2015 Oscar Reactions

2015 Oscar Reactions

Well another year down. I legitimately enjoyed most of the Oscars this year. They did a pretty good job and got some categories right...but of course they also got some wrong. This post I'm just going to ramble about what I liked and didn't like about the 2015 Oscars. So let's get started!

Alright I'll start out by saying all the Oscar shorts and documentaries are not in here, I didn't see most of them (don't stone me please?). Also no Animation. So sorry about that. 

-Costume Design I have no problems with I loved the costumes in Grand Budapest Hotel, especially Willem Dafoe's, they were just so good. Those rings, yeah they were cool.

-Editing I was really pleased with, my "Pretty Please" pick was Whiplash and that's what won. Honestly the editing was sharp as nails in Whiplash, it was amazing to watch. The transitions between the scenes were mind blowingly good.

-Makeup and Hairstyling is where I had a problem. Grand Budapest Hotel won which was really good, but Foxcatcher, man Foxcatcher's makeup was almost otherworldly. Sometimes when an actor is covered in makeup they try to let the makeup do the acting. But that is not what happened with Steve Carell, he put so much into this character and was so good underneath the makeup. He captured everything perfectly to my knowledge and did a fantastic job. The makeup just added that extra bit for realism, and he looked so real.

-Production had absolutely no problems from me. Grand Budapest Hotel should have won, I wanted it to win, and it did win.

-Sound Mixing and Editing I thought should have both went to Interstellar. It was otherworldly in Interstellar. Now, sound mixing was won by Whiplash which I honestly have no problems with that winning (it was awesome to say the least). And Sound Editing I wanted to go to Birdman but I thought Interstellar might have been better, but American Sniper got this category which wasn't a problem, I just thought others were slightly better.

-Musical Score should have gone to Hans Zimmer for Interstellar, but The Academy thought Grand Budapest Hotel was better. Where I didn't think it was better, I loved it as well, so no real complaints.

-Music Song I was virtually certain was going to Glory, and what do you know it did. Still better than Everything is Awesome? Not in my ears.

-Birdman was the shit when it came to cinematography last year. I was almost dead certain it would win and it should have, so happy that it did.

-Foreign Language Film this year was awesome. Ida was one of my 10 favorite of last year so it was awesome to see it win. On top of that this is the first time a film from Poland has won the category, and coming from a predominantly Polish background, this win was amazing. Way to go Poland!

-When we talk about visual effects, nothing beat this shot this year....

Interstellar had this one all the way. The price of the ticket was worth this shot alone on the big screen.

-For Original Writing I really wanted for Nightcrawler to win. I knew it basically had no chance in hell, but I still wished for it. Birdman, which did win, was also well deserving. Better than Nightcrawler? That's a debatable point.

-For Adapted Writing this was my favorite Oscar moment of the night. That speech by Graham Moore was easily the most moving of the night and one of the rare speeches that are moving. The suicide awareness was a fantastic speech part. I am that weird kid (have I ever tried or really thought about killing myself? No, don't worry about that), so the whole part talking to the weird kid was particularly moving. I am easily the biggest movie nerd in the school, and love Star Wars, Warhammer 40K, Dungeon and Dragons type games, lots of video games, love learning, don't follow the stereotype teenage thing, like spending time with my family, and hang out with the (traditionally) weirder group (but I love them and don't think of them as weird but as awesome and cool).

-Director. This is where it starts to get really interesting. I wanted Bennett Miller to win for Foxcatcher. I thought he did a fantastic job with the movie and perfectly captured the tension and dread of the situation that faced these men. It was just so well done. Where I wanted Bennett Miller to win I thought Richard Linklater would win. Boyhood was just such a different concept and idea and to see him helm it for over a decade was fascinating. But who did win? Alejandro G. Inárritu, who is one of the best filmmakers working today. So am I mad that he won for Birdman? Absolutely not, would I have liked to see it go a different way? Yeah I would.

-Supporting Actress was awesome this year. Patricia Arquette killed it in Boyhood and killed it with that speech (not to mention Meryl Streep's reaction). Such a deserving win, the only one to challenge her this year in my mind was Emma Stone (her Oscar clip was perfect).

-Supporting Actor was filled with extremely deserving performances this year. Edward Norton was just magnetic as a hothead stage actor in Birdman, and since I've wanted Mr. Norton to win an Oscar basically since I knew who he was I really wanted him to win this year. But did I want him to win more than Ethan Hawke, who played a real father. He was convincing in his performance and I loved it. But did I want him to win more than Mark Ruffalo who was insanely good with Channing Tatum and Steve Carell. The three of them had such great onscreen chemistry with one another, it was just utterly compelling to watch. But did I want any of them to win as much as J.K. Simmons? Probably not, he was just the most deserving winner of the night for his utterly terrifying and jaw-dropping performance as an intense music teacher from hell in Whiplash. J.K. Simmons deserved the Oscar the most in this category, but Edward Norton, Ethan Hawke, and Mark Ruffalo all killed it and deserved awards as well. Robert Duvall was the probably the only one who didn't quite deserve an award, he wasn't bad in The Judge, it's just The Judge was a bad film.

-With Leading Actress it would have mind blowing if Rosamund Pike had won, and I was really pulling for her to win. She basically single handedly made me never want to get married in my life. Alright, that may have been an over exaggeration. But anyway, Julianne Moore I've heard was great, but I haven't seen quite yet. Plan to go in the next weekend or two for Still Alice but haven't had the chance. Other than Rosamund Pike I would have Felicity Jones win because she was amazing. Julianne Moore's Oscar speech was great, it got quite personal for me seeing as part of my family has alzheimer's disease. 

-Oh boy, here we go, the Best Actor category is the one I wanted to change the most this year. Eddie Redmayne was really good in The Theory of Everything. I mean really good. He did a really great job at portraying Stephen Hawking. It was intense, it was loving, it was emotional, and it pulled the heartstrings quite a lot (there may have even been a man tear or two). But he just wasn't as good as Steve Carell in Foxcatcher. Anyone who has read my blog lately have been subject to lots of Foxcatcher love. The movie was fantastic as is, but even better than the career defining performances of Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo was the career defining performance by Steve Carell. He was just so freakin phenomenal. I said it before, the makeup didn't do the acting, it just elevated it above and beyond anything other done last year. Steve Carell became John Du Pont in Foxcatcher, and I cannot wait till it comes out on Blu-Ray so I can watch it, the watch it again, then again.

-And then best picture, I loved Birdman. It was a fantastic film and I labeled it my 6th favorite film of 2014. What was better was Boyhood, which I thought would win. It has that grander feel that I've discovered The Academy loves. It didn't win, The Academy chose the film kind of about themselves. Like I said Birdman was great and so was Boyhood, I would have been happy with either winning. But you want to know what would have been awesome if it had happened? Whiplash winning Best Picture. Would have jumped up and down for that one.

Well there it be. If you think I got any wrong or think some that I didn't deserved to win let me know. Can't wait for the next Oscars already!