2014 Awards Thread — Page 6

I appreciate her self-deprecating attitude but in all honesty I have to wholeheartedly disagree with it's star. "Sophie's Choice" is a pretty damn amazing film in every sense of the word.

But of course this is just my opinion.

And opinions are like...

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I would also argue that THE DEER HUNTER and KRAMER VS. KRAMER are American classics, though not necessarily Streep 'vehicles.'

That car looks more like a Thatchback to me.

As should be eminently clear by now, I'm not a particular fan of the Inevitable Meryl. I remember seeing all those films all those years ago when she was first making her mark and all this Greatest Actress Ever hoopla was starting, and I never saw what all the fuss was about. She's fine, of course, she knows her lines and doesn't bump into the furniture, she doesn't disgrace herself like Keanu or Brad, and I couldn't care less if I ever lay eyes on her again.

I don't blame her for the really outlandish number of Oscar nominations she gets for such by and large undistinguished work, to say nothing of the awards she keeps picking up. I blame her for such by and large undistinguished work, sure, she can't help it if folks keep tossing hardware her way.

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The actor's branch of the academy decides on nominations, and they all worship the ground she levitates over -- she's a goddess and all that.

Just to be nice and positive, there are Streep performances I like. She's excellent in her roles in ANGELS IN AMERICA, no doubt about that -- that little moment where she calls 911 on Roy Cohn is one of the ages, followed by my favorite moment of her entire career, where she looks at Cohn writhing on the floor and smiles a look of pure unalloyed delight at his plight.

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Updated On: 1/14/15 at 01:55 PM

Not a fan of P.S. Hoffman either, never saw him do anything that any number of actors anywhere in the country wouldn't have done (His Lancaster Dodd in THE MASTER being the sole exception to that rule). They're both fine as far as they go, but I find both actors work to be just surrealistically overrated. I just never believe a word the Streep says in way too many movies -- she's always so studied and made up and dialect-coached and posed and primped and thought out -- that no real messy humanity ever really comes through. It's all just makeup and accents and tears, tears, tears.

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Updated On: 1/14/15 at 02:16 PM

"Arquette got overshadowed by Ethan Hawke. He was the real revelation in Boyhood."

Considering she's been sweeping her category with critics and industry precursors and Hawke is losing left and right to Simmons with those same awards, you cannot really say she got overshadowed. They share like 3 scenes together and both have incredible standalone scenes. Arquette has an 'easier' category but they're both so essential to the film.

Nominations tomorrow and this is what I think can happen:

An incredible snub in Best Actor. Redmayne and Keaton safe but Cumberbatch, Oyelowo, and Carell are pretty vulnerable. Nobody can say Gyllenhaal missing is shocking considering the role and Cooper's barely done campaigning on a late coming film. Now who would be the Demian Bichir level shock nomination? Timothy Spall fits that mold but Ralph Fiennes is very much helped by The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Could BAFTA be a bellwether that Steve Carell actually might get voted into Supporting to save category from a pretty embarrassing Robert Duvall filler nomination? It's perhaps a little too fun/perfect of a notion to think about.

I think Laura Dern is the surprise nomination in Supporting Actress. I think she bumps off Chastain. A Most Violent Year feels too non-entity at this stage.

I think Birdman leads nominations potentially with The Imitation Game or even The Grand Budapest Hotel also as leader.

Most nominations without a Best Picture nomination: Interstellar

Fewest nominations with a Best Picture nomination: Selma

I think the 'surprising... but not really nominations' in Director are Clint Eastwood and Wes Anderson. Then I think either it is Morten Tyldum or Damien Chazelle.

Boyhood gets 7 nominations. The most potentially 'WUT' one: Costumes.

Academy politics are its own rabbit hole. Cotillard has a shot. A long shot, but a shot, with Two Days, One Night. I've harped on Harvey Weinstein's mistreatment of The Immigrant for a reason. As far as the Ida ladies, and I sometimes wonder if the AMPAS ever decided to release ballots how would foreign contenders do. I actually think Ida itself is a dark horse in a number of categories besides Foreign Language Film, such as Cinematography and Screenplay.

Also for Julianne, it isn't just Boogie Nights. It's Vanya on 42nd Street, SAFE, Far From Heaven, The Hours, The Big Lebowski, Magnolia, and Short Cuts. She had a pretty good 2014 anyway being one of the few who, shock to me, is well-matched with Liam Neeson in Non-Stop and hilarious/heartbreaking as Havana Segrand in Maps to the Stars. If Jessica Lange can win for Blue Sky or Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady, it takes some time to hit that floor.

Updated On: 1/14/15 at 07:38 PM

While I don't think STILL ALICE was a very good film overall, I did think Julianne was fantastic in it.

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"Considering she's been sweeping her category with critics and industry precursors and Hawke is losing left and right to Simmons with those same awards, you cannot really say she got overshadowed."

Yes I can. Ethan Hawk is the the savior of that film for me. Patricia is fine in it but Ethan Hawke elevated the material when the film really needed to be elevated. He's the MVP of that film. I know critics would disagree with me on that but I frankly just don't care.

So very happy that Marion Cotillard got her long-awaited, second Academy Award nomination this morning!

Jen Aniston, David O, Chastain and other stars respond to Oscar Snubs:


http://insidemovies.ew.com/2015/01/16/jennifer-aniston-jessica-chastain-more-react-to-oscar-snubs/