Unofficial Academy Awards Discussion Board

Well, this seems like it's going to eliminate the tradition of the Best Song nominee from a movie you've never heard of, a tradition that always kind of amused me.

Breaking the Waves was one of the first movies I saw where I realized that a beautifully shot film didn't necessarily have to be "beautiful" -- I don't think it ever would have had a chance with Oscar, but its bleak look is distinctive and intoxicating, and would have been a worthy inclusi...

We're now getting into years where my childhood self had very strong opinions on some of the nominated films. I'm agreement that the list overall is lackluster, not only because some of the nominees are obviously unworthy, but also because so many strong efforts were overlooked. Many have mentioned ...

Co-sign the general consensus that Isle of Dogs is a very enjoyable movie. Visually, it's dazzling -- I kept wanting to freeze frame individual images just to catch all of the details, many of which were often quite funny in offhand ways. And the narrative is engaging, and full of plenty of typicall...

The most outrageous exclusion is Ed Wood, which had all three critics prizes in its pocket, and still couldn’t overcome Oscar's resistance to black-and-white. I would also advocate for Heavenly Creatures, a film full of visual imagination. I can’t say I rate this a spectacular lineup -- I don’t even...

Ready Player One seems like the kind of material that's tailor-made for Spielberg, at least in terms of what we think of as old-school Spielberg -- it's an adventure film set in the future, featuring as its central character a young man who has lost both of his parents (natch), that almost seems to ...

The Age of Innocence is the most obvious omission -- that's a simply gorgeously shot film. But it was such a strong year there were plenty of other good also-rans, most of which have been listed -- The Remains of the Day, The Secret Garden, Blue, A Perfect World. The Fugitive is muscularly shot, and...

His heyday was a bit before my time -- my parents were avid viewers of NYPD Blue, and I remember watching it plenty growing up, but I was too young to really have an opinion about it. And I never saw his other famed shows at all, though I certainly was aware of their legacy. I see on social media th...

I don't think The Death of Stalin quite hits the highs of In the Loop -- that earlier film had me consistently laughing out loud, dazzled by the caustic wit of the nonstop great one-liners. The Death of Stalin is more smile/chuckle-funny, clever from beginning to end, but in a more low-key way. Part...

I marched in LA. (Right next to, randomly, Marisa Tomei!) Hugely inspiring to see the number of young people out there, who are, quite frankly, humiliating the NRA (and the elected GOP officials) in a way we haven’t really seen before on this issue. There just isn’t really a way to fight against the...

Should we figure out a schedule to start these up again?

Well, our musical preferences don't line up quite as well as our general film taste. Maybe not exactly, but we may be in more agreement than you think once I qualify some things... 1. I don't in any way dislike "Thanks for the Memory" (or "The Last Time I Saw Paris" for that mat...

To venture below the line, I thought the best Original Song stretch would be a no-brainer... until a double-check had me realize that "White Christmas" was separated from "Over the Rainbow" and "When You Wish Upon a Star" by one year, with "The Last Time I Saw Pari...

The women just boxed out (Hong Chau & Holly Hunter) would have been the ones I'd have considered above... ...Blige, though I will say I definitely felt she was an actress first, and a pop star trying her hand at drama second. I just don't think the role offers her anything that should prompt bes...

I lament the exclusion of Michael Stuhlbarg, like so many. Extra-cinematic circumstances certainly helped propel Plummer to his nomination...but he isn't unworthy in the role at all. It's a meaty enough part, which he fits like a glove. (Honestly, way more than Kevin Spacey ever would have.) Harrels...