Well, the Oscars were announced last Sunday, so while
they’re still fresh in our memories, I might as well give a quick follow up
post concerning my thoughts on the results. Not much to declare here, so let’s
cut to the chase.
Best Picture
I am so glad Birdman
won. While I would also have been happy with Whiplash winning this award, I basically just didn't want Boyhood to win. I know that seems a bit
harsh, especially since I haven’t seen it yet, but the fact that it came out
around half a year ago, went through the whole charade of being nominated for
awards left, right and centre and have perfect scores from critics (Metascore
is 100), and then had the balls to not really have a proper cinema run over
here in the UK, or at least, not near where I live, sort of left a bad
taste in my mouth. But I'm sure the film itself is fine. Besides that, it’s
also good to see Selma didn't win. I
have nothing against the film, but it simply isn't a 2014 release, in my eyes.
Best Actor
Predictions are running well so far, and so consequently I
am also happy with Redmayne’s win. Not really much to say here that wasn't
really said in my last post, so I guess I’ll leave it at that.
Best Actress
First prediction to go awry. I honestly wasn't expecting
Julianne Moore’s performance from Still
Alice, as the film seemed a bit too low profile for the Academy to notice,
but I'm glad they’re opening their eyes a bit. I personally haven’t seen the
film, but it looks very interesting, and based on what I said in my last post
about going above and beyond in your role, I would imagine a sufferer of
Alzheimer’s to be a challenging role indeed.
To be honest, I'm basically just glad Reese Whitherspoon
didn't win for her role in Reese
Whitherspoon: The Movie or to go by its alternate title, Give me an Oscar please, featuring
Whitherspoon. So, I guess I've got to watch out for those flying pigs.
Best Director
Refer to the ‘Best Picture’ section above.
Best Supporting Actor
Since I wrote my last post, I have finally had the chance to
see Whiplash, and it’s pretty damn
good. Easily my second favourite film of the year, as long as you still
consider it a 2014 release, and one of the things that made it so compelling
was J.K. Simmons. If you haven’t seen it yet, be assured, he’s just as good as
everyone’s been saying. Really, there was no competition for this category. As
great as Edward Norton may have been, I can see Fletcher becoming one of the
most memorable characters from this decade of film. Stupendous stuff, and well
deserving of the Oscar.
Best Supporting Actress
[Insert frustration pertaining to Boyhood] But seriously, I'm just glad Meryl Streep didn't win. Oh,
don’t give me that look; she’s got plenty of Oscars. It might seem a bit weird
that I keep wanting certain people to not
get Oscars, but as far as I see, preserving the value of an Oscar is just
as much about making sure the wrong people don’t get it as it is the right
people getting it. In fact, I think they should be able to refuse to give an
Oscar out if all the nominations in the category were shit. Of course, that
doesn't really apply here, but it’s
an idea to consider.
Best Cinematography
You know, despite what I said, it’s actually a slight shame
that Whiplash didn't win this. Don’t
get me wrong, I still think Birdman rightfully
deserved it more, but Whiplash still
had some absolutely fantastic cinematography. If it had come out any other
year, it would have won the Oscar, but unfortunately it just couldn't compare
to Birdman’s one shot illusion. Tough
luck, Whiplash. Bravo, Birdman.
Best Animated Film
Big Hero 6 was the deserving winner, although it was the only one
of the nominations I've seen, but it was a fantastic film. I've heard some
people lament that How to Train Your
Dragon 2 didn't win. Personally, I haven’t seen it or it's predecessor yet (don’t
worry, I’ll get there in due time) so I can’t really comment. However, Big Hero 6 was better than some of the
Best Picture nods, in my eyes, so on that philosophy alone it deserves the win.
Best Visual Effects
Interstellar makes
sense. For the Oscar that is, although I suppose the plot is more or less comprehensible, as well.
It always brings me joy when a high-concept film uses both computer and
practical effects to achieve its visuals; it shows me that there is still hope
for the industry to eventually learn that the 100% CGI is not the way to go,
and if you combine the two, the end result almost looks real.
Best Sound Mixing / Best Editing
Whiplash was a
fantastic film, both emotionally, but almost more so technically. So even
though it missed out on the cinematography Oscar, the Academy still decided to
make up for it. Whiplash’s strongest
technical element besides its cinematography was its editing, and the two went
hand in hand to make some chillingly brilliant sequences. Sound mixing seems an
odd Oscar to me, since I've never really seen, or heard I suppose, bad sound
mixing. It doesn't really seem like the kind of thing that’s a) massively noticeable, relative to other components or b) worth its own award, separate
from Best (Sound) Editing. But anyway, Whiplash was
a film about music, so I guess that’s grounds for Best Sound Mixing? I don’t
know; sound’s not my forte, okay.
And that about wraps it up. Overall, I'm pretty happy with
the turnout this year, and also quite happy with how many films I managed to
see in the past few months. Judging by my current progress, I'm going to get
through a lot of films in 2015, so you’ll be sure to see another one of these
posts next year. In the meantime, it’s back to regular film discussions next
time, and I've got a film lined up that I am just about ready to gush about
from every orifice. So, that’s something to look forward to.
Although not for the cleaners, I guess.
