OSCARS 2015: BEST PICTURE NOMINEES - IN BRIEF

In My Opinion... Best To Worst (Completely subjective - in other words... not tactical whatsoever, though i'd like it to be of course!)

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

American Sniper

• Narrative: One-sided Americanist waste of time. Once again, America is asking for trouble - General Eastwood to the frontline? 
• Visual: It's an Eastwood alright, War & Westerns are something Clint does very well at. Once again, its a lone gunman tackling a large frontier which puts the protagonist in a very isolated position. 
• Technical: Things pew-pewing and blowing up are well and good, special effects and sound are the real married couple here. If the production team could focus on the bigger picture such as getting a gripping true story together than perhaps we wouldn't be so worried (or bored).
• Overall: True story which flopped 10 minutes into its 134 minute running time. Failed to captivate and move, though it did a nice job at stirring some controversy which is largely accountable for its box office takings.

Birdman

• Narrative: It's a simple idea, taken to another level but that's all it will ever be. It's a good film but not a great one.
• Visual: The film is stunning, its film noir for a 21st century audience. And by film standards that's very hard to translate such a 'era-stuck' stylistic genre.
• Technical: If what they say is true about the 'one-take film' then let us all bow down to Inarritu and Birdman's Cinematographer, Emmanuel Lubezki - its a theatrical masterpiece, its a play and a film at the same time - this is something very bold and daring.

• Overall: Thoroughly overrated, it seems as though it's accolades in visual & technical categories have clouded people's perception of the film. Was disappointed, primarily because it failed to live up to its hype and its lack of originality.

Boyhood

• Narrative: Who would have thought something so simple as capturing life over a period of time, could be so spectacular. It makes us think - the simple things, life for instance, are spectacular - and so are the moments in between. One of a kind. 
• Visual: Timeless.
• Technical: Extraordinary, the dedication and coordination of the production teams on-screen and off-screen is something else. Linklater is a one-of-a-kind filmmaker.
• Overall: The fact this film hasn't been as widely acknowledged within the public as it should have been (though unanimously acclaimed) is completely beyond me, this is a compelling film that has yet to build a mass audience. Like with many greats, as its already becoming, it takes time for people to see the beauty, simplicity and complexity of this film. This is filmmaking at its very finest.

The Grand Budapest Hotel

• Narrative: The story is questionable. Why write a good story when there is simply no way it could compete with beautiful visuals and eye candy for sets? Think Gravity. We've seen far better from Wes. 
• Visual: A film that is perhaps too Wes for Wes himself. It's his most eccentric project to date with his rightman Robert Yeoman, the visuals are just mind-bogglingly beautiful.
• Technical: Technical stuff is absolutely on point. The Production Design is out of this world and should be highly acknowledged - they've done their job if you don't notice they have. Locations & Props have been well researched and acquired - its all the picky things that are the signature dishes at The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Overall: Architect & Sculpter not Filmmaker, Wes has outdone himself on the scale front, this is his grandest adventure yet though we miss the old Wes; intimate characters, egocentric protagonists and glimpses of reality in his own hand-crafted worlds.

The Imitation Game

• Narrative: Disappointed that the film didn't live up to its hype, nor was it faithful to its subject - Alan Turing, whose life goes far beyond the endless possibilities of the Enigma Code.
• Visual: Visually it was warming, gave a comforting home-like feeling in amongst the stress of time. 
• Technical: Well crafted, distinctly British film. The bar for production value is set very high here, with Cinematography, Sound and Editing playing key roles here to deliver an authentic thriller-like experience.
• Overall: A lovely film to have watched, Cumberbatch was perfect as Turing and for the first time, Knightley's performance as his work-wife wasn't as cringe-worthy as we all expected it to be.

Selma

• Narrative: Bold and passionate. DuVernay stays true to history by capturing the main incidents, and documenting their consequences though its her fictitious twists that are most interesting; Interiors are lit in dark - as if to create this gangster-like thriller, which work to the film's advantage but could potentially work in its disadvantage to the Academy.
• Visual: Breathtaking cinematography, capturing the vast expanse of influence M.L.K had on his followers; the world. A shocking slow-motion recreation of the 1963 church bombing in Alabama that killed four African-American girls.

• Technical:
• Overall: Highly underrated, Brilliantly executed - Oyelowo gives his career-defining performance. its baffling how Spielberg's Lincoln ended up with 12 nominations yet this only managed to grab at 2 - not even a Best Actor nomination. I'm blaming the Academy for this grave error!

The Theory of Everything

• Narrative: Affecting and captivating (same meaning, both words - best to say it twice!). It's a bumper year for prestigious biopics. One of few biopics to generate real emotion and to explain the concept of pretty much everything.
• Visual: Well executed cinematography, intimate close up shots of Redmayne & Jones - symbolic of their love though foreshadowing of whats to come at the same time. Delhomme, Theory's Cinematographer, loves a bit of Bokeh and Dutch Angles - at last the French and English come together on something!
• Technical: Hawking's deteriorating physical state is handled very delicately but truthfully, obvious chemistry between locations and characters. Very well thought out.  
• Overall: This film is worth watching a second time, it's overrated that people think the acting is overrated!
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Whiplash

• Narrative: An electrifying film full of colour and jazz and exciting stuff. J.K. Simmons is flawless as Mr. Shouty (my name for him), he's an angry music conductor - either he's a perfectionist or a psychopath or the perfect psychopath, we just don't know! The film has you rooting for Teller the whole way as he drums his way to stardom, but things take an unexpected turn for the worse... spoiler alert!
• Visual: Visually stunning, you are truly immersed amongst the musicians and you really feel it when Simmons verbally devours the shit out of the off-key culprit *takes long gulp*. You're constantly on the edge of your seat.
• Technical: Young Director Damien Chazelle has really done it here, he's definitely one to watch. 
• Overall: The Dark Horse of the lot, it's unclear whether Whiplash is an obvious contender - would have liked to have seen more of a development in the narrative, slightly clouded with too much of shine. The film could warrant a longer running time or a shorter time to tell everything. 
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On The Whole...
This year - it feels like audiences, critics and academy boards alike have all been clouded with the belief that Style is more important than Substance and have forgotten what film is really all about. We're all automatically more attracted to eye-candy than a story which pulls at our heartstrings. And, we've learnt you can't impress everyone with a biographical film, it is unfortunate that something has to give. Plus, just because they're not actor actors doesn't mean they shouldn't have equal awards opportunities - Oyelowo, Teller, Revolori and Coltrane you're fantastic! It's poignant films like Boyhood and Selma that remind us that we're all still human in this fabricated reality.


Here's all the nominees, a dedicated Sky channel will broadcast the entire Oscars 2015 live as it happens. 'The Oscars 2015: Red Carpet Live' will air from 11:30pm to 1:30am on Sky Movies Oscars and Sky Living, before the 87th Academy Awards ceremony itself will air live on Sky Movies Oscars from 1:30am-4:30am.