As is usually the case come nomination morning, I am a bundle of mixed emotions. The confusing and befuddling Oscar season resulted in a head scratching list of snubs and surprises. I have lots of thoughts on them all, but need to get a big one off my chest or I wont be able to continue.
Where the hell is "The LEGO Movie"!?! I mean seriously you guys, WHAT FRESH HELL IS THIS? I was asked to contribute a top ten films list for SmashCut and I'm going to spoil my number 1 for you: It was the "The LEGO Movie" (Sorry Karl, I'm angry). If the stuffy old guys of the Academy can watch that film and not be won over by the sheer joy it exudes, I just don't know how to take it all seriously. The film managed a nomination for Best Song, but its exclusion in the animated race baffles me. At least writer/director Phil Lord is taking it all in stride and posted a great picture of his own LEGO-constructed Oscar statuette.
Dumbledore best sums up my thoughts on the matter:
The disheartening reality I was confronted with as I sifted through the list: campaigns matter. Besides the shafted minifigs, everyone is going to be talking about "Selma" and "Gone Girl" today. Their absence in the Best Picture race is an example of just how white/straight/old/male the voting body is. For the first time since 1999, there are no actors of color nominated. The directors branch could have nominated their first ever black female director. A woman could have won Best Original Screenplay. But the thing both films have in common is their failure in campaigning.
David Fincher famously doesn't campaign for awards. As a result Fox wasn't able to run the show the way they would have liked with "Gone Girl". I knew Fincher essentially took himself out of the running for director, and I knew the brilliant score would go above the music branch's head. But its absence in Screenplay, Editing, and Cinematography is alarming. Its sole nod is in the form of Rosamund Pike. I would argue that her citation is thanks to "Gone Girl" producer Reese Witherspoon. Reese has been working the field hard for her film "Wild", and has been championing her good friend Pike all season. It is one of the most unique offerings of the year and more deserving of just one nomination.
"Selma" on the other hand campaigned in the "wrong" way. It had a serious lack of support in the precursor awards because screeners were not sent to most of the guilds. True, they did get DVDs to Academy members, but Academy voters have a stack of screeners a mile high and they probably don't have time to watch them all. And many are inclined to use nominees/winners of the precursor awards as a way to move a film to the top of their pile. If a member hadn't seen "Grand Budapest" by last week, you can bet they watched it after it took that surprise Globe win. My hunch is that "Selma" was too thematically important to ignore, and even those who didn't watch it ranked it somewhere on their Best Picture ballot. But since the film didn't play by the preordained rules of getting Oscar nominations, it was slapped out of every other category, save Best Song.
Other Reactions, in no particular order:
*"Nightcrawler" failed to make use of its late booming surge. Its sole nomination came from Best Original Screenplay. Perhaps the mostly LA based voters didn't want to closely examine their own values (which is what the film kind of forces you to do). Jake Gyllenhaal gets the boot in favor of Oscars apparent new golden boy: Bradley Cooper. This is Cooper's third nomination in three years.
*Speaking of Cooper, "American Sniper" really caught fire at just the right moment. It surprised with six nominations and is a true testament to how a film can overcome rather lukewarm reception in terms of reviews and box office.
*I'm SO HAPPY for Laura Dern. I'm bummed there wasn't also room for Rene Russo and Tilda Swinton, but Dern gives a beautiful understated performance.
*"Birdman's" lack of editing nomination is just bizarre. Is it because there are less cuts in the movie? Lemme break it down for you: The fact that the whole thing looks like one take and you can't tell where the cuts are? THAT'S GREAT EDITING PEOPLE.
*Glad I stuck to my guns on several choices people told me I was crazy for. First being "X-Men" for Best Visual Effects. This marks the first Oscar nomination for any X-Men film, and the team deserves it. Though who knew they would shun "The Hobbit" in favor of "Captain America"?
*Other wild card I got behind: "Beyond the Lights" best song bid 'Grateful'. The movie didn't get much attention, but the original songs were amazing. And if Gugu Mbatha-Raw couldn't get traction for this (or "Belle") I'm glad it managed something. Give it a listen. Bow down to Dianne Warren. Fall in love with Rita Ora. You're welcome.
*Best Score is pissing me off. "Theory of Everything" is going to win that isn't it? I still can't recall any aspect of the scoring to that film. Besides the stellar performances, the whole thing was a big let down for me. Again, the music of "Gone Girl" is haunting my nightmares and should absolutely be here.
*Who would have thought Best Actress could find room for a foreign language performance that barely found any traction with precursors? "Two Days, One Night" didn't even make the Foreign Language film shortlist. Marion Cotillard won over the Boston and New York critics...and that's about it. But obviously, the Academy held Jennifer Aniston's past work in comedy against her (comedy is the bastard child of drama you see #TemptedToRepostDumbledoreGIF) and past winner Marion was able to slide in. Rough morning for Jennifer Aniston, but I can't deny that I literally jumped up and down in bed when Cotillard's name was announced.
The Contenders pages currently feature all the nominees highlighted in gold...so you can see exactly how right or wrong I was at every step. Mostly I had one wrong per category, though I correctly predicted Best Picture, Makeup/Hair, and Supporting Actor with perfect accuracy. Soon I will switch each page over to rankings of just the nominees and their likelihood of winning. Stay tuned.
UPDATE: In my haste at posting this article, I forgot the most entertaining moment of the nominations announcement. Cheryl Boone Isaacs read Best Cinematography nominee Dick Pope ("Mr. Turner") as: "Dick Poop". I. DIED. Dick Poop > Adele Dazeem.
And just because why not:
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