Oscars Reaction

It has taken a few days but I have finally stopped reeling from the Oscars Nominations announcement for long enough to make a reaction post. Here are my thoughts on some of the nominees alongside who I want to win and who I think will win.

In case you missed them first time round, look out for links to my full reviews for some of the nominees!

Best song

'Alone Yet Not Alone', Alone Yet Not Alone
'Happy', Despicable Me 2
'Let It Go', Frozen
'The Moon Song', Her
 'Ordinary Love', Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

My only solace with this years nominations was that Taylor Swift was not nominated for the Best Song Oscar.

Despicable Me 2

Who I want to Win: 'Happy', Despicable Me 2

Who will probably win:I can't choose between 'Ordinary Love'and 'Let It Go' ; personally I couldn't understand the fuss that Frozen got and I found the soundtrack to be screechy rather than inspiring but considering it's mainstream success an Academy win will hardly be surprising. 

Best Costume Design

The Great Gatsby 

12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
The Grandmaster
The Great Gatsby
The Invisible Woman

Who I want to win: The Great Gatsby

Who will probably win: American Hustle; I can't really understand the extensive nominations that American Hustle received (*cough* $$$ *cough*) and from the way they are leading the nominations a part of me thinks they are going to lead the way with the wins too. Can't imagine how. (*cough* $$$ *cough*)

Best Original Screenplay

American Hustle
Blue Jasmine
Dallas Buyers Club
Her
Nebraska

American Hustle

Who I want to win: Dallas Buyers Club

Who will probably win: Potentially Dallas Buyers Club but if not then I suspect American Hustle or Blue Jasmine; Another film that I just could not understand the hype circus around... But it dabbles with mental illness so of course people will lap it up, I call it the 'Silver Linings' effect.

Best Adapted Screenplay

12 Years a Slave
Before Midnight
Captain Phillips
Philomena
The Wolf of Wall Street

Captain Phillips

Who I want to win: The Wolf of Wall Street... But I wouldn't be entirely unhappy if Captain Phillips took the crown

Who will probably win: 12 Years A Slave. Because slavery.

Best Supporting Actress

Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine
Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave
Julia Roberts, August: Osage County
June Squibb, Nebraska

Sally Hawkins in Blue Jasmine

Who I want to win: Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine. Now, I may not have liked the film but I thought Hawkins was astounding in it.

Who will probably win: This is the category that caused my stress palpitations upon announcements because I just can't, can't, can't get the hype that surrounds Jennifer Lawrence. A cleverly marketed PR dream, everyone seems to have fallen for her kooky 'i'm so normal' facade whilst ignoring the fact she is a relatively mediocre actress. I'm still not over her unjust win of the best actress award last year (the award that most definitely should have gone to the phenomenal Quvenzhané Wallis for her breathtaking performance in Beasts of the Southern Wild), and I just know she will be the undeserving winner again when, in all honesty, she shouldn't even be nominated. Can't think why she was... (cough* $$$ *cough*)

Best Supporting Actor

Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club

Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
Bradley Cooper, American Hustle
Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
Jonah Hill, The Wolf of Wall Street
Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Now, this was an interesting one as I loved The Wolf of Wall Street and Jonah Hill gave a great performance in it, sure. But an Oscar worthy performance? His nomination was perhaps the biggest shock inclusion for me. I'm in no way saying his performance was bad or even anything less than great but it was also just what I expect when watching such a high quality blockbuster. I thought Oscars were for performances that go above and beyond, not the high quality expectation that we behold of A-List actors. 

Who I want to win: Barkhad Abdi, deserves attention for the way he was able to steal the scene away from legendary actor Tom Hanks, however in my heart I truly believe it should go to  Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club - simply an outstanding performance.

Who will probably win: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club. Dear God, I hope so.

Best Actress

Amy Adams, American Hustle
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Judi Dench, Philomena
Meryl Streep, August: Osage County

Emma Thompson has been unforgivably snubbed.

Outrageous that Emma Thompson wasn't even nominated for her role in Saving Mr. Banks as to me she would also be the worthy winner!

Who I want to win: Judi Dench, Philomena

Who will probably win: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine. Well, you could basically see her brain screaming 'Oscar' throughout her entire performance...

Best Actor

Christian Bale, American Hustle
Bruce Dern, Nebraska
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street
Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club


A crying shame that Tom Hanks was snubbed for his Captain Phillips performance. Totally unacceptable.

Could 2014 be Leonardo DiCaprio's year?

Who I want to win: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street. It's been a long time coming, please God please just give the man an Oscar. ANY Oscar!

Who will probably win: Admittedly, Leo faces tough competition this year with Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club, or Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave, being my bets to win.

Best Director

Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
Alexander Payne, Nebraska
David O Russell, American Hustle
Martin Scorsese, The Wolf of Wall Street

Paul Greengrass is not even nominated for his brilliant work in encapsulating the claustrophobic and terrifying ordeal of Captain Phillips yet Steve McQueen has a nomination for his much-too-long, lack-of-a-time-scale injustice of 12 Years a Slave. Right.

Martin Scorsese on set

Who I want to win: Martin Scorsese, The Wolf of Wall Street - the guy makes a three hour long film that feels like fifteen minutes, if that doesn't warrant an award then I don't know what does.

Who will probably win: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity. As long as it isn't McQueen I will be relatively happy.









Best Picture

12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Gravity
Nebraska
Philomena
The Wolf of Wall Street

Gravity

Who I want to win: The Wolf of Wall Street. But if Dallas Buyers Club or Captain Phillips win it wouldn't be a total loss


Who will probably win: Gravity. Or 12 Years a Slave perhaps.... Although I wouldn't be shocked if American Hustle did (*cough* $$$ *cough*)



So, there we have it. Now we just have to keep counting down the days until March 2nd to find out the results - I'm hoping that I am about 95% wrong with my predictions but we will have to wait and see!

Let me know who you are backing this year!

Love,

BLUE JASMINE

Blue Jasmine is a film that I had only heard good things about. Not only were the critics raving but even the usual internet trolls appeared to have put away their claws for this one as a whisper of 'Oscars' seemed to encase it. I'm an advocate for 'slice of life' movies and for me, films don't have to have a 'point' in order to entertain me - a snippet or an insight into a person or a family's life is usually a sure win, so although when I watched the trailer I didn't really 'get' what it was going to be about, I was still excited for it.

However, this isn't just a 'slice of life' - director Woody Allen has a point that he is trying to make and that is one thing: The rich are corrupt and lonely and losers, it is the seeming underdogs who are really winning at life. A very poignant and heartfelt message, sure, but an hour and a half of Cate Blanchett trying to sound like Samantha Jones as she teeters on the edge of a mental breakdown was not what I needed to see in order to learn this.

Jasmine (Blanchett)  is a New York City socialite. Troubled and in denial following her divorce from elite business man Hal (Alec Baldwin) she moves in with her dippy, free-spirit sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins) in San Francisco and tries to rebuild her life.

The performances are strong, the pace is slow, the story of her marriage unravels in a series of samey flashbacks that became uninteresting and predictable before long. Cate Blanchett gives an undeniably powerful performance, but in doing so she creates a character so intense that she becomes borderline nauseating and you can practically hear Blanchett's mind screaming 'Oscar' as she overacts her way through the film as a character reminiscent of neurotic, drama queen Vanessa Gold in BBC soap opera EastEnders.

Whilst the majority of the supporting cast were good, I took a particular liking to Ginger, some characters were so stereotypical and simple they became parodies of themselves which had the audience laughing at times where I don't think Woody Allen intended them to be.

I'm always a fan of an open ended film and this may have been one of the best moments for me, however it isn't as poignant or powerful as I was lead to believe it would be by critics and viewers alike. In fact, it was pretty plain. For an hour and a half long film, it really dragged and in all honesty perhaps one of the reasons I welcomed an open ending was because if it were more conclusive I would have had to sit through longer.

Blue Jasmine is an average film, the characters lacked depth which made it difficult for the audience to connect with in any way, and although films don't have to have a point, this one really was in the same place at the end as it was when it started out. I found myself becoming impatient and bored and Blanchett's performance became more and more over-the-top and irritating as time went on. The narrative is pretentious and similarly to Silver Linings Playbook (a film that I truly detest), it's concept makes people think that it is much more poignant and exciting and interesting and entertaining and revolutionary than it is. Almost like a taboo where any film that toys with the idea of mental health gets immediate critical acclaim despite the quality of the story, and this is a habit that I hope is quashed sooner rather than later.

All in all, Blue Jasmine was vaguely enjoyable to begin with but lacked excitement and, to be honest, entertainment. For these reasons it gets ★★☆☆☆

Blue Jasmine is in cinemas nationwide from 27th September!

Stay tuned for more reviews and follow me on twitter if you like!

Love,