The Good:
-Argo, Django Unchained and Silver Linings Playbook are in my top 10 of the year (I still haven't seen Zero Dark Thirty, Les Miserable, Amour or Lincoln).
-Will Tippin!!!!
-Joaquin Phoenix in The Master is my favorite acting performance of the year. I was nervous that he ruined his chances with his negative remarks about awards. It doesn't matter if he wants them, he still deserves them. Sublime performance.
-The entire Best Supporting Actor category is filled with awesome actors. That's a tough call, but I would give it to Christoph Waltz.
-Meryl Streep has no chance of winning an Oscar this year. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Meryl for the most part, but when she is nominated, she wins. It's frustrating.
The Bad:
-Life of Pi is a gorgeous movie, but it failed in its message. I agree with the technical nominations, but best picture? No way.
-I completely disagree with the love for Moonrise Kingdom. The more I think about it, the more I hate the film. I was even tempted to put it in my worst of the year list. While the screenplay is original, it's not nomination worthy. At all.
-This is the first time in a looooong time that I've actually seen most of the nominated animated features. While Brave almost made it to my best of the year list and I enjoyed The Pirates: Band of Misfits, I don't see anything special about ParaNorman or Wreck-it Ralph (both are cute). How are these Oscar nomination worthy films???
-Snow White and the Huntsman is nominated for 2 Oscars. I actually commented positively on both the costume and the visual effects....but still.
The Snubbed:
-The most talked about snub, is by far the most egregious: Ben Affleck for directing Argo.
-I knew my favorite film of the year, Seven Psychopaths, would be snubbed. However, the screenplay is borderline genius, as is Sam Rockwell's performance.
-Susan Sarandon is amazing in Jeff, Who Lives at Home.
-Leo DiCaprio for Django Unchained. Although it is a tough category, I would have preferred him over Robert De Niro for Silver Linings Playbook.
-I would have loved a screenplay nomination for the most original movie of the year, Looper.
-Liam Neeson is incredible in The Grey. I haven't seen Flight yet (and I don't even want to see it), but I have an inkling that Neeson deserves the nomination more than Washington.
What surprised me concerning Life of Pi, isn't only that it was nominated for Best Picture, but that it's the movie with second-most nominations at all! I liked it kinda, but it's not that good really.
ReplyDeleteHowever I disagree with your opinion on Moonrise Kingdom (loved it) and Argo (not that special to me).
About the animated films: I think they just took what they thought was best no matter how unworthy. But I think they should look at other countries too, although I don't know much about the topic... but there must be great animated films from other countries than America...?