The OSCARS 2015

[Chris Knipp]

http://www.chrisknipp.com/links/OSC1.jpg

The Oscars. Nominations. Winners.
Birdman and Boyhood lead, but Imitation Game and Grand Budapest Hotel provide serious competition. See New York Times article (http://carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/15/oscar-nominations-2015/?emc=edit_fm_20150116&nl=movies&nlid=22852861&_r=0). The "snubbing" of anyone non-white has been commented on; and of Selma. Selma got two noms but not the director or star.

The 87th Academy Awards air on Sunday, February 22. Winners will be highlighted below.
The public seems to have liked American Sniper and Boyhood best. They got screwed. It's very surprising that Birdman, such an oddball movie, won so many prizes. I really thought to balance it out, Boyhood would get Best Picture. But the Oscars are not a logical and fair set of prizes worked out by an intelligent jury working together (as is the case at Cannes). It's just a vote of a lot of 60-something white men. Mostly. Best Picture was the only one of the major awards that wasn't completely predictable.


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

Best Actor
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

Best Actress
Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild

Best Supporting Actor
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Laura Dern, Wild
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods

Best Director
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game

Best Animated Feature Film
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

Best Adapted Screenplay
American Sniper, by Jason Hall
The Imitation Game, by Graham Moore
Inherent Vice, by Paul Thomas Anderson
The Theory of Everything, by Anthony McCarten
Whiplash, by Damien Chazelle

Best Original Screenplay
Birdman, by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr. & Armando Bo
Boyhood, by Richard Linklater
Foxcatcher, by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman
The Grand Budapest Hotel, by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness
Nightcrawler, by Dan Gilroy

Best Cinematography
Birdman, Emmanuel Lubezki
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Robert Yeoman
Ida, Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski
Mr. Turner, Dick Pope
Unbroken, Roger Deakins

Best Visual Effects
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Guardians of the Galaxy
Interstellar
X-Men: Days of Future Past

Best Documentary Feature
Citizenfour
Finding Vivian Maier
Last Days in Vietnam
The Salt of the Earth
Virunga

Best Documentary Short Subject
Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Joanna
Our Curse
The Reaper (La Parka)
White Earth

Best Film Editing
American Sniper, Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach
Boyhood, Sandra Adair
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Barney Pilling
The Imitation Game, William Goldenberg
Whiplash, Tom Cross

Best Original Song
Everything Is Awesome, from The Lego Movie, by Shawn Patterson ]
Glory, from Selma, by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn
Grateful, from Beyond the Lights, by Diane Warren
I’m Not Gonna Miss You, from Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me, by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond
Lost Stars, from Begin Again, by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois

Best Production Design
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Adam Stockhausen and Anna Pinnock
The Imitation Game, Maria Djurkovic and Tatiana Macdonald
Interstellar, Nathan Crowley and Gary Fettis
Into the Woods, Dennis Gassner and Anna Pinnock
Mr. Turner, Suzie Davies and Charlotte Watts

Best Live Action Short Film
Aya
Boogaloo and Graham
Butter Lamp (La Lampe au Beurre de Yak)
Parvaneh
The Phone Call

Best Animated Short Film
The Bigger Picture
The Dam Keeper
Feast
Me and my Moulton
A Single Life

Best Sound Editing
American Sniper, Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
Birdman, Martin Hernández and Aaron Glascock
The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies, Brent Burge and Jason Canovas
Interstellar, Richard King
Unbroken, Becky Sullivan and Andrew DeCristofaro

Best Sound Mixing
American Sniper, John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin
Birdman, Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and Thomas Varga
Interstellar, Gary A. Rizzo, Gregg Landaker and Mark Weingarten
Unbroken, Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and David Lee
Whiplash, Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley

Best Costume Design
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Milena Canonero
Inherent Vice, Mark Bridges
Into the Woods, Colleen Atwood
Maleficent, Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive
Mr. Turner, Jacqueline Durran

Best Foreign Language Film
Ida (Poland)
Leviathan (Russia)
Tangerines (Estonia)
Timbuktu (Mauritania)
Wild Tales (Argentina)

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Foxcatcher, Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier
Guardians of the Galaxy, Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White

Best Original Score
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Alexandre Desplat
The Imitation Game, Alexandre Desplat
Interstellar, Hans Zimmer
Mr. Turner, Gary Yershon
The Theory of Everything, Jóhann Jóhannsson

[Chris Knipp]

Boyhood was the most beloved picture but the popular box office favorite was American Sniper. The Academy Awards don't reflect public opinion this year. See this analysis (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/20/upshot/before-oscar-night-playing-the-odds-with-a-bettors-mind-set.html?emc=edit_fm_20150220&nl=movies&nlid=22852861&abt=0002&abg=1) from yesterday's NY Times about public feeling vs. the 'smart money' for the Academy Awards.


Even though I considered Boyhood overrated by people I've heard from, it's such a favorite I think it ought to get Best Picture; and others say the same. Peter Bradshaw the Guardian critic commented on the paper's Oscar blog:
Well. Whoa. Whoa? Whoa! That was the real upset. Not just director but best picture. I have to say however much I love Birdman (and I do) I’m very disappointed that Boyhood — a genuine classic with genuine staying power — has been overlooked in favour of this film. Well, it has wonderful vivacity, wonderful wit, wonderful exuberance and invention with a great role for Michael Keaton and a raft of great acting opportunities for a big cast. Well done to Iñárritu, a very distinctive talent. But I’m sad for Boyhood and I feel that it’s the wrong answer.