I'm sure Birdman is very good, I'm looking forward to see it, but that's just fucking bollocks. Never change Academy, never change. #oscars
— Stuart Ian Burns (@feelinglistless) February 23, 2015
Here's the long version.
As has been the case since Sky co-opted the legal UK rights, I didn't stay up for the Oscars this year (also because I wanted to sleep what with being in the middle of a working week) (it's complicated). Having seen the results, I'm not entirely unhappy. As I've said above, having not seen Birdman I can't make the comparison but just like Gravity and Inception and There Will Be Blood and countless others in the past this feels like the Academy choosing the safe option and not rewarding the film that it really should.
Last year I ended up making a similarly cautious statement about Gravity and then when I saw 12 Years a Slave found a relatively conventional film not necessarily doing anything I hadn't seen before and certainly not potentially changing the way films are made. Perhaps when I've watched Birdman with its "single take", timed explosions, cast full of people I like and a director I've admired in the past, I will say fair enough. But Boyhood, is, well Boyhood, over a decade in the making with all kinds of potential artistic jeopardy.
Anyway, here's how I did. Probably easier to list what I got right.
Patricia Arquette for best actress.
Ida for best film not in the English language
Big Hero 6 for best animated film
Grand Budapest Hotel for score, costume, production design, makeup and hairstyling
Wanted Boyhood to sweep. Didn't. But I did predict The GBH to do well in the craft categories, which is something. Perhaps once I've seen everything, I'll be able to judge better...
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