The Denver Film Critics names American Sniper tops, with Rosamund Pike Best Actress. The usual suspects otherwise, check it out here.
The Alliance of Women Film Journalists announce Boyhood tops, with Gillian Flynn taking adapted screenplay. See their winners here.
Houston goes for Boyhood, too, but names Jake Gyllenhaal Best Actor for Nightcrawler. Their full awards here.
If Julliane Moore had won her oscar previously she would not be in the running now.She had some emotional scenes but the movie as a whole is lacking.There is too much politics in these awards is not a joke.She had been proclaimed the winner since september even though her movie has still not been released as of now.I can understand the need to finally reward her but not at the expense of a better performance. I am getting tired of all these performers taking advantage of the ill and playing sick people just to get an oscar.The same thing happened last year with Leo and Matthew.Reward the performance not the character.The oscar voters are really getting lazy,nobody thinks outside of the box.There is nothing new.Brave performers are not rewarded.I miss the days were the oscars were rewarded purely for the performance.
Does Louise Fletcher win in today’s world?
@George Golden
Even if Moore wasn’t overdue, sadly Pike would still lose this award because of her character. Amy is not someone you can absolutely love or hate. Despite the movie adaptation making her more monstrous, Pike’s Amy is still something stranger, more complex and more unique than the simple movie monster Academy loves to hate (and gives awards to).
Now if Moore was nominated for Maps to the Stars, it would have been a much closer and fairer fight between her and Pike. Without it, Amazing Amy wins without a second thought from me. While I really, REALLY like Noomi Rapace’s work in The Drop, her character was severely underwritten and not as challenging and memorable as the best 2 (leading ladies in Maps and GG).
Julianne Moore is great and it will be a happy day when she finally wins her first Oscar but I think we should consider the fact that precedent is kind of against her this year unless her film makes some serious arthouse money (10M+ ; you have to go back to Blue Sky (1994) to find a Best Actress winner in a film that made less than 10M in the US) and/or it receives additional nominations (in the last 20 years only Theron and Lange pulled it off with films that had only one nomination). Same goes for Jennifer Aniston.
Actually the most recent tendency (last five years) shows that spectacular Box Office and a Best Picture nomination (Silver Linings Playbook, Black Swan, The Blind Side) is a combination the Academy can’t really resist (I know, Gravity, but Bullock was a recent winner). My point is Rosamund Pike is the only one who has spectacular Box Office AND a potential Best Picture nomination…that’s all I’m saying.
P.S. Ok, not ALL after all…if there is an actress who can buck whatever trends the Academy is usually into, that’s Julianne Moore, especially after this insane year of hers : female lead of an action hit (Non Stop), first American actress to complete the European Trifecta (Maps to the stars), critically acclaimed scene-stealer in the No1 film of the year (Mockingjay) and a guaranteed FIFTH (!) nomination (Still Alice).
George: I’ve watched both movies and Moore gives the best female performance this year. Pike is second.
Julianne Moore is not going to win only because she is overdue. She is going to win because she gives the best performance of the year in “Still Alice”. Only an artist of her level would give two brillant turns as she did last year with “Maps to the Stars” and “Still Alice”. It is a shame, indedd, to hear and read some people say she will win only because she is overdue, trying to diminish her talent and brilllant portrayal of Alice. I don’t understand why some people still stand Pike as the best performance, when the character in the book is much better than the one in the movie, which is to me,a misogynistic portrait to consider award worthy, a part that Glenn Close would do better.
Hmm…not sure that American Sniper, Bradley Cooper/Ralph Fiennes qualifies as “the usual suspects?”
Its a shame that Julianne Moore will win the oscar because she is overdue.That is the only reason why she is going to win over the better performance,Rosamund Pike.Anybody who has seen both Still Alice and Gone Girl will understand what i am talking about.