The Film Fatales' Oscar Picks: 2015

The Film Fatales nod off at the 2015 Oscars...

It's...yawn...Oscar time...yawn. Welcome to the most boring and tedious yet of award seasons. With a decidedly lackluster cast of nominees, this is bound to be the longest ceremony in history. The sheer lack of diversity is probably what pisses us off the most, but we won't turn this into a grandstand (or maybe we will). In any case, here are our picks for the 2015 Academy Awards. With very few exceptions to mention, let's hope 2016 offers us much better options.

Best Actor

    Steve Carell, "Foxcatcher"
    Bradley Cooper, "American Sniper"
    Benedict Cumberbatch, "The Imitation Game"
    Michael Keaton, "Birdman"
    Eddie Redmayne, "The Theory of Everything"

Nicole:

• Who should win? David Oyelowo -- Oh, I'm sorry...he wasn't nominated by a clearly color-blind Academy. Yea, I said it... and I'd say it again. Of the available choices, Benedict Cumberbatch or Eddie Redmayne should, but won't, win.
• Who will win? Michael Keaton.

elizabeth:  

• Who should win? There is only one choice if you ask me and you just did. It’s Eddie Redmayne’s performance from The Theory of Everything. His performance is right up there with Daniel Day Lewis’ role in the 1989 film My Left Foot. Actors (and actresses for that matter) who can convey so much with a simple eye movement or a small smile rule in my book. I am just glad that I was around to see both performances.
• Who will win? You really want to ask me again?

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"

Nicole:

• Who will win and who should win? Julianne Moore. Enough with Reese already. Yawn.

elizabeth:
 

You are right this is boring. Not with the performances, but who should be winning...

• Who will win? That would be Julianne Moore. I plan on not seeing that movie even though the book was so compelling. And what has Reese Witherspoon ever done to you?

Best Supporting Actor

    Robert Duvall, "The Judge"
    Ethan Hawke, "Boyhood"
    Edward Norton, "Birdman"
    Mark Ruffalo, "Foxcatcher"
    J.K. Simmons, "Whiplash"

Nicole:

God, this is possibly the most boring Oscars ever.

⦁    Who should win? Ed Norton or Mark Ruffalo.
⦁    Who will win? It's between Simmons and Hawke.

elizabeth: 

• Who should win? Who cares? Okay, I can’t give it to Mark Ruffalo because I like him in hot roles like Begin Again, which was just a great movie. 
• Who will win? J.K. Simmons to take the Oscar because I find him very believable in his Farmers’ Insurance commercials.

Best Supporting Actress

    Patricia Arquette, "Boyhood"
    Laura Dern, "Wild"
    Keira Knightley, "The Imitation Game"
    Emma Stone, "Birdman"
    Meryl Streep, "Into the Woods"

Nicole:

• Who should win? No one. This is a crapshoot. Look, I love Meryl, but she doesn't deserve it for Into the Woods. And, frankly, I don't care if Arquette was terrific in Boyhood -- she's one-dimensional and her performances are generally as exciting as watching paint dry. Dern -- meh. Knightley should have been nominated for Begin Again instead, but the Academy doesn't nominate feel-good films. And, Emma... well. Not for this, but soon and often.
• Who will win? Arquette.

elizabeth:  

And the Oscar for being so crabby goes to.....you. 

• Who will and should win? I agree about Keira Knightley in Begin Again, so I would vote for her since she covered two roles in 2014 that were quite different and she gave terrific performances in both.

Directing

    Alejandro González Iñárritu, "Birdman"
    Richard Linklater, "Boyhood"
    Bennett Miller, "Foxcatcher"
    Wes Anderson, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
    Morten Tyldum, "The Imitation Game"

Nicole:

• Who should win? Wes Anderson. Because he's quirky and shit.
• Who will win? Inarritu...because he out-quirkied the King of Quirky, Wes Anderson. Oh, and the Academy loves daring and experimental shit, like 15-minute long takes.

elizabeth:

Just give it to all of them. Why not make everyone happy?

Best Picture

    "American Sniper"
    "Birdman"
    "Boyhood"
    "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
    "The Imitation Game"
    "Selma"
    "The Theory of Everything"
    "Whiplash"

Nicole:

• What should win? SELMA!!! Dammit. Selma should win. Good God, is this thing on? 
• What will win? It's gonna be Birdman, isn't it? I may not even watch this Oscar ceremony. Honestly.

elizabeth: 

• What should win? The Theory of Everything. Selma was fabulous, but playing with history does not sit well with me. It could have been as compelling with showing that LBJ was on board with the Voting Rights Act. Young people should know that.

The 87th Academy Awards will be held on 

Sunday, February 22, 2015 at 7pm ET / 4pm PT on ABC. 

Play along at home with this printable ballot, 

or sound off in the comments section with your own picks. 

 

Film Fatales Picks for the 2015 BAFTAs

The Film Fatales skip across the pond to attend the top in British film award ceremonies, the EE British Academy Film Awards -- better known at the BAFTAs. It's a far classier award show than the Oscars, which probably means these two broads probably won't get by security. So, we'll probably just be watching stateside along with everyone else on BBC America Sunday, Feb. 8 at 8 p.m. EST.

DIRECTOR

• Alejandro G. IñáRritu Birdman  | Nicole's Pick
• Wes Anderson The Grand Budapest Hotel
• James Marsh The Theory Of Everything
• Richard Linklater Boyhood | Elizabeth's Pick
• Damien Chazelle Whiplash

RISING STAR

• Gugu Mbatha-Raw | Nicole's Pick
• Jack O’Connell
• Shailene Woodley | Elizabeth's Pick
• Margot Robbie
• Miles Teller

FILM

• The Grand Budapest Hotel Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales, Jeremy Dawson
• The Theory Of Everything Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony Mccarten | Elizabeth's Pick
• Birdman Alejandro G. IñáRritu, John Lesher, James W. Skotchdopole | Nicole's Pick
• The Imitation Game Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky, Teddy Schwarzman
• Boyhood Richard Linklater, Cathleen Sutherland

LEADING ACTOR

• Eddie Redmayne The Theory Of Everything  | Nicole's Pick & Elizabeth's Pick 
• Ralph Fiennes The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Benedict Cumberbatch The Imitation Game
• Jake Gyllenhaal Nightcrawler
• Michael Keaton Birdman

LEADING ACTRESS

• Felicity Jones The Theory Of Everything | Nicole's Pick
• Julianne Moore Still Alice | Elizabeth's Pick
• Reese Witherspoon Wild
• Amy Adams Big Eyes
• Rosamund Pike Gone Girl

SUPPORTING ACTOR

• J.K. Simmons Whiplash | Elizabeth's Pick 
• Mark Ruffalo Foxcatcher
• Steve Carell Foxcatcher
• Edward Norton Birdman
• Ethan Hawke Boyhood  | Nicole's Pick

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Keira Knightley The Imitation Game  | Nicole's Pick
• Imelda Staunton Pride
• Emma Stone Birdman
• Patricia Arquette Boyhood | Elizabeth's Pick
• Rene Russo Nightcrawler

SELMA

The Film Fatales wonder why, nearly fifty years later, the more things change, the more things stay the same...

Selma. 2014. Rated PG-13. 128 Minutes. Starring David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Tom Wilkinson, Tim Roth, Common, Giovanni Ribisi, Oprah Winfrey, Niecy Nash, Lorraine Toussaint. Directed by Ava DuVernay.

Oscar Best Picture Nominee

A chronicle of Martin Luther King's campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965. [IMDb]

 


Nicole: 1965. 2015. With recent events in Ferguson and Staten Island...one could say not all that much has changed in fifty years time. But, I must be careful in painting this picture with such a broad brush. For, in doing so, I dilute Dr. King's message...his hard work...his legacy. Still, I wonder what he would make of today's headlines after so many years of progress: one step forward, two steps back. 

elizabeth:  I think this country’s collective soul has to rise each day and ask how can they make the lives of all the people who live here better. I think that was the essence of Dr. King. Knock us down. We shall rise again. I think what resonated most with me is that we lost Martin Luther King decades too soon. Like an artist, he was not done with his masterpiece. If you were brought up with a B&W TV, you saw what was going on in this country in the South. You saw men and women being beaten and hosed, you saw the body of a young boy who whistled at a pretty girl and you heard the cries of the families whose little girls went to church but never came home. It was a very scary time in this country, but we had the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. leading us out of the darkness.

Nicole: Selma begins with MLK receiving the Nobel Peace Prize juxtaposed with the horrific church bombing that took the lives of several black children. MLK may have won the prize for peace, but came home to an America that was anything but peaceful. Selma depicts King's efforts to make change in the blockage of black voter registration in a small Alabama town. A series of small civil disobedience measures lead to an eventually successful march from Selma to Montgomery, the seat of hate manger George Wallace's governance. It is a chilling retelling of one of the most important civil rights movements in American history. 

elizabeth: Two things haunted me while I watched Selma. The first thing was that I was ashamed to be white. I know I didn’t do anything to the people of Selma, but my race was so repugnant in their behavior to people who just wanted to live their lives and raise their families. I was ashamed. The second thing was the creative telling of the relationship between King and LBJ. I know it made for more tension (like living in Selma and surroundings areas weren’t stressful enough), but Lyndon Johnson was on board for the Voting Rights Act and he worked to see it pass. An opportunity was lost to show two powerful men; one black, one white, coming together to foster change. I love the idea that corporations are paying for kids to see this very important movie, but they will grow up believing a Hollywood distortion.

Nicole: Personally, I'm no fan of President Johnson. He deserves credit for passing the Voting Rights Act (which they reference in the film) and for making an impassioned speech that helped progress the Civil Rights Movement, but he was a horrible and notorious bigot who played politics to his own advantage. He was no Kennedy; that's for sure. Regarding the performances, Oyelowo is remarkable as Dr. King. Not a trace of his English accent can be detected. His cadence and delivery is so very like King's, it's a wonder he didn't snag an Oscar nomination...a tremendous oversight on the part of the Academy. So, too is Ejogo's performance as Coretta Scott King captivating. At times, her likeness was so uncanny, it was jarring. Hers was a tempered, quiet, yet strong portrayal that deserved recognition. I'm really perplexed by the decisions made this year. 

elizabeth: Who cares who gets nominated for an Oscar? Okay, I do. But, we make it seem that a performance is diminished because of a bunch of old white men who voted for the nominations. Let’s just be glad that Oyelowo and Ejogo brought the Kings to life on the screen. I want to thank David Oyelowo for bringing Dr. King to all who see this movie. I want kids to want to be like this man of quiet courage. I want them to work for peace and equality. Screw the Oscars.

Nicole: This movie is required viewing... As a people, we seem doomed to repeat history. Perhaps the more we educate ourselves, the less complacent we will become...and just maybe refuse to make the same mistakes. 

elizabeth: Maybe if we stop killing the peacemakers we can talk about real change.




                                                       The Film Fatales give SELMA