How to Train Your Dragon 2 was better.
Mark my words: Boyhood will win Best Picture in a walk.
The ONLY category in which I’d make a cash bet is Best Song- never mind whether it’s a GOOD song, the heartbreaking story behind Glen Campbell’s “I’m Not Gonna Miss You” cinches the Oscar for him.
I vote for Grand Budapest Hotel. I loved everything about it. Anderson’s best movie since Rushmore.
Boyhood was an interesting idea for a movie, and it was fascinating to watch, but there really just wasn’t much story there. I liked it a lot, but it’s not a movie that would bear repeat viewings.
I hated Birdman. I guess it was supposed to be a black comedy, but wow. It was just grim. It is one of those movies Hollywood loves, though, because it is about The Craft. Hollywood loves movies about Hollywood, so this is (sadly) a sleeper.
The Theory of Everything is an excellent movie, and worthy of its nomination, but not a win.
Thanks for looking that one up. The Lego Movie was certainly more than 75% animation.
Is the lack of nomination from it being perceived as a toy promotion movie? In the sense that it was made solely to promote a line of toys, such as the original transformers; rather than as the usual movie that just happens to have a boatload of toys marketed with it. 'Cause Big Hero 6 and Dragon were both used as much, or more, as vehicles for marketing. I can even get behind the be creative message of the Lego Movie.
I don’t get it, but then again there has never been one Wes Anderson film that has entertained me in the slightest. For that matter, only Boyhood really interests me out of the Best Picture nominees and I may get to see that some time in the next twelve years.
I’d take that bet since the Selma song is the clear frontrunner.
Birdman was my favorite film of the year, and I hope it wins, but as of now Boyhood is the one to beat.
Top excuses why The LEGO Movie didn’t get an Animated Feature nomination:
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“It had live action in it!”
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“The Simpsons LEGO episode ruined all LEGO-based animation for me.” (Speaking of which, the LEGO episode was the first episode in the show’s history that the Simpsons staff submitted for an Aminated Program Emmy but did not get a nomination. Coincidence?)
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“Wasn’t the movie eligible last year?” (Actually, it was released on 2/7/2014, which is probably the most likely reason for its snub - it was too early in the year, and people got tired of it)
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“Animated movies made in the USA have to be CGI. Didn’t you get the memo?”
The Lego Movie is CGI.
Sorry for the consecutive posting, but I missed the edit window…
I think “Everything is Awesome” might have a chance, if enough Academy members consider it a “consolation prize” for The LEGO Movie. It also has mainstream popularity on its side.
Then again, it also has mainstream “I’m sick of this song already!” going against it, and the “consolation prize” theory may also apply to voters who think Selma doesn’t have much chance of being Best Picture.
A movie can be good without good leaf acting performances, we see that every summer with blockbusters, or just simply say Star Wars, I was talking about three very well regarded movies, whose actors either did not win, or now not even nominated, where the performance was what made the movie. It was Ralph Fiennes performance that nailed it, here and in the others I mentioned.
True…but it doesn’t come across that way. Of course, only animators vote on who gets the Animated Feature Film nominations, and they would have known that…
I would disagree with that last sentence. Fiennes was good, but it really was an ensemble performance. I think that the charming, devil may care lead role (kind of a Wes Anderson hallmark at this point) isn’t likely get too many nominations anyways.
Grand Budapest Hotel was my favorite movie of 2014. I am satisfied!
I’m actually really surprised about Jodorowsky’s Dune now that I really thinkg about it. I thought it was one of the most talked about documentaries of the year.
Selma pushes a number of best picture buttons. It’s a drama, which is almost always what wins. It’s a biography. It’s a historical movie about an issue that the voters like.
And the fact that it got so few nominations could end up working in its favor. There’ll be no vote splitting among several categories. People who want to vote for Selma won’t be able to vote for David Oyelowo or Ava DuVernay or Paul Webb or Carmen Ejogo or Tom Wilkinson. They either have to cast a vote for best picture or not vote for the movie at all. (I don’t feel best song will be seen as a vote for the movie.)
It also was nominated for the best picture Golden Globe but didn’t win (Boyhood won). I don’t know if it’s because the Oscar voters snub the Golden Globe voters or if it’s because they like to spread out the awards but the movie that wins the Golden Globe usually doesn’t go on to win the Oscar.
The lead of both the movies you cited were nominated for Best Actor (though neither won).
This is what I posted on an Oscar discussion board back in July:
"Sorry people, LEGO will not be in the final nomination slate. The animation branch has shown that it prioritizes the specific craft of animating over writing, popularity, or “entertainment value”. This is why they picked SURF’S UP over THE SIMPSONS MOVIE despite the latter having a Metacritic score 16 pts higher and a RT score 12 pts higher. And the same will happen this year.
Now, is LEGO well-made? Sure. But the whole point of the film is to exploit its clunky, disjointed style of animating. That’s part of the source of its humor. The film isn’t bad by a long shot, but for animators who take pride in creating landscapes & backgrounds, finely-rendered characters & movement, and exquisite attention-to-detail, LEGO represents exactly the kind of movie they’re not likely to want to recognize as the Best of their discipilne.
Given all the other formidable competitors it’s up against, it simply will not make the cut (let alone win). I’ll bet anyone here on it."
My vote goes to the glorious PRINCESS KAGUYA though I’m betting DRAGON 2 will probably win.
*Selma *won’t win this year, frankly, because 12 Years a Slave won last year. White voters will look at that win as satisfying their “white guilt” vote for awhile and will mark the ballot for Grand Budepest Hotel or Boyhood.
This is why it didn’t get nominated. Warner Brothers (Lego Movie) doesn’t have the history/size/number of voters in feature animation that Disney (BH6) or Fox (HTTYD2) does. Voting animators don’t vote for their rivals. It’s all politicking. (See: Hoops Dreams, 1994 Nominations, Best Documentary category.)
I think Boyhood needs to win the Best Picture nom for just the feat of moviemaking it is. If LOTR can win as “consolation for all three movies together” then this movie can win because 12 years ago a person had an idea that not only worked, but worked perfectly.
How much of a kinda-sorta punching bag has Ethan Hawke been in the last 5-7 years (since Training Day) much less the last 12. Same with Patricia Arquette, and (to a point) Linklatter himself.
Think of it, someone is getting the biggest prize the industry can give because of something they started over a decade ago. That’s insane to think about