Welcome to Beyond The Trailer’s coverage of the 2015 Academy Awards, giving you an
in-depth look at the top categories.
Right now we’re going to take a look at Best Director, which isn’t as diverse as
some had hoped it would be this year - that’s right, Selma’s Ava DuVernay didn’t make
the cut.
Yet after Ang Lee and Kathryn Bigelow, not to mention nominating Steve McQueen and Lee
Daniels, maybe The Academy feels they can take a break?
If you don’t agree, be sure to vote in Beyond The Trailer’s annual Oscar poll, which includes
a write-in section.
Now let’s take a look at this year’s very vanilla and very male nominees...
It’s hard to get more vanilla than Wes Anderson, but probably more male.
But the real question is, how about talented?
This is Anderson’s eighth film but only the fourth time he’s been nominated - with
no wins to date.
Well actually, The Grand Budapest Hotel covers nominations four through six, as Anderson
has also been nominated for Best Original Screenplay and, as one of the film’s producers,
Best Picture.
That’s a lot of nominations, to go with all the money this movie made.
This is by far and away Anderson’s most successful film to date - one hundred million
more than the previous top film, The Royal Tenenbaums - and it’s likely the Academy
will feel that, and these nominations, are enough.
And if Anderson does win, it’ll probably be in one of the other two categories than
this one.
But it’s also worth noting that this is Anderson’s first directing nomination which
means one of the most unique directors working today has finally gotten himself on the board...
Now this isn’t Alejandro Inarritu’s first directing nomination.
His first was for Babel back in 2007, for which he did not win.
But he might win this one!
This category has really boiled down to him and Richard Linklater, with one winning here
and the other likely taking Best Picture.
And since they’re both also producers on their films, that way they each get a statue!
Some feel though it’s no contest, as Birdman features twenty minute takes edited together
to look like one long single take throughout the entire film.
That’s not just good cinematography or good editing, that’s good directing!
The last time that was famously done was Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope, yet he didn’t win an
Oscar either.
Heck he wasn’t even nominated!
And as I explained over in the Best Picture category, this simply might not be Inarritu’s
year for Best Picture OR Best Director.
Instead it could be just be a staging ground for his entry next year, The Revenant starring
Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy.
And one last thing.
Some of you might argue that Inarritu’s nomination brings diversity to the table,
as did Alfonso Cuaron’s win last year.
Both are Mexican, which I believe falls under the Latino category last I checked.
However, this had no sway whatsoever on everyone tweeting #oscarssowhite this year when the
nominations were announced.
So I guess it doesn’t count as diversity.
What do you think?
What’s more impressive, twenty minute takes or a film that takes twelve years to film?
That’s the big question this year and it’s time to argue Richard Linklater’s side.
Now when the trailer for Boyhood first debuted, I called it a gimmick movie, which annoyed
a lot of people.
Yet as it continues to be an awards juggernaut, fans of all the other movies have taken to
calling it a gimmick as well.
Interesting...
Still, even if it is a gimmick and it does manage to win an Oscar for Best Picture or
Best Director - that’s beyond the one it’s already getting or Patricia Arquette - doesn’t
that in some way make it even more impressive?
And from a director’s perspective, how hard must it be to keep track of a storyline and
characters over the course of twelve years?
With long breaks in-between shooting, where you go make other movies?
Someone already did the long take, and The Academy wasn’t impressed back then EITHER.
This is new!
Plus come on, the guy’s been killing himself in the low-budget indie circuit for decades
- let’s throw him a bone!
Let’s just hope our next two nominees stay off the internets, as they took the spots
many felt should go to Ava DuVernay for Selma, David Fincher for Gone Girl or...pretty much
anyone else.
In fact these nominations seem more like a favor to those running their respective film’s
Oscar campaigns than the directors themselves.
Yet it would be harder for anyone to say anything nastier to Bennett Miller than what the real
life Mark Schultz has recently said to him.
Schultz, despite having a good relationship with Miller prior to the film’s release,
has since openly and heavily criticized the film and Miller for depicted his relationship
with John DuPont as having homosexual undertones.
Schultz later apologized, but the damage to the film’s rep was done.
Maybe the truth was just too hard for Schultz to watch or have out there considering what
happened.
Then again, maybe Miller did misrepresent the relationship, doing what he needed to
do to produce an awards contender.
Miller certainly does know how to play the game, which you can not only tell from watching
Foxcatcher but from his previous directing nomination for Capote, for which Philip Seymour
Hoffman won.
And while Miller wasn’t nominated personally for Moneyball, that film got nominations for
Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill, plus a slew of others including Best Picture.
Foxcatcher also has a lot of nominations, but isn’t a strong frontrunner in any of
them.
However, an awards pro like Miller?
He’ll be back...
WHO?
Oh Harvey, you are so good at what you do.
Considering the talent snubbed, Harvey Weinstein is the only valid reason Morten Tyldum beat
them into this category.
There’s no way he’ll win, but who cares as he’s already gotten his golden statues.
Yes, one of Tyldum’s next films will be Passengers, a sci-fi romance set to star Jennifer
Lawrence and Chris Pratt!
Let’s hope he doesn’t get in the way of that movie either.
Tyldum is a Norwegian director whose thriller Headhunters initially put him on Hollywood’s
radar.
The Imitation Game is actually not just his Hollywood debut but his english language debut
to boot!
Not bad.
I wonder if there’s a fruit basket out there big enough to thank Harvey for making this
happen...?
What would you suggest he do to show his thanks?
And those the Best Director nominees!
Be sure to leave your thoughts down below, and also to vote in Beyond The Trailer’s
annual Oscar poll via the link in the video description!
I’m Grace Randolph, and I hope you’ll check out the rest of BTT’s Oscar coverage
- right now!