2015 Oscar Nominations

Here is the master list.  As soon as I've caught the 10 features and shorts that I need to complete my viewings, I'll post my picks in each category.  

Best Animated Feature

Big Hero 6

The Boxtrolls

How to Train Your Dragon 2

Song of the Sea

The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Best Documentary—Short

Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1

Joanna

Our Curse

The Reaper

White Earth

Best Film Editing

American Sniper

Boyhood

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

Whiplash

Best Production Design

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

Interstellar

Into the Woods

Mr. Turner

Best Animated Short

The Bigger Picture

The Dam Keeper

Feast

Me and My Moulton

A Single Life

Best Live Action Short

Aya

Boogaloo and Graham

Butter Lamp

Parvaneh

The Phone Call

Best Sound Editing

American Sniper

Birdman

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Interstellar

Unbroken

Best Sound Mixing

American Sniper

Birdman

Interstellar

Unbroken

Whiplash

Best Visual Effects

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Guardians of the Galaxy

Interstellar

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Best Documentary — Feature

Citizenfour

Finding Vivien Maier

Last Days of Vietnam

The Salt of the Earth

Virunga

Best Supporting Actor

Robert Duvall, The Judge

Ethan Hawke, Boyhood

Edward Norton, Birdman

Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher

J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

Best Supporting Actress

Patricia Arquette, Boyhood

Laura Dern, Wild

Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game

Emma Stone, Birdman

Meryl Streep, Into the Woods

Best Costume Design

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Inherent Vice

Into the Woods

Maleficent

Mr. Turner

Best Original Song

“Lost Stars,” Begin Again

“Everything is Awesome,” The LEGO Movie

“Glory,” Selma

“Grateful,” Beyond the Lights

“I’m Not Gonna Miss You,” Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me

Best Original Score

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

Interstellar

Mr. Turner

The Theory of Everything

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Foxcatcher

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Guardians of the Galaxy

Best Original Screenplay

Birdman

Boyhood

Foxcatcher

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Nightcrawler

Best Adapted Screenplay

American Sniper

The Imitation Game

Inherent Vice

The Theory of Everything

Whiplash

Best Foreign Language Film

Ida

Leviathan

Tangerines

Timbuktu

Wild Tales

Best Cinematography

Birdman

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Ida

Mr. Turner

Unbroken

Best Actress

Marion Cotillard, Two Days One Night

Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything

Julianne Moore, Still Alice

Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl

Reese Witherspoon, Wild

Best Actor

Steve Carell, Foxcatcher

Bradley Cooper, American Sniper

Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game

Michael Keaton, Birdman

Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

Best Director

Alexandro G. Iñárritu, Birdman

Richard Linklater, Boyhood

Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher

Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel

Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game

Best Picture

American Sniper

Birdman

Boyhood

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

Selma

The Theory of Everything

Whiplash

Oscars Week!

That's right, the Oscar noms are due on Thursday the 15th!  Usually announced around 7:30AM CST, we'll have them up within 10-15 minutes of the completion of the announcements.

Top Hits for 2015!

As always, dates can change.  Check your local listings.  Must sees will once again be in BOLD.

FEB. 6:  Jupiter Ascending

MAR. 6:  Chappie

APR. 17:  Child 44

MAY 1:  Avengers: Age of Ultron

MAY 18:  Pitch Perfect 2

JUN. 12:  Jurassic World

JUL. 24:  Pixels

SEPT. 18:  Everest

OCT. 16:  Crimson Peak

NOV. 6;  Peanuts

NOV. 20:  The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Pt. 2

NOV. 27:  The Martian

DEC. 18:  Star Wars Episode VII - The Force Awakens

More added as they're announced!

2015, A New Beginning

OK dear readers (are there any of you left?),

2013/14 saw a noticeable reduction in activity here.  Oh sure, I can blame it on having a girlfriend or playing more soccer and being more social or any multitude of reasons.

But the plain and simple fact is this:  I didn't want to write anything.  I was burned out.

It's not that my love for film has vanished, quite the contrary in fact.  I still believe that film is the most beautiful art form in the world.  It's a medium that can transport you to another world, or make you confront deep dark fears, or make you fall hopelessly in love.  If done well, you don't ever feel like you're "watching" events unfold, you feel part of them.

I was lucky enough to grow up in whats considered a "golden age" of film.  The late 1970's brought us such technical innovations as Star Wars, Superman The Movie and new life breathing into tired genres from Halloween and Phantasm.

The 1980's brought more and more.  I was fortunate enough to have seen Escape from New York and Blade Runner on the big screen.   In fact, a friend of mine still "owes" me $100 after we made a childhood bet.  I said that by the year 2000, we would see a lot of that film in our society.  He disagreed.  I think we know how that worked out.  I even saw National Lampoon's Vacation on that 40 foot section of magic.

So what does all this mean for the blog?  Well, simple.  We're going to soldier on into the new year.  We are going to lose some features.  The running Oscars blog will go away.  I will still post my choices and the winners on here, but the running commentary we've had till The Walking Dead took over Sunday nights in Feb. will be no more.

We'll also drop all coverage of the Razzie Awards and the Golden Schmoes awards.  Also, we will no longer review every single film seen.  We'll focus mainly on films listed as Top Hits and the occasional under the radar gem that I find.

Top hits will stay, as will the Best of/Worst of lists.  We'll be sure to add more in depth reviews of the big films, as time will be more free by not feeling like I have to write a review of some crappy thing we decided to watch on Netflix one night just because it was a movie I watched.

This new leaner format will allow more focus and more time.  I watched 124 movies for the first time in 2014 (thats not even counting finding Top Gun on TV one boring afternoon or the yearly screenings of Christmas Vacation or ThanksKilling.)  So you can just imagine how overwhelming that can feel knowing you just watched 3 movies today and now you've gotta sit down and write a review, even a mini one, for each damn one.

Let's get to it friends, Top Hits for 2015 coming later today!!