THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES - 1 nomination

Sound Editing - Brent Burge and Jason Canovas

So let's just begin with a quick reminder of what the art of sound editing or sound design is.  Sound editing takes previously recorded audio elements like dialogue and sound effects and uses sound to establish the ambience of the film.  Sometimes audio elements are deconstructed or reconstructed to give the exact sound that the designer is attempting.  Sound editing is a very technical skill and you can bet that manipulating sound in a film with dragons, warring  armies, and dialogue is no small challenge.  War movies and musicals do very well in this category.

This Hobbit film is the third in the trilogy where Peter Jackson took a short book and turned it into three movies.  At the end of the book, all of the factions in the land are warring over control of the Lonely Mountain and all of the gold therein.  The interesting thing about this film is that it examines very real, very human themes - does power corrupt, is there a difference between justice and fairness, what is important to defend to the death and what requires compromise, can the little guy make a difference, what is bravery? The problem with the film is that true to its name, the majority of it is fighting scenes which means not that much actual storytelling.  This, of course, is the difficulty of taking a short book and making it into three long films - by the end, you have to make a whole movie out of the climax, and that's not easy to do.  Because of that, this is the weakest of the trilogy.  But, if you are a Peter Jackson/Lord of the Rings groupie, this will be a very satisfying experience as it brings the Hobbit tale to its conclusion.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY - 2 nominations

Makeup and Hairstyling - Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White  
Visual Effects - Stephane Ceretti, Nicolar Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner and Paul Corbould

It is hard to describe how much I loved Guardians of the Galaxy.  As I've shared, I'm a bit of a Marvel and superhero groupie, and the easter eggs in this film were a bit delicious.  But this was one film that I loved enough to see it twice in the theatre.  It's a great bit of fun.

The plot of the film follows Peter Quill, aka Star Lord (Chris Pratt), a scavenger of planets who finds valuable objects and sells them to a pawn dealer.  He steals a valuable orb, and is then pursued by a former business partner and the dark and evil Ronan the accuser.  Meanwhile, two bounty hunters, Rocket, a raccoon voiced by Bradley Cooper, and Groot, a tree-ish character voiced by Vin Diesel, are doing their best to capture Quill for money.  They, and Star Lord, get arrested with a green beauty named Gamora who is also trying to get the orb to keep the earth safe.  In jail, they meet up and join forces with the very powerful Drax, who is seeking revenge for the deaths of his wife and child.  The movie is the best example of the genre being action-packed, imaginative, and also hilarious, with all the snappy repartee one would expect of a film starring Chris Pratt and a talking raccoon.

The makeup transforms some of the characters so thoroughly that they are unrecognizable as humans. Somehow, turning Zoe Saldana green makes her even more beautiful, which is why we can never be best friends. (Zoe, call me! We can work it out!)  The work is certainly expected in the context of a Marvel movie that takes place in alien settings, but even Glenn Close whose character is basically human, is transformed with her hair and makeup.

Finally, the visual effects were remarkable.  There is no question that in making a movie like this, the bar is set very high because the limits of what can be done are left only to the visual effects folks' imaginations.  What makes the effects so spectacular is that they are not limited to explosions (though there are plenty of those), but they are at once visually stunning and often, unbelievably beautiful to watch.  I have to guess that Guardians of the Galaxy is a contender for the big prize.

Watch the trailer here:

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL - 9 nominations

Best Picture - Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson 
Cinematography - Robert Yeoman 
Costume Design - Milena Canonero
Directing - Wes Anderson
Film Editing - Barney Pilling 
Makeup and Hairstyling - Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier 
Original Score - Alexandre Desplat 
Production Design - Adam Stockhausen and Anna Pinnock 
Original Screenplay -  Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness 

Let's start with the fact that I don't usually "get" Wes Anderson films, but recently he has been on a tear of films of which I can't get enough.  The Grand Budapest Hotel was one of them.  Every single one of the categories for which it is nominated is absolutely correct.

Describing a Wes Anderson plot is a little bit like trying to herd cats because there are always so many things happening and you don't really know what to attend to first.  The basic story revolves around M. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes) a concierge at an upscale hotel and his trusty sidekick and protoge, Zero (Tony Revolori).  Gustave "services" elderly ladies who come to the hotel, and one in particular dies and leaves him a very valuable painting in her will.  Naturally, her greedy children dispute Gustave's claim to the painting, and it's fair to say in summary that hijinx ensue.

The film is funny and quirky and has Anderson's usual cast of characters (Ed Norton, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Bob Balaban...).  For me, the real standouts of the film were the Costume and Production Designs.  The look of the film from the dilapidated hotel to the lavish version is spectacular.  The costumes are elegant and interesting, but also manage to be that particular "Anderson strange" that supports his motif perfectly.  In fact, when I saw the first 10 seconds of the trailer for the film before it came out, I immediately thought, "this is a Wes Anderson film."  All of the elements are so distinctly him that the Directorial nomination was a no brainer.

The Oscars rarely get behind movies that are not solely dramatic in nature, and to see a comedy coalesce in this way is a treat.  The Grand Budapest Hotel is grand, indeed.

GONE GIRL - 1 nomination

Actress in a Leading Role - Rosamund Pike

Gone Girl is an adaptation of the best-selling book by Gillian Flynn.  At the start of the film, we discover that Nick Dunne's (Ben Affleck) wife Amy is missing on the morning of their 5th wedding anniversary.  A media frenzy ensues and many clues point to Nick as a primary suspect.  Amy's journal is discovered during the investigation, and we begin to have insight into her view of the marriage, and we see a story that is played out with Nick's public popularity waxing and waning as each new detail comes to light.  The film has many unexpected twists and turns along the way, and to say more about it here would reveal far too much to make seeing it worthwhile.  I had read the book before I saw the movie, so part of my pleasure in seeing it in the theatre was watching others get the sensation of seeing a critical surprise about half way through the movie.

As usual, the film was not as good as the book, but it was a very very good adaptation.  Rosamund Pike plays Amy, the complex character whose parents wrote a series about her as a child entitled, "Amazing Amy."  We see how they laid all of their hopes and dreams on the fictional version of the person, and how that manifested into an adult bent on proving herself to be amazing in her own right. The character of Amy has so many faces and emotions which often present themselves literally back to back.  She can go from orgasmic to dead-eyed in a single moment.  From the time this film came out, Rosamund Pike was a contender for a Best Actress nomination.

Also notable was Kim Dickens (she plays one of the cops leading the investigation), to whom I was first introduced when she starred in a film over a decade ago called, "Things Behind The Sun."  Since then, she has taken on a series of challenging parts, and I think she deserves recognition for her work in this film, which was at once intense and kind and serious.

Carrie Coon was overlooked in the race for Supporting Actress, though the early buzz of the film was not enough to get her there in the end.  She represented the person we would all be if we learned that someone to whom we were close was accused of murder - a desire to stand by our family member combined with the very real worry that he is indeed guilty.

Gone Girl did very well in theatres and there's no mystery as to why.  It's a good old fashioned suspense film with lots of juicy surprises along the way.  Though it has only one nomination, it was certainly a contender for many categories.  With a good tub of popcorn, you'll have the best afternoon.

See the trailer here:

FOXCATCHER - 5 nominations

Actor - Steve Carell
Supporting Actor - Mark Ruffalo
Director - Bennett Miller
Makeup and Hairstyling - Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard
Original Screenplay - E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman

Sports movies are among my favorite genres of film because win or lose, the notion of putting oneself out there, working hard to overcome obstacles, and what can be learned in the process is inspiring and heartbreaking at the same time.  So, without knowing much about Foxcatcher, I bought my ticket to see a great wrestling film.  Little did I know what was coming, and how much more magical and complex Foxcatcher would be.

The film is based on a true story of real life Olympian brothers Mark (Channing Tatum) and David Mark Ruffalo) Schultz.  Mark is scouted by zillionaire John DuPont, who aspires to serve as Mark's coach, father, best friend, and Machiavelli, creating a controlling and abusive relationship and slowly separating Mark from his brother who has heretofore been Mark's trainer and coach.  

We see the sad life of a rich person who has never been held to any standards, and who believes himself to be good at anything and everything, but also knows deeply that he is good for nothing. This lack of self esteem leads him to need more and more from Mark, while David is constantly trying to get his brother's focus back to Mark's life's aspiration.

The performances of the three leads is unbelievable.  Steve Carell is nearly unrecognizable in the film, not just because of the superb makeup (and a much deserved nomination for that team), but because he alters himself so dramatically to emulate John DuPont.  Mark Ruffalo gives a strong and worthy performance as he struggles to maintain the charade that DuPont is head coach which all the wrestlers buy into in order to keep access to the incredible facilities and salaries DuPont has provided.  But the real story of this film is Channing Tatum, who somehow manages to alter his skull, his walk, his manner - this is not the Tatum we have ever seen before.  I was dearly hoping that the Academy would do for Tatum what they did for Geena Davis when she won for The Accidental Tourist, and move Tatum's role to the Supporting Actor category so that there would be room for lauding his work in this film.  (Remembering that Davis' role was a lead role, but she was nominated for a Supporting role, knowing that the lead actress category was packed that year as the Lead Actor category is this year.)  Though the entire cast was wonderful, it is truly a shame that Tatum is the only one of the three who walks away without a nomination.  I wonder if he had had to endure the same makeup process as Carell, would he have received a nomination?  Was it too obvious a choice for Carell and not for Tatum?  We will never know but he was robbed.  But now we know he has this in him, I suspect this won't be his last crack at the bat.  (End of rant.)

Foxcatcher has been one of my favorite films of this Oscars season.  The characters were well drawn, the cast did their jobs, and the Director and screenplay made the story compelling.  As I discovered, the wrestling is merely a backdrop for a truly outstanding film.  

*How about that Mark Ruffalo, appearing in TWO films with Oscar noms this year?

DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES - 1 nomination

Visual Effects - Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett, Erik Winquist

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the next installment of the reimagined prequel to the Planet of the Apes.  In this film, the simian flu has wiped out much of the human race while the apes have become more and more advanced.  While scientists are trying to restore electricity to the human population, they discover that their needed resources are located among the apes, who are unaware that any humans still exist until the moment of their encounter.  There are agitators for war and advocates for peace on both sides of the conflict, and we see how fear breeds the thirst for fighting - both sides believing they are acting for self preservation.

Now, the effects may not be obvious at first, but apparently, there is no such thing as an ape who talks.  Lead ape Andy Sirkus' performance is completely done by motion capture, which is a big effects accomplishment.  Add in a healthy dose of explosions and the typical action movie sequences, and there you have an Oscar nominee for visual effects.  However, the Oscar for this category generally goes to a movie that has spectacular effects that add themselves to a really great story, and I'm not sure this one is strong enough to compete with some of its other nominees for this award.

I enjoyed Dawn of the Planet of the Apes when I saw it this summer.  It was a fun way to pass a couple of hours and the popcorn was delicious.  This visual effects film does harken back to the original Planet of the Apes which was culturally and politically nuanced, and asks us (in a more simplistic way than the original) to examine how we interact with cultures different than ours. Ironically, for a film that is supposed to represent post-apocalyptic San Fransisco, there are a huge number of white faces in the crowd scenes, and we certainly know that city to be much more culturally diverse than what is represented. 

Bottom line - if you're looking for a good bubblegum movie with lots of action and pretty good performances, this one is certainly ape-ropriate.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER - 1 nomination

Visual Effects - Dan LeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill and Dan Sudick

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a very satisfying film from the world of superhero movies.  It's another in the Marvel series featuring solo projects for The Avengers, and it hits on all levels.  The visual effects are certainly marvelous, though no more of a standout than any of The Avengers films along the way.  It's a superhero movie, we know that the effects are going to be superb, so this nomination is hardly surprising, though I don't know how the Academy chooses from among the obvious choices.

The story is a fun one, with Captain America doing his best to fight a mysterious enemy and the super villain group HYDRA, who seem to have infiltrated the good guys at SHIELD.  When Director Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is gunned down, he warns our hero to trust no one in the organization. Nonetheless, he partners with Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and a new friend, The Falcon (Anthony Mackie), to root out the evil, which he discovers to be closer to home and his own past than he expected.

Even though I'm a huge fan of all of the Marvel films, I have to admit that there is one element that always puzzles me.  Captain America, in this film, is fighting a big baddie who threatens the safety and vitality of the world.  Why doesn't he get on the phone at some point and ask his buddy Iron Man to come help out?  Ok, Thor is in another dimension, so he may not have cell service and the Hulk is likely off somewhere picking out clothes that go well with his shade of green, but if a threat this big is facing the world, you don't have time for a two minute phone call?

We may never know the answer to this question, but what we do know is that for a fun, popcorn movie, Captain America is a winner.  You can check out the trailer here: