Oscar Nominations - For 2014's year

One of my weird pet-peeves about awards season each year is that I get very touchy and pedantic about people saying things like "the 2015 Oscar nominations". In truth, the Academy Award nominations that were annouced this morning are for 2014. But it's exhausting and annoying to correct people (and I'm sure to be corrected) on this relatively minor issue.

Moving on! Early early this morning I dragged my ass out of bed to go down and turn my tv on to watch this year's nominations be announced live. I know most of my friends and loved ones think this is beyond weird; especially since I do it for pleasure and not for like my job or anything that is paying me money. It's a tradition and I sincerely do look forward to this time of year.

In many ways, the nominations for 2014 aren't that shocking, but there are some very weird and seemingly dumb omissions in various categories.

First, let's just get elephant in the room out of the way - 2, just TWO, nominations for Selma. And one of those is for dumb "Best Song", ironically the only award that the film has a chance of winning. You guys? Oprah is PISSED. But seriously, it's almost more insulting that the Academy threw Selma a bone by giving them the Best Picture nod. To not honor David Oyelowo's brilliant portrayal of MLK with a nomination seems bonkers. Sorry (not sorry) Bradley Cooper, you didn't deserve your Best Actor nomination this year, Oyelowo should be in your place.
And don't get me started about the travesty of Ava DuVernay not getting a nomination for Best Director. This I blame completely on the strangle-hold that "white dudes" have on directing award nominations. This year as in past years the field of directors to choose from is strong, but when I look at the eight Best Picture nominations, Foxcatcher isn't there - so does Bennet Miller deserve a directing nom? Eh, maybe. I actually would have replaced Morten Tyldum with DuVernay; the best part of The Imitation Game is Cumberbatch. I think Tyldum's direction was the weak link. Critic David Edelstein wrote a great piece for Vulture about this.

The other completely bizarre, "what were they thinking" omission from these nominations is that The LEGO Movie wasn't nominated for Best Animated Film. C'mon guys, that's just fucking stupid.

I won't be doing the Oscar Death Race this year. But I will be doing my usual routine; I will see every film nominated in the major categories. That means that I still have the following left to see before February 22 - American Sniper; Still Alice; Two Days, One Night; [caveat - there's no way I'm seeing that turd of a movie "The Judge" so I will be seeing Inherent Vice instead.]

So anyway, here's the full list for you to ruminate over:

Best Picture
Boyhood
The Imitation Game 
Birdman
The Theory of Everything
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Whiplash
Selma
American Sniper

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

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

Best Supporting Actor
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Edward Norton, Birdman
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
Robert Duvall, The Judge

Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Emma Stone, Birdman
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods
Laura Dern, Wild

Best Director
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game
Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher

Best Adapted Screenplay
Graham Moore, The Imitation Game
Anthony McCarten, The Theory of Everything
Damien Chazelle, Whiplash
Jason Hall, American Sniper
Paul Thomas Anderson, Inherent Vice

 Best Original Screenplay

Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo,Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler
Dan Futterman and E. Max Frye, Foxcatcher

Best Foreign Film
Ida (Poland)
Leviathan (Russia)
Tangerines (Estonia)
Timbuktu (Mauritania)
Wild Tales (Argentina)

Best Documentary Feature
Citizenfour
Last Days in Vietnam
Virunga
Finding Vivian Maier
The Salt of the Earth

Best Animated Feature
Big Hero 6
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The Boxtrolls
Song of the Sea
The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Film Editing
American Sniper
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Whiplash

Best Song

Gregg Alexander, Danielle Brisebois, Nick Lashley, and Nick Southwood, "Lost Stars" (Begin Again)
John Legend and Common, "Glory" (Selma)
Shawn Patterson, Joshua Bartholomew, Lisa Harriton, and The Lonely Island, "Everything Is Awesome" (The Lego Movie)
Diane Warren, "Grateful" (Beyond the Lights)
Glen Campbell, "I'm Not Gonna Miss You" (Glen Campbell ... I'll Be Me)

Best Original Score
Johann Johannsson, The Theory of Everything
Alexandre Desplat, The Imitation Game
Alexandre Desplat, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Hans Zimmer, Interstellar
Gary Yershon, Mr. Turner

Best Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman
Dick Pope, Mr. Turner
Robert D. Yeoman, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ryszard Lenczewski and Łukasz Żal, Ida
Roger Deakins, Unbroken

Costume Design
Colleen Atwood, Into the Woods
Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive, Maleficent
Milena Canonero, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Jacqueline Durran, Mr. Turner
Mark Bridges, Inherent Vice

Makeup and Hairstyling
Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard, Foxcatcher
Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White, Guardians of the Galaxy

Production Design
Adam Stockhausen and Anna Pinnock, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Suzie Davies and Charlotte Watts, Mr. Turner
Dennis Gassner and Anna Pinnock, Into the Woods
Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis, and Paul Healy, Interstellar
Maria Djurkovic and Tatiana Macdonald, The Imitation Game

Sound Editing
Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman, American Sniper
Martín Hernández and Aaron Glascock, Birdman
Brent Burge and Jason Canovas, The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies
Richard King, Interstellar
Becky Sullivan and Andrew DeCristofaro, Unbroken

Sound Mixing
American Sniper
Birdman
Unbroken
Interstellar
Whiplash

Visual Effects
Interstellar
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Guardians of the Galaxy
X Men: Days of Future Past
Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Short Film, Live Action
Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis, Aya (Chasis Films)
Michael Lennox, director, and Ronan Blaney, Boogaloo and Graham (Out of Orbit)
Hu Wei and Julien Féret, Butter Lamp (La Lampe au Beurre de Yak) (AMA Productions)
Talkhon Hamzavi and Stefan Eichenberger, Parvaneh (Zurich University of Arts)
Mat Kirkby, director and James Lucas, The Phone Call (RSA Films)

Short Film, Animated
Daisy Jacobs and Christopher Hees, The Bigger Picture (National Film and Television School)
Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi, The Dam Keeper (Tonko House)
Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed, Feast (Walt Disney Animation Studios)
Torill Kove, Me and My Moulton (Mikrofilm in co-production with the National Film Board of Canada)
Joris Oprins, A Single Life (Job, Joris & Marieke)

Documentary Short Subject
Perry Films, Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Wajda Studio, Joanna
Warsaw Film School, Our Curse
Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica, The Reaper (La Parka)
Weary Traveler, White Earth

2012 Oscar Death Race - It's The FINAL COUNTDOWN!

di da du du, di da du doot doot...

As the last days of the Oscar Death Race wind down, I am very proud to report that as of this writing I have seen 58 of this year's 61 Academy Award nominated films. FIFTY-EIGHT!!! And I only have 2 Oscar categories left to complete.
Back in January when the nominations came out, I thought for sure I wouldn't be able to get even close to 50 movies under my belt. But in just one month's time I have been able to see 28 movies. I don't know if people should be impressed or horrified by that statistic.

As I feared, the Foreign Language Film category has been my undoing. Israel's "Footnote" is supposedly opening this weekend in Seattle so I may be able to knock off another one before Sunday's ceremony, but it's not looking good. The other foreign entry I'm missing is a Belgian film called Bullhead which I have heard neither hide nor hare about whether it will ever show up in one of the art theaters here.
Finally, the other category that I haven't completed is Animated Feature. Damn you Chico & Rita! [Ed. note - I just got an email from a friend that Chico is supposedly available on Amazon on Demand. I will be checking this out tonight.]
So technically, annoying Belgian films aside, I could possibly complete the Death Race this weekend. I don't know if it's more annoying to be one film shy or to be 30.

I'm a film buff and glorified "movie dork", so I know this endeavor sounds crazy or ridiculous to most people. But just as I felt last year, doing the race has exposed me to some great films that I possibly wouldn't have seen or given a chance otherwise.
Last year's diamond was the Australian thriller Animal Kingdom, this year I think it might be the animated short The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. Sigh...It was so good you guys.

And my favorite of the 61 nominated films you ask? Hmm, that's tough. It's probably a 3-way tie between Hugo, War Horse, and Pina.

2012 Oscar Death Race - An exercise in futility

The 2012 Academy Awards nominations have arrived, and thus begins this year's Oscar Death Race in full effect!
Day 1 Race Standings:
Of the 61 films nominated this year, I have as of this writing seen 30 of them. And I've completed 5 of the 24 categories.
These stats may change considerably by the end of this day because I am seeing Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy tonight which is one of the few movies nominated for a "major award" that I have yet to see.
I'm counting on my local theater the Varsity to help me by showing the nominated shorts - Animated and Live Action - like they have the past couple of years, so that I can complete those two categories and cross off a lot of movies from the list of 61. It would be lovely if Varsity or SIFF showed the Documentary Shorts which has been one of my death knells in past year's "Races".
This year a surprisingly snag in Race completion has come in the form of the Best Foreign Film nominations. Usually my film festival attendance and general love of movies from other lands has me sitting pretty in this category. But this year's Foreign film noms only have two movies that I've seen. Two of the nominated films I've never even heard of!! Damn AMPAS, help a sista' out.
I frown upon downloading and watching illegally pirated movies, which I consider cheating during the Race. I will lament and whine for the rest of January and February if I can't find a way to see these foreign movies in a legitimate way.

2012 Oscar Nominations and the Oscar Death Race begins!!

"...Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. Jennifer Lawrence at 5:30 in the morning. Nine Best Picture nominees tied up with string, these are a few of my favorite things!"

That's right, the 2012 Academy Awards nominations were announced this morning. Hugo led the way with 11 nominations, with The Artist a close second, scoring 10 nominations of its own. After all of the hulabaloo over the new Best Picture nom logorithm decision process, in the end a total of 9 pictures met the qualifications to gain nominations for the big prize. Joining Hugo and The Artist are Tree of Life, War Horse, Moneyball, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, The Descendants, Midnight in Paris, and The Help.
As I did last year, I'm participating in The Oscar Death Race, that Sarah Bunting over at Tomato Nation came up with a couple of years ago, where you attempt to see every film nominated in all categories. This year there are 61 movies nominated. I'll be giving updates on my progress as the weeks go by, but so far I've seen a good percentage of the films nominated this year. That being said however, I'm still pretty sure I'm going to fail the race again this year.
My nemesis category for 2012 is definitely Best Foreign Film. I really thought I had this category in the bag after attending various film festivals throughout 2011 and seeing a crapload of foreign films. But when all was said and done, this morning cute Jennifer Lawrence only ended up naming 2 movies that I've seen:

"Monsieur Lazhar" and "A Separation".

Footnote? In Darkness? In what now? So frustrating. I've been told that a local Seattle arthouse theater is actually going to show Bullhead soon, so I'm hoping to see this nominee soon. But for the others, I'm not holding my breath. Other potential downfall categories include Costume Design (Anonymous? REALLY?) and the Documentary Shorts. Also, I am PISSED that I am being forced to see that fucking Transformers movie. Grrrrr....

Prequel to the Oscars!

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year…”


When most people hear the dulcet tones of Andy Williams’ voice singing this holiday classic, visions of Christmas trees and sparkly lights come to mind. These days I almost always connect the song with the beginning of the movie awards season.
The Film Critics have announced their favorites, and SAG made their nominations last week, and now it’s the Hollywood Foreign Press’ turn.

The 2011 Golden Globe nominations were announced this morning. And with this list, I can begin finalizing and planning my strategy for the upcoming Oscar Death Race, where I will again attempt to see every single film nominated for an Academy Award. Even though the Oscar noms won't be released for another month or so, the Golden Globes usually give me an idea of what to expect for some of the major categories.
 
The good thing is that I've already seen many of the nominated films. But I am a little worried about the Foreign Film category for the Globes. Except for one Spanish film, I haven't seen any of the nominated films. Eeek. I usually lock this category up during the summer at the Seattle International Film Festival where I get to see numerous foreign films and documentaries that wouldn't normally be available in even the trendiest of hipster art-houses here in Seattle. Hopefully Oscar will take a different route with their Foreign noms.
 

George Clooney was a big winner on many a list.Looks like I'll defninitely have to see The Descendants, The Artist, and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, all of which I already had on my to-do list. I'm still unsure about the Michael Fassbender duo or A Dangerous Method and Shame. Although since the latter features full-frontal nudity from Fassy, I can guarantee I'll be seeing that one anyway.
 
Let the movie cramming begin!!!