Oddly enough, I actually had a lot in common with the Academy this year. Perhaps it's because I saw a lot of films that they ended up nominating, or perhaps it's because they selected some decent films this year. The greatest struggle I have in evaluating the art of film is in the difference between a museum and a home. Allow me to elaborate: in a museum we have relics, achievements in history, great and masterful works, but even if I could afford those paintings, photographs, and sculptures, there's very few I would ever want in my home. There's very few that would stick with me, inspire me, entertain me, and keep me looking at them to the point that I'd want them in my home. And this, for the most part is my criteria for what I see as the best picture of the year. There were many movies that were masterful works of art. Maybe they taught me, maybe they challenged me, but I'd never want to see them again. I'd never buy them and watch them again over the years, they're not tales that cause me to go forward in life. Stories I'd want my children and the following generations to cherish. I want to pick movies that I think should be remembered, not in a museum, but in a home. Not as a relic, but as a part of life. With that being said, here are my choices for the best (and worst) films of 2014:
BEST PICTURE:
NOMINEES:
"Interstellar"
"Boyhood"
WORST PICTURE:
"The Amazing Spider-man 2"
NOMINEES:
"The Monuments Men"
MOST OVERRATED PICTURE:
"The Lego Movie"
NOMINEES:"Captain America: The Winter Soldier"
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:
Eddie Redmayne "The Theory of Everything"
NOMINEES:
Jake Gyllenhaal "Nightcrawler"
Benedict Cumberbatch "The Imitation Game"
Felicity Jones "The Theory of Everything"
NOMINEES:
Emily Blunt "Into the Woods"
J.K. Simmons "Whiplash"
NOMINEES:
Robert Duvall "The Judge"
Ethan Hawke "Boyhood"
Ralph Fiennes "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Keira Knightly "The Imitation Game"
NOMINEES:
Lilla Crawford"Into the Woods"
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
"How to Train Your Dragon 2"
NOMINEES:
"Big Hero 6"
Benoît Delhomme "The Theory of Everything"
NOMINEES:
Ben Davis "Guardians of the Galaxy"
Damien Chazelle "Whiplash"
NOMINEES:
Dean DeBlois "How to Train Your Dragon 2"
Christopher Nolan "Interstellar"
Richard Linklater "Boyhood"
FILM EDITING:
Tom Cross "Whiplash"
NOMINEES:
Barney Pilling "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Sandra Adair "Boyhood"
Hans Zimmer "Interstellar"
NOMINEES:
John Powell "How to Train Your Dragon 2"
Jóhann Jóhannsson "The Theory of Everything"
Alexandre Desplat "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Dennis Gassner; Anna Pinnock "Into the Woods"
NOMINEES:
Adam Stockhausen; Anna Pinnock "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Nathan Crowley; Gary Fettis "Interstellar"
Charles Wood; Richard Roberts "Guardians of the Galaxy"
Paul A. Felix "Big Hero 6"
"Interstellar"
NOMINEES:
"Godzilla"
"Guardians of the Galaxy"
"Edge of Tomorrow"
Dean DeBlois "How to Train Your Dragon 2"
NOMINEES:
Jonathan Nolan; Christopher Nolan "Interstellar"
Damien Chazelle "Whiplash"
Richard Linklater "Boyhood"
Dan Gilroy "Nightcrawler"
TOTAL WINS/NOMINATIONS:
"How to Train Your Dragon 2" - 3 wins/5 nominations
"Whiplash" - 3 wins/4 nominations
"The Theory of Everything" - 3 wins/4 nominations
"Interstellar" - 2 win/6 nominations
"Into the Woods" - 1 win/3 nomination
"The Imitation Game" - 1 win/2 nominations
"The Amazing Spiderman 2" - 1 win/1 nomination
"The Lego Movie" - 1 win/1 nomination
"Boyhood" - 0 win/5 nomination
"The Grand Budapest Hotel" - 0 win/3 nominations
"Guardians of the Galaxy" - 0 win/3 nominations
"Big Hero 6" - 0 win/2 nominations
"Nightcrawler" - 0 win/2 nomination
"The Judge" - 0 win/1 nomination
"Captain America: The Winter Soldier" - 0 win/1 nomination
"Godzilla" - 0 win/1 nomination
"Edge of Tomorrow" - 0 win/1 nomination
Additional comments:
• I know what you're thinking right now: Why did you watch The Amazing Spiderman 2? Because it was playing on the flight to and from Hawaii. I inadvertently watched both halves, and deeply regretted it later. Now that I think about it... that's how I ended up seeing The Monuments Men as well. Delta really needs to pick some better in-flight movies.
• I'll never understand why people don't take animated films seriously. As a child, and as an adult, they often speak to me, inspire me, and cause me to feel more emotions that I almost ever feel in a film. However, The Lego Movie definitely did not. I felt like I was supposed to be the target audience, as a typical Lego-loving, quirky-humored boy. However it felt to me like a bunch of crappy jokes that weren't funny, and a story that wasn't in the slightest way moving or heartfelt. I may have laughed 3 or 4 times.
• Although I wouldn't consider Guardians of the Galaxy to be an incredible film, I found it to be very enjoyable and easily one of the most entertaining films of the year.
Oh
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