Image = And the Nominees Are... But Why?

As we approach the final weekend of Awards Season, I want to say a few things about the nominees.  It was an exceptional year for film and many nominees deserve all the praise that has been showered upon them.  Michael Keaton, Eddie Redmayne, JK Simmons and Julianne Moore, to name a few...  However - I feel that many nominations this year are more about hype than substance – and it begins with Boyhood. 

I admire Richard Linklater as a filmmaker and am in awe of the process and ground breaking nature of Boyhood, but I do not like the finished product.  To me, the movie Boyhood is not engaging in any way.  That is really the point of a great film, isn’t it? Boyhood is long & tedious, nothing much actually happens and the acting (especially by Ellar Coltrane & Patricia Arquette) is quite lackluster.  So, why all the acclaim?  And - is Patricia Arquette winning every award as part of the groundswell for Boyhood or because she has been around for close to 30 years and it is a nice acknowledgment of her tenure?  

In this current climate, awards are too much about campaigning.  Some actors go to everything because they are truly proud of the work they have done and truly honored to be acknowledged.  A good example this year is Benedict Cumberbatch.  He must know that his chances to win anything are slim, but he has said over & over how proud he is of The Imitation Game and how important the story of Alan Turing is to history.  Conversely, some actors (who shall remain nameless) go because they are required to by their contracts.     

Nominations and awards really should be about the work and not about politics or campaigning.  Katharine Hepburn won 4 Best Actress Oscars and did not attend one ceremony!  A story broke yesterday about Mo’Nique winning the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Precious without campaigning and then not landing future roles because she didn’t campaign.  This is ludicrous!  Often an actor’s performance is so head and shoulders above everyone else, there is no real competition.  When I saw Mo’Nique’s performance I said, “There will be riots in the streets if she doesn’t win.”  It is the kind of visceral, raw, daring performance that you never forget.  And that’s what awards should reward.      

 

In my not so humble opinion - these are some great performances that were entirely overlooked this year...

Best Actress 

Shailene Woodley - The Fault in Our Stars

Jenny Slate - Obvious Child

Best Actor

Ansel Elgort - The Fault in Our Stars

Colin Firth - Magic in the Moonlight

Ralph Fiennes - The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Supporting Actor

Miles Teller - Whiplash

Mark Strong - The Imitation Game

Ben Schnetzer - Pride

Bill Hader - The Skeleton Twins
Best Supporting Actress

Imelda Staunton - Pride

Naomi Watts - St. Vincent

Best Original Screenplay

Woody Allen - Magic in the Moonlight

Zach Braff - Wish I Was Here

Best Adapted Screenplay

Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber -  

The Fault in Our Stars

And - why is Steve Carell in the Best Actor category? Foxcatcher had an ensemble cast shared among 3 actors.  BAFTA nominated Carell as Best Supporting Actor and that is where his performance belongs.

One final thing.  Very occasionally in Academy Awards history there have been ties.  In 1968, Katharine Hepburn (The Lion in Winter) & Barbra Streisand (Funny Girl) shared the award for Best Actress.  The last time I prayed for a tie was in 1999 between Kevin Spacey (who won for American Beauty) and Denzel Washington (The Hurricane).  They were both so great, I couldn't choose but somehow The Academy did.  All season I have said that Eddie Redmayne is THE Best Actor, but on the eve of the Oscars, I am secretly hoping for another tie.  I want them to give awards to both Redmayne and Michael Keaton for his extraordinary job in Birdman - which I am also praying wins Best Picture, as it deserves. 

Image = Best of 2014

The Fault in Our Stars
Birdman 
Obvious Child
Whiplash
The Theory of Everything
The Imitation Game
Pride
Magic in the Moonlight
The Skeleton Twins
Wish I Was Here

and this is why...


The Fault in Our Stars is my favorite movie of the year because it was the most satisfying film going experience I had all year.  Fault is wonderful all around - one of the best written films EVER and the performances are simply stunning.  Shailene Woodley is rapidly becoming a seriously great actress and Ansel Elgort seemed to come out of nowhere this year to be both radiantly charismatic & heartbreakingly vulnerable in this film.  It is a beautiful story of first love which was made for 12 million dollars and has already grossed ten times that.  It is proof that real stories about real people, when done well, can perform at the box office.

Birdman is definitely the best picture of the year because there is nothing else like it.  It is a technical marvel.  It deserves Best Picture and Best Director and every technical award it can get.  All the performances are great as well – especially Michael Keaton and Edward Norton.  I love Michael Keaton and would love to see him win an Oscar, but this year Redmayne edges Keaton out.

I wrote a whole blogpost about how remarkable Eddie Redmayne is in The Theory of Everything and how he SHOULD win Best Actor. He simply is THE best actor this year.

Whiplash is the most aptly named film of the year.  It is one of the most distinctive, exciting and unpredictable films I have ever seen.  Everything about it is electrifying, including JK Simmons, who deserves every award for Best Supporting Actor.

Obvious Child is bold, honest & hilarious and I want Jenny Slate to win Best Actress at the Independent Spirit Awards because she is wonderfully dimensional and this is the epitome of a great, low budget, female helmed indie.

The Imitation Game is a gorgeous, very British, tragic period piece and Benedict Cumberbatch does an impressive job in the lead.  Keira Knightley also matured as an actress in her role.  Amazing to me is the fact that Mark Strong is not getting any acknowledgment for his supporting performance.

Pride is the little indie that could.  It’s great.  A true story of the unlikely alliance of an LGBT club and a group of miners.  Wonderful ensemble led by breakout Ben Schnetzer and including Paddy Considine, Bill Nighy, Dominic West and the always superb and underrated Imelda Staunton.  Just see it.

I wrote a blogpost about how special Magic in the Moonlight is.  The best part is the extraordinary script and how Colin Firth commands attention every moment he is on screen.

The Skeleton Twins is another great indie – a dramedy about survival and the resilient connection between siblings.  It was great to see Bill Hader take on more serious material and the whole film, whether it makes you laugh or cry, is emotionally impactful.   

And – after all the hoopla about Zach Braff raising money on Kickstarter, Wish I Was Here is an exceptionally funny and sweet movie about the definition of family and finally growing up in your 30s.

2014 was another great year for films big and small – but mostly small.     

Image = 'Tis the Season for Great Indies

I am more excited about this current season of films than I have been in a very long time.  It’s a wonderfully unusual year because it is chock full of indies with no big studio period saga in sight.  My how times have changed since the ‘80s…

It is also most definitely the year of the actor. 

Most of the buzz that has already come from festivals like Toronto & Venice is about films that feature a strong male lead – and there are many.  The one that I am most looking most forward to is Birdman – opening today.  I have always felt that Michael Keaton was incredibly underrated as an actor and Riggan in Birdman could be the role that changes this forever.

I’ve already seen St. Vincent, which is wonderful and I would be shocked if Bill Murray is not recognized for his multi-layered performance.

I can’t say that I am actually looking forward to seeing Foxcatcher (although I will most definitely see it!) because I know it will be dark & disturbing, but I am looking forward to hearing Steve Carell’s name A LOT during awards season.

On more than one viewing, I couldn't make it through the trailer for The Theory of Everything without sobbing and I am a sucker for a love story.  It looks like a gorgeous, heartbreaking tribute to a genius and Eddie Redmayne is a shoo-in just for the physicality of the performance.

It’s always good to play “gay for pay” and that’s what Benedict Cumberbatch does in The Imitation Game – yes a period piece, but still an indie.

And Whiplash could very well change the career & Hollywood status of already deeply respected character actor JK Simmons.

There may also be a few roles in very small films that get recognized.  Bill Hader is subtly great doing drama for the first time in The Skeleton Twins and Jenny Slate is one of my favorite performances of the year in Obvious Child.  Please don’t let me down, Independent Spirit Awards!

And it’s not technically an indie (or a small film) but I hope no one forgets about The Fault in Our Stars, one of the best written films I have EVER seen and a breakout performance by Ansel Elgort.  

The one & only film that has acclaim for an actress so far is Wild and Reese Witherspoon is already an Oscar winner so it’s tough to get too excited about that.  One film that may change this is Into the Woods.

But it’s all about the boys this year, which is fitting since the season kicked off with a little film called Boyhood.