Hello everyone!
As many of you may know, the Oscars, the most prestigious evening in film, is being broadcast tomorrow! Normally, with the prospect of film rewards and legendary celebrity selfies, most people would be incredibly excited about this day. But this year is a little different, in that these Oscars are desperately predictable (in contrast to the Grammys where, thank god, Beck took the only important award of the night for his album Morning Phase instead of Beyonce or Sam Smith). Take the four main acting categories. Not only has the winner of each of these categories been the same in almost every award over the past couple of months of award season, but the nominees have been almost identical as well!
So, to spice things up a bit both for me and for you, I’m going to take a more interesting approach. I am going to remove the outright winner from the list of nominees and then make my judgement based on the rest of them. In this way, I can express an opinion that might be more entertaining for everyone involved, and everyone is happy!
Alright, here goes…
Best Film
Outright Winner: Boyhood
My Winner: Birdman and Whiplash
Admittedly, it’s rather difficult to find a convincing reason not to give this award straight to Boyhood. It’s a fascinating film logistically and artistically speaking, whilst still acting in a deeply personal way. However, it was not the only film to deliver this year. I have declared Birdman and Whiplash as joint winners of my alternative award.
Birdman is a piece of cinematic genius, both from an acting perspective (Birdman is the only film to have a nomination in three acting categories) but from a cinematographic and technological perspective. The whole technique regarding no cuts in between scenes and one camera shots is something that is highly revolutionary in film, yet is still unlikely to take off given how difficult it must be to do so. That’s a shame, because the effect created by this technique is incredible and develops the entire experience of film watching.
Whiplash, however, is rather a long shot in terms of winning the coveted award. It’s not as much of a breakthrough as many of the films nominated, but it was still tense, compelling and unique. It is interesting how tense this film actually is, given that there are no bomb threats or wars or anything one would normally be tense about in a film. It’s just about a drummer and his conductor, but the performances in this film are so thorough and effective, that again the experience of watching the film was only exemplified. So whilst I would absolutely love to see Whiplash win this award, it’s hard to drag attention away from some of the others.
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Outright Winner: Eddie Redmayne (The Theory Of Everything)
My Winner: Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game)
To be honest, when I was figuring out who I would support regard this award, I always assumed it would be Michael Keaton for his performance in Birdman, and whilst Keaton does kill it in this film, I can’t bring myself to support him in light of Cumberbatch’s portrayal of Alan Turing in The Imitation Game. Cumberbatch delivers a genial two-faced performance, reflecting both his attitudes to his associates whilst decrypting enigma and the emotional challenges he faces regarding his homosexuality. His acting was engaging and emotional, and it’s difficult to see why this race has been so one-sided in the favour of Redmayne.
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Outright Winner: Julianne Moore (Still Alice)
My Winner: Reese Witherspoon (Wild)
I’m at a bit of a disadvantage regarding this award, having not actually seen any of the five films nominated. However, I still feel at complete liberty to recommend Witherspoon to win this award. Having already won in 2006 for her portrayal of Joan Carter Cash in Walk The Line, we already know what she is capable of. But Wild is one of those films which is completely carried by one actor, as she spends so much of the film alone on screen. I can imagine her performance being similar to James Franco’s incredible performance in 127 Hours, where he is present in every scene. In one of these scenarios, the performance must be absolutely spot on, and so I would not be surprised if Witherspoon surprises everyone else tomorrow night.
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Outright Winner: JK Simmons (Whiplash)
My Winner: Edward Norton (Birdman)
Whilst I am still stating an alternative winner for this award, I do still believe that JK Simmons must win this award, with his harsh portrayal of conductor Terence Fletcher being lauded as one of the defining performances of the past year. However, I did promise to deliver an alternative, and so I’m hedging my alternative money on Edward Norton in Birdman. This guy is so energetic throughout this film, and represents the epitome of cocky actors on Broadway at the moment. He manages to drag the limelight onto him whenever on screen, even within what is probably the greatest ensemble cast in years.
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Outright Winner: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)
My Winner: Emma Stone (Birdman)
As mentioned in the last paragraph, the ensemble cast for Birdman, including Keaton, Naomi Watts and Zach Galifianikis, is definitely the finest of the last year. Given Emma Stone’s limited screen time in this film, the fact that she got a nomination reflects how effective her portrayal was of Keaton’s daughter, who is still trying to find herself and meaning in her life. It is angsty and emotional, and, like Norton, she stands out within the cast she has found herself in, and that deserves real credit.
Best Directing
Outright Winner: Richard Linklater (Boyhood)
My Winner: Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
Unfortunately for Anderson, he doesn’t really stand much chance against an indie film troubadour who spent 12 years perfecting a film. Linklater will already have a nice big gap on his shelf for the Oscar he undoubtedly has coming his way, and deservedly so. However, especially along with Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s directing of Birdman, Wes Anderson deserves real credit for the work he has done on The Grand Budapest Hotel. This film is so representative of Anderson’s original style of film, with camera angles, colourful sets and lines no other director would have the guts to use. This has made Grand Budapest Hotel so sleek in its nature, more so than any other film made over the last year, and I’m presuming that is all down to Mr Anderson.
Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Outright Winner: Anthony McCarten (The Theory Of Everything)
My Winner: Damien Chazelle (Whiplash)
Frankly, I have absolutely no idea how this differs to an award for “Best Adapted Screenplay”, but I want Whiplash to win as many awards as possible. Fortunately, if the BAFTAs have anything to say, Whiplash has most of the Sound awards in the bag, but I guess another award isn’t a disaster…
Best Writing (Original Screenplay)
Outright Winner: none
My Winner: Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
I think this is one of the few awards that isn’t essentially already predetermined, with what I believe is basically a three way tie between Boyhood, Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel. However, like the BAFTAs, I would award this film, yet again, to Wes Anderson, basically for the same reasons as why I would award him Best Director. It is far too unique to be cast over…
So there you have it! Whilst most of these predictions will undoubtedly be wrong, I would consider just one correct response to be a victory for this post.
If you have any opinions of your own please comment below!
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