Wednesday 25 February 2015

Late to the Oscars

The day after the Oscars was the day I realised I missed it. No matter, I got to see all the 'best bits' posts which suits me fine as I was unable to watch the ceremony anyway due to having work at 6:30am on Monday.


I cheered and shouted when I saw the results but ultimately Patricia Arquette's speech was the highlight, like Cate Blanchett's speech last year, women sticking up for women. Which is what I like to see.

Firstly, I was appalled disgruntled seeing that Michael Keaton had been snubbed for the Best Actor award. Eddie Redmayne won. This doesn't sit right with me. I'm not a fan of the British actor and saying might seem like a betrayal but he's just not that great, whereas Keaton was superb. Keaton played a character, Redmayne immitated Hawking. Sorry.



Saying this, I was proud to see many Brits nominated and Vanity Fair honoured this with an amazing spread in the Hollywood edition. But again, it's a shame that the only British films that get noticed by Hollywood are costume dramas or biopics. There are amazing British dramas out there that are continuously left out, the UK has far more to offer than Downton 'I'm so bored of this' Abbey.



Ending on a high note, I was over the moon to see that Birdman took home the 'top award' for Best Motion Picture'. I've heard a few people say now that 'it was obvious Oscar bait'. I don't think this is true. A few years ago, a film like Birdman, would never have even been considered. It is a triumph not a sighing moment of acceptance that this amazing film won. True brilliance.

Here is the full list of winners and nominations:

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

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


Best Actor
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory Of Everything

Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton, Birdman

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

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

Supporting Actor
JK Simmons, Whiplash

Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher

Adapted Screenplay
The Imitation Game
American Sniper
Inherent Vice
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

Original Screenplay
Birdman
Boyhood
Foxcatcher
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Nightcrawler

Animated Feature
Big Hero 6
Boxtrolls
How To Train Your Dragon 2
Song Of The Sea
The Tale Of Princess Kaguya

Foreign Language Film
Ida
Leviathan
Tangerines
Timbuktu
Wild Tales


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

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

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


Production Design
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Into The Woods
Mr. Turner


Best Score
Alexandre Desplat, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alexandre Desplat, The Imitation Game
Hans Zimmer, Interstellar
Gary Yershon, Mr. Turner
Jóhann Jóhannsson, The Theory Of Everything

Best Original Song
"Glory", Selma
"Everything Is Awesome", The Lego Movie
"Grateful", Beyond the Lights
"I'm Not Gonna Miss You", Glen Campbell…I'll Be Me
"Lost Stars", Begin Again

Best Costume Design
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Inherent Vice
Into the Woods
Maleficent
Mr. Turner

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

Best Documentary Short
Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 
Joanna
Our Curse
The Reaper (La Parka)
White Earth

Best Makeup And Hair
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Foxcatcher
Guardians of the Galaxy

Best Animated Short
Feast
The Bigger Picture
The Dam Keeper
Me and My Moulton
A Single Life

Best Live-Action Short
The Phone Call
Aya
Boogaloo and Graham
Butter Lamp (La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak)
Parvaneh

Best Sound Editing
American Sniper
Birdman
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Interstellar
Unbroken

Best Sound Mixing
Whiplash
American Sniper
Birdman
Interstellar
Unbroken

3 comments:

  1. I always love watching the Oscars every year, but afterwards, I feel like it would've been better to just have watched it in snippets. You didn't miss much! haha Redmayne's speech and press room interview was very cute, though Keaton winning would've been great too. Gyllenhaal for Nightcrawler was my big pick, so Best Actor felt a little lackluster to me.
    That's really surprising! Birdman doesn't strike me at all as being Oscar Baity- if anything Selma, Theory of Everything, and Imitation Game fall into that category more.

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  2. Same here. Birdman was seeing Keaton back on form, fingers crossed he continues with similar projects.

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  3. I'm surprised at how little attention Nightcrawler got, it was a brilliant film. That's why I'm so glad Birdman won the award, it wasn't screaming out for attention unlike most biopics which do.

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