Tonight is the 86th annual Academy Awards and I must say as far as Best Picture Nominees it's a solid year, though I still think it's clear which films don't stand a chance of winning. But thats OK, tonight isn't really about who wins or loses, since we all know the Academy rarely gets it right. Tonight is about celebrating a year of the movies and to yell at the television every time someone accepts an award that you wish went to somebody else. I have some thoughts about what films will win the awards, but I'm not going to get into that. Instead I'm going to rank the best picture nominees on how much I enjoyed them. This year I actually liked every movie nominated, though I wasn't crazy about one in particular.
9 - American Hustle
OK, not a horrible film, but seriously I don't know what they hype is about. Apparently it's against internet law to speak about Jennifer Lawrence in a negative way, so I'll skip her and jump to the rest of the cast. Christian Bale was fine and so was Amy Adams… but Bradley Cooper? I found him slightly annoying in this. Convoluted story and the characters were unlikeable. It was fun to watch, but a possible contender for one of the best movies of the year? Far from it.
8 - Captain Phillips
I just watched this one today. Paul Greengrass needs to make more movies and Tom Hanks gave a hell of a performance.
7 - Philomena
This one surprised me. Very powerful story and a very powerful performance from Judi Dench. Pretty sure it doesn't really stand a chance at winning tonight, but I guess stranger things have happened before.
6 - Gravity
As far as technical achievements go, well this movie is phenomenal. And I was really impressed with Sandra Bullocks as well at her ability to carry the movie on her own.
5 - Nebraska
Something about the story of a Son and his Dad taking a road trip together to pick up a million dollar prize really struck a chord with me. Loved all the performances in it and it was nice to see Bruce Dern.
4 - Dallas Buyers Club
Matthew McConaughey is fantastic and 2013 has been a great year for him. There is no stopping him and he really gave it his all in this film. Really great to see Jared Leto return to the silver screen again, also with an incredibly strong performance.
3 - The Wolf of Wall Street
What need's to be said? Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio kill it again. Also Jonah Hill is the man.
2 - Her
I will never look at my computer the same way again.
1 - 12 Years a Slave
This is by far the most important film of the year and most important film made in a long time. I'd encourage everyone to go see it. Steve McQueen is one of the most brilliant artists of our time and the world's he creates with his films evoke both pain and beauty unlike anything I've ever seen or experienced. By far my favorite of the 9 nominated films and my favorite film of the year.
