2015 Academy Awards Discussion

[King]

Yeah, I don't even know when Selma's release date was or where it was showing. Very poor marketing campaign. Quite stunning considering they had Oprah Winfrey to sell it.

Also, why is it that every year the Best Actress nominated films are completely obscure and not in the BP race?

[King]

Rosamund Pike is kind of a weird choice for Best Actress, I don't think anyone would've considered anyone other than Ben Affleck the lead. I guess you could argue she was sort of a co-lead, but I'm sure if you told anyone she'd be nominated for Gone Girl everyone would've assumed it would've been for Best Supporting Actress.

I like it that way. It's how the award used to be. Supporting Actor/Actress used to be for true minor characters who only got 5-15 minutes of screen time. Anyone in the main cast was nominated for the top. Network, for example, had two Best Actor nominees and Best Actress nominee.

It changed over the years to try and get more films nominated.

[King]

Boyhood is very much an American film. If you weren't a child or parent in the 90s/00s United States, you just won't get what the film was really trying to say.

[King]

at least Snowstalker is predictable

[King]

Am I correct in my impression that, oddly enough, Eddie Redmayne is gaining ground on Michael Keaton for best actor just when Birdman is gaining ground on Boyhood for Best Picture?

The Producers Guild's winners for Best Animated and Best Documentary were not even nominated by the Academy in their category, so it's clearly a different group of voter tastes.

[King]

Academy Award Winner Eddie Redmayne... heh.

[King]

Boyhood won BAFTA Best Film. That's been aligned with the Oscar best film since 2008.

[King]

I'd still be fine with Boyhood winning Best Picture, but the more I think about it the more it starts to feel kind of like one of those 'highlights reels' of someone's early life you sit through at wedding receptions, but for almost three hours. I'm not sure if I'd claim that Birdman is a 'better' film--and the award is 'Best' Picture, after all--but I found it more enjoyable and more interesting. I think maybe the issue is that despite my being on paper more or less exactly the generation that Boyhood is ostensibly speaking about and (presumably) to, the way my childhood went didn't really bear much resemblance to it, so it just fell into a sort of 'uncanny valley' only with detached disinterest instead of fearful revulsion.

Birdman is a selection, that while a good film, would be a classic pick of something that doesn't stand the test of time.  I think people will still go back to Boyhood years from now and film schools will recognize it into the future.

It's the same problem I had with The King's Speech winning. Fine movie, but long since forgotten. The Social Network was a classic.

[King]

James Cameron is a good director. He just writes dumb dialogue.

[King]

James Cameron is a good director. He just writes dumb dialogue.

The question is whether Cameron deserved to win Best Director for Titanic, when Hitchcock didn't for Rear Window or Psycho.

The competition matters. In the category that year, it was going to be either Cameron or Gus Van Sant, who is just awful.

Titanic was a cinematic achievement and a modern classic, even if you don't like it.  People still watch it today. The other contender for Best Picture that year was L.A. Confidential, which was a good movie, but looking back would have just been as silly as giving the win to Shakespeare in Love.

[King]

Again, that's not the point.

I know your point. Hitchcock definitely deserved an Oscar. I disagree that James Cameron is one who didn't. He's definitely a worthy director.

[King]

Again, that's not the point.

I know your point. Hitchcock definitely deserved an Oscar. I disagree that James Cameron is one who didn't. He's definitely a worthy director.

Titanic was a disaster.

The effects were the perfect blend of CGI and practical, seemless. The framing device of the elderly woman and the search had pay offs and built up the sinking of the ship, which was masterfully done. The romantic plot, though cornball, was probably the best way to show both classes of the ship in one story without making it an ensemble piece with multiple unrelated plots.

It was as good of a Titanic movie as one could make.

[King]

Cameron's dialogue is awful, but I don't think any other big budget director is better at creating a seamless, tightly plotted action movie. I think he's classic case of being called overrated to the point where he's underrated.

[King]

Van Sant is bland as hell. A true definition of a hack director. Milk and Good Will Hunting were entirely on the success of the screenplay. Any halfway competent Hollywood director could have made those movies.

Films he actually had complete creative control over (Gerry, Elephant, the Psycho remake) are the definition of unwatchable.

[King]

The lack of a good film about the Peoples Temple that isn't pure exploration schlock about Jonestown is indeed sad.

[King]

When was the last time a Best Picture race was this competitive this late in the game?

Kings Speech/Social Network went down to the wire. Fincher was still favorite to win Best Director the night of IIRC.

[King]

I heard an interesting theory on a podcast that makes sense: Birdman has more "first choice" supporters, which is why it is sweeping the guilds (which all do simple one member, one vote counts because of the size of their memberships). Meanwhile, Boyhood is winning the Globes, BAFTAs, and critic associations which use various preferential voting methods, which also explains how Grand Budapest Hotel--a movie which everybody likes but nobody loves--won comedy over Birdman at the Globes.

This was also how Ang Lee won Best Director (straight vote) but somehow Crash won Best Picture (preferential). We could see that again with Inarritu/Boyhood.

[King]

Very interesting theory, but it would surprise me. Boyhood voters seems to be the type to go BH 1, BM 2 or 3, whereas Birdman voters are more likely to keep BH low, like 6 or lower. It's hard not to enjoy Birdman, but if you enjoy both, I'd imagine Boyhood is more likely to get the nod. If not, you probably disliked it pretty strongly.

It's highly likely everyone knows the politics involved and all the BH and BM voters are intentionally putting the other at 7th. Whiplash and Grand Budapest Hotel voters are likely going to second place Boyhood in support of independent filmmaking. Meanwhile, Harvey Weinstein is apparently on a tour to white guilt people to vote for Selma as their 2nd choice, which could change things.

[King]

NPH finally landed a joke.

All of these song nominees are pretty boring.

[King]

holy crap it's 11:15 no one wants a goddamn sound of music tribute

honestly don't think I can describe with words how little I care about lady gaga doing a song of music medley right now...

also julie andrews is still alive, why couldn't she be doing this?

Yeah, nothing about this tribute makes any sense other than Lady Gaga said she wanted to do it and some producer for the ceremony thought it would be good for ratings.

[King]

If GBH had won Screenplay... but it's over. RIP GBH Steamroller

[King]

NPH might be the worst host in Oscar history. At least dumb mediocre choices like James Franco and Anne Hathaway had low expectations. NPH has the ability to do better and completely bombed.

[King]

I feel like nobody knows Boyhood now (hardly grossed anything) yet everyone talks about Birdman.

Sadly American Sniper will endure more than any of them.

Action war movies don't really endure. I know because I've seen so many. Just last year there was Lone Survivor, which had a similar box office run but is pretty well usurped. Expect to see more heroic war stories, though. It's pretty clear that makes good money in January.

[King]

People don't remember The Departed?