Oscars 2014!
Well, the academy’s list of Best Picture nominees didn’t look much anything like my list of the Best Movies of 2013, but that’s to be expected! (For comparison’s sake, click here for part one of my Best Movies of 2013 list, here for part two, and here for part three.)
But this year’s Best Picture nominees were a strong list. I’ve missed a few — all of which I hope to see soon — but I’m pleased to have seen most of the nominees.
Click here for my review of American Hustle.
Click here for my review of Captain Phillips.
Click here for my review of Gravity. (And here for all of my Gravity cartoons!)
Click here for my review of Philomena.
Click here for my review of The Wolf of Wall Street.
I finally saw Her just last week, and my review will be coming later this week. (Spoiler alert: I loved it!)
I’m hoping to get to 12 Years a Slave, Dallas Buyer’s Club, and Nebraska soon. Rest assured I’ll be back here with my thoughts when I do.
I thought the Oscars show was pretty strong this year. Ellen was a solid host. I liked that she continued as a presence throughout the show, rather than dropping out of sight after the first hour as the hosts often do. She had some good jokes, and the pizza bit was amusing. I could have done without Pink’s serenade to The Wizard of Oz. And Bette Midler. (Why did we have to sit through her whole song AFTER the In Memoriam montage? Was the reason she didn’t just sing over the montage because she had to be on camera the whole time? Ugh.) But otherwise the show was funny and there were some decent speeches.
As for the best picture winner, I was pulling for Gravity or The Wolf of Wall Street but 12 Years a Slave certainly seems like a deserving film. I am pleased that Alfonso Cuaron won for Best Director and that Spike Jonze won for Best Original Screenplay, it was nice to see those two deserving films get honored. And I am pleased that Gravity won so many of the technical awards, that film really was a visual marvel. (Though how The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug wasn’t even nominated in most of those technical and artistic categories is a mystery to me.)
So while these films weren’t necessarily my very favorite films of 2013, there were some well-deserving films represented, and I enjoyed the show. Some years Oscar night leaves me very frustrated, but that wasn’t the case this time. I love movies, and it’s fun to spend a night celebrating movies, and talking about movies and texting about movies, as my friends and I did throughout the show.
So c’mon back soon and let’s talk about more great movies!!