Nominations were announced today. A couple of surprises: Selma was largely ignored, Amy Adams and Jennifer Anniston were not nominated as anticipated, Laura Dern made the list in best supporting actress category, and Marion Cotillard was nominated in the best actress category.
It seems weird to me that there are some nominations of films which are not yet in theaters? Or maybe it’s just that they haven’t opened yet in my city? Still Alice and American Sniper open tomorrow in my city. I’m hoping to catch Still Alice tomorrow afternoon if possible. The subject sounds very interesting to me.
Any thoughts? Have any of you seen the majority of the nominated films? I’m hoping to see a lot of matinees in the next month.
I had on NPR when I was our running errands earlier and one of the local ahows was discussing the nominations. They were all gobsmacked that none of the actors or the director of Selma were not nominated.
I don’t get all the buzz over Grand Budapest Hotel. It was good, but not Oscar worthy imo. But I guess that’s just me.
I want to go see Still Alice and Wild (which was my pick for NYE but H vetoed it) and Cake.
We didn’t like the Grand Budapest Hotel…don’t get it. Some movies qualify for nomination if they have a very small opening, and will have a national debut later. There are so many releases of good movies to qualify and for box offie that its a judgement call. January and February used to be death for movies because they were so substandard. Now, box office rules…bad movie for$15 or a good movie for $15…it is economics.
It does offend me that some people are complaining that no African Americans were nomina
I’d probably watch it for $3.99 on Demand. You might even like it - as it seems a lot of people did.
We watched Land Ho the other night.OnDemnd for $3.99. Cute, quirky movie. It was filmed in Iceland and just seeing the scenery was worth the price, imo.
“It does offend me that some people are complaining that no African Americans were nomina”
The people I was listening to weren’t complaining because no African Americans were nominated - they were complaining because they weren’t nominated for their brilliant performances and great directing.
I saw Selma. I’m very surprised – almost shocked – that the director, Ava DuVernay, and actor David Oyelowo weren’t nominated. Oyelowo’s performance was very very strong. The movie has gotten rave reviews from critics – and deserved it. This has nothing to do with Oprah Winfrey, who played a minor role in the film. My opinion is based on how powerful the movie is.
Grand Budapest is good if you like Wes Anderson movies. I saw Birdman last weekend and didn’t care too much about the plot. The only thing I can see it winning is in the cinematography category for the long take shots.
I have made it clear on cc that I am all about Boyhood. I think it should win, at the very least, Best Director for Linklater. It’s so rare to do something new in movies that doesn’t involve CGI. I’d also love to see it win Best Film.
I was surprised that Arquette won the GG for Best Supporting Actress, but the more I think about it … she really was great. And a huge part of the film so maybe she is a lock for the Oscar because she’s hardly a “supporting” actress in this role.
I am torn about seeing Selma. The bad press about how LBJ is portrayed has worked on me.
I DVR’d it off of one of the premium channels a couple of nights ago for free. Let me see if I can find what channel it was on. I have not watched it yet, though. It was on really late.
A number of movies might have very small releases, say back in December so that they can be eligible for Oscar nominations, then open in wider releases later on. For instance, Still Alice hasn’t even played in Chicago yet. I think it opens this weekend.
D babysits for some people who are SAG members and get all the screeners. She’s been over there a few times in the last couple of weeks, and has seen some stuff that we haven’t gotten here yet. She has a rather critical eye for movies, so I’ve been asking her opinions on certain movies because I respect her opinion.
Let me know what you think of American Sniper. I asked D about it, and she said she would probably pass since it’s a very republican, pro-war propaganda kind of movie, so I think I’ll pass. I also had a friend who read the book and was quite put off by the redneck, macho mentality of the main character.
." I also had a friend who read the book and was quite put off by the redneck, macho mentality of the main character."
I work around some of these guys and that’s how they are. They’re not the sensitive type. I know there are accusations that some of the incidents in the book were made up or embellished. But it’s just a movie.
No, they’re not the sensitive type, but there’s a difference between people who are not sensitive and people who mock those who might be, which is how I read her take on Chris Kyle’s character.
^^^ So you’re saying the authors of the book embellished some incidents? And isn’t the movie taken from the book written by Chris Kyle?
But I guess we can say many movies have taken creative liberties with books, so I wonder how close to the real story the movie is?
I think I’ll be passing on American Sniper. Too intense for me. My dad was career military so I just couldn’t deal with war movies from that era. I walked out of The Deer Hunter, skipped Apocalypse Now.
I think one can find a movie either enjoyable or thought provoking without necessarily advocating the views or sanctioning the acts/character of the protagonists. I don’t know a whole lot about Chris Kyle, but when I read that he was the sniper with the most successful “hits,” I had to wonder about the kind of person who could do such a thing without going crazy. I’ve read that the military looks for sociopaths to take on these types of missions because they are not burdened with a conscience. Note that I’m not saying Chris Kyle was a sociopath, but it was a fleeting question in my mind after he was killed and I learned about his role in the armed forces.
I’m thrilled that J. K. Simmons was nominated for Whiplash - he’s one of my favorite character actors (he should have had a supporting actor nomination for Juno!). I love all the actors in the Best Actor category and will be happy if any of them win, but right now I think it’s a race between Michael Keaton and Eddie Redmayne. I was a bit surprised not to see a nomination for Best Director for Clint Eastwood.
