and should win: Michael Keaton, Birdman

BEST ACTRESS

Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night

Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything: I loved her performance. She belongs her for sure.

Julianne Moore, Still Alice

Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl: YES YES YES!! I would’ve freaked out if she wasn’t nominated.

Reese Witherspoon, Wild

Will win: Julianne Moore, Still Alice

Should win: Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Robert Duvall, The Judge: He’s got no chance, but he was the best part of that movie and deserves a nomination.

Ethan Hawke, Boyhood: He should be on here. The parents in Boyhood were much more compelling than Mason.

Edward Norton, Birdman: Another great performance in a movie filled with them.

Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher

J.K. Simmons, Whiplash: This is a very strong category, but I don’t see how he doesn’t win.

Will and should win: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Patricia Arquette, Boyhood: She and Ethan Hawke made the movie watchable for me. That enough is worth win.

Laura Dern, Wild

Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game: Knightley has come a long way in the last few years, and this is a vindication of all her efforts.

Emma Stone, Birdman: She was terrific.

Meryl Streep, Into the Woods: I didn’t like the movie. It was about an hour too long. But Streep was great, same as always.

Will and should win: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM: I don’t like this category. It exists only to give the Academy an excuse not to nominate animated films for Best Picture. BUT HOW THE HELL DOES THE LEGO MOVIE NOT GET NOMINATED? I don’t use the term snub lightly, but this is a snub.

Big Hero 6: I loved it. Lots of fun, and yet another credit to Disney.

The Boxtrolls: I enjoyed it, and it’s nice to see it get nominated.

How to Train Your Dragon 2: Without The Lego Movie in competition, this is my clear favorite.

Song of the Sea

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

Will and should win: How to Train Your Dragon 2

BEST DIRECTOR

Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Birdman: This is the first time that I can honestly say he did a great job directing. He did a truly amazing job.

Richard Linklater, Boyhood: I wouldn’t put him on here. I don’t think he did a very good job creating a compelling story. But I appreciate his ambition.

Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher

Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel: A good one for Anderson to get nominated for.

Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game: It wasn’t very showy direction, but Tyldum told this story very well and pulled good performances out of everyone.

Will and should win: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Birdman

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Jason Hall, American Sniper: No thanks.

Graham Moore, The Imitation Game: I’m surprised this is Moore’s first screenplay. He did a fantastic job.

Paul Thomas Anderson, Inherent Vice: I love PTA, but this screenplay was not a strong one.

Anthony McCarten, The Theory of Everything: A great screenplay. He deserves the nomination.

Damien Chazelle, Whiplash: Yet another great screenplay.

Will win: Too close to call.

Should win: Graham Moore, The Imitation Game

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. and Armando Bo, Birdman: With a movie this good, how can the screenplay not be nominated?

Richard Linklater, Boyhood: I wouldn’t give it to him, but I understand why he’s nominated. I was an ambitious effort.

E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman, Foxcatcher

Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness (story), The Grand Budapest Hotel: I’m kind of surprised to see this get so many nominations, but I can’t complain.

Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler: A better movie than any of these, and yet this is its only nomination. Glad to see it get something.

Will win: All those unpronounceable names, Birdman

Should win: Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler

So, there’s all the big ones. I might not agree with all the Academy’s decisions, but that doesn’t matter. Like all art forms, film is subjective, and it’s nice to see that people have varying opinions. I’m sure this year’s show will be a lot of fun, especially with all of the surprises. The Lego Movie not getting nominated is insane, though.

“Inherent Vice”

Paul Thomas Anderson is one of my favorite directors working today. Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and There Will Be Blood are all masterpieces that I consider his trinity of greatness. I also enjoy Hard Eight and Punch-Drunk Love, and while I wasn’t thrilled with The Master it was still a decent movie that had some powerhouse performances (like all Anderson films). So, I bet you can guess that Inherent Vice was one of my most anticipated movies of 2014 from the moment I saw the trailer. It looked funny, it looked cool, and above all it looked interesting. The film has been dividing critics and audiences, but that didn’t do much to dampen my excitement. After all, PT made a movie about oil of all things one of the most engaging of the 2000s. I’d be shocked if he couldn’t make a movie about a hippie-PI interesting. Well, even the greats will sometimes falter, and Inherent Vice  is Paul Thomas Anderson’s first genuine miss.

Premise: Drug-addled hippie/private investigator Doc Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) is visited by his ex-girlfriend Shasta (Katherine Waterson) and is given a new assignment; prevent the imminent kidnapping of her current lover.

And from that moment on, Inherent Vice goes out of its way to defy any attempt at coherence.

Pros: My pros and cons are pretty straightforward, so I’m gonna try to keep this one to the point.

One of Paul Thomas Anderson’s greatest strengths is his ability to direct actors. The crown jewel is probably Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood, where he gives one of the best performances I’ve ever seen in any movie. Inherent Vice sees PT return to his old proving ground of ensemble casts, and from top to bottom everyone shines. Joaquin Phoenix in particular does such a good job that he provides rays of sunshine in an otherwise un-engaging movie. Out of the supporting cast, Josh Brolin is probably the standout, giving what might be his best performance since No Country for Old Men. It’s also nice see Martin Short as an insane dentist and the criminally underrated Michael K. Williams (Chalky White from Boardwalk Empire) as a black power activist. All in all, it was a great group of actors giving great performances, which were down to both their own talents and Anderson’s ability to play to their strengths.

The late 60s/early 70s vibe was pretty cool. Doc himself is a Haight-Ashbury reject who can’t seem to get that the days of the hippie are over, and he serves as a reminder of a time long gone. It’s also fun to see him go around Nixon-era L.A. and interact with a bunch of interesting (in-theory) people. As the icing on the cake, the music by Jonny Greenwood fits into the movie and does a good job of evoking the time period.

Cons: Inherent Vice‘s downfall ultimately lies in the storytelling. First of all, there’s way too much going on. Granted, stories with a lot going on aren’t exactly out of Anderson’s wheelhouse. But here we get a story that’s too complicated for its own good. Every scene feels like a self-contained vignette has no discernible connection to anything else that’s happening, and the plot jumps around so frequently that even the most thorough summary couldn’t help me comprehend it. There’s also way too characters. Now, a large cast can work, but most of these characters show up for a few minutes, complicate the plot by sending Doc to do something that makes no sense, and leave with no fanfare. The worst part is you will need to remember all of their strange names to have a clue as to what’s going on (trust me, you won’t). In addition, a lot of the movie is just awkward, with long pauses between dialogue and scenes or shots that go on for too long with too little happening. Finally, the pacing is downright arthritic, and the movie ends up feeling dragged out far beyond its means. Look, I understand wanting to do a complex story, but when it’s too complicated for no real reason, even your smartest viewers will start to lose interest.

That shot is from probably the only scene where Doc draws a gun. IN A DETECTIVE MOVIE.

Verdict: I’ve heard some people call Inherent Vice an endurance test, and they’ve hit the nail on the head. Even with great acting and a nice period vibe, the movie can’t overcome its weak storytelling, something I could’ve scarcely imagined saying about a Paul Thomas Anderson film a few weeks ago. That being said, Inherent Vice is not a horrible movie. As I said before, it did some things very well. But it’s easily PT’s worst film and is one of 2014’s biggest disappointments.

Score: 5/10