This review will announce news surrounding the Oscars so be warned, also the following is very much my opinion versus my normal reviews so be aware of that.
So before I go any further I'll provide a list of the categories I will not be discussing which are: Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Documentary- both feature and short subject, Best Live Action Short Film, Best Sound Mixing or Best Film Editing. This is because I have not seen the films Whiplash, Boyhood, Ida, Citizenfour, Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 or The Phone Call.
I will rank the Award's that have been given as:
- Agree
- Neutral
- Disagree
Best Visual Effects: Interstellar (Disagree)
Interstellar's selling point was probably the effects; it certainly wasn't the script or the acting. However when you observe the film as a whole and compare it to some of the other films that were nominated you fast realise that there were two films cheated of this award. Firstly Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was an exceptional adventure into motion capture effects; a modern feat that sets Dawn on the same level if not higher to that of Interstellar. I also think Guardians of the Galaxy, another nominee, deserved the award a lot more. The entire venture was incredibly beautiful in how this science fiction epic was painted to the viewer; the detail and effort that was put into the film was a lot more obvious than that of Interstellar. Once again some evidence of the Academy choosing the 'intelligent' film over the blockbuster.
Best Costume Design: Grand Budapest Hotel (Disagree)
Grand Budapest Hotel was a very bright and colourful film with some delightful displays of costume to enhance this ensemble feature. However it still felt very uniform throughout and the altering costumes felt more like a gimmick than Academy Award material. Two of the nominees that deserved the award much more than Grand Budapest did was Maleficent and Into the Woods. Maleficent had some wonderful design and especially put a lot of detail into creating a brilliant fantasy world; from the robes of Maleficent to the armour that Sharlto Copley wore. Into the Woods wasn't my favourite film, but it really did have some of the best costumes of the year; it's theatrical and fairy tale costume pieces created a true testament to the original Broadway musical.
Best Make-up and Hairstyling: Grand Budapest Hotel (Disagree)
Grand Budapest Hotel had some very basic hair and make-up work done within the film, I think some hairstyles and Tilda Swinton's age make-up barely qualify this as Academy Award noteworthy. The film that should have won this category was Guardians of the Galaxy, with make-up artists and hairstylists who had to plan in creating unique appearances and prosthetics for alien cultures. The depth and scope of design the visuals of these characters was an effort worthy of the award it was denied.
Best Cinematography: Birdman (Agreed)
In my review for Birdman I noted that the camerawork was a negative, that it helped the narrative drag on. I still stand by that completely, it was a film that dragged in places, however Birdman's cinematography was still quite inspired to watch and certainly showed the most skill of the nominated films. The continuous tracking shot that this film gravitated around was seamless and really quite an inspiring thing to watch. Well deserved Oscar there.
Best Production Design: Grand Budapest Hotel (Agreed)
Grand Budapest Hotel wasn't a great film and really hasn't deserved a lot of the awards that it's gotten, but if there is one award that it deserved to get it was the award for production design. Grand Budapest had some amazing sets, the intricacy and detail that went into them was awe inspiring. Wes Anderson's talented crew certainly put a lot into developing some brilliant theatrical environments.
Best Sound Editing: American Sniper (Disagree)
As everyone who reads my reviews knows, I wasn't a big fan of American Sniper. However I was very complimentary of it's technical prowess as a film. This does not mean it was the best film in terms of sound editing. in fact there were two films that deserved that title more and one that was just as good as Sniper was. Interstellar shared a sound edit that bore close resemblance to the level American Sniper was at, in that it had loud and intense moments of action contrasting with intense moments of silence. The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies had better sound editing than either film, from the intense battle scenes to the really great moments of drama portrayed between characters. Yet Birdman was the film that really got cheated of an award here, the amount of effort that must have gone into matching sound with continuous tracking shots is a feat worth awarding.
Best Original Song: 'Glory' from Selma (Agreed)
This was the high point of the Academy Awards for me, there was no other song that deserved to win in my mind. Selma was a film that came at the right time for the modern day civil rights movement and that is shown in the song 'Glory', in which modern moments like Ferguson are contrasted against actions taken in the past such as bus boycotts. Common and John Legend have made a song to be remembered in this piece.
Best Original Score: Grand Budapest Hotel (Agreed)
Grand Budapest Hotel was a fast paced period comedy that thrived when it came to it's score. The incredible tempo of the music really heightened the music in every scene to the extent that the score almost became a character in itself. I think you can see how much effort went into this score and it was well deserving of the award it was given.
Best Animated Short Film: Feast (Agreed)
Feast being the only animated short film that I've seen means that I can't say too much about it. What I will say though is that Feast is an exemplary film about family and love and the brilliant perspective of the film was quite uniquely Disney as well. I certainly suggest giving it a watch if you haven't seen it yet.
Best Animated Feature Film: Big Hero Six (Agreed)
That Big Hero Six was the best animated film came as no surprise to me at all, already it is my number one film of 2015. The blending of cultural characters from a company that usually celebrates American culture was a huge step forward. I also loved the themes of recovering from personal loss, especially at a young age; it showed a depth to Disney's capacity for making deeply engaging plots. It easily bested the rather weird, contemporary Boxtrolls and Dreamworks Dragons sequel.
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Imitation Game (Agreed)
The Imitation Game was one of the best Academy Award nominated films this year. It was an incredibly engaging film that I'd describe as one of the better biopics of the year. The pacing, tone and general plot was so eloquent and witty that there was no doubt in my mind that it's screen play would win an award.
Best Original Screenplay: Birdman (Disagree)
Birdman certainly had a stand out original script, the intense themes that were discussed over a film that felt linear and abstract at the same time nearly makes it worthy of the award it was given. However I am of the mind that Nightcrawler was cheated out of an award in this category, it too shared intense themes around a linear yet abstract plot. Nightcrawler succeeded Birdman in that it had a better understanding of how to write characters from a psychological perspective as well as create realistic characters. Birdman thrived in it's theatricality but it certainly had nothing on Nightcrawler's spectacular engaging plot.
Best Actress: Julianne Moore (Neutral)
Frankly this is an award that cannot be decided easily, I don't disagree that Julianne Moore gave an Academy Award performance but I feel like she had some competitors that are worthy of note. Moore gave a fantastic portrayal of early on set Alzheimer's Disease in Still Alice, you just felt incredibly upset for her as the film progressed. Reese Witherspoon, who played Cheryl Strayed in Wild; gave an incredible display of character development and growth in a similar example to Moore's development for the negative. Rosamund Pike, who was my personal pick for best actress; created one of the most brilliant psychopathic portrayals of a female lead and really defined her skill as an actress.
Best Actor: Eddie Redmayne (Disagree)
Redmayne played Stephen Hawking in an extraordinarily talented fashion, it was some inspired work as an actor. It was not the best performance given by an actor this year. In fact the best actor this year was Benedict Cumberbatch, who played Alan turing in The Imitation Game. The incredible struggle he depicted was beautiful to watch; the capacity he had to juggle a man who was homosexual, autistic and a revolutionary genius was no small feat. He certainly trumped Redmayne's performance.
Best Directing: Alejandro G. Innaritu (Agreed)
Innaritu's work on Birdman was incredible, and while I wasn't as kind to the film as I could have been in my reviews I greatly admire what this man made. The amount of effort it must have taken to set up a shot that kept moving for anywhere around ten minutes of the scene before a subtle cut or edit would have taken a lot of skill to direct. This man has easily set himself up for some great things from here on out, his work on Birdman will be out there for all to see after this awards season.
Best Picture: Birdman (Disagree)
Birdman was a thought provoking film that really examined film itself as well as the state of the current cinematic industry. It was not the best film of the year. The Imitation Game and The Theory of Everything alone were better than it quite easily. The film that really deserved the Oscar for best picture was the same film I provided a still of at the start of this critique; Selma. Selma has fast become one of my favourite films of the year, with some powerful messages about civil rights and how both African American and White people perceive these issues. Some stunning performances across the board, even for minor characters, Selma was a true testament to film making. Where's the award at Academy? Sitting with the film about films, how quaint.
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