Every winter, the Golden Globes and the Grammy Awards sit in the back seat, while the Oscars, the country’s most watched awards show, take center stage and have the attention of the entire country. On Feb. 22, fan favorite Neil Patrick Harris will take the reigns as the host of this year’s star-studded event.
In terms of the nominees, this year may have the most impressive lineup. Best picture is headlined by an heroic true story “American Sniper” and one-of-a-kind “Boyhood”. While “Boyhood” is taking heat for not necessarily being worthy of the discussion of best picture, Clint Eastwood’s Sniper includes questionable political components which anger some viewers.
“American Sniper” portrays a cowboy-turned-gunman by the name of Chris Kyle. The Texas native opts to fight for his country after seeing the bombing of a military base on the news. Throughout the film, viewers watch as Kyle kills in combat to the point where his body count passes the mark of 150 kills.
Many who walk out of the film are moved by his heroics of risking his life for his country and for his new family, yet others weren’t completely satisfied with his work.
Critics believe that Kyle’s decisions and actions were unethical. People also complain that everyone in the movie who is not American is portrayed as a bad guy. Others are uncomfortable with the fact that even though he directed the film, this is not a Clint Eastwood type of movie.
While all of this is a matter of personal opinion, a film that is widely considered to be the best of the year might miss out on the award for Best Picture due to the controversy.
Although it is one-of-a-kind, there are many people who also believe “Boyhood” isn’t quite as deserving as the others. Arguments have been made that the film is quite basic and the story line is nothing special.
English teacher and movie junkie, Brett Rubin, disagrees with naysayers regarding the film: “Say what you want about the film–it is a cohesive narrative. Only a filmmaker of genius level talent could make something like this,” he said.
Rubin had extremely high praise for the masterpiece, and disagrees with people who criticize the film’s complexity. “I challenge anyone who said “Boyhood” is easy, go do it yourself,” he added. He also noted the film’s uniqueness and overall execution, saying “The amount of improv used and the amount of trust Linklater had in his actors is incredible.”
When push comes to shove, Rubin believes all the marbles will belong to “Boyhood,” despite all the fuss. “ ‘Birdman’ is easily the most complex, sophisticated work of post-modern deconstruction,” he said, “but much of ‘‘Boyhood” is improvised. In the end, it’s probably going to go to ‘Boyhood’.”
The Oscar awards will air on Feb. 22nd on ABC at 7:30 CT. Joining “American Sniper” and “Boyhood” for best picture are “Birdman,” “Imitation Game,” “Selma,” “Whiplash,” “The Theory of Everything,” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” Both “Birdman“ and “The Grand Budapest Hotel” are nominated for 9 awards, the most this year.