Oscars 2015

[bleedorange]

Less than a week away. I still have some nominated films to see, but here's how I would rank the Best Picture nominees so far:

 

Boyhood

Whiplash

Selma

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Birdman

American Sniper

The Imitation Game

 

(I haven't seen The Theory of Everything yet.)

 

It appears that The Imitation Game is the front runner for a Screenplay win, which is confounding. It was the weakest part of a mediocre film. Oh well. Inherent Vice and Whiplash are certainly more deserving in this category

[GtrPlyr]

Of the ones I've seen so far (I hope to watch Selma tonight, will adjust my list accordingly)...

 

edited:

 

01. Boyhood

02. Birdman

03. Whiplash

04. Selma

05 .The Grand Budapest Hotel

06. The Theory of Everything

07. American Sniper

08. The Imitation Game

[Passenger Sid]

I think Boyhood will win and should win.

 

Birdman is a superbly-directed film with GREAT acting. I liked many things about it, though I found it odd and/or off at times.

 

With Boyhood, I thought about the film often after seeing it. I was confused about the boy's mom's decisions. I felt bad at some things the boy was forced to go through. I liked that his grandmother tried to give him spiritual direction, only to have instantly shot down by his dad, which for me was unfortunate. The boy works a fast-food job and isn't always a go-getter and your not sure if he'll amount to much. It wasn't a conventional movie with an an arc for the main character. But it was real and relatable...probably for just about anybody.

[Magnetized]

I think Birdman will win, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was Boyhood. Boyhood was my favorite by a mile.

 

The movie that seems most overrated to me is Whiplash. Aside from the excellent acting, I thought it was an overcooked and unbelievable script. I found myself literally shaking my head in disbelief at some of the plot contrivances.

[bleedorange]

I think Birdman will win, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was Boyhood. Boyhood was my favorite by a mile.

 

The movie that seems most overrated to me is Whiplash. Aside from the excellent acting, I thought it was an overcooked and unbelievable script. I found myself literally shaking my head in disbelief at some of the plot contrivances.

 

Interesting. I obviously disagree, but I'm curious what you found to be a contrivance. Also, here's a great interview with the director:

 

https://thedissolve.com/features/emerging/787-damien-chazelle-on-what-is-and-isnt-ambiguous-abou/

[Beltmann]

Whiplash is not realistic at all, but that's a strength, I think.  It's a movie about how two characters feel within a particular and rare bubble, and the movie's visual style and rhythm helps express that psychological space.

 

Somehow I managed to see nearly every single nominee this year.  Sheer luck, I guess.  Once I see the animated and live action shorts later this week, I'll have seen every nomination except Marion Cotillard in Two Days, One Night, several of the foreign language nods, two of the feature documentaries, one of the animated features, and one of the original songs.  Most of those are things that I was eager to see even prior to the Oscar attention, but they remain inaccessible to Milwaukee-area filmgoers.  That's frustrating every year.

 

I don't think Boyhood is Linklater's finest achievement, but I'm rooting for it because I want to see one of America's best directors have a wide, boyish grin on his face.

[uncool2pillow]

I don't think Boyhood is Linklater's finest achievement, but I'm rooting for it because I want to see one of America's best directors have a wide, boyish grin on his face.

 

I haven't seen Boyhood yet, but seen nearly everything else he's made. What do you think is his greatest achievement?

[brownie]

I've seen Slacker, Dazed and Confused, the Before Sunrise/Sunset/Midnight trilogy, and then yesterday I finallly saw Boyhood.

 

Honestly? I kept asking myself "is this it??". I liked it okay, and the fact that the same actors were used over a 12-year period is cool, but I honestly don't understand why this is nominated for best picture. I find any of the "Before...." trilogy much more compelling.

[uncool2pillow]

I really enjoy Waking Life. And while School of Rock isn't much of an artistic statement, it's pure joy.

[Beltmann]

I remember seeing Slacker when it first came out, and it struck me as an important work.  From the start, Linklater has always been interested in time, both in terms of structure and subject.  Boyhood is perhaps the most extreme example, but even something like Dazed and Confused is more about time than about parties.  For me, the Before trilogy is his greatest meditation on time, and I'm partial to the middle film.  What's astonishing about Before Sunset is how the weight of years--on their lives, on their emotions, on their faces--deepens the context of Jesse and Celine's original conversation.  While their first youthful encounter grooved on the bloodrush of spontaneous idealism, the second anecdote coursed with regret, frustration, the fearsome power of memory, and the betrayals of dreams.  Haven't we all asked that most treacherous of questions, If I had turned different corners, who might I have been?  It's a movie that eloquently grasps the perils--and the bliss--of such speculation.  (Is it worth noting that my wife and I are nearly the same age as the characters?  We responded to the original film in 1995, and revisiting Jesse and Celine nine years later had the peculiar effect of transforming the screen into a mirror.)

 

To my eyes, Linklater's best films are Before Sunset and Dazed and Confused.  The only one I disliked was The Newton Boys, but I haven't seen it since it was released and have often thought that I should give it another try.  One that's very underrated is Me and Orson Welles.  (I agree about School of Rock, uncool2pillow.  Love that movie!)

[bleedorange]

As much as I love Dazed and Confused and the Before... films, I would consider Boyhood to be Linklater's crowning achievement so far. I thought it was nearly perfect. The Before films are snapshots of what the accumulation of time has done to Jesse and Celine and are very effective. But I feel Boyhood achieves more in showing the gradual passage of time as it happens. The way that certain events that may seem or feel monumental at the time turn out to be mere speed bumps when looked back upon. How quickly people can come in and out of your life without a moment's notice. And the way small events over time can help shape you as you become older.

 

I also think it helps being filmed in Texas. Despite taking place 20 years after the general time period I grew up in, it really captures a lot of small familiar things about growing up here...from families in small towns to living in the suburbs to visiting Austin to exploring West Texas, etc. And even though my childhood experiences were nothing like the ones depicted here, it's just another part of the film that really hits for me.

[Boss_Tweedy]

I've seen all of the best picture nominees except "The Imitation Game." I actually loved "Whiplash" most and would award it the best picture Oscar. I liked "Boyhood," but "Birman" to me was just weird. It had good acting, but the story didn't really do much for me.

 

In order (for me):

 

1. "Whiplash"

2. "Boyhood"

3. "Selma"

4. "Birdman"

5. "American Sniper"

6. "The Theory of Everything"

7. "The Grand Budapest Hotel"

[Magnetized]

Interesting. I obviously disagree, but I'm curious what you found to be a contrivance. Also, here's a great interview with the director:

 

https://thedissolve.com/features/emerging/787-damien-chazelle-on-what-is-and-isnt-ambiguous-abou/

I probably didn't use the right word when I said contrivances, but maybe cliche is closer to the mark. Actually, I read the article you linked to and the writer compared it to a sports-themed movie. That's probably what I didn't like about it. The whole notion of the tyrannical teacher/coach and the student/athlete overcoming insane odds to prevail...it just seemed completely overwrought. And the frequent tight focus on his bleeding fingers and screams of agony--it was like torture porn. It seemed to me that the movie swung from one absurdity to another. There were times when I was literally laughing out loud. But in fairness, I was the only one in the theater who seemed to be having this reaction. And I will say that last drumming scene was great.