Everything is NOT Awesome, But It's Not Awful Either
Ah, a beautiful sunrise across America. And an early morning for many in the crazy land of Hollywood.
Some, get the call that they've probably not slept the night before waiting for, "congratulations, you are an Oscar nominee."
For many others have a phone that doesn't ring with the message they wanted...but more of a "You were robbed" or "You'll get them on the next film" waiting for them.
Still today the announcement of the nominees for the 87th Annual Academy Awards (airing Sunday, Feb. 22 on ABC) are a big deal for those of us who live the year within the movie community.
See all the nominees on the
Oscar site here.
Now let's take a quick look at what I think went right, what went wrong and some of the big stories.
It seems like everyone focuses on the negative first...let's hit some positives instead.
What Went Right
-
Whiplash - my favorite film of the year found its way into the Best Picture race and (despite some confusion within the voting community on the screenplay, still found a way to get nominated for
Adapted Screenplay).
-
Julianne Moore for Still Alice - one of the films that totally found a way to sneak up on me, the performance is there (it was expected to be there) and hopefully will amount to a win.
-
Marion Cotillard - also in the actress category, Cotillard is an Academy fave and it was nice to see her in the mix.
-
Steve Carell - nice to see the mainly comedic actor get in the mix for his dramatic, heavily makeup-centric, performance.
-
Grateful - The song with music and lyrics by Diane Warren from the film Beyond the Lights was a really nice surprise for me. The film actually isn't bad and this was a big part of it.
-
Song in general - I actually like the list of song nominees. They all offers something really special to their films and to see 5 nominees with a lot of good work recognized is something special.
What Went Wrong (or the section everyone wants to read)-
The Lego Movie - In my mind, the two best animated films of the year are Big Hero 6 and The Lego
Movie...though I have a certain affinity for How To Train Your Dragon 2 and others as well, it seems to say that The Lego Movie is NOT one of the top 5 animated films of the year...is ridiculous.
-
Life Itself - Look, I don't know what the Academy has against Steve James, but Life Itself was the BEST documentary I saw this year. No offense to the other nominees, but this deserves one of their spots, PERIOD. Oh and YES I voted for it to win the Critics' Choice Movie Award this evening on A&E.
-
A Most Violent Year - no love for a film that I had at number 5 on my top 10 list is a bit surprising. Looked to me like the type of film that could sneak in a couple noms.
-
Ava DuVernay - I was not the biggest fan of Selma - very good, not great...but I can think of at least 2 folks that got directors nods that she did a better job than.
-
Nightcrawler/Jake Gyllenhaal - One of the most provocative films that really looked at a harsh reality behind the scenes of the footage we all watch on the news. An excellent performance and a great film.
The Stories-
Racist? - many of those who quickly tweeted implied that the Academy members that didn't vote for Selma in many categories were racist. Very few came out and said it...but the implications were clear.
-
Sexist? - like the above comment...many were quick to hit Twitter to proclaim that it was all an "old white boys club"
-
American Sniper - those who don't like this film at all continue with the barbs against it. Did it deserve the noms it got?
-
The Snubs - Ava, Fincher, Gone Girl, Gillian, Angelina and more - not everyone's favorites got nominated.
So unpack your own feeling on today's noms - I will as time goes on...I've just stated the stories, without my opinion yet to detail them.
Tonight on A&E is the Critics' Choice Movie Awards... I remember just a couple years back that Ben
Affleck showed up after being snubbed in the directing category for Argo and walked home with the CCMA trophy.
Could the same happen for Ava DuVernay tonight? She is nominated.
Jessica Chastain will be picking up an award for her work throughout the year tonight at the show, despite the lack of her nomination this morning.
And maybe..just maybe...if we are lucky - the film that was snubbed for the doc category will win the CCMA tonight for Steve James and at least put a smile on his face for a bit....Life Itself rocked.
So sit down tonight with your remote for the Critics' Choice Movie Awards on A&E.
And of course...we will ALL be tuned in to ABC on Feb. 22 to see who takes home the big prize.
Journalist Gary Webb uncovers one of the deepest conspiracies, and biggest stories, of his career. It involves drug smuggling and the United States government. Is this discovery too important for the public to know? Now, instead of reporting the events, Gary has become the story. 
