A quick write-up of the 5 biggest, stupid, dumb mistakes the Oscars made this year when they announced their nominees. Keep in mind this post is before the winners themselves are announced, so I'm only including bad choices for nominations and the corrections I would have made to rectify them.
5. Life Itself isn't the Best Documentary...?
Name 5 documentaries from 2014 that are better than Life Itself. Can't do it? Neither can anyone else. This emotional film about the life and work of Roger Ebert was one of the best documentaries of the decade, and won over everyone who watched it. This is the kind of movie that is practically designed to appeal to the film crowd, and its exclusion here is about as glaring as if they hadn't nominated The Artist for Best Picture back in the 2011 awards year.
How to fix it?
People liked Citizenfour, so that one can stay, but I don't think any of the other 4 nominees garnered even close to the amount of attention and praise that Life Itself received. Take any of the other nominees out and replace it with Life Itself.
BEST DOCUMENTARY
+ Life Itself
- Last Days In Vietnam, Finding Vivian Maier, Virunga, or The Salt Of The Earth
4. Steve Carell for Leading Actor
Carell gave a transformative performance that stood out and I feel deserved attention, even if just for the boldness of his work here. But was he really the "Lead" actor? Channing Tatum may not have had much dialogue in this movie, but the focus was on him. The story was surrounding him. Carell was a central character to the plot for sure, but can we not say the same for J.K. Simmons in Whiplash, who was put in the Supporting Actor category? A minor annoyance, but seeing as how stocked the Lead Actor category always is, it would have been nice seeing this extra spot freed up for someone more deserving/applicable. At least the BAFTAs got it right.
How to fix it?
Robert Duvall didn't need to be nominated for Best Supporting Actor The Judge. No one really thought it stood out, and he basically just found himself thrown in the race due to name recognition. Putting Steve Carell in the Supporting Actor category would have removed Duvall from the picture - with about 11 people in the world being upset by this - and opened Best Actor up for a great deal of other excellent performances to fit in that 5th slot instead.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
+ Steve Carell - Foxcatcher
- Robert Duvall - The Judge
3. Jake Gyllenhaal
Whether you feel his performance in Enemy is superior to Nightcrawler or not, it's hard to deny the fact that he deserved some kind of Oscar for his acting this year. I personally feel it was basically a criminal act that he was excluded from this category, as I would have personally given him the award itself and not just a nomination for his performance in Nightcrawler, but not even giving him a 1 in 5 chance at winning it is just plain ridiculous. This is one of the most compelling lead performances/characters since Daniel Plainview, so what gives?
How to fix it?
As previously mentioned, Steve Carell shouldn't have been placed in the lead Actor category in the first place, so all that needs to happen here is put Carell in the slot he should have fit into in the first place, and it's an easy fix.
BEST ACTOR
+ Jake Gyllenhaal - Nightcrawler
- Steve Carell - Foxcatcher
2. So Birdman isn't one of the 5 most well-edited movies of the year, eh?
This one is hard to forgive. With a few of the others before this, it's been a lot more subjective than this, but when it comes to something like film editing, we're dealing with a category that's one of the most technical and least-biased categories the Oscars have. And Birdman, love it or hate it, is one of the biggest visual feats of the decade, seamlessly edited to have the appearance of one continuous tracking shot that takes place over the course of several days. Not only this, but throw in several awesome visual effects that only are able to work due to how well the editing process was handled, and we have ourselves one of the dumbest mistakes the Oscars made all year.
How to fix it?
Whiplash is an adrenaline rush from start to finish, with a decent amount of its effectiveness placed on the shoulders of its fast-paced editing, so it can stay. The Imitation Game manages to make mathematics and mechanical clicking sounds intense and compelling, so just on the strength of that feat alone, it can stay as well. Even these 2 aren't as neatly constructed as Birdman, which is a work of genius built from the ground up by its amazing cinematography, choreography, and (wait for it) editing. But the other 3? American Sniper is a war movie, so naturally there is a certain amount of skill and precision needed to make it effective, but the jumpiness and ADD approach the movie has makes it almost difficult to follow at times, and during time-jumps, the movie loses a lot of its grip on the viewer. The Grand Budapest Hotel is fun and all, but as for its editing, there isn't much here that sets it apart from anything else Wes Anderson has done, and none of his other movies have been nominated in this category, so why start now? And Boyhood is a 12-year ordeal that I'm sure was tricky to handle, but the way the film is assembled isn't particularly special, as it basically just meant throwing things in chronological order and letting audiences marvel at the fact that its characters are aging on-screen as opposed to enthralling them with anything editing-related -- that's just passing time, not great editing. So take any of those three out, put Birdman in, and we're good to go.
BEST FILM EDITING
+ Birdman
- American Sniper, The Grand Budapest Hotel, or Boyhood
1. The freaking Lego Movie
I don't care what excuse is made for this one, there is absolutely no way I can accept the Oscars as a viable awards show with this exclusion. The Lego Movie is not only the best animated movie of the year by a long-shot, but it is also one of the best movies of the year, period. And one of the best movies of the decade as well. Its exclusion from the Best Animated Film category is quite possibly the most shockingly dumb omission I can ever recall seeing since I started following the Oscars almost 10 years ago. Just no.
How to fix it?
Remove any other movie from the Best Animated Film category. Seriously. For that matter, just toss it in the Best Picture category as well, because it deserves it. Especially after this stupidity. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have already been robbed once before when they didn't get the nomination in this same category in the 2009 awards year for Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, and with this, it almost feels as if they're conspiring against them. Which is of course ridiculous, but still. Come on voters, stop being such idiots.
BEST ANIMATED FILM
+ The Lego Movie
- anything
Agree/disagree? Leave your thoughts below. Just don't try and reason with me, because I am clearly mad and will probably yell at you if you irritate me. So don't be shy! Wheeeeee!
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