Oscar thoughts

The 87th Annual Hollywood Circle Jerk...Erm, I mean Award Ceremony is over. Now for the hangover.

Before I get to it though, there was an article posted that shed some light on the people who vote for these awards. Telling, as this voter votes for reasons that have nothing to do with artistic merit.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/brutally-honest-oscar-ballot-2015-773902?mobile_redirect=false


Even this show had its ups and downs. So instead of going over every little moment, I will just post general highlights.


THE BIG ONES

Best Picture: Birdman
It's in my top 5 of 2014 for sure. My heart said Boyhood but my brain was saying Birdman. I'm happy for Innaritu and he gave the last of many great speeches throughout the night.

Best Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu, Birdman
One of my favorite directors. His Border trilogy could give Von Trier's Depression trilogy a run for its money. This is going to be a massive boost for The Revenant which comes out toward the end of the year. "From the Oscar winning director of Birdman"

Best Actor: Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
Not surprised. Everything lined up for this actor.

Best Actor: Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Moore is in my top 5 actresses. But she should have won for Magnolia back in 1999. This Oscar belonged to Rosamund. Also, out of the half a dozen tour de force scenes in Gone Girl, you choose to show that clip?

Best Supporting Actor, JK Simmons, Whiplash
So happy for him.

Best Supporting Actress, Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Yeah. I liked her performance. Wanna fight?

Best Adapted Screenplay: Graham Moore, The Imitation Game
One of the best and most moving speeches I've heard given at the Oscars.



Best Original Screenplay: Alejandro G. Innaritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr. and Armando Bo
I was expecting Budapest to take this one home. The more I think about it though, I am happy Birdman got it.

Happy surprises:

Best Documentary Feature: Citizenfour
Yes. Yes. Yes. In a category notorious for fucking up constantly, they got it right this year.

Best Film Editing: Whiplash
A film edited over 12 years vs. a film edited in 19 days. Both great feats of editing. Both tackling it from opposite ends of the spectrum. I was hoping for Whiplash but thought Boyhood would be rewarded.

Best Sound Mixing: Whiplash
I was not expecting Whiplash to take home Sound Mixing. Was I hoping it would? Hell yes. But judging from the Academy, war films tend to become a favorite in this category. The sound design of Whiplash is stunning and is what makes it one of the best films, not just to look at, but to listen to.

Sad upsets: 

Best Animated Feature: Big Hero 6

From what I hear, DreamWorks spent a ton of money and time animated How to Train Your Dragon 2. The Tale of Princess Kaguya seemed to have gained a lot of critical attention too. I was not expecting Big Hero 6 to win. Sigh

Best Original Score: Grand Budapest Hotel
OK. I knew Interstellar was not going to win. But I was pulling for it anyway. I thought Theory of Everything was going to be rewarded instead because Desplat's two nominations would cancel each other out. I was wrong.

Best Makeup: Grand Budapest Hotel
I was sure Grand Budapest would win Production Design and Costumes. Little did I know, it would beat out Foxcatcher for Makeup. It was on fire that night. I'm honestly surprised Foxcatcher got nominated. It's an unconventional movie for the Academy to recognize. Seeing them nominate it for four awards gives me a glimmer of hope.

Performance of the night: Lady Gaga singing a medley from The Sound of Music
Runner up: Common & John Legend sing Glory from Selma

This moment:





BOYHOOD BACKLASH 

Look. I understand if you don't like Boyhood. That's fine. Everyone has an opinion.

Is it really necessary to gloat about it losing the Oscar though? Even the producers of the show thought it would be funny to see if Linklater was sad for losing when they cut to him, rather than any of the other directors. Linklater will probably never be nominated in the category of director again. Are you seriously going to just sit there, point the finger and laugh at someone who worked on a film for 12 years? I love Innaritu too, but if he lost I wouldn't gloat over him because I preferred Linklater winning Director over him. They're both great directors.