Oscar Nominations

[btimbit]

I need to watch more movies. I think Gone Girl was the only one I saw in 2014

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by btimbit

I need to watch more movies. I think Gone Girl was the only one I saw in 2014

I feel your pain, but it's hard when most are in a limited release in theaters and don't come out until Christmas, or shortly after. Some were out earlier, but are indie films and don't get a wide release until they start getting nominations and such.

Of the Best Pictures nominees that I have seen, I would rank them thusly:

Boyhood
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Whiplash
The Immitation Game

still have to watch Selma, The Theory of Everything, and American Sniper, probably in that order.

[Flabbibulin]

The work that went into Boyhood is obviously impressive, but didn't anyone else think the movie turned into a massive sleeper about 2/3 into it? The boy turned into a teenager with the personality of a golf ball.

[neo45]

I've seen all the films except for Selma but for me Birdman is hands down the best and Keaton and Norton were both amazing. Second favourite was Whiplash

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by neo45

Lots of controversy about how every nominated actor is white in a year where there was an MLK movie

I think a bigger controversy should be why are the awards only black or white? When was the last time an Asian actor was nominated for an Oscar? Or when was the last time an Asian actor even had a leading role in a major movie where it wasn't based on a stereotype?

[Harry Lime]

I am happy that Boyhood was nominated, as it was a huge commitment and technically impressive, it deserves recognition. However, I will be disappointed if it wins any of the major categories. I'm glad that I watched it once, but I can't imagine ever watching it again.

It was a fantastic experimental film, and that is what was captivating about it. The acting was decent, but Arquette and Hawke have performed better with no recognition at all in the past. Arquette in True Romance, and Hawke in Gattaca and as Dr. Strange.(Sorry about that last one, should have been inspired casting.)

If Boyhood wins anything, it shows only a weakness in the field this year.

[Harry Lime]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

I think a bigger controversy should be why are the awards only black or white? When was the last time an Asian actor was nominated for an Oscar? Or when was the last time an Asian actor even had a leading role in a major movie where it wasn't based on a stereotype?

The truly great Asian actors make movies in China or Japan, and have little interest in making English movies at all. They seem to have no interest, and unless they do, or make a Kurasawa level of movie, they arn't going to be recognized. Chow Yun Fat was the last great Asian actor to have an impact here, and he wasn't great at picking projects. Ken Wantenabe has fantastic in Last Samurai, and then all but disappeared from American screens in favour of Japan.

[djsFlames]

Still scratching my head as to why Jake Gyllenhaal isn't up there for best actor. Flawless portrayal of a psychotic sociopath if I've ever seen one.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Harry Lime

The truly great Asian actors make movies in China or Japan, and have little interest in making English movies at all. They seem to have no interest, and unless they do, or make a Kurasawa level of movie, they arn't going to be recognized. Chow Yun Fat was the last great Asian actor to have an impact here, and he wasn't great at picking projects. Ken Wantenabe has fantastic in Last Samurai, and then all but disappeared from American screens in favour of Japan.

Because there isn't a large enough Asian population in North America to draw from? There's lot of great Asian American actors out there, like Daniel Dae Kim, that only seem to be able to get parts because they're written specifically for Asians. Same thing with many other ethnicities like Latino, Indian or Middle Eastern, actors can only get roles that are specifically written that way. It would be nice to see someone that isn't white or black get a leading role where their ethnicity has zero relevance to their on-screen character

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Flabbibulin

The work that went into Boyhood is obviously impressive, but didn't anyone else think the movie turned into a massive sleeper about 2/3 into it? The boy turned into a teenager with the personality of a golf ball.

It depends what your expectations are. The story is titled "boyhood", not "boy". It's not about him as much as it's about the process of growing up, especially without a full time father. I think it was an interesting philosophical piece that touched on role models, father figures, friendship, personal experiences etc. It was a question of "what turns a boy into a man?", not so much "hey look at what a fascinating character this boy is." The very point of it was to be ordinary and every day. I found myself reflecting a lot on my own childhood and what the key moments and people were in shaping who I became as a man. The plot doesn't matter nearly as much as the thought provoking subject and ideas he was trying to get across.

For me, this is why Boyhood is not only worthy of the nomination, but worthy of a best picture as well when you include the technical work and long term filmmaking process. The editing alone must have been a nightmare. But really, films that take on tough topics, and aren't just biopics, are worthy of best picture nominations, which is why Birdman is 2nd on my personal list.

[polak]

Originally Posted by Harry Lime

The truly great Asian actors make movies in China or Japan, and have little interest in making English movies at all. They seem to have no interest, and unless they do, or make a Kurasawa level of movie, they arn't going to be recognized. Chow Yun Fat was the last great Asian actor to have an impact here, and he wasn't great at picking projects. Ken Wantenabe has fantastic in Last Samurai, and then all but disappeared from American screens in favour of Japan.

Ken Wantenabe is awesome in all the movies he's in. I always like him. Inception and Godzilla are some notables he's been in recently, albeit in smaller roles than Last Samurai.

You know which other asian actor I really like? The guy who plays Han in the Fast and Furious movies. Maybe it's just the character but he's always come off pretty likeable. There's a reason they kept him on for the rest of the movies when they rebooted the franchise.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by polak

Ken Wantenabe is awesome in all the movies he's in. I always like him. Inception and Godzilla are some notables he's been in recently, albeit in smaller roles than Last Samurai.

You know which other asian actor I really like? The guy who plays Han in the Fast and Furious movies. Maybe it's just the character but he's always come off pretty likeable. There's a reason they kept him on for the rest of the movies when they rebooted the franchise.

I enjoy the badass from Last Samurai (pretty telling that none of us know their names). He was also in Rush Hour 3, Sunshine, The Wolverine among many others. He always does a great job, especially in Last Samurai. Watching him take 6 balls of lead to the chest and keep battling while spitting out blood is just pure awesome.

I also really like Watanabe, although he was useless in Godzilla. I wish he and Cranston had large parts in the movie.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by MattyC

I enjoy the badass from Last Samurai (pretty telling that none of us know their names). He was also in Rush Hour 3, Sunshine, The Wolverine among many others. He always does a great job, especially in Last Samurai. Watching him take 6 balls of lead to the chest and keep battling while spitting out blood is just pure awesome.

I also really like Watanabe, although he was useless in Godzilla. I wish he and Cranston had large parts in the movie.

"Let them fight."

*intense stare into distance..

[Harry Lime]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Because there isn't a large enough Asian population in North America to draw from? There's lot of great Asian American actors out there, like Daniel Dae Kim, that only seem to be able to get parts because they're written specifically for Asians. Same thing with many other ethnicities like Latino, Indian or Middle Eastern, actors can only get roles that are specifically written that way. It would be nice to see someone that isn't white or black get a leading role where their ethnicity has zero relevance to their on-screen character

Most scripts are actually fairly race neutral. It's when a production gets to the point of the casting agencies and producers that race becomes an issue. They operate under the misconception that they wouldn't be able to market an Asian lead. This is because they are dicks.

The reason that an actor like Andy Lau doesn't come over here, or actresses like Gong Li, Aishwarya Rai and Vivian Hsu don't even bother trying, is because they are treated badly by studio heads here. (edit : was actually thinking of Zhang Ziyi, oops)

And it doesn't make any sense. A Hollywood movie staring Andy Lau and Aishwarya Rai would probably beat out Titanic for worldwide box office. Except some genius at Sony would give them a chop suey, dancey dancey script to work off of.

Also, cheering for Birdman. Keaton has been underused for many years.

[Zach]

Most of the categories have one obvious winner except the Best Actor category.

Best Picture: Boyhood (absolute lock)
Best Director: Richard Linklater (absolute lock)
Best Actor: Michael Keaton slightly favoured but Eddie Redmayne is right there.
Best Actress: Julianne Moore (absolute lock)
Best Supporting Actor: JK Simmons (absolute lock)
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette (absolute lock)

[Zach]

Oh and best original screenplay: Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Animated Feature: How to Train your Dragon 2
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Imitation Game
Best Cinematography: Birdman
Best Song: Glory
Best Score: The theory of everything
Interstellar will clean up Sound Editing/Mixing/Effects
Animated Short: Feast
Documentary Short: Crisis Hotline
Live Action Short: The Phone Call
Grand Budapest should take home best costume design and makeup
Documentary Feature: Citizenfour

[V]

JK Simmons had better win. He was amazing.

[GGG]

I would hope boyhood gets best director. It was a good movie but not great. But the vision 12 years ago to start and convince everyone and keep everyone together to produce a movie like that deserves recognition. It was a piece of art not just for the content but how it was made.

Editing probably as well.

That film was a great achievement but not the best film of the year.

[GGG]

The imitation game was a poor movie about one of the coolest things that turned the tide of the war that people didn't no about.

Same with Theory of Everything. A poor movie about a fascinating guy.

Still need to see the others but nothing struck me as this film should win yet. Hoping for good things from Birdman and Grand Budapest.

[djsFlames]

Theory of Everything definitely had the best score. And possibly the best lead performance, only because of the insane degree of difficulty of the role and how impressively he pulled it off. None of the other characters could have been as difficult to step into. But still some crazy competition, most nominated were career performances.