Through Her Lens: 2014 (The 87th Oscars)

A series by Juan Carlos Ojano. Introduction / Explanation

The 87th Oscars was the season that #OscarsSoWhite was born. When all 20 acting nominees were all white,  lawyer April Reign took to Twitter to express her disappointment about the nominations. Exacerbating the issue that season was the presence/non-presence of the historical drama Selma. Despite a Best Picture nomination, the film missed nominations in all but one other category, with the most visible snubs being in Best Director (Ava DuVernay) and Best Actor (David Oyelowo). The tweets and hashtag prompted a snowballing industry-wide discussion on the lack of representation and racism at the Academy Awards and in Hollywood in general.

The lack of Oscar nomination for DuVernay, despite critical acclaim and Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice nominations, continue the then-long streak of female directors missing out in the Best Director category. Out of the 320 films included in the Reminder List of Eligible Films in 2014 (87th Academy Awards), only 40 (12.5%) were directed/co-directed by women...

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Curio: Alex Kittle, A.K.A. Guilty Cubicle

Alexa here. I've been a follower of Alex Kittle's for a long time.  She's blogged furiously about art and film for years (previously as Film Forager and now here), and her tastes run closely to mine: feminism, cult oddities, Cindy Sherman, Technicolor musicals and The Apartment are but a few her passions. Alex also also makes art in her free time (although I don't know how she has any), specifically movie-themed prints, postcards, and posters, under the etsy banner Guilty Cubicle.  

A sample of some of my favorite designs of hers...

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A Quick Chat with Jenny Slate Who Will Love Her Future No Matter What!

Jenny Slate, one of last year's biggest breakthroughs, started 2014 on a career high and still hasn't come down. Obvious Child was so buzzy at the 2014 festival that you can be reasonably sure that comedies from the forthcoming 2015 festival will see themselves held up in comparison 'what's this year's Obvious Child?'  After a successful limited release, Jenny Slate found herself on red carpets and snow she's up for a Critics Choice Award a week from today.

Best Actress in a Comedy, Critics Choice Movie Awards
Rose Byrne – Neighbors
Rosario Dawson – Top Five
Melissa McCarthy – St. Vincent
Jenny Slate – Obvious Child
Kristen Wiig – The Skeleton Twins

Whether or not she wins it, it seems likely that she'll enjoy herself. Perhaps it was her character Donna Stern's abrasive caustic humor that led me to picture someone either darkly funny or like the stereotype of the sad clown but instead the new star is relentlessly cheerful and super positive, and determined to stay that way. She even makes lemonade from lemons when I mention This Means War.

Here's our conversation...

NATHANIEL: This has been such a huge year for you? How would you rate it on a scale of 1 to 10? 

JENNY SLATE: Oh man. I guess i’d give it an 8 but I feel like most years I usually rate them pretty highly because I like life!  But this has been the most satisfying year of my career so far: Obvious Child really changed things for me.  [more...]

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The Funniest Films & Performances of the Year

 Two year in review lists per day for a few more days... Here's Michael to look back at the year in laughs

That was a tough year for good comedies that weren’t animated or special effects blockbusters. By my count only 7 of the box office top 50 were live action comedies (depending on whether or not you count Gone Girl) and of those all but Neighbors were immediately disposable. So if you want to find good comedy without animated toys or talking raccoons you had to look to the margins. In fact, the film that sits on the top of my list of list of 2014’s funniest is currently ranked 157th for the box office year.

Also interesting is how few of 2014's funniest came billed as pure comedies. Aside from the animated and sci-fi extravaganzas the laughs arrived smuggled in such genres as horror/thriller (The Guest) mystery (Gone Girl) and drama-fantasy hybrid whatchamatcallits  (Birdman).

So here are 2014's funniest movies, keeping in mind that this isn’t based on overall quality, but is ranked solely by which films most tipped the needle on the Laugh-O-Meter:

2014’s Ten Funniest Films 

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Team FYC: Obvious Child for Best Picture

Editor's Note: We're nearing the end of our individually chosen FYC's for various longshots in the Oscar / Globe / SAG race. We'll never repeat a film or a category so we hope you enjoy the variety of picks. And if you're lucky enough to be a voter, take note! Here's Matthew Eng on "Obvious Child". (Do you think it can swing a Globe nod?)

In the category of “Movies That I’m Thrilled Even Exist,” Obvious Child would easily take the cake this year, without question. Writer-director Gillian Robespierre, in the first of a hopefully long line of complex, female-focused comedies, has crafted a film that takes such confident and unfussily righteous pride in its pro-abortion stance, all the more crucial considering the efforts still being made to demonize and outlaw the act.

Working with co-writers Karen Maine and Elisabeth Holm, and in tandem with the warm, witty, and wondrously empathetic efforts of redoubtable leading lady Jenny Slate, Robespierre has produced a near-rarity: a romcom heroine we can believe in. [More...]

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