Photo Credit: Robert Couse-Baker. License Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en. No alterations made to photo.[/caption]Oscar season is almost here! The nomination list for the Oscars has been released. The Oscars will be live on ABC on March 2, 2014. The awards show will be hosted by Ellen Degeneres. The major nomination sections are listed below.
Best Picture-
Her
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
American Hustle
12 Years a Slave
Captain Phillips
Nebraska
The Wolf of Wall Street
Philomena
Actor-
Christian Bale- American Hustle
Bruce Dern- Nebraska
Leonardo DiCaprio- Wolf of Wall Street
Chiwetel Ejiofor- 12 Years a Slave
Matthew McConaughey- Dallas Buyers Club
Actress-
Amy Adams- American Hustle
Cate Blanchett- Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock- Gravity
Judi Dench- Philomena
Meryl Streep- August: Osage County
Supporting Role- Actor-
Barkhad Adbi- Captain Phillips
Bradley Cooper- American Hustle
Michael Fassbender- 12 Years a Slave
Jonah Hill- Wolf of Wall Street
Jared Leto- Dallas Buyers Club
Supporting Role- Actress-
Sally Hawkins- Blue Jasmine
Jennifer Lawrence- American Hustle
Lupita Nyong’o- 12 Years a Slave
Julia Roberts- August: Osage County
June Squibb- Nebraska
Animated Feature Film-
The Croods
Despicable Me 2
Ernest & Celestine
Frozen
The Wind Rises
Cinematography-
The Grandmaster
Gravity
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska
Prisoners
Costume Design-
American Hustle
The Grandmaster
The Great Gatsby
The Invisible Woman
12 Years a Slave
Directing-
American Hustle- David O. Russell
Gravity- Alfonso Cuarón
Nebraska- Alexander Payne
12 Years a Slave- Steven McQueen
The Wolf of Wall Street- Martin Scorsese
The 85th Academy Awards were held on Sunday, February 24, and had Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane hosting for the first time.The ceremony proved to be a hit with 42 million views, the most since 2004’s ceremony. The show started off slow, but eventually it lived up to its expectations. The show opened with MacFarlane doing a sketch with William Shatner about how everyone, in the future, will hate MacFarlane for hosting the Oscars. It also featured dance sequences by Charlize Theron and Channing Tatum. Also singing was Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Daniel Radcliffe. Overall, it was a great way to start off the show. It was much better than last year’s opening segment.
In the middle of the show, there were performances by actresses who had starred in musicals, including Jennifer Hudson from Dreamgirls, Catherine Zeta-Jones from Chicago, and the cast of Les Miserables. Barbra Streisand also performed during the in memoriam tribute. Some nominees for Best Original Song were Norah Jones and Adele, who won the award.The last 30 minutes were the most exciting of the whole show because it was finally time to announce the winners of the most renowned categories. Best Director went to Ang Lee for directing Life of Pi, this is his second Oscar win, he previously won a Best Director Oscar for Brokeback Mountain. Best Supporting Actor and Actress went to Christoph Waltz for Django Unchained and Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables, respectively. Best Actress went to Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook. Best Actor went to Daniel Day-Lewis for his role as Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln. Day-Lewis has become the actor with the most Oscars after winning his third Academy Award on Sunday.
The story follows a young, bubbly dancer named Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo) who wants to be in films, but is also in love with the cocky film idol George Valentin (Jean Dujardin). The two meet and end up creating a silent film together. Soon, though, talking movies are introduced, and they go off in two different routes in the movie industry.
While the acting is, of course, over the top to convey emotion better, but it does not seem overdone. Everything is believable. It doesn't hurt that the movie includes a super cute dog owned by Valentin who adds a lot of spice and character to the acting.
Michel Hazanavicius, the film’s director, does an amazing job of getting one interested in the film and engrossing one in the plot. He truly captures the nostalgia of silent films of yore while bringing in this fresh perspective. The plot twists are frequent and shocking. His directing skills really push this movie to be fantastic.
One very important part of the movie which is overlooked by many is the score. The orchestral music really sets the mood and is beautiful to listen too as well. The score really fits the movie and doesn't disappoint.
The Artist really had a difficult feat to overcome. Most people today have probably forgotten about silent films or just don't care to see one. This movie, however, really goes above and beyond in entertainment value. Anyone and everyone should go out to see his film.