OSCAR NOMINATED 2014 BEST PICTURE NOMINEE SUMMARIES

87th Academy Awards

It's Oscar time, again, another extravagant star-studded showcase where the golden statues are handed out... But one problem with the entire Oscar concept, and why it's not really a legitimate and/or accurate platform to historically merit the best motion pictures and performances overall, is the mere fact The Academy Awards occur each and every year.

Imagine if you had a list of BEST ANNUAL MOMENTS... One year you win $50,000; another you get married; another you get divorced; another you spend 10 months in a coma after serving 11 months in jail... No matter, that list must get done! So in a nutshell, 2014 was the worst Oscar year in decades, and beyond comatose... But here's a countdown of BEST PICTURE NOMINATIONS from best to worst, including links to the complete original review...

FULL REVIEW

1) WHIPLASH: Student and Teacher in a jazz class clash within a music academy bandroom. But not really. It’s all JK Simmon’s platform as he cuts loose on the students, particularly Miles Teller, with the heated venom of a deranged drill sergeant. This entertaining indie has a few flaws. The music, while sounding terrific, never seems better or worse for the teacher’s irritation over “getting it right” to be clear to the audience – providing no character arc for our young hero, whose goal is to improve as a drummer while surviving forceful tantrums. Does JK deserve Best Actor? Well the fact he was nominated for going so over-the-top is ironic since his most effective scenes involve more down-to-earth subtle moments.

FULL REVIEW

2) SELMA: Controversial for the supposed Best Actor Snub based on race, even though 12 YEARS A SLAVE won big last year and the film itself is in the running, SELMA provides a thoughtful and surprisingly mellow glimpse into Martin Luther King Jr. surrounding the historic march. And the lead actor does deserve a nomination over most contenders this year, especially the likely winner, Eddie Redmayne. 

FULL REVIEW

3) BIRDMAN: A party trick of a film having the entire ride be one continuous shot without takes, distracting from an otherwise entertaining story of an actor who, like the kid in WHIPLASH, is being pushed – and pushing others – to get his performance down just right while attempting a comeback after being famous for playing a superhero named BIRDMAN: an obvious nod to Michael Keaton’s BATMAN. Keaton is one of two frontrunner's for Best Actor, but he probably won’t win... Let's face it, being nominated is comeback enough. Just ask John Travolta. 

FULL REVIEW

4) AMERICAN SNIPER: The financial success of this film, based on the bestselling memoir by the late Chris Kyle... a sniper during the Iraq War... made particular Hollywood insiders really angry, mostly envious, and while it doesn't only cater to "patriotic white people," since Bradley Cooper is an extremely popular actor nationwide, the film itself is somewhat mediocre in its portrayal of a controversial figure who could have stirred-up "haters" even more had Cooper really stretched the canvas, painted in broad strokes by director Clint Eastwood, trying in vain to please everyone: never the right choice.  

FULL REVIEW

5) THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL: Speaking of paint, Wes Anderson is the Jackson Pollock of hipster cinema – he throws the colors in a frantic splash and it all must mean something. But while GRAND starts out with a nifty plot and wonderful cinematography, after the first act, during a potentially intriguing jailbreak, the characters get lost in the convoluted pandemonium.

FULL REVIEW

6) THE IMITATION GAME: A very intriguing premise based on a real life genius figuring a way, through groundbreaking code-breaking computers, to help win WWII, the story mostly centers on the man’s personal struggle to embrace his homosexuality, which was beyond taboo in that era. Basically, IMITATION doesn’t know whether to be a cerebral thriller, a historical war drama or a "coming out" story, and fails at every angle.

FULL REVIEW

7) THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING: Speaking of brilliant men, this Stephen Hawking biopic, while aesthetically impressive, has a weak romantic story and  is more a subliminal platform for the man’s THEORY over his marriage, which this is supposed to be about. Eddie Redmayne will win for this role, but it’s hardly deserved. He simply doesn’t do very much since Hawking's physical struggle takes backseat to what he's there to teach us.    

FULL REVIEW

8) BOYHOOD: A truly ambitious device filming a boy... the same boy... growing into a young adult by director Richard Linklater is a ponderous character-study with a natural-on-screen child turning into a completely awkward teenager with the personality of a stomped eggplant. He mopes around listening to his girlfriend, teachers, parents and headphones with the expression of a bored hipster who, if you saw him sitting inside a coffee shop, you probably wouldn’t care about what his life had been like before that dull gaze into narcissistic oblivion. But we get to experience it – mostly centering on dad’s political rants, mom’s failed relationships and other scenes that are more patchwork than a complete story. And the fact Ethan Hawke's nominated for Best Actor is no surprise... His character would have detested AMERICAN SNIPER. Seriously though, both he and Patricia Arquette seem more like acting teachers coaxing a performance from their "son" than potential Oscar winners in their own right.