2014 Oscar Nominations

Today, the 2014 Oscar nominees were announced, and my list of films grew by 8. The following are nominated for Best Picture:

• American Sniper
• Whiplash
• Selma
• Birdman
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• The Imitation Game
• The Theory of Everything
• Boyhood

I have not yet seen American Sniper, Whiplash, or Selma. 

I did see The Grand Budapest Hotel, which is easily Wes Anderson's most ambitious film. (For a man who makes movies in the same manner that someone might painstakingly handcraft a diorama, this says a lot.) The style and technique are familiar, and as good as anything Wes Anderson has done. Ralph Fiennes works spectacularly in the slapstick/serious/twee mold, and many Anderson regulars, such as Jason Schwartzmann, Bill Murray, and Owen Wilson, return for entertaining bit parts. 2014 will be known as a year where niche directors' longtime brands were finally rewarded, and if not for the sheer Linklaterness of Boyhood, the Anderon archetype might have finally pulled through for the big win. I give The Grand Budapest Hotel a score of 8.3.

Birdman is also a very good film. The "faux one shot" editing style is a bit of a gimmick, but it does give the movie a unique and immersive perspective. If nothing else, I was glad to see two of my personal favorites Michael Keaton and Ed Norton, not only in a legitimate movie again to begin with, but even on-screen together. Birdman: 8.1.

The Imitation Game, on the other hand, feels like a bit of a reach. The trailers for this movie paint it as a World War 2 epic that also mines the depths of the foundations of computer science. It is neither of those things, and instead gives us mediocre human drama in a vaguely periodic backdrop. The movie works best for about 10 minutes, when Alan Turing and his group have a breakthrough on how to more efficiently define the problem set that the machine must consider, but otherwise, the subject matter is mostly reduced to a prop and a lot of high-level dialogue ("it will work", "no it won't", "yes it will", "i believe in you", "i need more time"). Also, not to stray too far from the strict premise of this Internet Blog, but I've seen at least 5 or 6 better Benedict Cumberbatch performances than this, the first one for which he is nominated. I give this movie a 5.2.

The Theory of Everything is about Stephen Hawking and his life. It is a biopic. It is 2014's My Left Foot. It is very good. It will forever be a great trivia question, as Eddie Redmayne is nominated and may likely win for playing Stephen Hawking, whom Benedict Cumberbatch also played some 10 odd years ago. I gave it a score of 6.5.

Finally, Boyhood, the clear favorite to win Best Picture, is also the movie that I would probably vote for. We all know that it was filmed over 12 years with the same cast, but what's almost more impressive is that other than slightly extending the length of the film, the 12-year premise doesn't dominate the movie or make it any less honest or enjoyable than Linklater's other work. Like Bernie, it's as much about Texas as it is the characters. The film will win Best Picture, Linklater will win Best Director, and Patricia Arquette will win Best Supporting Actress. All are appropriate results. Boyhood: 8.5.