Annual Professional Commentary on the Oscar Nominations (2015 edition)

Cookiemonster

Or: The Unxpected Ignorance of Virtue

by Bill Chambers

Picture
“American Sniper” Clint Eastwood, Robert Lorenz, Andrew Lazar, Bradley Cooper and Peter Morgan, Producers = yay
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher and James W. Skotchdopole, Producers = barf
“Boyhood” Richard Linklater and Cathleen Sutherland, Producers = okay
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson, Producers = ugh
“The Imitation Game” Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky and Teddy Schwarzman, Producers = whatevs
“Selma” Christian Colson, Oprah Winfrey, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Producers = yay
“The Theory of Everything” Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce and Anthony McCarten, Producers = lol
“Whiplash” Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook and David Lancaster, Producers = lol


Actor
Steve Carell in “Foxcatcher” = Tatum was better
Bradley Cooper in “American Sniper” = yay
Benedict Cumberbatch in “The Imitation Game” = whatevs
Michael Keaton in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” = career yay
Eddie Redmayne in “The Theory of Everything” = sure

Supporting Actor
Robert Duvall in “The Judge” = somehow missed this despite its colossal success
Ethan Hawke in “Boyhood” = yay
Edward Norton in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” = barf
Mark Ruffalo in “Foxcatcher” = yay
J.K. Simmons in “Whiplash” = yay

Actress
Marion Cotillard in “Two Days, One Night” = non, je ne regrette rien
Felicity Jones in “The Theory of Everything” = whatevs
Julianne Moore in “Still Alice” = sure
Rosamund Pike in “Gone Girl” = seeing it this weekend, I promise
Reese Witherspoon in “Wild” = okay

Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette in “Boyhood” = still don't get it
Laura Dern in “Wild” = yay
Keira Knightley in “The Imitation Game” = nice sweaters
Emma Stone in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” = love her, but
Meryl Streep in “Into the Woods” = barf

Animated Feature
“Big Hero 6” Don Hall, Chris Williams and Roy Conli = okay
“The Boxtrolls” Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable and Travis Knight = yay
“How to Train Your Dragon 2” Dean DeBlois and Bonnie Arnold = whatevs
“Song of the Sea” Tomm Moore and Paul Young = didn't see; probably better than “The Lego Movie”
“The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” Isao Takahata and Yoshiaki Nishimura = didn't see; definitely better than “The Lego Movie”

Adapted Screenplay
“American Sniper” Written by Jason Hall = sure
“The Imitation Game” Written by Graham Moore = lol
“Inherent Vice” Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson = guarded yay
“The Theory of Everything” Screenplay by Anthony McCarten = lol
“Whiplash” Written by Damien Chazelle = no

Original Screenplay
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo = barf
“Boyhood” Written by Richard Linklater = somebody give Linklater a copy of this
“Foxcatcher” Written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman = yay
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Screenplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness = barf
“Nightcrawler” Written by Dan Gilroy = token nom

Cinematography
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Emmanuel Lubezki = ugh
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Robert Yeoman = no close-ups of Léa Seydoux, NO SALE
“Ida” Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski = sure
“Mr. Turner” Dick Pope = career yay
“Unbroken” Roger Deakins = no

Director
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Alejandro G. Iñárritu = barf
“Boyhood” Richard Linklater = Boy Scout badge for Patience
“Foxcatcher” Bennett Miller = yay
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Wes Anderson = delayed reaction to “The Royal Tenenbaums”
“The Imitation Game” Morten Tyldum = ugh

For a full list of the nominees, visit Oscar.go.com.

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