Craig's Cinematic Critique

Cinema lovers, it’s that time of year again….

When it comes to the Academy Award nominations, there tends to be a variety of emotions for those rooting for their favourite films and actors to be nominated. But then there can also be occasional snubs which will no doubt hurt for weeks to come.

Today saw the Academy announce their nominees for 2014/15 with the lead being shared between the showbusiness satire BIRDMAN and the crime caper THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL.

Both films received a respective nine nominations each including the all-important Best Picture spot with British biopic THE IMITATION GAME following with eight nods.

The trio are competing in an eight-film field which includes war thriller AMERICAN SNIPER, family drama (and current Oscar favourite) BOYHOOD, music-based drama WHIPLASH and real-life biopics SELMA and THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING.

Birdman, which centres on a former superhero actor trying to rebuild his career on Broadway, received three acting mentions for recent Golden Globe winner Michael Keaton (as ego-centric star Riggan Thomson), Edward Norton (as temperamental Broadway actor Mike Shiner) and Emma Stone (as Thomson’s rehabilitated daughter Sam) as well a Best Director and Original Screenplay nod for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.

Released back in the spring, The Grand Budapest Hotel, which stars Ralph Fiennes as a charming hotel concierge caught up in a caper involving a renowned painting, was recognised in various technical categories but did manage to land double nods for filmmaker Wes Anderson in both Best Director and Original Screenplay.

British biopics The Imitation Game and The Theory of Everything did reasonably well with multiple nominations to their name.

The former, which depicts the true story of the unfortunate WWII mathematician Alan Turing, received a Best Director nom for Morten Tyldum while Benedict Cumberbatch (as Turing) and Keira Knightley (as Turing’s companion Joan Clarke) were mentioned in their acting categories.

The latter, which focuses on the life of renowned physicist Stephen Hawking, clinched acting nominations for Eddie Redmayne (as Hawking) and Felicity Jones (as his devoted wife Jane) and as well as a few other technical nods.

Boyhood, which centres on a family over the course of twelve years, chalked up six nominations including Best Director (Richard Linklater) and Supporting Actor/Actress for Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette (as Mason Snr. and Olivia respectively).

In Best Actor, Cumberbatch, Keaton and Redmayne are up against Steve Carrell (as sinister manager John Du Pont in Foxcatcher) and Bradley Cooper (as real-life American assassin Chris Kyle in American Sniper).

In the Best Actress category, Felicity Jones is competing against the overdue Julianne Moore (as Alzheimer’s sufferer Alice in Still Alice), Rosamund Pike (as the mysterious Amy Dunne in Gone Girl), Reese Witherspoon (as real-life author Cheryl Strayed in Wild) and surprise nominee Marion Cotillard (as unemployed mother Sandra in the French drama Two Days, One Night).

In Supporting Actor, Ethan Hawke and Edward Norton are nominated alongside veteran Robert Duvall (as retired judge Joseph Palmer in The Judge), Mark Ruffalo (as experienced Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz in Foxcatcher) and category favourite J.K Simmons (as bullying music conductor Terence Fletcher in Whiplash).

Patricia Arquette, Keira Knightley and Emma Stone occupy the Supporting Actress category which is rounded off by the great Meryl Streep (as the Witch in Into the Woods) and surprise nominee Laura Dern (as Cheryl Strayed’s late mother Bobbi in Wild).

The Best Director lineup sees Wes Anderson, Alejandro Gonzalez. Iñárritu, Richard Linklater and Morten Tyldum joined by Bennett Miller, whose film Foxcatcher bizarrely failed to land a Best Picture nomination.

One of the most shocking snubs of the day came in Best Animated Film as The LEGO Movie was overlooked despite its popularity with critics and audiences. It did however garner a Best Original Song nomination for the catchy “Everything is Awesome”.

Instead, the Best Animated lineup will be competed by Big Hero 6, The Boxtrolls, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Song of the Sea and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.

From the major categories, there were some big-name stars who failed to make the cut with Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler) and David Oyelowo (Selma) ignored in Best Actor while Jennifer Aniston’s guilds love for Cake proved anti-climatic as she was snubbed in Best Actress. Jessica Chastain’s showy role in A Most Violent Year also missed the cut in Best Supporting Actress.

Gillian Flynn’s excellent adaptation of her Gone Girl novel was shockingly absent from the Best Adapted Screenplay category with Rosamund Pike’s Best Actress nod being its only Oscar mention.

Despite a lack of guilds love, American Sniper’s late surge proved crucial with its Best Picture and Best Actor nods while Selma’s two mentions will seem very disappointing. Other memorable films like Interstellar, Nightcrawler and Unbroken also underperformed with the Academy.

The 2015 Oscars will be held at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday February 22nd with comedian actor Neil Patrick Harris hosting the ceremony.

The full list of nominees are below (with my early predictions in yellow):

BEST PICTURE

• American Sniper
• Birdman
• Boyhood
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• The Imitation Game
• Selma
• The Theory of Everything
• Whiplash

BEST DIRECTOR

• Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Alejandro Gonzalez. Iñárritu - Birdman
• Richard Linklater – Boyhood
• Bennett Miller – Foxcatcher
• Morten Tyldum – The Imitation Game

BEST ACTOR

• Steve Carrell – Foxcatcher
• Bradley Cooper – American Sniper
• Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game
• Michael Keaton – Birdman
• Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything

BEST ACTRESS

• Marion Cotillard – Two Days, One Night
• Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything
• Julianne Moore – Still Alice
• Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl
• Reese Witherspoon – Wild

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Robert Duvall – The Judge
• Ethan Hawke – Boyhood
• Edward Norton – Birdman
• Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher
• J.K Simmons – Whiplash

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
• Laura Dern – Wild
• Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game
• Emma Stone – Birdman
• Meryl Streep – Into the Woods

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• Birdman – Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr & Armando Bo
• Boyhood – Richard Linklater
• Foxcatcher – E. Max Frye & Dan Futterman
• The Grand Budapest Hotel – Wes Anderson
• Nightcrawler – Dan Gilroy

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• American Sniper – Jason Hall
• The Imitation Game – Graham Moore
• Inherent Vice – Paul Thomas Anderson
• The Theory of Everything – Anthony McCarten
• Whiplash – Damien Chazelle

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Birdman
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Ida
• Mr Turner
• Unbroken

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Inherent Vice
• Into the Woods
• Maleficent
• Mr Turner

BEST FILM EDITING

• American Sniper
• Boyhood
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• The Imitation Game
• Whiplash

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

• Foxcatcher
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Guardians of the Galaxy

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• The Imitation Game
• Interstellar
• Into the Woods
• Mr Turner

BEST SOUND EDITING

• American Sniper
• Birdman
• The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
• Interstellar
• Unbroken

BEST SOUND MIXING

• American Sniper
• Birdman
• Interstellar
• Unbroken
• Whiplash

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

• Captain America: The Winter Soldier
• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
• Guardians of the Galaxy
• Interstellar
• X-Men: Days of Future Past

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

• Alexandre Desplat – The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Alexandre Desplat – The Imitation Game
• Johann Johansson – The Theory of Everything
• Gary Yershon – Mr Turner
• Hans Zimmer – Interstellar

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

• Begin Again – “Lost Stars”
• Beyond the Lights – “Grateful”
• Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me – “I’m Not Gonna Miss You”
• The LEGO Movie – “Everything is Awesome”
• Selma – “Glory”

BEST ANIMATED FILM

• Big Hero 6
• The Boxtrolls
• How to Train Your Dragon 2
• Song of the Sea
• The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

• Citizenfour
• Finding Vivian Maier
• Last Days in Vietnam
• The Salt of the Earth
• Virunga

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

• Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
• Joanna
• Our Curse
• The Reaper (La Parka)
• White Earth

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

• Ida (Poland)
• Leviathan (Russia)
• Tangerines (Estonia)
• Timbuktu (Mauritania)
• Wild Tales (Argentina)

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

• The Bigger Picture
• The Dam Keeper
• Feast
• Me and my Moulton
• A Single Life

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

• Aya
• Boogaloo and Graham
• Butter Lamp (La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak)
• Parvaneh
• The Phone Call

The past year’s biggest cinematic flops have been are battling it out to avoid being ridiculed following the announcement of the 2015 Razzie Award nominations.

It’s another bad turnout for Michael Bay as the often-slammed filmmaker saw two of his films nominated for the Worst Picture award. Five years after his second Transformers film Revenge of the Fallen landed that ‘accolade’, the fourth film of the blockbuster franchise Age of Extinction has ended up with several Razzie nods.

Despite average reviews and a healthy intake at the box-office, the robotic action flick has additionally received mentions for Worst Director, Worst Sequel, Worst On-Screen Combo and two acting nominations for Nicola Peltz (Worst Supporting Actress) and the experienced Kelsey Grammar (Worst Supporting Actor).

Former Cheers and Frasier star Grammar has the misfortune of being nominated in that category for three other films including Expendables III, for which co-stars Mel Gibson and Arnold Schwarzenegger have also been nodded.

Michael Bay’s second film up for Worst Picture is the new version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles which has a few nominations including Worst Supporting Actress for Megan Fox.

The Worst Picture lineup is completed by the Nicolas Cage-starring thriller Left Behind, the action adventure The Legend of Hercules and the Christmas comedy flop Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas. The latter nominee is currently ranked as the worst film of all time on IMDB’s Bottom 100 list.

It was a bad year for Cameron Diaz who is nominated in Worst Actress for both The Other Woman and Sex Tape as well as garnering a Worst Supporting Actress mention for her role in the Annie remake.

Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane is harshly present on the list for his acting and directing of the western comedy A Million Ways to Die in the West with co-star Charlize Theron up for Worst Actress.

Other high-profile names mentioned include Razzie favourite Adam Sandler and his acting companion Drew Barrymore for the rom-com Blended, Keifer Sutherland for Pompeii and Melissa McCarthy and Susan Sarandon for the comedy flop Tammy.

A new category, the Redeemer Award, has been introduced this year to laud past Razzie winners. Among them are the rejeuvanted Ben Affleck for Argo and Gone Girl, Jennifer Aniston for Cake, Mike Myers for Supermensch, Keanu Reeves for John Wick and Kristen Stewart for Camp X-Ray.

The Razzie Award ceremony will take place the night before the Oscars on February 21.

The full list of nominees are below (predictions in yellow):

WORST PICTURE
Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas
Left Behind
The Legend of Hercules
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Transformers: Age of Extinction

WORST ACTOR
Kirk Cameron – Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas
Nicholas Cage – Left Behind
Kellan Lutz – The Legend of Hercules
Seth MacFarlane – A Million Ways to Die in the West
Adam Sandler – Blended

WORST ACTRESS
Drew Barrymore – Blended
Cameron Diaz – The Other Woman and Sex Tape
Melissa McCarthy – Tammy
Charlize Theron – A Million Ways to Die in the West
Gaia Weiss – The Legend of Hercules

WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Mel Gibson – Expendables 3
Kelsey Grammer – Expendables 3 / Legends of Oz / Think Like a Man Too & Transformers: Age of Extinction
Shaquille O’Neal – Blended
Arnold Schwarzenegger – Expendables 3
Kiefer Sutherland – Pompeii

WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Cameron Diaz – Annie
Megan Fox – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Nicola Peltz – Transformers: Age of Extinction
Susan Sarandon – Tammy
Brigitte Ridenour – Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas

WORST SCREEN COMBO
Any Two Robots, Actors (Robotic Actors) – Transformers: Age of Extinction
Kirk Cameron & His Ego – Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas
Cameron Diaz & Jason Segel – Sex Tape
Kellan Lutz & Either His Abs, His Pecs or His Glutes – The Legend of Hercules
Seth MacFarlane & Charlize Theron – A Million Ways to Die in the West

WORST DIRECTOR
Michael Bay – Transformers: Age of Extinction
Darren Doane – Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas
Renny Harlin – The Legend of Hercules
Jonathan Liebesman – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Seth MacFarlane – A Million Ways to Die in the West

WORST SCREENPLAY
Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas
Left Behind
Sex Tape
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Transformers: Age of Extinction

WORST REMAKE, RIP-OFF OR SEQUEL
Annie
Atlas Shrugged: Who Is John Galt?
The Legend of Hercules
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Transformers: Age of Extinction