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12 thoughts from the big night

 

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 Index | Pic | Dir | Actress | Actor | Supp ActressSupp Actor | Foreign |Screenplays | Visual | Aural | Animation 

87th Oscars. The Oscar Contenders of 2014 - For prediction, discussion and entertainment purposes only. This is not a endorsement of quality work, especially since no one has seen the pictures yet!

 discuss on the blog

Congratulations to huggable Baymax from Big Hero Six and Citizen Four

Animated Feature Nominees
20 films were eligible

BIG HERO 6
November 7th
(Disney)
WINNER 

CG

THE BOXTROLLS
September 26th
(Laika / Focus Features)

Stop Motion

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2
June 13th
(Dreamworks / Fox)

CG

SONG OF THE SEA
Dec 19th
(Cartoon Saloon / GKids)

Hand Drawn (with CG)

THE TALE OF PRINCESS KAGUYA
October 17th
(Studio Ghibli / GKids)

Hand Drawn

Capsule | official site

108 minutes
CG
USA

Disney teams up with Marvel to tell a superhero story involving a robotics prodigy in the fictional city of San Fransokyo (San Francisco Tokyo mashup). Uneven but Disney won't likely be shut out.

Box Office: $218+
RT Score: 90%

 

Reviewed
| Tribute to Laika | Costume Design | Official Site

97 minutes
Stop-Motion
USA

While it's been the least well received of Laika's unique stop motion features, the animation branch will surely enjoy its technical triumphs. But will they like the story enough for a nomination? And when can Laika finally win?

Box Office: $50+
RT Score: 74%

Podcast | official site

105 minutes
CG
USA

The real question mark in the race. Toy Story 3 and this category's limited history aside, they generally don't get obsessive about sequels. But then the original is still well loved. Might that have an afterglow effect or will the strangely okay but non spectacular public reception work against it?

Box Office: $177+
RT Score: 92%

Reviewed | AFI peek | official blog
Concept Trailer

93 minutes
Hand-Drawn
Ireland

Like The Secret of Kells, the previous film from this team, the visuals are incredible and unique. But it's mythological story is very junior. Does it have enough adult appeal?

Box Office: $.2
RT Score: 97%

Review | Tribute to Takahata | Trailer 

137 minutes
Hand-Drawn
Japan

Studio Ghibli has instant prestige and that helps in every Oscar branch, but this slow-moving beauty about a magical child growing into an unhappy captive princess isn't everyone's thing 

Box Office: $.6
RT Score: 100%

 

Who Will Win?
It's tough to say: Oscar is not crazy about sequels though Dragon looks like the frontrunner. Might they finally give Laika a win for Boxtrolls? Or embrace the very huggable Baymax from Big Hero 6?

Who SHOULD Win?
Please vote. We're desperate to know your preference in this hotly contested race.

 

 

Surprise Omission
The Lego Movie was the year's biggest animated hit and critically acclaimed, too. Oscar said "we like these five better"

Additional Eligible Titles, Foreign:
Giovanni's Island
Japan official site & Miniscule Valley of the Ants France | Belgium trailer

Additional Eligible Titles, American:

The Lego Movie (review), The Book of Life (interview), Henry & Me (review), The Hero of Color City, Rio 2, Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return, Penguins of Madagascar ( review), Planes: Fire & Rescue, The Pirate Fairy, Mr Peabody & Sherman

Not Eligible Either They Did Not Submit / Were Not Released To Qualify in US
The Nut Job, Little from the Fish Shop, Boy and the World, Tanta Hilda, Thunder and the House of Magic,
The 7th Dwarf
, Tarzan 3D

 

 

Animated Short

Read A Review of All of These Nominees

The Bigger Picture
Daisy Jacobs
Official Site

UK
8 minutes in English

Feast
Patrick Osborne (debut film as director) & Kristina Reed
WINNER 

USA
6 minutes in English

Me and My Moulton
Torril Kove
(2 nominations | 1 win)

Canada
14 minutes in English

The Damkeeper
Robert Kondo (debut) & Dice Tsutsumi
(never nominated)
Official Site

USA
18 minutes in English

A Single Life
Joris Oprins
(never nominated)
Official Trailer

The Netherlands
3 minutes

Billed as "a life-size animated short" the animator used life sized sets and tall painted characters within them a man's love life is told through the perspective of his ever hungry puppy Appears to be a humorous diary of a young girl with two sisters and an embarrassing dad A young pig meets a new classmate who changes everything. Pia can travel through her life when she plays a vinyl record
More

Finalists that were not nominated
The Numberlys, Footprints, Duet, Symphony No. 42, Coda, Footprints

Should Win: Tim says The Bigger Picture
Will Win: Tim is betting on Feast 

 

 

Live Action Short

Aya
Oded Binnun & Mihal Brezis
(never nominated)

from Israel
40 minutes in English

Boogaloo and Graham
Michael Lennox & Ronan Blaney
(never nominated)

UK
14 minutes in English

Butter Lamp
Hu Wei & Julien Féret
(never nominated)

France | China
15 minutes in Tibetan

Parvaneh
Talkhon Hamzavi & Stefan Eichenberger
(never nominated)

Switzerland
25 minutes in German

The Phone Call
Mat Kirkby & James Lucas
(never nominated)
WINNER 

This romantic drama is about a man who confuses a woman for his assigned driver. With Danish star Ulrich Thomsen and Israeli actress / co-director Mihal Brezis Two boys in Belfast learn a lot from their pet chickens in this comic short Two photographers get Tibetan nomads to pose for photos About a young female Afghan immigrant in the Swiss Alps Starring Sally Hawkins as a helpline worker who receives a mysterious call that changes her life. Kirkby previously directed music videos
Other Finalists / Will Win / Should Win
Finalists That Were Not Nominated Summer Vacation, Baghdad Messi, My Father's Truck, Carry On, SLR
 

 

Documentary Short
Articles on Documentaries

CRISIS HOTLINE: VETERANS PRESS 1
(d. Ellen Goosenberg Kent)
Perry Films
WINNER 

JOANNA
(d. Aneta Kopacz)
Wadja Studio

OUR CURSE
(d. Tomasz Sliwinski)
Warsaw Film School
THE REAPER
(d. Gabriel Serra)
Weary Traveler

WHITE EARTH
(d. Christian Jensen)

47 minutes, English
Military, PTSD

Discussions of PTSD and the veterans hotline. (Kent has won 4 Emmys but no Oscar attention yet.)

HBO Site
Or Amazon $9.99

45 minutes, Polish
Disease, Death, Portrait

The life of a Polish woman who began blogging when she was given three months to live. Debut film from Kopacz who takes a visual non-narration-based approach

Trailer

28 minutes, Polish
Disease, Family

A personal doc about the director's family. His newborn is diagnosed with an incurable disease

Trailer
Official Site

29 minutes, Spanish
Food, Death, Portrait

An exploration of the processes of an industrial slaughterhouse and a man named Efrain who works there and is referred to as "The Reaper"

Trailer

20 minutes, English
Environment, Oil

On North Dakota's oil boom through the eyes of three children and their mother. (Christian Jensen is also a cinematography and editor. Winner of a student Academy Award)

Trailer
Official Site

Finalists / Should Win / Will Win

Other Finalists That Were Not Nominated: One Child, Kehinda Wiley, The Lion's Mouth Opens
Will Win: TBA

More on Documentaries | More on Short Films

 

 

Documentary Feature

CITIZEN FOUR
WINNER 

IDA nomination, Gotham Nod

FINDING VIVIAN MAIER

IDA Best Editing Prize

LAST DAYS IN VIETNAM

IDA Best Editing Prize

THE SALT OF THE EARTH

VIRUNGA

Podcast | Glenn's Review       Interview
Finalists / Should Win / Will Win
15 finalist lists and 134 semi-finalists
Articles on Documentaries 

Finalists that Were Not Nominated
Keep on Keepin' On, The Overnighters, Life Itself, The Case Against 8 (Review), Art & Craft, Jodorowsky's Dune, Tales of the Grim Sleeper (NYFF review | AFI review) , The Kill Team, Citizen Koch, The Internet's Own Boy

Will Win: Citizen Four