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.

Gone Girl Review

Starring Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry, and Carrie Coon. Directed by David Fincher. Rated R for a scene of bloody violence, some strong sexual content/nudity, and language. 149 minutes.

Aside from The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Gone Girl has been my most anticipated movie of the year. Everything about it has looked great, from the cast to the crew to the trailers. David Fincher’s a great director, Ben Affleck’s a great actor, and I was excited to see Rosamund Pike in a lead role. When all the positive reviews came out I was even more stoked. So, was it as good as I was hoping? Yes, every bit.

Premise: Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) comes home to find that his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) is missing. In the ensuing media circus, he must find out what happened to Amy and convince everyone that he’s not a criminal. But as with all great mysteries, nothing is as it seems.

Pros: Once again, David Fincher proves how good of a director he really is. Ever since Seven was released almost twenty years ago, Fincher has proven again and again that he’s the real deal. His streak continues with Gone Girl, possibly my favorite film of his since Seven. Fincher tells this story (from a screenplay written by the book’s author, Gillian Flynn) very well, keeping the pacing slow but always progressive, bringing the audience further in with each new revelation. He also knows how to make a non-linear story interesting, making sure the flashbacks are just as vital as the present day events. In taking on a popular mystery novel, Fincher could’ve fallen into the trap of losing his voice, but his talent is so great that he makes the film his own.

The two leads were amazing, even better than I thought they would be. Nick Dunne could’ve been a tough sell as a character; he’s nice and charming, but also unambitious and more than a little dishonest. However, Ben Affleck makes him immensely likable, and much of the movie’s success hinges on the fact that he does such a good job playing this complex character. Meanwhile, Rosamund Pike upstages everyone by giving the performance of a lifetime. Giving away the specifics would spoil a lot of the fun, but take my word for it when I say I will be shocked if he is not nominated for Best Actress come Oscar season.

Even with lead actors so marvelous, the supporting cast gets chances to shine, and two in particular stand out. First is Carrie Coon, playing Nick’s sister Margo. She’s fantastic, more than holding her own with Affleck in each of their shared scenes. But even better is Tyler Perry. He plays a lawyer who’s smooth and confident, even when defending those accused of heinous crimes. Every moment he’s onscreen was brilliant and left me with a smile on my face. I almost wish Perry had more screentime just so he could keep surprising me.

Gone Girl is a pretty dark movie, but it also has a lot of great humor. Granted, a lot of the humor is dark and biting, especially coming from Pike. But there’s also some lighter moments, usually supplied by Tyler Perry, who’s on his game throughout. I’m still shocked by funny he was, knowing some of his…other movies.

Cons: There are scenes that could’ve been cut down. This is especially noticeable with Neil Patrick Harris’ character, who has a few too many scenes that are sometimes pretty repetitive. Then again, there were some things that I would like to have seen expanded, so I wouldn’t say it was too long.

Early on, there’s some really bad sound mixing, with the Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross score drowning out some of the dialogue. Don’t worry, it gets better pretty quickly.

Verdict: Gone Girl is a suspenseful, brilliantly acted and directed film that deserves all the praise it gets and more. It earns my very enthusiastic recommendation, and I would love to see Oscar nominations for Fincher, Affleck, Pike, and Gillian Flynn. Brilliant movie, go see it, and then see it three more times.

Score: 9/10