Oscar Nominations 2015

Well, the news has finally broken; the Oscar nominations have been announced. And with a month or two left for film fans to bicker back and forth on who should win, it’s only traditional I should throw my hat into the ring, and give you my take on things. So, just briefly, I'm going to be running down for each of the major categories the film I want to win, and which film will most likely win, with reasons attached. I'm not going to cover the entire cavalcade of categories, because I mean really, who cares about the Oscar for best costume design?

Best Picture

Who I want to win: Birdman

Oh Birdman, why couldn't you have come out slightly earlier? If anyone was looking through my Top 5 of 2014, feeling that a lot of the entries were a bit lacklustre, it’s because they were. Had I have actually seen Birdman last year, or if it had even been fucking released in Britain last year, I would have given it my film of the year position, in place of The Imitation Game. But I guess we can’t change our past. Birdman is a film I find rather difficult to describe; it’s really something that should just be seen rather than explained to someone. The one thing I can talk about though is the cinematography. Some may have heard, but the majority of Birdman is presented as if it were one, continuous two-hour take, with no edits (of course, being an editor, I noticed where the cuts were; namely when the camera passed behind an object and the frame went to blackout for a fraction of a second). Anyway, I personally love these ‘oners’, and from that cinematography standpoint alone, this film had me captivated. The story is also tragic and personal, and supported by an absolutely stellar cast. There’s really not much to complain about here, and I think it’s time something with as much ambition and unique identity as this gem received some well-deserved Oscars.

Who will probably win: Boyhood

Haven’t seen it yet. I would have, but every time I've gone to the cinema recently, it doesn't seem to be on. Odd. Anyway, it sounds interesting. I'm not sure if I’d like it more than Birdman, but it’s certainly an ambitious concept, and it looks like the Academy’s just about ready to shoot its load right into Boyhood’s smug little face, so all the power to it.

Best Actor

Who I want to win: Eddie Redmayne – Stephen Hawking (The Theory of Everything)

I've never been able to really notice good or bad acting as such. Even as an actor myself (I've actually been an actor three times as long as I've been a film buff), I still find that acting is acting, and outside of particular examples, I normally can’t tell. So for me, I think this award should go to someone who has to go above and beyond for their role. The Theory of Everything charts the life of Stephen Hawking, the legendary physicist, and his relations with his first wife. Of course, Hawking suffered from Motor Neurone Disease, and is nowadays hooked up to a wheelchair, unable to move much more than his hand, and the film, inevitably, must chart this decay from fairly energetic young man all the way through the difficult stages of paralysis until wheelchair bound, and that is by no means an easy feat for any actor. But Redmayne pulls it off spectacularly with plenty of emotion and believability, to the point it feels like you really are seeing this man struggling to live. It’s not every day you see a performance of this kind, let alone executed so well, and so I think this stand-out performance needs some stand-out recognition.

Who will probably win: Michael Keaton – Riggan (Birdman)

It’s hard to say who the academy will vote for. Steve Carell in Foxcatcher looks half dead in the trailer and I haven’t seen American Sniper yet, so I don’t know about Bradley Cooper. Cumberbatch, Keaton and Redmayne were all excellent in their respective roles, and if able to I’d want all three to get Oscars. My gut says Keaton will probably get the Oscar though, but it honestly could go either way.

Best Actress

Who I want to win: Felicity Jones – Jane Hawking (The Theory of Everything)

My earlier mentioned ignorance of ‘good’ acting combined with the fact I've only seen one of the titles from the nominations so far, makes this a struggle to choose. While I may just be going with Jones because hers is the only performance I actually saw, she is also very deserving of it. The Theory of Everything is an incredibly emotional piece by default, but it’s really kept aloft by its acting talent, and the previously mentioned Redmayne as well as Jones both contribute so much character to the film. In particular, Jones’s character must endure so much grief to see her husband slowly degrade, having to evolve from wife to carer, and we see as her life becomes more and more of a tragic struggle. I thought considering this role, her acting was spot on, and I think it should deserve some recognition.

Who will probably win: Reese Witherspoon – Cheryl (Wild)

As previously mentioned, I haven’t seen any of these films besides The Theory of Everything, so I don’t even have an opinion on this. So instead, I'm going to talk about the lump of Oscar bait that people refer to as Wild. Not seen it, because it’s literally only just been released here, but I've seen the trailer a couple of times and, just, eugh. I'm surprised they didn't just rename the film ‘Give Witherspoon an Oscar, please’. Featuring sterling performances from Witherspoon and a bunch of other people you don’t care about, the film concerns Reese Witherspoon going for a walk, and that’s about all you’ll gather from the trailer, since it’s too busy showing Witherspoon chewing the scenery to actually give us any idea of what the film will be about. It’s not like she doesn't already have an Oscar; if anyone should be doing this kind of film it should be poor Mr Dicaprio. But maybe the Academy aren't as naïve as I keep making them out to be. Maybe they’ll catch on and give the Oscar to someone more deserving. And maybe pigs really can fly.

Best Supporting Actor

Who I want to win: Edward Norton – Mike (Birdman)

Oh my god, Norton’s voice has actually broken! For context, over my Christmas holiday, I decided to watch American History X for the first time (family friendly Christmas viewing, of course) and I was taken aback by just how high pitched Norton’s voice is. Here we see this neo-Nazi skinhead, standing proudly with his muscles on display, hands on head with Swastika showing proudly, striking fear into the hearts of every mortal in the near vicinity. Then he speaks. Ok, it’s not exactly chipmunk level, but it’s higher than you’d expect coming out of a body like that. After I made this revelation, I just couldn't take him seriously during any of his hate speeches; he sounded like a 12 year old having a hissy fit over not getting what he wants. But I digress. In Birdman, Norton plays an influential and brilliant actor, who also happens to be a complete and total perfectionist, and demands the same from everyone else involved. He really is enthralling to watch, and his character is a great rival for Riggan, as they continue to piss each other off until the only way to sort it out is a tighty-whitey fighty, which is how I am going to refer to that scene from now on. And as previously mentioned, he finally sounds like he’s grown a pair. Hooray for all.

Who will probably win: J.K. Simmons – Fletcher (Whiplash)

I would love to have seen this film, but it, like Wild, has also only just come out here at time of writing. Although now it has been released, I'm definitely going to try and catch a showing. Anyway, I’ve heard exceptional things about Simmons’s performance, and would love to have seen it by now. Since everyone is already gushing over him, I’d be surprised if the academy ducked out and gave it to someone else.

Best Supporting Actress

Who I want to win: Keira Knightley/Emma Stone – Joan Clarke/Sam – (The Imitation Game/Birdman)

Honestly, I’d be happy with either. Both had excellent roles, and both performed them brilliantly. Knightley, taking a similar route to Felicity Jones, portrayed the wife and friend of Alan Turing in The Imitation Game, and like with The Theory of Everything, the combination of her and Cumberbatch deliver the tragic storyline with emotional resonance, which may have nearly almost moved me to seriously consider shedding a tear. Yeah, get over it. Although, I guess that is slightly irrelevant, as it was more Cumberbatch that moved me rather than Knightley. Anyway. Equally, in Birdman, Stone delivers a surprisingly good performance as Riggan’s rebellious yet loving daughter Sam. That sounds a bit harsh on reflection, and I’ll be honest, I’d sort of written Stone off as a bit of eye candy to get the ticket sales off of horny teenage boys. Essentially like Megan Fox only actually attractive and, as I have now found out, not a shit actor. I mean, I've seen her in Zombieland and The Amazing Spider Man 2, but there she was pretty much filling the eye candy quota. But now that I've seen her in a more adult and serious piece, she’s actually quite a believable and engaging actress, and while she’s only really playing a stereotype, she does enough with the role to make her stand out as human character, with flaws and goals. What’s more, the relationship between father and daughter, and mother come to think of it, is very believable, and doesn't feel forced at all, which film families often do in lesser productions. So yeah. Either one deserves it.

Who will probably win: Meryl Streep – Witch (Into the Woods)

Well, I haven’t seen Boyhood, as previously discussed, so I have no idea how Arquette fared in that, and I never even noticed not-Witherspoon in Wild, she just blended in amongst the rest of the not-Witherspoon cast, in order to make more room for Witherspoon to act at people in hopes for an Oscar. So, I guess it’s either Knightley, Stone or Streep.

Has anyone seen Meryl Streep’s IMDb page? Apparently, she’s won 3 Oscars, and has received “Another 163 wins & 239 nominations”. I know, it’s crazy. For comparison, Knightley has been nominated for 2 Oscars and received “Another 28 wins & 68 nominations.” I mean, I realise Meryl Steep has been acting for a lot longer, but how is she getting this many nominations so easily? Only explanation; Streep is in cahoots with the Academy. Either that or the board members are just running out of ideas. "OK, so we've got Knightley, Stone, Arquette and not-Whitherspoon; we need one more. What? Streep? Yeah, that'll do."

And now, a quick run-down of some of the remaining categories.

Best Director

Who I want to win: Alejandro González Iñárritu (Birdman)

Who will probably win: Richard Linklater/Wes Anderson (Boyhood/The Grand Budapest Hotel)

Best Original Screenplay

Who I want to win: Nightcrawler (Dan Gilroy) – I mean come on, Nightcrawler deserves something, doesn't it?

Who will probably win: The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson & Hugo Guiness)

Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

Who I want to win: The Theory of Everything (Anthony McCarten)

Who will probably win: Whiplash (Damien Chazelle)

Best Cinematography

Who I want to win: Emmanuel Lubezki (Birdman)

Who will probably win: Emmanuel Lubezki (Birdman)

I swear to God, if he doesn't get the Oscar, I'm going to be thoroughly pissed. (Also, why has Ida got two of these nominations?)

Best Visual Effects

Who I want to win: Interstellar (The one Oscar it does deserve)

Who will probably win: Interstellar

So, to bring this post to a close, I’d like to quickly give you my impression of the Oscars. The Oscars should be a ceremony to commemorate the very best that film has to offer, and give out recognition to the productions and teams working behind them that deserve it. But nowadays, the Oscars have become yet another soulless marketing ploy. Films are created and released right before Oscar season, with mature story-lines but often devoid of any true meaning, but just with the illusion of depth to score it Oscars at the Academy, who clearly haven’t caught on yet. Probably the prime example of this ‘Oscar-bait’ is last year’s best picture winner 12 Years a Slave, a film about slavery whose only reason for existence seems to be to get said award. “Oh look, it’s about slavery and based on a book that’s based on real life. That’s all it needs to qualify!” Even though there have been plenty of films made about racism and slavery, which would be fine if 12 Years added anything to the genre. But it doesn't. I watched 12 Years a Slave, and I don’t think there was a single point made by the film that wasn't already made in Django Unchained not to mention all the other films it surely borrowed from. Shit, they even have similar scenes; the whipping scene in particular being almost a shot for shot rip-off of Django. My point is, 12 Years didn't really do enough to distinguish it as a notable film, yet critics and the Academy queued up around the block to suck on its balls, even though there were other films that year which deserved their attention.

My point is that while some of these films may be good, and often are, there’s still many who shamelessly only exist to get awards and not for the reason films are supposed to be made in the first place; entertain their audience or even make a point. The other annoyance is release dates. Almost all of these Oscar worthy pictures have come out in only the last three or so months, and that is unacceptable. There is an entire twelve month stretch they could utilise, but no, release it right at the end of the year so that it only barely counts as a 2014 release and so that its fresh in everyone’s mind when Oscar season rolls around, even though a truly Oscar-worthy film should be good enough and insightful enough to stay with you months, even years after watching it, which just highlights how forgettable some of the obvious Oscar bait can be. Anyway, the problem is that all of these films will come out incredibly late over here in the UK, most not materializing until January. I have no idea why, it’s not like they have to re-edit them to be more British or dub them or anything. How can I possibly make a Top 5 of 2014 blog post, when almost all of 2014’s best films aren't even here until 2015?! And with the Oscars announced at the end of February, this gives film buffs like me, who have other commitments by the way, only about two months to try and catch up on the numerous releases. And they’re still only just trickling out of the Hollywood floodgates as we speak, with Whiplash and American Sniper being released last Friday and Big Hero 6 and Selma still to come. I've been lucky enough to have some extra free time over the past weeks than I normally would, which I've used to make a feeble attempt at a catch-up, watching titles like Birdman and The Theory of Everything, but there’s no way I’ll be able to watch everything I want to by the time February 22^nd rolls around.

But that’s just my ramblings. Good luck to all the nominated people and pictures, especially my picks, and may Birdman, er, I mean, may the best films win.