Ranking the 2015 Best Picture Nominees, Plus Some Observations

I have now posted reviews for all eight films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. 

Here is where I would normally say that I am not done reviewing Oscar nominated movies; that I am going to do more right up to when the Oscars are handed out.  This year, though, the ceremony is coming earlier than usual.  There’s only a little over a week left and I still need to do posts for this year’s Oscar quiz, and one on my predictions for the winners.  On my “post 2-3 times a week” pace that will fill up the time between now and then.  I may still review other Oscar nominees after the ceremony this year.  I haven’t decided yet.

In regards to ranking the eight nominees, right off the bat I have a tough time picking not only the best film of the year, but what order to put the best three in.  My top three are American Sniper, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and The Imitation Game.  It’s almost impossible to compare them because you could probably not pick three films more unlike each other.  One is an examination of the toll war takes on a person, another is a comedic, quirky tale about the misadventures of a hotel concierge, and the third is an historical drama based on the life of Alan Turing and his code breaking efforts during WWII.

In terms of which ones I am most looking forward to seeing again, that would be The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Imitation Game.  I may watch American Sniper again, but if I don’t that wouldn’t surprise me.  That puts it in third place.  Between the two remaining I’m going to have to go with The Grand Budapest Hotel for the sheer fun and entertainment it provides.  While The Imitation Game is also very good it does have some “less fun” moments in it.

In truth, there are no real standouts – films I would call “truly great” – nominated for Best Picture this year.  Most of them fall into the “very good” category, with only one – Selma – where I question the nomination.  I still recommend it, but it feels like it got nominated for Best Picture more because of its subject matter rather than anything else.  Even though I rank it above Whiplash on a preference scale, I can see how Whiplash got a nomination.  It’s the message of the latter movie (unrelenting abuse is good for you) that makes me put it below Selma.

So, here is how I would rate the eight Best Picture nominees from best to not quite the best.  I have also included how these films are ranked according to the Rotten Tomatoes critics (RTC), the Rotten Tomatoes audiences (RTA), and the IMDB voters. 

Me	Nominee	Reviewed?	RTC	RTA	IMDB
1	The Grand Budapest Hotel	Read my review here	4	5	5
2	The Imitation Game	Read my review here	6	2	2
3	American Sniper	Read my review here	8	3	8
4	Birdman	Read my review here	5	7	3
5	Boyhood	Read my review here	1	8	4
6	The Theory of Everything	Read my review here	7	6	6
7	Selma	Read my review here	2	4	7
8	Whiplash	Read my review here	3	1	1

One note on the IMDB rankings: I used the overall ranking, not the weighted ranking for the Top 250 list because the latter is determined by only 1,000 voters.  That throws things off.  For instance, The Grand Budapest Hotel had a lower rating than The Imitation Game (8.1 vs. 8.2), yet it was ranked higher on the Top 250 list (187 vs. 199).

Before last year I always aligned closest with audiences and was most out of touch with professional critics. (Or were they the ones out of touch?)  Last year and this year I haven’t really aligned with any of these three groups.  This year the Rotten Tomatoes Audience comes closest, with agreement on two of the top three films. 

I’m obviously most out of touch with everyone on Whiplash.  Apparently the message of the movie is not bothersome to most people.  It’s also interesting to see that on Rotten Tomatoes Boyhood generated the top marks from critics, but the bottom marks from audiences.  American Sniper is almost the reverse (worst with critics; third best with audiences).

A few more observations now that I have seen the eight movies:

1. Four years ago only one of the ten nominated films exceeded two hours (Inception).  It was a welcome change from the three hour long depress-fests that often get nominated.  Three years ago six of the nine films were over two hours long, but none were over 2 ½ hours.  Two years ago eight of the nine films were at least two hours long, and four of them were at least 2 ½ hours long.  This trend back to longer and longer nominees was not one I was thrilled by.  Thankfully, the last two years have had only a single nominee longer than 2 ½ hours (The Wolf of Wall Street and Boyhood).  And also in the last two years there have been two nominees under 2 hours long (Philomena, Gravity, Whiplash, and The Grand Budapest Hotel).  Each of the last two years the remaining nominees have been just under or just over two hours long.  I hope this trend continues.
2. Birdman is one of the stronger contenders for Best Picture.  If it wins it will be the first film with comedic elements in it to do so since back to back winners Shakespeare in Love (1998) and American Beauty (1999).
3. Three years ago there were only six of nine nominated films that I felt were worth recommending.  The three years since then I have liked all the Best Picture nominees enough to recommend them.    
4. Three years ago only one of the nine nominees was rated R, and that was only for a few bad words.  That was quite a change from years past when the nominees were almost always R rated films.  Two years ago we edged back more towards the past.  Four of the nominees were rated R, four were rated PG-13, and one was rated PG.  Last year six of the nine nominees were rated R, and a seventh was originally rated R, but received a PG-13 upon appeal (Philomena).  The remaining two films were also rated PG-13.  This year five movies are rated R and the other three are PG-13.  Unlike the last two years where Spielberg’s PG-13 rated film War Horse would have received an R for violence if directed by anyone else, and Nebraska received an R despite having no sex, no nudity, no violence, and two F-bombs, this year I pretty much agree with all the ratings across the board.
5. Three years ago was for misty eyed nostalgia (The Artist, Midnight in Paris, and Hugo).  Two years ago was for re-creating true events (Lincoln, Argo, Zero Dark Thirty.)  Last year went even further with the latter trend.  The Wolf of Wall Street, Philomena, 12 Years a Slave, Dallas Buyers Club, American Hustle, and Captain Phillips were all based on real events.  This year yet again continues this streak with half of the Best Picture nominees being based on real people (Selma, The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything, and American Sniper.)
6. Two years ago Jennifer Lawrence broke a string of 27 straight years, and all but 4 years since 1970, where the Best Actress winner has done nudity.  Many of the winners appeared nude in the role that won them the Oscar.  (So much for “real actresses don’t do nudity.”)  Last year Cate Blanchett, who has also not appeared nude on screen, repeated Lawrence’s win.  This year we will go back to the norm since all five nominated actresses have done nudity on film.
7. I didn’t have any big surprises among the eight nominees.  I was slightly disappointed with Boyhood since I had been expected to be wowed by the passing of the years during the movie.  While it was interesting, after a few seconds at the beginning of each new segment I stopped noticing it.
8. Edward Norton appeared in two of the eight nominees (Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel), and he was nominated for the former.  Tom Wilkinson appears in both Selma and The Grand Budapest Hotel, but did not receive a nomination.  Had expected-nominee Foxcatcher not been sabotaged by the real life lead character during the nominations process Sienna Miller would have also appeared in two (that film and American Sniper).  David Oyelowo was the star of Selma and had a small role in Interstellar, which some people felt should have been nominated.

Next up, as promised, will be this year’s Oscar quiz.