Oscars

‘Apes’ for best visual effects at the Oscars?

/ Andrew J. Morgan / Leave a comment

The visual effects category is yet another that’s packed with quality. This year, three comic-book movies received nominations and arguably all of them were outstanding films that have set a new benchmark for our next wave of superhero outings. Captain America: The Winter Soldier, X-Men: Days of Future Past, and the new kid on the block, Guardians of the Galaxy wowed critics and audiences alike, displaying that comic-book movies are here to stay and can deliver in sophisticated style. Likewise Interstellar was a film of typical Nolan-esc high quality that while not every single person loved, became cemented in all our minds from it’s sheer ambition and visual flair. But do these worthy contenders have what it takes to bring down a technical masterpiece like the highly anticipated Apes sequel?

Let’s remember that this the award for BEST VISUAL EFFECTS and while each of these titles did a great job, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes knocked it out of the park. Have you had a chance to see it yet? If not you really must. It’s a visual feast that, yet again, pushes the boundaries of artificial effects and will leave you in awe. I can honestly say that for the majority of the film I totally believed (without conscious thought) these apes were real and that it wasn’t just the likes of the highly talented Andy Serkis in a motion capture suit.

The sequel to 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a very well directed, this time by Matt Reeves (Let Me in 2010), the performances are great but above all else as a technical exercise, this movie does more than just deliver. It shines as a standard for future reference.

Be sure to catch the 87th Academy Awards on the 22nd February.

You can find the full list of nominees in the menu bar at the top of the page under ‘The Oscars’ tab. 

The 87th Annual Academy Awards: Nominations

/ Andrew J. Morgan / Leave a comment

The nominees were announced on January 16th and as you’d imagine many outstanding films, Performances etc. were acknowledged. But it wouldn’t be the talk of the town without having a few left off the list that, perhaps in our minds, were snubbed (yes I just deployed the ‘S’ word)

BEST PICTURE:
Whiplash
American Sniper
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Boyhood

BEST ACTRESS
Marion Cotillard
Felicity Jones
Rosamund Pike
Reese Witherspoon
Julianne Moore

BEST ACTOR
Eddie Redmayne
Benedict Cumberbatch
Michael Keaton
Bradley Cooper
Steve Carell

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette
Meryl Streep
Keira Knightley
Laura Dern
Emma Stone

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ethan Hawke
Robert Duvall
Edward Norton
Mark Ruffalo
J.K. Simmons

BEST DIRECTOR
Richard Linklater
Morgen Tyldum
We’d Anderson
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Bennett Miller

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Tangerines
Leviathan
Ida
Timbuktu
Wild Tales

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Boyhood
Nightcrawler
Foxcatcher
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Grateful
Everything Is Awesome
I’m Not Gonna Miss You
Glory
Lost Stars

BEST WRITING ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Inherent Vice
Whiplash
American Sniper
The Imitation Game
The Theory of Everything

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Ryszard Lenczewski
Lukasz Zal
Roger Deakins
Dick Pope
Robert Yeoman
Emmanuel Lunezki

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
The Tale of Princess Kaguya
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The Boxtrolls
Big Hero 6
Song of the Sea

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Me and My Moulton
A Single Life
Feast
The Bigger Picture
The Dam Keeper

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Interstellar
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Guardians of the Galaxy

BEST FILM EDITING
Sandra Adair
William Goldenberg
Barney Pilling
Gary D. Roach
Joel Cox
Tom Cross

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Mark Bridges
Colleen Atwood
Jacqueline Durran
Milena Canonero
Jane Clive
Anna Bierdrzycka-Sheppard

BEST SOUND MIXING
Jon Taylor
David Lee
Frank A. Montano
Mark Weingarten
Gary Rizzo
Gregg Landaker
Thomas Varga
Jon Taylor
Frank A. Montano

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Virunga
Citizenfour
Last Days in Vietnam
The Salt of the Earth
Finding Vivian Maier

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Anna Pinnock
Dennis Gassner
Suzie Davies
Charlotte Watts
Gary Fettis
Nathan Crowley
Tatiana Lund
Maria Djurkovic
Anna Pinnock

BEST LIVE SHORT FILM
The Phone Call
Parvaneh
Aya
Boogaloo and Graham
Butter Lamp

What do you think about this list?
Personally I was disappointed that Jake Gyllenhaal didn’t get nominated for his performance in Nightcrawler and that The Lego Movie wasn’t in the runnings for best animated film.
However it’s interesting to see more comic book movies starting to appear on the list, which I think we’ll begin to see more of from this point.

The 87th Academy Awards will take place on the 22nd of February 2015.