Oscar noms as bland and predictable (and white) as ever

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      Remember Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close? No? Me neither.

      What an interesting fate for a film that was rush-released in 2011 to secure its eligibility for that year's Oscar race.

      I predict the same end for at least one of the movies nominated for the 2015 Academy Awards, which were announced this morning (January 15). Feel free to guess which one.

      A few other thoughts: of the movies nominated for best film, notwithstanding that I haven't seen Selma, only one is equal to or better than Foxcatcher, which was ignored.

      Another two are best described as tricked-out but soulless exercises in technical virtuosity.

      Two more are dreary BBC-grade period pieces that fail to rise above their doggedly religious adherence to middlebrow commercial filmmaking.

      Yet another is an impressively written and performed pas-de-deux with a remarkably faulty moral centre.

      But most egregious of all is the absence from any major categories of Inherent Vice, in which an American filmmaker and the most talented male screen actor on the planet collaborate on their second masterpiece together. But neither Paul Thomas Anderson nor Joaquin Phoenix were recognized by "the Academy".  

      As with the bizarre contradiction of nominating Foxcatcher director Bennett Miller while snubbing the film itself, expect to see justifiable outrage over the absence of Selma's Ava DuVernay from the best director category—echoing the controversy that followed this week's DGA nominations. In fact, there isn't a single African American name in any major category.

      Other notable exclusions: Jennifer Aniston for Cake—"Maybe because she's currently celebrating a decade of complaining about talking about her split with Brad Pitt," in the not unwise words of my colleague, Mr. Craig Takeuchi—and The Lego Movie for best animated feature. Mind you, The Lego Movie game me a fucking migraine. 

      Finally, I like Keira Knightley, but she stunk the place up in The Imitation Game.

      Best film:

      American Sniper
      Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
      Boyhood
      The Grand Budapest Hotel
      The Imitation Game
      Selma
      The Theory of Everything
      Whiplash

      Best director:

      Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
      Richard Linklater (Boyhood)
      Alejandro G Inarritu (Birdman)
      Morten Tyldum (The Theory of Everything)
      Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher)

      Best actor:

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

      Best actress:

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

      Best Supporting Actor:

      Robert Duvall (The Judge)
      Ethan Hawke (Boyhood)
      Edward Norton (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance))
      Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher)
      JK Simmons (Whiplash)

      Best Supporting Actress:

      Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)
      Laura Dern (Wild)
      Keira Knightley (The Imitation Game)
      Emma Stone (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance))
      Meryl Streep (Into the Woods)

      Cinematography:

      Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
      The Grand Budapest Hotel
      Ida
      Mr Turner
      Unbroken

      Original Screenplay:

      Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
      Boyhood
      Foxcatcher
      The Grand Budapest Hotel
      Nightcrawler

      Documentary Feature:

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

      Foreign Language Film:

      Leviathan
      Tangerines
      Timbuktu
      Wild Tales

      Adapted Screenplay:

      American Sniper
      The Imitation Game
      Inherent Vice
      The Theory of Everything
      Whiplash

      Film Editing:

      American Sniper
      Boyhood
      The Grand Budapest Hotel
      The Imitation Game
      Whiplash

      Animated Feature Film:

      Original Song:

      "Everything is Awesome" (Lego Movie)
      "Glory" (Selma)
      "Grateful" (Beyond the Lights)
      "I'm Not Going to Miss You" (Glen Campbell... I'll Be Me)
      "Lost Stars" (Begin Again)

      Original Score:

      Alexandre Desplat (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
      Alexandre Desplat (The Imitation Game)
      Hans Zimmer (Interstellar)
      Gary Yershon (Mr Turner)
      Jóhann Jóhannsson (The Theory of Everything)

      Costume Design:

      The Grand Budapest Hotel
      Inherent Vice
      Into the Woods
      Maleficent
      Mr Turner


      Comments

      7 Comments

      Clowny Clown

      Jan 15, 2015 at 10:44am

      "Inherent Vice" was fun (kind of a slightly surreal stoner comedy, B-movie homage), but no masterpiece.

      Adrian Mack

      Jan 15, 2015 at 10:53am

      Okay, but it still shits from a great height on at least six of the nominees for best film.

      shoegazer

      Jan 15, 2015 at 1:50pm

      @Adrian Mack...I think some of it landed in my popcorn at Grand Budapest Hotel.

      Adrian Mack

      Jan 15, 2015 at 2:12pm

      HA!

      Brian

      Jan 15, 2015 at 5:39pm

      Too Hollywood, yes (None of these movies were on the Best Movies of the Year lists).

      Racism, I doubt it (Remember, 12 Years a Slave? A horribly made, boring movie, which no-one really enjoyed, and contain absolutely zero new information about that period).

      As always, it comes down to who you know....

      out at night

      Jan 15, 2015 at 8:28pm

      American Sniper, right? Another mediocre Clint Eastwood movie that no one really asked for.

      Adrian Mack

      Jan 16, 2015 at 6:42am

      @out at night, yeah, that one.