Hollywood′s awards season has been going on for months, but it came to a head this
morning... when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominations
for this year′s Oscars. Here to discuss the picks,... and who may
come away with gold next month,... is film critic Pierce Conran.
How did you feel about the Academy Award nominations when you read the papers this morning?
Actually, I watched the announcements live late last night, as they were going on in
Los Angeles. You watched them live? You′re a dedicated
fan
The truth is, this was my first time to do so. The reason I did it was to see if SNOWPIERCER
would land a nomination. I knew it was a long shot, but there was a chance that Tilda Swinton
would get a supporting actress nomination. No Korean film has ever received an Academy
Award nomination, and alas, that remains the same today.
That′s too bad, but how do you feel about what did get nominated?
I guess there weren′t a great number of surprises. All the favorites were included
and the last slots were generally taken by very safe choices. The only major omissions
were THE LEGO MOVIE in the animated category and a lack of recognition for SELMA, the Martin
Luther King biopic that many were seeing as a serious contender. It got a Best Picture
nomination but many have lamented that it didn′t find itself in the Best Actor and
Director categories. I suppose I was also surprised that Bennett Miller received a directing
nomination but that his film FOXCATCHER failed to make the longer Best Picture nominees list.
The Academy can choose 10 films but only went as far as 8 this year.
What were this year′s biggest nominees?
BIRDMAN and THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL had 9 nominations each, while THE IMITATION GAME
had 8, BOYHOOD and AMERICAN SNIPER had 6 and FOXCATCHER, INTERSTELLAR, THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING
and WHIPLASH had 5 a piece. Save for FOXCATCHER and INTERSTELLAR, those were also the Best
Picture nominees, along with SELMA. Would you say that those are a fair representation
of the best that American cinema had to offer in 2014?
Well, I was a big fan of BIRDMAN and THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, so I′m very glad to see
them leading the pack. I also think BOYHOOD is an incredible achievement. One the flipside,
THE IMITATION GAME, AMERICAN SNIPER and THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING for me are the kind of
middle-of-the-road fare designed for Oscar glory that invariably catch the Academy′s
attention. Mediocre films about white male protagonists overcoming obstacles, they pale
in comparison to the more innovative films of the year.
Were there any films that you were hoping to see get more recognition?
SNOWPIERCER Actually there are a couple that I felt were underrepresented. I love Paul
Thomas Anderson′s INHERENT VICE, though I knew it wasn′t going to
get far with Academy voters, and yet it wasn′t ignored completely. I
was also disappointed that Jake Gyllenhaal did
not receive a
Best Actor nod for NIGHTCRAWLER