2015 Potentially Oscar Nominated Movies

This year has been a little underwhelming. The movies that were great were just as great as previous years but everything else felt flat and done. I think as a testament to how underwhelming this year was as a whole, I had to add a category for movies I thought were only okay and I had a really hard time putting movies into my created categories because even a movie that got four stars out of me (personal description as "really good"), I still might have put in the "liked it" category on here because it didn't match up to the other four star movies. I guess pay more attention to what I say than where I put things.

I still want to see "Song Of The Sea", "Mr. Turner", the other movies nominated for Best Documentary, and the movies nominated for Best Foreign Film in terms of movies that have been nominated for Oscars but I got mostly everything else. I also put a list at the end of non-Oscar movies I also want to see because I'm so far behind on my movie watching.

As always, the order is nonsense, starred movies are my picks for the five Best Pictures, and ones with plus signs are movies that weren't nominated for Oscars (usually films I saw earlier this year or movies nominated for other awards).

Previous Years: 2014   2013   2012   2011

Movies I Really Liked:

The Grand Budapest Hotel: I think Wes Anderson is actually getting better as a director because this was my favorite of his and I knew it the second it was over. I really liked "Moonrise Kingdom" and "Darjeeling Limited" but man, was this movie fun and so well tuned. 

Boyhood*: For the reference, I was super torn about narrowing down this, "Grand Budapest" , and "Imitation Game" in my nominees. I'm actually more likely to rewatch "Budapest" by far but I felt like this one might have done more as a movie. Ignoring the gimmick (as everyone should) I'll admit I didn't really GET this movie until it got closer to the end and then it clicked and I couldn't call it over-rated like so many are doing.

The Imitation Game*: Let's brush aside how badly I wanted to see this movie for reasons (Allen Leech) and let me just say that I really loved how it is part intriguing historical drama and part character study and balances both so well. I wish the historical inaccuracy didn't bug me so much.

Whiplash*: The fact that I am alive to write this is the only proof that I breathed while watching this movie. When it was over I felt like I was going to have a heart attack or possibly throw up. It was one of the most tense movies I have ever seen, wonderfully directed, and powerfully acted.

The Theory Of Everything: I don't know what I excepted of this movie but it wasn't what I got and that's a good thing. It was a tale of two people, a romance but not how you think and I loved that about it. 

Selma*: It's hard to talk about this without pointing out that Ava Duvernay really, really should have gotten nominated for Best Director over that guy who did "Foxcatcher" (see way, way below). This was a powerful film that seems to cover all sides in a way few historical movies manage to do. That aspect alone would be enough to make this movie notable.

Birdman*: It's honestly between this one and "Whiplash" as to which movie was my personal favorite this year. I love the acting, the black humor, the way it was shot, the social commentary. It was just so damn good.

Gone Girl: It's hard for me to talk about this movie since I saw the book so I know the plot is crazy and unexpected but I can say that I really trust and love the Fincher/Reznor director and composer combination and they did a fantastic job giving the movie the right feeling and balance. Rosamund Pike is mind-blowing, Ben Affleck didn't even bug me, and the rest of the cast was notably great too.

Still Alice: The idea of a language expert losing their words is a bit too on the nose but other than that I thought this movie was incredible. Anyone who has ever had to watch someone decline in a similar way can relate and it's all made even more interesting and terrible by her age and the way her family treats it.

Nightcrawler: It's been so long since I saw a good noir and this movie has kind of an interesting twist on the genre while still evoking the look and feel. The main character gives the impression of a high-functioning sociopath and the progression through his career is disturbing and fascinating to watch.

Two Days, One Night: Very strong character study. Totally straightforward and realist style allowing for everything to be put on the actors.

Wild: Although I find the way her life went off the rails a bit unbelievable, I liked this movie way more than I thought I would. I like the method of story telling and weirdly enough, the way music is used. Another very strong character study.

The Lego Movie: EVERYTHING IS AWESOME. No really. One of the best animated films I've ever seen. The fact that the movie itself wasn't nominated for the Animated Feature Oscar is a crime.

The Tale Of Princess Kaguya: I actually read "The Tale Of The Bamboo Cutter" in my Japanese lit class and I'll be honest when I say that I didn't really get it (I also had a not great professor). This movie made me get it with interesting animation on top. 

Snowpiecer+: Gotta love a beautifully made classist dystropia! My one big complaint about this movie is that the end with the engine creator felt like it went on too long after the rest of the movie had gone at such a steady pace.

Big Eyes+: I seemed to like this movie a lot more than critics did and I am okay with that. Honestly, it was great to see a Tim Burton movie that was actually really good, with actors I like in it, and a plot that was interesting and had a lot to say. I remember hearing someone say that, "women seem to really get this movie" and I can totally understand.

Obvious Child+: The abortion romance is funny and sweet although I find a lot of the main character's behavior inexplicable and therefore a little bit contrived for plot reasons.

The Riot Club+: Did anyone see this British film about spoiled rich kids? It's intense and bleak and I liked it more and more as I watched it while simultaneously getting angrier and angrier.

Movies I Liked:

Citizenfour: This is a very, very significant movie and is about a topic that is difficult to film and these facts alone make me feel bad that I can only really say that I liked it. I gave it four stars and in all honesty, I wasn't crazy impressed with it as a film. I've seen a lot of documentaries, what can I say?

Beyond The Lights: I saw this on a whim with my friend Alex in between seeing plays in New York and we were both pleasantly surprised by how good it was. It's mostly a romance but with heavy themes of the cost of fame, depression (which comes up in the beginning and I was happy they didn't just drop it), and what it's like to be a pop star today.

Into The Woods: Important background information: I have a fierce dislike of the stage musical so my confidence that I was going to enjoy this movie was nonexistent. Funny thing is, I actually liked this. Probably because the songs didn't bother me as much (I hate a lot of them), the dumb humor was all but removed (which most people thought was a negative), and the first act was significantly cut down so I didn't want to leave midway. They took out some of the dark stuff they should have kept (like Rapunzel dying) but overall, I was pleased. "Agony" was flawless but weirdly I was the only one laughing in the theater.

Big Hero 6: I'm pretty sure Baymax made this movie but I don't think there's anything wrong with that. It's kind of a tech nerd's dream and very cute. Unfortunately, I do need to say that we need to dial back on the superhero everything.

How To Train Your Dragon 2: What an enjoyable sequel! I kind of wondered what more there could be to the plot of the first and they managed to create a new story that didn't feel forced and didn't result in a quality dip. I can actually believe they could make a good third.

The Boxtrolls: I have been pleased with every Laika movie I've seen and I didn't even feel a strong drive to see this one. It's a standard story that gets amusingly meta sometimes with good animation and an adorable theme song.

Under The Skin+: I like a good slow-moving meditation on humanity as much as the next person but there was something about this movie that made it not quite strong enough for me. It definitely had something to do with how it was told but I'm still struggling to put my finger on it.

Cake+: This movie had really low ratings and I'm not fully sure why. I thought it was a good meditation on pain and loss and kind of darkly humorous on top of that.

The Fault In Our Stars+: Probably the best adaption you could get of this very good book although the book made me cry way, way more.

Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1+: Solid movie although I can see how everyone who has not read the books (and even some who have) could be frustrated by the cliffhanger. Honestly I felt like the end wasn't abrupt enough which I also thought about the wham line at the end of Catching Fire.

Movies I Think Were Okay:

Interstellar: People seemed to either love this movie or think it was like a not as good "2001". I thought it was okay. The plot was okay. The characters were okay. The science was super questionable and didn't make the most sense. I wasn't bored but at the same time it was easily one of Nolan's weakest movies.

Guardians Of The Galaxy: This almost went in the over-rated category because in a way it was better than okay but definitely got more hype than I fully understood. Maybe I'm just over superhero movies with the saturation of films over the last few years but I do have a real complaint: I couldn't follow the plot in the second half. There were so many groups with unclear motivations or explanations of who they are fighting each other that I couldn't follow. The main characters were great and it was funny but man, that second half felt like a mess.

Maleficiant: Well, it's definitely one of the better fairy tale retellings I can remember seeing outside of a Gregory MacGuire novel. The explanation of the universe and motivations of the characters works for me. It wasn't exactly great but with all these retellings it's nice to see one that isn't intolerable.

The Judge: While I don't think this movie was amazing or anything, I think the reviews of it were kind of harsh. Yes, the plot felt done and the music was manipulative and cheesy but there was nothing egregiously wrong with it aside from that. The truth is, it just wasn't anything unique which i guess for some is more of a crime than being terrible. Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall were fun to watch at least..

Movies I Think Were Over-Rated:

Foxcatcher: It didn't surprise me that the director of Moneyball had made another sports movie that I was completely underwhelmed by. The thing is, the story really does make a good basis for a film but the way they went about it put me to sleep. The movie dragged and the way time moved in the story was very strange. I also felt like it lacked the emotional impact it probably should have had. Steve Carrell was good though.

American Sniper: There's nothing more I could say about this movie that I haven't already said here aside from: I've seen better war movies. I've seen better war movies made by Clint Eastwood.

Inherent Vice: This movie was really good at showing you stuff happening without saying how it connected to other stuff at lightning speeds for twenty minutes and then slowing down for fifteen minutes for one long scene that doesn't advance the plot at all. There's a mystery in there somewhere. I almost feel like if this was two parts it might have made a lot more sense.

Movies I Didn't Like:

Divergent+: Here's the thing: this movie was extremely well cast and truthfully very faithful to the book. The problem is that the book isn't very good. This isn't really talked about since it is a very popular book read by many, many teens but it's really not a good book so a movie adaption of it can only be so good itself. Hunger Games it is not.

Winter's Tale+: There's nothing more I could say about this movie that I haven't already said here.

Other movies I want to see from this year but haven’t yet include:

The 100 Foot Journey

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
A Most Violent Year
The Babadook

Belle
Bitter Honey
The Book of Life
Bound By Flesh
The Congress
The Dance Of Reality

Dear White People

The Guest

In Bloom

Jersey Boys
Jimmy's Hall

Locke

Maps To The Stars
National Gallery

Noah

Only Lovers Left Alive

Palo Alto
Pride

Rosewater

The Skeleton Twins

Sin City: A Dame To Kill For

Venus In Fur

We Are The Best!

Some Thoughts On "American Sniper"

I never meant to write about this movie but while I was watching I was sending Facebook messages to my British half-Iraqi boyfriend (who was asleep) about how I was feeling about it at any given moment as a very politically left, anti-war humanist whose best friend happens to be a former marine and Afghanistan war veteran (a fact he often hides from people). Each break is a different message and aside from spelling errors I didn't change anything so it might sound like crap.

I've decided to be offended today so I'm watching American Sniper and will follow it with something animated. Ten minutes in and this is the most 'Murrica movie I've seen since Dallas Buyers Club. That movie ended with the cowboy giving medicine to gay men and hanging with a trans woman. I don't think this one is going that way I am a bit uncomfortable that they keep saying "bad guys" instead of "terrorists" I'm 99.9% sure leaving your post is a punishable offense in the military. Well, the first normal Iraqi character has been killed. "They're fucking savages." "You bought it from savages." The funny thing is, I feel like the story is not necessarily saying I'm supposed to like or empathize with the main character. i think he's an fucking ass and that's text; not my bias. Thoughts: Does no one make cerebral war films anymore? Will we never have another Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, Platoon, Deer Hunter, etc.? This guy has no sympathy for any of this fellow solders who have doubts about what they're doing. None. The main character had a human response to a kid curiously picking up a rocket launcher. I cannot understand him at all. To take a measured response here: it is unclear whether the main character is intrinsically bad or a product of his military indoctrination. Perhaps he has been conditioned to believe these things and it is only in brief moments that his true humanity peaks through. I mean, the character, not the human. The human seems like he was just a flat out racist. The point I'm making is: I feel like this movie can actually be read more than one way. The fact that SO MANY are reading it as "Grr, rah, kill Arabs" says more about the people watching it than the movie which I could easily see being about how war is the real villain and we are all playing it differently. Watching this movie and imagining that the real enemy is idealism, both American and that of the terrorist, it's actually easier to watch than just trying to view it through a lens of "Awful people doing awful things" (and by that I mean either side being said awful people). In that sense, the Hunger Games issue is at work. The Hunger Games is promoted and merchandised in the way the Capitol would do, thus proving it's point. If this movie is actually about the horrors of war and the ideas of false glory and promoting of ideals, the fact that so many people think it's about "MURRICA and badassery just shows how fundamentally flawed the American mindset is. Main character is now calling his wife and saying he wants to come home, crying while things get even worse. Another notch in the column of "product of the system" over "bad person." His PTSD is powerful. Adam knew a guy who was in Fallujah and said he was one of the most destroyed individuals he had encountered. So he goes through a lot of therapy. This ending is overwhelmingly patriotic. I want to vomit. Okay, conclusion. Yes, the representation of Iraqis is fucking terrible. Yes, the "Woo, 'Murrica" is strong However, I feel like for a fair portion of the time, the film was trying to actually be a thoughtful meditation on the horrors of war. The problem is, it is trying to be filtered through a character who is blinded by patriotism, who criticizes other men for a more balanced outlook. The movie does a poor job of trying to show him as a victim (which is what I think the goal is) when the mood fluctuates so much between that and his own external idealism. Having not read the book I can't make this assumption but from what I've heard about it, he IS unsympathetic and this movie seems to be trying to reconcile the actual terrible human with a character who is multi-dimensional and the end result for someone like me who is a critical analyzer and someone who is anti-war and anti-nationalism is, well, confusion. That confusion seems to be allowing for interpretations on every side of the coin based on your own beliefs. Also, from a film perspective, the direction was good but the war scenes were poorly put together and it was blatantly manipulative but I don't know WHAT IT WAS TRYING TO MAKE YOU THINK aside from the few times they went for base human emotions with things like his wife's pregnancy and the aforementioned kid with a rocket launcher scene. I don't know with this shit. I guess overall it wasn't bad. Wasn't great (it was no Zero Dark Thirty for sure) and it really, really doesn't deserve a Best Picture nomination but I do think that anyone trying to view this movie through one lens is doing it a disservice. Yes, be angry that the perspective of the people who had their homes invaded when they were doing nothing wrong got no representation. Yes, be angry that the film is based on a book that glorifies war and demonizes Iraqis. Yes, be angry that somehow this movie managed to make 9/11 seem like a justification for the invasion of Iraq (haven't we gotten past this yet; I didn't believe that crap when I was 12). Yes, be angry that this movie is being interpreted by many people as a justification for their racism and an example of how cool and noble war is. But remember that even if you think the author (in this case I mean Clint Eastwood, not Chris Kyle) is dead, the text really doesn't show a simplistic view of war. It shows war through a man who is patriotic and unwilling to think about all perspectives but the movie is not. Or at least is trying not to. This man doesn't see decent people among the Iraqis. This man doesn't realize that 9/11 has nothing to do with Iraq. But I think we as an audience are expected to know better or at least learn from the other soldiers around him. We are supposed to see that even with all his bullshit ideals, he was ruined by his experience. War can destroy the most devoted of patriots. And I should stop now because I just ranted about this to you for a really long time. Here's a list of things I hate: Racism False news reporting War Really nationalistic people Teaching your children to hate PTSD People who think all these things are cool and inspiring instead of tragic.

"Black Mirror" Episodes Ranked

In honor of my new favorite show Black Mirror, I have decided to write a review of the show so far but to keep it short and sweet (relatively, of course, as I have a tendency to write lengthy, rambling blog posts and I don't want to nor do I feel like I should this time).

I have obviously been doing a great terrible job of sticking to my "Wait Three Seasons Before You Watch It" rule and I have made resolutions to fix this, which I'm actually pretty good at sticking to, but I needed to watch this show first. I just needed to. I felt it in my marrow. My rule is harder to apply with strikingly short British shows that only have three episodes a season. Fewer episodes generally mean more time to devote to creating each episode which often can lead to better quality.

So how do I describe Black Mirror? It's essentially The Twilight Zone with a different set of actors in a different verse every episode but with each episode being a commentary on society and its relationship with technology. And it is AWESOME. Seriously, it's one of the best shows I've ever seen. I pretty much decided it was my new favorite show after one episode. However, while I would usually say "Everyone go watch it", I actually don't here because some of this show is actually kind of intense or disturbing and there are some people (my mother) who might have some issues with that. Prepare to be freaked out and/or have your mind blow before you decide to watch it.

And now, a ranking of the seven episodes so far. It's pretty free of spoilers unless you want to be entirely surprised in which case just watch the show.

7. Season One, Episode Three: "The Entire History Of You"
For the reference, the least exciting episode of Black Mirror is still amazing and well worth watching over most other shows you could cram into your brain thing. This episode has probably the most straight forward and conventional plot of any episode: a man is suspicious on his wife's friendship with another man. The technological aspect is that in this future most people have things in their brains called grains that enable them to replay any memory. The episode begs the question of whether this tech is a good thing or not, leaving the answer kind of up to you even if the characters do come to their own conclusions.

6. Season Two, Christmas Special: "White Christmas"
To me this episode was a bit of a mess. It had three mini stories within an overarching story and the technology of it was revealed far more slowly than in previous episodes. Personally, I thought that having so many stories kind of weakened the overall themes especially when the stories themselves were kind of obvious. This episode was kept from the last spot because the last 10 minutes actually had some interesting twists and redeeming aspects and because if you look past the smaller tech themes, you have a story that focuses on mortality and judgment in a pretty clever way. Also, Jon Hamm is valiantly still attempting to guest star in everything ever. Good luck, Jon!

5. Season Two, Episode Three: "The Waldo Moment"
Funny how the two most political episodes take place in the modern day instead of 20 minutes into the future. This episode focuses on the mockery of politics when a cartoon bear jokingly runs for office as part of a marketing tool. There are a lot of themes in this one surrounding how politics is viewed by both politicians and the people and their ineffectiveness. There's also a debate about idea ownership, a personal story of a broken comedian, and the idea of how meaningless images can be assigned meaning (I read academic texts on this topic for my Japanese minor; true story). My only real complaints about this episode are that there was something a bit off about the pacing and that I can't believe anyone would find that bear funny (although I completely believe people would vote for it).

4. Season Two, Episode One: "Be Right Back"
Think "Her" but with a dead guy. A new service is provided that creates the illusion of talking to a deceased loved one using their public online presence as a basis to create them. The result is pretty much what you would expect but it's still a wonderful journey to watch with an ending that you probably won't expect. Aside from showing the fallacies in thinking you know someone from their online persona and how those are cultivated, it also meditates on mourning and how the internet and it's relative permanence creates virtual graveyards.

3. Season Two, Episode Two: "White Bear"
A woman wakes up with amnesia to see a world where mostly everyone has been turned into voyeuristic bystanders constantly filming others while the few people that haven't are embracing their murderous tendencies or running from those who are. The episode shows a fantastic result of the bystander effect and, even more so, the way phone cameras have allowed us to detach ourselves from experience. There's also another layer of questioning whether people are inherently evil and what exactly is an appropriate punishment.


2. Season One, Episode One: "The National Anthem"
The first one really stuck with me and I think that was the point. This episode manages to go from a bit humorous to completely horrifying and I think you can use when that point is for each individual person as a guide to who they are. The episode takes place in the present, which might make it even scarier, and talks about traditional media vs social media (a topic that is already all over the place and has been for years), how opinions shift in this instant world and the effect they have, and the power one can have if they know how to utilize technology.


1. Season One, Episode Two: "Fifteen Million Merits"
I could write a master's thesis on this episode. Probably two. While some people might say the first episode is more disturbing, personally, this was the one I could not stop thinking about. In a dystropia where everyone uses exercise bikes to power the world and can only amuse themselves with bad games and reality shows, nothing feels real anymore. The attempt to find and spread genuine human emotion has terrifying results. There are two many themes in this episode to even try to explain them. This episode has such an impact that it was referred in the Christmas Special. It will ruin your day. And it is one of the best episodes of television I have ever watched in my life.

So, in conclusion, I love this show and anyone who knows what love is will understand.