2014 Oscar Nominations
So in years past I have done a summation of my picks for the Academy Awards, highlighting the films that I've seen and the like. I will not be doing that this year. The reason is simple. Of the seven categories I normally care about (Picture, Director, Actor, Actor Supporting, Actress, Actress Supporting, Animated), I have seen a grand total of two of the nominated movies for four total nominations. That's it. I saw Gravity (Picture, Director for Alfonso Cuarón, Actress for Sandra Bullock) and Frozen (Animated). Both of these films were excellent, and I recommend them.
Somehow I managed to avoid every other nominated film. Normally around this time of year I make a strong effort to see things I think might be nominated, but for whatever reason this year I just haven't been arsed to do so. Even now as I look at the list there are very few things that I feel I really need to see, and most of those (Captain Phillips, mostly) is via positive word of mouth from friends. I will go see The Wind Rises when it opens in two weeks in Cleveland, and at the moment even that feels more like Miyazaki completism than actual interest.
This lack of interest in Oscar bait corresponds to general lack of interest in new film that's been impacting my cinema choices in recent months, but I'll cover that more when I do my 2013 film review.
So yeah - see Gravity (preferably in 3D) and Frozen, and for everything else you're on your own.
Somehow I managed to avoid every other nominated film. Normally around this time of year I make a strong effort to see things I think might be nominated, but for whatever reason this year I just haven't been arsed to do so. Even now as I look at the list there are very few things that I feel I really need to see, and most of those (Captain Phillips, mostly) is via positive word of mouth from friends. I will go see The Wind Rises when it opens in two weeks in Cleveland, and at the moment even that feels more like Miyazaki completism than actual interest.
This lack of interest in Oscar bait corresponds to general lack of interest in new film that's been impacting my cinema choices in recent months, but I'll cover that more when I do my 2013 film review.
So yeah - see Gravity (preferably in 3D) and Frozen, and for everything else you're on your own.