The Internet and TV are telling me the Oscars are this Sunday. Where does time go? I used to really enjoy the big even for film, but to be honest, I can’t remember a time that I saw one of the movies outside of the animation category.
This year’s crop of nominees is no different. I can only base my opinion on trailers and what others have said. That makes watching the actual awards show a bit of a drag. You have no vested interest. No reason to cheer. No feeling of joy when one of your movies wins.
As I have grown older, the time to see movies has dwindled. But that is not the only reason I have fallen off the movie map. My attention span has shrunk. I live in a world where 45 minutes (a TV show) is the ideal segment I can dedicate to relaxing before having to go back to some form or parenting or life duty. Sometimes, a show ends and there is still time to roll into another.
Two hour movies intimidate me before I even start. It’s hard to commit to rewarding yourself to two hours without taking care of something on your list.
My wife and I probably go see a movie maximum twice a year. Again, we could probably do more, but when you have to find the time, babysitter, extra money and of course the energy, you want to see a movie that is good. It’s hard to roll the dice on a maybe when there are so many moving parts.
So to the movies and people trying to win the big prize this weekend, good luck. I wish I could have been a part of it. Maybe next year?
Here are this dad’s picks for the 2015 Oscars. Remember these picks are based on nothing.
BEST PICTURE
American Sniper
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash
Actor – in a Leading Role
Steve Carell
Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper
American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch
The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Eddie Redmayne
The Theory of Everything
ACTRESS – in a Leading Role
Marion Cotillard
Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones
The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore
Still Alice
Rosamund Pike
Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon
Wild
ACTOR – in a Supporting Role
Robert Duvall
The Judge
Ethan Hawke
Boyhood
Edward Norton
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Mark Ruffalo
Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons
Whiplash
ACTRESS – in a Supporting Role
Patricia Arquette
Boyhood
Laura Dern
Wild
Keira Knightley
The Imitation Game
Emma Stone
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Meryl Streep
Into the Woods
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Big Hero 6
Don Hall, Chris Williams and Roy Conli
The Boxtrolls
Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable and Travis Knight
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Dean DeBlois and Bonnie Arnold
Song of the Sea
Tomm Moore and Paul Young
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
Isao Takahata and Yoshiaki Nishimura
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Emmanuel Lubezki
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Robert Yeoman
Ida
Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski
Mr. Turner
Dick Pope
Unbroken
Roger Deakins
COSTUME DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Milena Canonero
Inherent Vice
Mark Bridges
Into the Woods
Colleen Atwood
Maleficent
Anna B. Sheppard
Mr. Turner
Jacqueline Durran
DIRECTING
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Boyhood
Richard Linklater
Foxcatcher
Bennett Miller
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Wes Anderson
The Imitation Game
Morten Tyldum
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
CitizenFour
Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk Wilutzky
Finding Vivian Maier
John Maloof and Charlie Siskel
Last Days in Vietnam
Rory Kennedy and Keven McAlester
The Salt of the Earth
Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado and David Rosier
Virunga
Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara
DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry
Joanna
Aneta Kopacz
Our Curse
Tomasz Śliwiński and Maciej Ślesicki
The Reaper (La Parka)
Gabriel Serra Arguello
White Earth
J. Christian Jensen
FILM EDITING
American Sniper
Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach
Boyhood
Sandra Adair
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Barney Pilling
The Imitation Game
William Goldenberg
Whiplash
Tom Cross
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Ida
Poland; Directed by Pawel Pawlikowski
Leviathan
Russia; Directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev
Tangerines
Estonia; Directed by Zaza Urushadze
Timbuktu
Mauritania; Directed by Abderrahmane Sissako
Wild Tales
Argentina; Directed by Damián Szifron
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Foxcatcher
Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier
Guardians of the Galaxy
Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White
MUSIC – Original Score
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alexandre Desplat
The Imitation Game
Alexandre Desplat
Interstellar
Hans Zimmer
Mr. Turner
Gary Yershon
The Theory of Everything
Jóhann Jóhannsson
MUSIC – Original Song
“Everything Is Awesome” from The Lego Movie
Music and Lyric by Shawn Patterson
“Glory” from Selma
Music and Lyric by John “John Legend” Stephens and Lonnie “Common” Lynn
“Grateful” from Beyond the Lights
Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me
Music and Lyric by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond
“Lost Stars” from Begin Again
Music and Lyric by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois
PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Adam Stockhausen (Production Design); Anna Pinnock (Set Decoration)
The Imitation Game
Maria Djurkovic (Production Design); Tatiana Macdonald (Set Decoration)
Interstellar
Nathan Crowley (Production Design); Gary Fettis (Set Decoration)
Into the Woods
Dennis Gassner (Production Design); Anna Pinnock (Set Decoration)
Mr. Turner
Suzie Davies (Production Design); Charlotte Watts (Set Decoration)
SHORT FILM – Animated
The Bigger Picture
Daisy Jacobs and Christopher Hees
The Dam Keeper
Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi
Feast
Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed
Me and My Moulton
Torill Kove
A Single Life
Joris Oprins
SHORT FILM – Live Action
Aya
Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis
Boogaloo and Graham
Michael Lennox and Ronan Blaney
Butter Lamp (La Lampe au Beurre de Yak)
Hu Wei and Julien Féret
Parvaneh
Talkhon Hamzavi and Stefan Eichenberger
The Phone Call
Mat Kirkby and James Lucas
SOUND EDITING
American Sniper
Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Martin Hernández and Aaron Glascock
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Brent Burge and Jason Canovas
Interstellar
Richard King
Unbroken
Becky Sullivan and Andrew DeCristofaro
American Sniper
John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and Thomas Varga
Interstellar
Gary A. Rizzo, Gregg Landaker and Mark Weingarten
Unbroken
Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and David Lee
Whiplash
Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley
VISUAL EFFECTS
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill and Dan Sudick
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett and Erik Winquist
Guardians of the Galaxy
Stephane Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner and Paul Corbould
Interstellar
Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie and Cameron Waldbauer
WRITING – Adapted Screenplay
American Sniper
Written by Jason Hall
The Imitation Game
Written by Graham Moore
Inherent Vice
Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson
The Theory of Everything
Screenplay by Anthony McCarten
Whiplash
Written by Damien Chazelle
WRITING – Original Screenplay
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo
Boyhood
Written by Richard Linklater
Foxcatcher
Written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Screenplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness
Nightcrawler
Written by Dan Gilroy
Who do you like to win? Have you seen any of these movies?
Interstellar
Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher
American Sniper
=D