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Op-Ed

Søren and J’s Oscarcast 2015

by Søren Hough and J Rosenfield

https://filmfrontier.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/oscars-birdman1.jpg

Alejandro González Iñárritu speaks on behalf of the cast and crew of Best Picture winner, Birdman

2015 was a year of meager expectations when it came to the Oscars. While controversy surrounded the nomination process, we generally knew who’d take home the major awards. No one gasped in amazement when Birdman took Best Cinematography, or when Patricia Arquette was named Best Supporting Actress for Boyhood.

Yet sometimes there is intrigue to be found in the banal. J and I sit down to discuss the event in our annual Oscarcast, covering everything from the categories themselves to the filmmakers, the speeches and the terrible hosting schtick foisted upon Neil Patrick Harris. For an event so steeped in tired tradition, our conversation extended well beyond our usual hour-long podcast format. We decided to split this podcast into two halves as a result – both of which can be found below.

~ Søren

As always, you can subscribe to all Movie Fail podcasts using iTunes. Alternatively, you can check out Parts 1 and 2 online or download them here and here. Happy listening!

In Part 1 of the podcast, we mentioned an article that examined the racism of Boyhood, which can be found here, as well as the pandering poster campaign used to promote The Imitation Game to Academy members. I talked about Pride as a superior LGBTQ film to TIG (Jonny’s review of that movie can be found here) and repeated my praise of Moonrise Kingdom as “peak Wes Anderson” over The Grand Budapest Hotel.

In Part 2, I mentioned the new head writer for the Oscars, Greg Berlanti, might be to blame for NPH’s ho-hum hosting. We also discuss Kristen Stewart’s historic César win for her role in Clouds of Sils Maria and contrast that with her reputation for terrible acting. This leads to a discussion of The Rover where we lament Robert Pattinson’s snub for Best Supporting Actor.

We later delve into Dan Gilroy’s comments about superhero movies with Paul Thomas Anderson’s kinder take on the state of the industry, as well as the surprise over Whiplash‘s nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. We move from there to technical categories and I refer back to my piece on the use of CGI in Guardians of the Galaxy. Finally, we talk about #AskHerMore and how that impacted Oscars red carpet coverage.

What did you think of the Oscars this year? Any upsets? Did you enjoy the speeches? What’s your take on diversity and representation among the nominees and the voters?

Tagged With: 87th Academy Awards, Alejandro González Iñárritu, American Sniper, Ava DuVernay, Benedict Cumberbatch, Big Hero 6, Birdman, Birdman: or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Boyhood, Bradley Cooper, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, CitizenFour, Clint Eastwood, Clouds of Sils Maria, Damien Chazelle, David Fincher, David Oyelowo, Eddie Redmayne, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Ethan Hawke, Feast, Felicity Jones, Finding Vivian Maier, Gone Girl, Guardians of the Galaxy, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Ida, Inherent Vice, Interstellar, J.K. Simmons, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jennifer Aniston, Julianne Moore, Keria Knightley, Kristen Stewart, Last Days in Vietnam, Laura Dern, Life Itself, Marion Cotillard, Mark Ruffalo, Meryl Streep, Michael Keaton, Movie Fail, Mr. Turner, Neil Patrick Harris, Night Crawler, Obvious Child, Oscarcast, Oscars, Patricia Arquette, Podcast, Reese Witherspoon, Richard Linklater, Robert Duvall, Robert Pattinson, Rosamund Pike, Sandra Adair, Selma, Song of the Sea, Steve Carell, The Boxtrolls, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, The Lego Movie, The Rover, The Salt of the Earth, The Tale of Princess Kaguya, The Theory of Everything, Tony Gilroy, Unbroken, Virunga, Wes Anderson, Whiplash

About Søren Hough

Søren is Editor-in-Chief at Movie Fail. He is a freelance journalist covering science, politics and film. He writes for RogerEbert.com, wrote for ScottFeinberg.com and served as the Assistant Arts Editor for Film and Television at The Massachusetts Daily Collegian.

About J Rosenfield

J writes reviews and other features for Movie Fail. She has been writing reviews and essays about film since 2010, most recently on her Medium blog since 2010. When she's not watching movies, she's listening to film-related podcasts.

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