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Film, TV and Streaming

My take: Oscar nominations not as versatile as in years past

David Oyelowo, left, as Martin Luther King, Jr., discusses a scene with Director Ava DuVernay, right, on the set of the film, “Selma.” DuVernay was nominated for Best Director for the film.

For the last three consecutive awards seasons, firsts have happened and traditions have been broken at the Oscars.

In 2012 and 2013, Best Director and Best Picture awards went to two different sets of films (Ang Lee and “Argo” in 2012, and Alfonso Cuaron and “12 Years a Slave” in 2013). These were two awards that usually would go hand-in-hand – until a few years ago. We also got to see a newcomer, Lupita Nyong’o, win Supporting Actress for “12 Years a Slave,” and heartthrob Matthew McConaughey make a comeback as Best Actor. Lee became the first Asian to win an Oscar for directing, and the last two years’ Best Picture went to two biopics that weren’t British (“Argo” and “12 Years a Slave”). All of these were pleasant surprises happening in years that already were cinematically great to begin with.

This year, the nominations are, again, unpredictable but not as versatile as previous seasons. “Selma” was expected to be included for Best Director (Ava DuVernay) and Best Actor (David Oyelowo) yet was snubbed. “American Sniper” came out of nowhere to snag six nominations, including Best Picture and Actor (Bradley Cooper), without any precursors. The academy’s decisions on both films have left movie fans shocked and puzzled. “Foxcatcher,” a film that looked like it had lost most of its hype by the end of 2014, still managed to be nominated for Best Director (Bennett Miller) and Best Actor (Steve Carell), Miller’s nomination becoming one of the few times a director was nominated for a film not also nominated for Best Picture.

Then there’s also the arguable category fraud with Carell’s supporting performance nominated for Lead Actor.

There were the positive reactions to Wes Anderson receiving his first nom for director with “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Marion Cotillard sneaking in the fifth Best Actress spot and J.K. Simmons being the frontrunner for Supporting Actor. Cotillard and Simmons were nominated for independent films, “Two Days, One Night” and “Whiplash,” respectively, which built hype strictly by word of mouth, not big-name campaigning.

Reese Witherspoon’s nomination for Best Actress was a mix of both, with the movie star continuing her string of hit indie films with “Wild.” The biggest snubs of the season come from Jessica Chastain not being included for Best Supporting Actress (for “A Most Violent Year”) in favor of Meryl Streep in “Into the Woods” and Cooper or Carell filling Ralph Fiennes’ expected spot for Best Actor (“The Grand Budapest Hotel”).

Of course, all of this confusion and annoyance over the Academy’s decisions is just another reminder that award shows are more of a longer, flashier press tour for films, and one film that isn’t nominated is just as good as one that is. It is fun to follow and watch all of the ceremonies, but one would best enjoy them with a subjective frame of mind over objective, to save a lot of frustration and confusion.

While this entertainment writer would have chosen Chastain, Fiennes and Joaquin Phoenix (“Inherent Vice”) over Streep, Cooper and Carell, it still is the most star-studded time of the year and a good excuse to watch a recent movie.

mbianco@durangoherald.com. Megan Bianco is a movie reviewer and also contributes other entertainment-related features and articles.



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