YOUR Best picture 2014?

[Smaug's voice]

Doesn't necessarily has to be nominated for the Oscars.

I've seen most of the Oscar contenders this year and mine would be a tussle between Imitation Game and Selma.
I think the imitation Game travels the 'conventional biopic' pattern a bit. But BC was brilliant and I thought the editing and score were superb.


I've yet to see Grand Budapest hotel and Boyhood though.

PS: Just felt I ought to mention Lubezki's cinematography in Birdman. A film with (apparently) just a single long shot? ingenius.

[yovargas]

Of all movies I saw this year, I'd give it to The LEGO Movie. Yes, seriously. That movie was ingenious, inventive, inspired, intelligent on so many levels.

Of the nominees, Birdman by a good distance. Such a cool, original, and provocative movie. (Have not yet seen The Grand Budapest Hotel, Whiplash, or The Theory of Everything but of those only Whiplash interests me.)


I've been intending to start a thread on Boyhood, which is going to win the Oscar, and why I thought it was a terrible movie and easily the worst of the nominees....

[JewelSong]

I loved the LEGO movie. Saw it on a plane ride back from Zambia, and I thought it was gong to be stupid, but instead it was genius.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Primula Baggins]

I saw the LEGO movie and felt kind of battered by the pop culture references. If I'd gotten more of them, I think I'd have liked it better. Batman was, I admit, pretty great.

I've seen almost nothing else, though we've DVR'd Grand Budapest Hotel and may watch it this weekend. We don't get out to movies much. That may change when our son moves out and going out to a movie or to dinner is not a fraught mental tussle between "invite him along?" and "DATE NIGHT!" Even watching a movie at home. . . .

[Frelga]

I only saw three of this year's movies, which is actually more than normal for me. Two Marvel movies and the Hobbit, because I'm sophisticated like that. I like the Captain America movie best of the three, so it gets the Frelga award.

[yovargas]

I do usually go to a decent amount of movies but this year was unusual in that I saw (and liked!) most of the ones with awards buzz. Because I know how much everyone loves to hear My Opinions on Everything, here's my top pics in the major categories:

Best Picture (not even nominated?? Blasphemy!!)
The LEGO Movie

Best Actor (not even nominated?? Blasphemy!!)
Joaquin Phoenix (for Inherent Vice)

Best Actress (not even nominated?? Blasphemy!!)
Rene Russo (for Nightcrawler)
[she might be more of a supporting role but there were extremely few major roles for women this year and hers was the only female standout IMO; Hollywood should be embarrassed by this]

Best Directing
Birdman

Best Screenplay (not even nominated?? Blasphemy!!)
Dear White People
[a tragically little seen little gem of a movie]

[yovargas]

I wanted to re-iterate the absurdity that is Best Actress this year. Again, I saw quite a few movies this year, including many/most of the award contenders, and I can literally only think of ONE movie I saw that even HAD a clear leading female role. That one was Boyhood which I guess means she wins by default despite being an ordinary performance of an ordinary role (1000 other actresses could have played "the mom" role equally well). It's astonishing that Hollywood *still* has so little interest in strong female roles. And that's despite the recent successes of movies like Hunger Games and Gravity!


(eta - I forgot about Dear White People which did have a female so i guess that's 2 for the year.)

[Impenitent]

The Grand Budapest Hotel and Birdman. The former is up there amongst my favourite films.


Edited for typo. Grr!

[Frelga]

Yov, there was the Black Widow in Captain America 2. Not an Oscar worthy performance, but definitely a strong (as in, both well written and kickass) female role. It was particularly refreshing to see an attractive woman who was not motivated by romance. Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy was not as vivid, and did have some romantic tension, but as action movie females go, she was very good.

Tauriel was a wasted opportunity, I regret to say.

ETA: but hey, Galadriel

[Smaug's voice]

There was Felicity Jones as Jane Wilde from ToE. Great acting, and a very strong female presence throughout the film.

ETA: Me too thinks, it's totally crazy that the LEGO movie wasn't even nominated. Same with David Oyelowo from 'Selma', snubbed for best Actor.

[yovargas]

I meant "strong" more as "prominent", ie. roles that would qualify for Lead instead of Supporting actress. But Black Widow is teh kewl.

And a giant at the Selma snubs. The directing in Selma was excellent. IMO, much better than, say, The Imitation Game. The scenes of protest and on the bridges were remarkably well shot and staged, giving them tremendous power.

[Frelga]

I meant "strong" more as "prominent", ie. roles that would qualify for Lead instead of Supporting actress. But Black Widow is teh kewl.

Oh, in that sense, yeah, not much this year. Well, there was the Hunger Games.

It's complete bovinepoo that there is not a Black Widow movie in the works. Throw in Sebastian Stan for her origin in Red Room and you've got a sure winner.

[Passdagas the Brown]

Selma and Birdman.

I've enjoyed most of Wes Anderson's offerings (esp. Royal Tenenbaums and Rushmore), but I felt that the Grand Budapest Hotel was almost a caricature of his style. I'm just not buying it any more. He needs to teach his pony a few new tricks!

[yovargas]

It was already a tough call for which whether LEGO or Birdman was the 2014 movie that most impressed me most but I re-watched Birdman last nite and I think it'd tipped me over to the Birdman side (until I watch LEGO again? ). That movie is insane in the very best way.

I saw the LEGO movie and felt kind of battered by the pop culture references. If I'd gotten more of them, I think I'd have liked it better. Batman was, I admit, pretty great.

While there was a lot of that and I can totally get how the movie's general tone wouldn't be to everyone's taste - it is all rather frantic! - I hope that you were at least able to see that it had a lot more on its mind than just pop gags and jokes. I think a lot of people perhaps didn't notice how much intelligence and thoughtfulness was running underneath the whole thing because of how silly it all was on the surface. I found their ability to balance hugely entertaining silliness with razor-sharp satire and social commentary extremely impressive!

[Primula Baggins]

Do you know, I've heard that from other people, and I think all that really just went over my head because I was trying too hard to figure out the jokes. It probably didn't help that I was watching it with the kids et al. and kept trying to figure out what they were laughing at whenever I didn't get a joke. (I did get a lot of them! Just not all.) So I wasn't paying much attention to the actual story.

I wonder if that's one reason it didn't do as well as expected in the Oscar nominations, given that most of the Academy is even older and whiter than I am.

Maybe I'll give it another chance when it starts showing up on non–pay per view.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I wanted to re-iterate the absurdity that is Best Actress this year. Again, I saw quite a few movies this year, including many/most of the award contenders, and I can literally only think of ONE movie I saw that even HAD a clear leading female role. That one was Boyhood which I guess means she wins by default despite being an ordinary performance of an ordinary role (1000 other actresses could have played "the mom" role equally well). It's astonishing that Hollywood *still* has so little interest in strong female roles. And that's despite the recent successes of movies like Hunger Games and Gravity!


(eta - I forgot about Dear White People which did have a female so i guess that's 2 for the year.)

I guess you haven't seen either Wild or Still Alice. Maybe it is a question of your choice of filmgoing as much as anything else.

[yovargas]

No, they were just very small or little talked about movies that therefore didn't enter my radar. Ditto Two Days, One Night. Small or little talked about movies is mostly what the women can get if they want serious roles, unlike the men who are all in majorly acclaimed movies.

Oh, I just remembered I saw Under the Skin which stars Scarlett Johansson. That one did make a lot of critic's year-end lists though it never had much chance at the Oscars.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

No, they were just very small or little talked about movies

*brain explodes*

[yovargas]

I literally hadn't heard of Still Alice or Two Days, One Night before the Oscar noms. I'd heard of Wild but not much and wouldn't have remembered what it was before the Nóm. I feel like I keep up on this stuff pretty well so I feel safe in saying the were small and/or not very broadly discussed.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I follow movies a lot less than you do, and yet have heard a lot about both Wild and Still Alice. I guess it depends what you pay attention to.