Now it’s time to rant. Having seen everything I need to from
the other nominees (nearly) I can make a judgement over who has missed out on
nominations for the golden sticker, otherwise known as an Oscar, in no
particular order.
Damien Chazelle
True, best director is a tough category, but the Imitation
Game, though I loved it, didn’t strike me as a director’s film and though
Foxcatcher expertly sucked the glamour out of sport I would be happy to
substitute them for Chazelle turning what could have been a musical into a thriller.
It is masterful and tense throughout and deserved to be recognised.
Selma
The historical drama is another biopic that looked to be shimmering
with Oscar potential, but the less popular, critically and politically,
American Sniper bagged more awards and furthermore Ava DeVernay missed out on a
best director nod when the academy could have really proved that they are as
politically incorrect as we think they are. As well as this David Oyelowo didn’t
get best actor or Bradford Young for cinematography.
Gone Girl
David Fincher is nearing to position where he is overdue an
Oscar by now in my opinion. The problem is that he simply is not in the ‘club’
so to say. He is shut out by the academy and we’ve seen him go off trend with
Benjamin Button to snag Oscar gold, but to no avail. Pike may be a contender
for best actress, but that’s about it
Nightcrawler and Jake Gyllenhaal
The rising star of Gyllenhaal appeared to be guaranteed a
nomination for his unsettling performance in Nightcrawler. In fact I would have
placed bets on director, screenplay and picture. But no, my favourite film of
2014 has come out of this awards season rather poorly it has to be said.
No Marvel
At one point it was rumoured that Captain America: The
Winter Soldier would be nominated for best picture and though the last minute
surge of great filmmaking made it less likely (and not outrageous to exclude
it), it would still be credible for the academy to finally honour a superhero film,
they had the opportunity with Dark Knight and passed it up (though I love his
performance I still believe that had Heath Ledger not passed away he would not
have been honoured by the academy at all) and then again in 2012 with Avengers
Assemble, 2014 also had Guardians that might promote the studio’s chances of
getting a mention but once again the Oscars continue to promote the image that
their philosophy is all films that make any money are bad. This ties into…
No Science Fiction
There have been so many unique and interesting sci-fi films this
year that something should have been added to best picture or director. If Marvel is still too mainstream there’s Edge
of Tomorrow, Interstellar, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Snowpiercer. All
are worthy candidates, but nothing beyond technical categories. My main
argument is this, are any of these films worthy of winning best picture/director,
probably not. Is at least one of them among the top ten films of the year? Hell
yes. So nominate them, because that’s what the academy should be, celebrating
the best films of the year even if one of them is about apes on horses, a
spandex wearing patriot or tiny yellow people...
The Lego Movie
A popular phrase of recent weeks has been that if one were
to rename the Lego Movie the Lincoln Logs Movie then it would be up for best
picture. Undoubtedly this is the biggest surprise here, whilst we imagined the
other snubs were probable, not only was the Lego Movie a definite nomination
for best animated film for most people, it was a definite win. A film based on
a toy that’s also a satire on consumerism, genius. Mocking your basis as well
as honouring it, inspired. Reducing your entire universe to fit into the
basement of a father and son, amazing. Will Arnett as Batman, in his own words ‘really
cool’. But no nomination, why? I don’t know, but you know what? Emmet and his
pals are too good for the academy anyway. They can build their own Oscars, or
anything else, they can capture what we love about childhood and growing up and
they can make us laugh all the way through a great journey, so honestly Oscar
or no Oscar, everything is still awesome.
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