2015: The Year In Movies Part 2

Movie_Reel_22128 different people starred in the movies I saw last year (starring in being the first two named stars, a tradition dating back to the old Chicago Tribune TV guide which populated the early days of my database), and a whopping 10 of them were in more than 1.  Those 10 thespians are:

Name Films
Jason Bateman 2
Ashley Bell 2
Tom Cruise 2
Karen Gillan 2
Kevin Hart 2
Leslie Mann 2
Paul Rudd 2
Emma Stone 2
Aaron Taylor-Johnson 2
Shailene Woodley 2

Now let’s take a look at the remaining movies that I saw in 2015, following up on Tuesday’s post.

Not Another Happy Ending (2014)
Karen Gillan’s first project post-Doctor Who.

Nice Guys Finish Last (2011)
A short where Danielle Harris tries to date a normal guy but misses the excitement of the bad boys.

Idiocracy (2006)
An army slacker and a prostitute wake up in a future populated by stupid people.

Three Fugitives (1989)
Martin Short and Nick Nolte avoid the police.

Interstellar (2014)
In a near future where the Earth can no longer sustain human life, a group of astronauts look for a new home for the human race.

Aloha (2015)
A military consultant falls in love and turns on his boss in this mess of a film.

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
Michael Keaton’s comeback performance that earned him a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination.

Get Hard (2015)
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The Non-Acting Oscar Predictions

side_oscarWith the Academy Awards scheduled for Sunday night, here’s my predictions for the non-acting awards.  I likely have seen very few of these movies, so I will mostly be going on gut feel and word of mouth.

Best Original Screenplay

Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. and Armando Bo, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman, Foxcatcher
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler

I haven’t seen any of these films yet.  If I had to guess, which I guess I do, I would think it will come down to either Birdman or Boyhood, and I’m going to go with the crew from Birdman.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Jason Hall, American Sniper
Graham Moore, The Imitation Game
Paul Thomas Anderson, Inherent Vice
Anthony McCarten, The Theory of Everything
Damien Chazelle, Whiplash

Another category where I have not seen any of the nominated work.  I have heard nothing but good things about Whiplash, mostly from Balb Bryan of the Adam Carolla Show, so I will go with that.

Best Animated Feature

Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How To Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

Obviously, The Lego Movie will take home this prize.  Wait, what?  It wasn’t nominated?  In that case, I’ll take a shot in the dark and say Big Hero 6 will take home the statue.

Best Cinematography

Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman
Robert Yeoman, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Łukasz Żal and Ryszard Lenczewski, Ida
Dick Pope, Mr. Turner
Roger A. Deakins, Unbroken

I haven’t even heard of a few of these, so I’m going to guess that The Grand Budapest Hotel will get some love here.

Best Costume Design

Milena Canonero, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Mark Bridges, Inherent Vice
Colleen Atwood, Into the Woods
Anna B. Sheppard, Maleficent
Jacqueline Durran, Mr. Turner

I’m thinking Into the Woods will deliver a fairytale ending for Ms. Atwood.

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