Top 50 Movies of All-Time (#10-1)

Here we go! The final part of my Top 50 movies of All-Time series.  Make sure to catch up on the 40 movies leading up to this!

Honorable Mention:  http://t.co/v85d8L17a9

#50-41:  http://t.co/J9gALKkZpc

#40-31:  http://t.co/S3IgVOVBG3

#30-21:  http://bit.ly/17ZYgPc

#20-11:  http://bit.ly/1ATYtu6

Without further ado, here are the top 10 movies out there:

#10:  American Hustle (2013)

David O. Russell struck gold for the second year in a row with American Hustle.  After being nominated for Best Director with Silver Linings Playbook the year before, Russell earned another nomination during the 86^th Academy Awards.  This movie set the record for most Oscar nominations ever with 10 but somehow managed to not win a single one.  Loosely based on a true story, American Hustle is an amazing movie with a star-studded cast:  Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence, and Jeremy Renner.  It doesn’t get much better than American Hustle.

#9:  Argo (2012)

The winner of Best Picture during the 2013 Oscars, Argo was a brilliant historical movie telling the unknown story of six embassy workers that escaped during the Iran Hostage Crisis.  They were able to seek refuge with the Canadian ambassador, but the Iranians started getting suspicious.  Portraying CIA agent Tony Mendez, Ben Affleck helps orchestrate a plan to film a fake movie in Tehran in an attempt to bring everybody back to the United States.  The movie is highly suspenseful and keeps you on the edge of your seat.  While I may not be a huge fan of Affleck, he did a great job directing and starring in Argo.

#8:  Star Wars (IV):  A New Hope (1977)

This movie completely changed American cinema.  When George Lucas released his first Star Wars movie, everybody thought it was going to be a complete joke until they went to the theater.  Audiences around the world were stunned by the visual effects that were decades ahead of its time.  We would not have the visual masterpieces we have today without Lucas’ willingness to take a risk with Star Wars  As a huge part of pop-culture, there is no question as to why New Hope cracked the top 10.

#7:  Schindler’s List (1993)

This Steven Spielberg classic brought the story of Oskar Schindler to the masses.  Few people knew the lengths Schindler went to in order to protect Jews during the Holocaust.  A revered businessman, Schindler risked everything he had and saved over 1000 Jewish lives.  Liam Neeson gave a spectacular performance in the black-and-white movie that shows some of the most brutal actions ever done by human beings.  Here is a brilliantly created scene where Schindler is discussing the true meaning of power with a Nazi general:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5lQA3bipHc  Schindler’s List is a must-see for anybody who calls themselves a movie expert.

#6:  Whiplash (2014)

Although I gave Birdman the movie of the year when giving out my movie awards, Whiplash has grown on me over the last few months.  J.K. Simmons and Miles Teller give two of the best performances I have ever seen (aside from Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance in Nightcrawler)—Teller even taught himself how to become an expert at the drums just to take the role.  Look at the beautiful chemistry as Simmons berates Teller in an effort to get him to improve:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnuImW1dWAk  While it only won three Oscars, Whiplash is definitely one of the better movies from 2014.  That final scene was far and away the most intense final scene I have ever seen in my life.  Who ever thought a movie about a jazz band could become one of the best movies out there?

#5:  The Dark Knight (2008)

The second installment of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy shocked audiences everywhere.  Heath Ledger’s role as the Joker is the best portrayal of a super villain in existence.  The movie took superhero flicks to a new level by showing the moral quandaries Batman is faced with, primarily:  how long is too long before killing somebody is right if it saves the lives of thousands of others?  We watch the transformation of the shimmering “White Knight” of Gotham, Harvey Dent, descend into madness.  The Dark Knight is the best superhero movie out there and Marvel will have to try pretty hard to ever top DC’s Batman masterpiece.

#4:  Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

The final installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy is the perfecting ending to the second best trilogy out there.  As the winner of the Oscar for Best Picture, Return of the King left the show with an armload of Oscars.  While it felt like it was going to end like five different times, the action in Return of the King makes it one of the top five movies in existence.  For those of you who don’t agree, let’s see if Aragorn can change your mind:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXGUNvIFTQw  If  you haven’t already, make sure to check out the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

#3:  Star Wars (V): The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Usually the sequel is not better than the original, but The Empire Strikes Back blew that generalization out of the water.  After a victory in New Hope, the rebels find their backs against the wall as Darth Vader and the rest of the empire unleashes everything they have to put them down.  It is the first time we meet Yoda, the first time Luke fights Darth Vader, and it has the greatest movie plot twist of all-time.  I wish I could travel to the past just to see everybody’s reactions when Vader said, “No, I am your father.”  It still sends shivers down my spin whenever I see it.  Even after removing the nostalgia factor from Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back still stands up as the third best movie out there.

#2:  Inception (2010)

Nobody left the theater and had nothing to say about Inception.  Christopher Nolan’s pet project that he had been working on since 2004, Inception solidified Nolan as one of the greatest directors out there today.  Nobody thought that he could follow up The Dark Knight with a movie even more interesting, but he proved them wrong.  A visual, technical, and creative masterpiece was a refreshing original movie in an industry filled with reboots and sequels.  Since Inception, almost every trailer has followed this format with the same music and “bwah””s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66TuSJo4dZM  Nolan’s dedication to his craft has never been more evident except in…

#1:  Interstellar (2014)

There is not a person out there who thought Interstellar was just “okay.”  This movie was either terrible or the best movie out there and I guess you can see where I land on it.  After witnessing Gravity’s success despite being filled with scientific holes, Nolan one-upped the sci-fi movie by delivering even better visuals, a hypothetically perfect scientific explanation, and managing to get great performances from actors who have been known to cheese it up a little bit (I’m looking at you McConaughey).  Even if you thought the movie was trash, it still dwelled on your mind days after you saw it.  I still can’t get it out of my head!  Interstellar was out of this world and had the best visuals I have ever seen in any movie.  I mean look at this:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu4sinVuK14  That wormhole scene is one of the most beautiful technical pieces out there.  The fact that it did not get more love at the Oscars is nothing short of criminal.  Nolan took a huge risk with Interstellar and it paid off by giving him the distinction of having created the best movie ever.

How far off was my top 50?  What are your favorite 10 movies?  Let me know how much you agree or disagree.

Oscars Recap

The 87th Academy Awards gave viewers a mixed bag Sunday night.  A lot of favorites won, but there were definitely a few upsets.  Host Neil Patrick Harris had a few hilarious moments but most of his jokes fell flat in the end.  I’m sorry, but when it’s midnight nobody wants to watch a stupid prediction case–we just want to go to bed.  From awkward moments to stunning speeches, it was definitely an interesting award show all things considered.

The Awards:

Overall, the awards weren’t too off from the predictions.  Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel led everybody with four Oscar wins apiece.  Whiplash was the only other movie to win multiple awards as it took home three Oscars.  The biggest loser of the night definitely has to be Boyhood.  Director Richard Linklater had spent the last 12 years of his life dedicated to the movie.  Patricia Arquette won the award for Best Supporting Actress, but Boyhood fell short in all of the other categories.  Birdman director Alejandro Inarritu had more trophies than he knew what to do with as he ended the night with three Oscars (Best Original Screenplay, Best Directing, and Best Picture).  Julianne Moore, the favorite, took home the award for Best Actress for her role in Still Alice; whereas, the Best Actor went to darkhorse candidate Eddie Redmayne for The Theory of Everything.

One stat that I liked was that every movie nominated for Best Picture won at least one award. Although it would have been nice to see Nightcrawler and Interstellar get some more love, I was not too upset with the results.  If you were following my live tweet, however, you would have seen my disdain for Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel.  I watched the first 45 minutes of the movie and was bored to tears so I stopped watching (and I never do that).

I nailed five of the nine predictions I made, but in three of the four I missed, I had the winner listed as either a darkhorse candidate or “who should win.”  I feel bad for MLB reliever John Axford.  He was perfect in his predictions for the last two Oscar awards but “only” went 17/24 this year.

The Speeches:

There were a lot of moving speeches in the Oscars this year.  From J.K. Simmons starting us off by telling us to call home to mom and dad to John Legend and Common’s moving speech that brought Chris Pine to tears, the theme seemed to be family and social movements.  Arquette used her speech to reach out for help in sealing the gender pay gap that permeates our society.  The Imitation Game screenwriter Graham Moore got personal while discussing his attempted suicide at age 16 and comparing himself to Alan Turning.  Inarritu put his family in the spotlight as he thanked them in his first acceptance speech.  He turned his attention to immigration and called for respect of human dignity in his third speech. Nobody looked more psyched to win their Oscar than Redmayne.  Shortly after he began his speech, Redmayne was overcome with emotion and literally jumped in excitement halfway through his speech.  The band had to play a few times as a couple of speeches ran long (it felt like Pawel Pawlikowski was individually thanking every resident of Poland in his acceptance speech for Best Foreign Film).

See some of the speech highlights here:  http://www.racked.com/2015/2/23/8089119/oscar-awards-best-speeches

The Performances:

Three performances really stood out to me at the Oscars.  The first was The Lonely Island’s rendition of “Everything is Awesome” from The LEGO Movie.  The entire thing was so weird.  I feel like the performance did more harm to The LEGO Movie than the lack of nomination for Best Animation.  It is a shame because it had so much potential to draw in extra interest for one of the best animations I have ever seen.  Prepare yourself for the trippy performance here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYzHrl4Nc8A

When Legend and Common performed their Oscar-winning song “Glory” from Selma, everybody in attendance was stunned.  With the Edmund Pettus Bridge in the background where Martin Luther King marched, it was definitely a strong performance by the two Oscar winners.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWE2Yb_jMZg

By the time Lady Gaga stepped up on the stage, everybody was just about ready to go to bed.  There were only a few awards left to give out and the clock was about to strike midnight.  Viewers around the world took a nervous breath as they feared she would add her usual flair to a few of the songs from The Sound of Music, but we all let out a sigh of relief as she gave a solid performance.  None of the ridiculous costumes, lights, or spontaneous outbursts that everybody expected were anywhere to be seen.  It was great to see Lady Gaga honor the 50-year old classic film.  Check out the full video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2KSOeLXIzo

The Awkward Moments:

Every year, there are always a few awkward moments that catch everybody’s attention.  The first happened shortly before the Oscars began.  50 Shades of Grey star Dakota Johnson and her mom Melanie Griffith started what they thought was a normal interview before an ABC reporter (sorry I don’t know her name) asked Griffith if she saw her daughter’s new movie. There was an awkward pause as Griffith said she had no intention of watching the movie containing multiple sex scenes with her daughter.  “I don’t need to see that to know how good she is,” Griffith quipped after a brief moment of silence. Johnson also seemed pretty uncomfortable with the question and tried to change the subject.

John Travolta made headlines again this year after he awkwardly kissed Scarlett Johnannson on the cheek unexpectedly. That wasn’t the only funny moment as Travolta presented an award with Idina Manzel.  For those of you who don’t know the history between Travolta and Manzel, make sure to watch this link from last year’s Oscars:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHLmlPMq3yY  Both of them were good sports about it as they joked and even NPH made a quip about it saying that Travolta would pronounce Ben Affleck’s name as Benedict Cumberbatch.

While it sucked that it ran late, the Oscars were pretty solid this year.  Aside from The LEGO Movie and Nightcrawler, the awards were understandable even if they weren’t what everybody predicted.  Now we all get to spend the next year watching movies before getting back together next year for the 2015 Oscars.  Let me know what you thought of the 87th Academy Awards!

2015 Oscar Preview

With the Oscars only a couple of days away, here are my official picks for the awards.  A lot of them may be similar to my 2014 Naties Movie Awards, but to ensure that I don’t completely rely on them, I will be saying who I think will win, should win, the dark horse, and is missing for each award.  I will not do every single award (sorry I haven’t seen all of those foreign films or documentaries), but I will make sure to cover all of the bigger ones.  I have seen just about every big movie from 2014, however, and would consider myself pretty qualified to hand out the awards.

Best Picture

Who Will Win:  Boyhood

Who Should Win:  Birdman

The Dark Horse:  American Sniper

Who’s Missing:  Nightcrawler

While there has been a big public push for American Sniper to win the award, I am not 100% convinced that the Academy agrees.  Based on the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards, we will most likely see Richard Linklater’s 12-year masterpiece walk home with the big trophy.  While there is nothing wrong with Boyhood winning, I do believe that Birdman should win.  Although I was not a fan of the movie at all, The Grand Budapest Hotel is also in the running to sneak up and steal the award.

Best Actor

Who Will Win:  Michael Keaton (Birdman)

Who Should Win:  Bradley Cooper (American Sniper)

The Dark Horse:  Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything)

Who’s Missing:  Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler)

The Best Actor award could be one of the most competitive awards of the year.  While I wholeheartedly believe that Gyllenhaal should win the award and am stunned that he wasn’t nominated, I think that Cooper gave the best acting job of those nominated.  When referring to characters in a movie, I usually just mention the actor’s name; however, Cooper did such a great job that I referred to him as Chris Kyle when discussing the movie.  He did an amazing job of making us forget that it wasn’t actually Kyle on the screen.  The Academy has hinted that they are pulling for Keaton.  Although he did do a pretty great job, I just don’t feel that he was the best actor of 2014.  Watch out for Redmayne, though.  After he won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor, he could ride the momentum to an Oscar win.

Best Actress

Who Will Win: Julianne Moore (Still Alice)

Who Should Win: Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl)

The Dark Horse: Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything)

Who’s Missing:  Amy Adams (Big Eyes)

While I admit that I have not seen Still Alice, I have read an extensive number reviews on the movie and Moore’s performance.  After winning both the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award, Moore is definitely the favorite to walk home with the hardware.  She should watch out for Jones.  There has been talk of Jones just missing out on both of the previous awards and she could cause havoc for Moore by stealing the Oscar.  Pike should not be discounted either after her brilliant performance in Gone Girl.  Adams may have won two straight Golden Globes, but she will not be walking away with an Oscar this year, despite her powerful performance in Big Eyes.

Best Director

Who Will Win:  Richard Linklater (Boyhood)

Who Should Win:  Richard Linklater (Boyhood)

The Dark Horse:  Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel)

Who’s Missing:  Christopher Nolan (Interstellar)

I don’t care what you thought of Boyhood; Linklater deserves the Oscar after dedicating the last 12 years of his life to the movie.  While I am sure that the Academy will recognize that and give him the award, there seems to be some strange love for The Grand Budapest Hotel (I still don’t get it), so if Anderson’s name is called instead of Linklater’s, I wouldn’t be totally surprised.  I am still kind of shocked that Nolan has never been nominated for an Oscar.  He is like the DiCaprio of directors.  While some people may not hold Interstellar in the same light as some of these other movies, which they should but that’s a post for a different day, Nolan has created multiple blockbusters that should have earned him at least a nomination.

Best Supporting Actor

Who Will Win:  J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

Who Should Win:  J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

The Dark Horse:  Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher)

Who’s Missing:  Nobody

The Academy actually nailed this one pretty well on the head.  While I would be absolutely stunned if anybody but Simmons walked away with the award, Ruffalo, Edward Norton (Birdman), and Ethan Hawke (Boyhood) all gave solid performances in their respective movies.  If Simmons doesn’t win, watch for Ruffalo to sneak in for his role in Foxcatcher.

Best Supporting Actress

Who Will Win: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

Who Should Win: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

The Dark Horse: Emma Stone (Birdman)

Who’s Missing:  Jessica Chastain (A Most Violent Year)

Arquette was the winner of my 2014 Natie Award for Best Female Performance and is definitely the front runner for the Oscar.  She did an amazing job along side Ellar Coltrane and Hawke.  That being said, watch out for Stone and Keira Knightley (The Imitation Game) who both gave stellar performances in 2014 as well.  I never saw A Most Violent Year but remember hearing an uproar when Laura Dern (Wild) was given a nomination over Chastain.  It was a pretty solid year for her, she also did a pretty great job in Interstellar, and it’s a shame that Chastain won’t get recognition for it with an Oscar.

Best Animated Feature

Who Will Win: How to Train Your Dragon 2

Who Should Win:  Big Hero 6

The Dark Horse:  The Box Trolls

Who’s Missing:  The Lego Movie

Personally, I am not a big fan of animation movies.  When I saw The Lego Movie, however, I instantly thought, “well that is definitely going to win an Oscar.”  In my opinion, The Lego Movie is the biggest snub of the 2015 Oscars.  Everything about this movie was awesome.  While I know it will be a pretty intense race between How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Big Hero 6 (just became the third highest grossing Disney animation of all-time and is about to surpass Frozen), The Box Trolls does stand an outside chance.

Best Original Score

Who Will Win:  Alexandre Desplat (The Grand Budapest Hotel)

Who Should Win:  Hans Zimmer (Interstellar)

The Dark Horse:  Johann Johannson (The Theory of Everything)

Who’s Missing:  Justin Hurwitz (Whiplash)

Once again, I have a sinking feeling that this crazy love for The Grand Budapest Hotel will show its ugly head by bringing home the award for Best Original Score.  I feel like Zimmer’s brilliant score for Interstellar is leaps and bounds better, but Johannson already won the Golden Globe for the category.  While it is nice to see someone like Johannson win the Globe, I honestly don’t remember the score of The Theory of Everything being that memorable.  It was definitely nothing compared to Interstellar‘s.  Hopefully, I will be pleasantly surprised by a win for Zimmer, but I am not holding out for it.  Plus, how does a movie about music not get nominated for Best Original Score?  I though Hurwitz did a pretty outstanding job with Whiplash.

Best Visual Effects

Who Will Win:  Interstellar

Who Should Win:  Interstellar

The Dark Horse:  Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Who’s Missing:  Birdman

Interstellar blew audiences away with its visual effects and never used one green screen in the entire production.  Through Nolan’s want to make sure the entire movie appeared authentic, scientists actually discovered what a black hole should look like, completely changing how they thought it would appear.  The movie is a visual masterpiece but could be rivaled by the motion capture of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.  Andy Serkis (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Lord of the Rings) has been doing motion capture for a long time, but it was moved one step further in Apes.  The majority of the cast worked as gorillas and spent weeks studying their movements so they could copy them.  Birdman appeared as if the movie had been shot all at once and definitely deserved recognition for its technical work, but at the end of the day, the award is Interstellar‘s to lose.

Be sure to tune in at 8:30 PM this Sunday to watch the Oscars.  For those of you who won’t be able to watch it, I will be live tweeting it, so following me on Twitter @DiscavageSavage and keep up with the awards from there.  Will I be right or completely blow it?  Your guess is as good as mine.

2014 Nate Discavage Movie Awards (The Big Reveal)

Yesterday, I gave you guys my nominees for movie of the year and reasons why they should win, but I decided to save the announcement of the winner for today.  If you didn’t see my post yesterday, you should read this before you continue:  https://cinemastickler.wordpress.com/2015/01/28/2014-nate-discavage-movie-awards-movie-of-the-year/

Now that we are all caught up, here’s a reminder of the nominees:

–Boyhood

–The Imitation Game

–Nightcrawler

–Birdman

–Interstellar

–Whiplash

–Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

–American Sniper

–Gone Girl

–Live, Die, Repeat (Edge of Tomorrow)

And the winner of the best movie of 2014 is Birdman

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s masterpiece, Birdman, is the movie of the year in 2014.  While Interstellar is personally my favorite movie, I do believe that Birdman is the best put together movie of 2014.  While the visuals and soundtrack may fall short of Interstellar, Birdman‘s acting, direction, and relatable plot were the best of 2014.  2014 was a great year for movies (see the list above) and Birdman soared to the top.  As we wait for another huge blockbuster movie year in 2015 (Star Wars, Avengers 2, Jurassic World, Mad Max, Terminator Genisys, Hunger Games, and so much more), we can always look back at the great cinematic accomplishments of 2014.

Here’s a recap of the awards:

Best Movie: Birdman

Actor of the Year: Benedict Cumberbatch

Actress of the Year: Jennifer Lawrence

Male Performance of the Year: Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler)

Female Performance of the Year:  Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

Best Director: Richard Linklater (Boyhood)

Best Visuals: Interstellar

Best Soundtrack:  The Lego Movie

*Going forward, I will still be making regular posts on my blog, it’s not just a movie award thing, haha.  I will post them to my Facebook or Twitter whenever they’re finished.

2014 Nate Discavage Movie Awards (Movie of the Year)

To cap off my movie award season, I have my last award: the movie of the year.  Unlike the other categories, where I only had five nominations per award, I will be nominated 10 movies for the award (because there were some pretty great movies this year).

The nominees:

–Boyhood

–The Imitation Game

–Nightcrawler

–Birdman

–Interstellar

–Whiplash

–Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

–American Sniper

–Gone Girl

–Live, Die, Repeat (Edge of Tomorrow)

Honorable Mentions: Guardians of the Galaxy, The Lego Movie, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, 22 Jump Street, X-men:  Days of Future Past, The Hobbit:  Battle of the Five Armies.

Why is Boyhood the best movie of 2014?

Richard Linklater’s 12-year masterpiece is expected to rake in numerous Oscars this award season.  The movie follows the life of Mason (Ellar Coltrane) from age six to college.  Instead of finding child actors, Linklater filmed the movie over the course of 12 years to ensure the realism of the film.  The younger generation of movie watchers can definitely relate to the movie in one way or another.

Why is The Imitation Game the best movie of 2014?

This movie is loaded with great performances.  Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, and Matthew Goode all deliver memorable roles as director Morten Tyldum brought the story of Alan Turning to life.  In a year filled with indie movie success, The Imitation Game is one of the few movies that was expected to do extremely well when it was first announced.

Why is Nightcrawler the best movie of 2014?

Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance made Nightcrawler the movie it was (hence the best male performance award).  The story of a Los Angeles nightcrawler, people who film footage for morning news shows in the middle of the night, who slowly descends more and more into his insanity, Nightcrawler is definitely a contender for the best movie of 2014.

Why is Birdman the best movie of 2014?

Up until the Male Performance of the Year, Birdman was nominated for every Natie Award (and for good reason).  The movie that almost a perfect parallel for Michael Keaton’s career.  A former superhero actor that has disappeared from the limelight and is trying to make a great comeback.  Great performances, directing, musical scores, and visuals all worked together to make Birdman one of the best movies of 2014.

Why is Interstellar the best movie of 2014?

Interstellar was one of the most polarizing movies of 2014.  People either loved it or hated it.  Personally, I thought it was an amazing movie.  The science was completely (hypothetically) legit, the visuals were astounding, Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack matched the movie perfectly, Christopher Nolan was able to somehow pull a great performance out of Matthew McConaughey, and the plot made perfect sense (I’ll have a post on that later).  Interstellar is another masterpiece under Nolan’s belt.

Why is Whiplash the best movie of 2014?

Whiplash was an interesting movie that nobody saw coming.  Who thought that a movie about a drummer in a jazz band with Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons would be so astounding?  Both actors were nominated for the 2014 Natie Best Male Performance Award.  The movie is being recognized by the Academy as Whiplash was nominated for five Oscars.

Why is Dawn of the Planet of the Apes the best movie of 2014?

The second installment of the Apes trilogy spearheaded the new movement of motion capture in 2014.  Andy Serkis, as head ape Caesar, gave a stunning performance as he continued to promote and use motion capture to add to his impressive repertoire.  Along with Serkis, Jason Clarke and Gary Oldman also deliver strong performances as we are set up for the final installment:  Planet of the Apes.

Why is American Sniper the best movie of 2014?

Bradley Cooper stepped up his game as an actor as he tackled the role of playing Chris Kyle, the legendary Navy SEAL sniper.  The movie, based on a real story, is being battled out in Hollywood but, regardless of what they think, is a great film.  Clint Eastwood did a great job directing and setting up the recent blockbuster.  While most people were surprised to see American Sniper receive so many nominations for the Oscars, the surprise quickly disappeared by the time the audience left the theater.

Why is Gone Girl the best movie of 2014?

David Fincher’s thriller surprised audiences in 2014.  The trailer drew in fan interest, because nobody really knew 100% what was going to happen.  Halfway through the movie, we were flipped on our heads when we found out what was actually going on.  We spent the second half of the movie recovering from the surprise and adjusting to what was going on.  Great performances by Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, and (as much as I hate to admit it) Ben Affleck made Gone Girl one of the best movies of the last year.

Why is Live, Die Repeat (Edge of Tomorrow) the best movie of 2014?

I’ll be honest.  When I first saw the trailer, I thought it was going to be a typical action Tom Cruise movie.  I, along with the rest of the viewers, was pretty surprised to find out that it was a pretty solid movie.  I loved the way one of my friends worded it:  “It’s like Groundhog Day with Tom Cruise and aliens.”  Although they are constantly changing the movie’s name (please pick one!), Live, Die, Repeat (Edge of Tomorrow) was one of the biggest successes compared to expectations of 2014.

 

Winner:

*check back tomorrow for the announcement of the best movie of 2014*

I figured I would milk it out one more day.  Come back tomorrow and see who I choose for the final 2014 Natie movie Award.

2014 Nate Discavage Movie Awards (Best Male Performance)

With only two Natie awards left to go, we have the two most prestigious awards remaining:  Best Male Performance of the Year and Movie of the Year.  Here is the Best Male Performance of 2014.

The nominees:

Bradley Cooper (American Sniper)

Miles Teller (Whiplash)

Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game)

Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler)

J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

Why should Bradley Cooper win?

A contender for the 2014 Actor of the Year Natie award, Cooper really stepped up his game in 2014.  A large part of his success was his stunning performance in American Sniper.  His emotional portrayal as American sniper Chris Kyle grabbed the attention of the academy and audiences everywhere.  He evolved from a funnyman, sexy actor to a serious actor.  Cooper, nominated for an Oscar for his performance, has joined the new wave of serious actors slowly taking over Hollywood.

Why should Miles Teller win?

One of two actors nominated from Whiplash, Teller’s performance helped carry the movie to its success.  Playing the role of college freshman and drum protege Andrew Neimann, Teller taught himself to play the drums for the role.  Starting from scratch, he became a proficient drummer to show his dedication to the part.  His brilliant performance has earned him a nomination for the Best Performance of 2014 Natie Award.

Why should Benedict Cumberbatch?

Cumberbatch’s performance as Alan Turning in The Imitation Game earned him the award as the 2014 Actor of the Year, yesterday.  He looks to ride the success and win the Best Male Performance of 2014.  Cumberbatch has been propelled to popularity over the last two years and does not appear to be fading away any time soon.

Why should Jake Gyllenhaal win?

Those of you that watched Nightcrawler know exactly why Gyllenhaal is nominated for the best performance award.  He changed his voice for the role and never broke character.  Audiences got to watch a man delve deeper and deeper in his sociopathic tendencies.  It is easily his best performance since Donnie Darko (and some argue that it is even better).  Gyllenhaal, who seemed to fade away for a couple of years, is now back on the fast track as an elite Hollywood actor.

Why should J.K. Simmons win?

Nobody saw this performance coming.  Usually playing a kind-hearted man in most of his roles, Simmons portrayed the ruthless, infamous jazz band instructor Terrence Fletcher in Whiplash.  He stunned viewers with his willingness to commit physical violence or belittle his students with a profane slur of words you had no idea could be fit together in a sentence.  Although he may have only been nominated for a Support Actor award at the 87th Oscar Awards, Simmon’s performance is Best Performance worthy.

Winner: Jake Gyllenhaal

Considered one of the biggest snubs from the Oscars this year, Gyllenhaal’s performance as Lou Bloom in Nightcrawler is the greatest individual performance of 2014.  He put himself back on the Hollywood radar and will definitely be able to cash in over the next few years.  While Nightcrawler was a highly anticipated movie, nobody saw Gyllenhaal’s brilliant performance being as strong as it was.  It is definitely a must watch for any movie fans out there.

2014 Nate Discavage Movie Awards (Best Movie Soundtrack)

As I slowly begin to wrap up my movie awards (still three left after this), here’s the 2014 Natie award for the Best Movie Soundtrack.

The nominees:

-Whiplash

-Interstellar

-The Lego Movie

-Guardians of the Galaxy

-Birdman

Why should Whiplash win?

It is pretty easy to make a soundtrack in a movie about music.  College freshman Andrew Neimann (Miles Teller) is an amazing drummer who is looking to join his school’s studio band under the infamous Terrence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), a ridiculously strict band instructor.  Throughout the movie, the beat of drums constantly match the tone of the movie.  It speeds up and slows down giving the audience a sense of suspense at moments that usually wouldn’t feel that way otherwise.

Why should Interstellar win?

Hans Zimmer has been the mastermind behind scores of memorable soundtracks (The Lion King, Gladiator, Inception, The Dark Knight, Man of Steel, The Amazing Spiderman 2, and 12 Years a Slave to name a “few”).  You can now add Christopher Nolan’s space epic Interstellar to the list.  The amazing soundtrack keeps the viewers on the edge of their seats as the intensity of the movie continued to rise and fall throughout the movie.  Interstellar was nominated for the Best Original Score, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing Oscars at the 87th Academy Awards.  I’m sure it won’t go home empty-handed.

Why should The Lego Movie win?

After the release of The Lego Movie, the song “Everything is Awesome” spread across the world like a wildfire.  The adorable movie loaded with a star-studded cast captured the heart of America over the summer.  “Everything is Awesome” has been nominated for Best Original Song in just about every possible movie award show out there.  Even though they were gypped out of the Best Animated Movie Oscar nomination, The Lego Movie is a contender for a 2014 Natie Award.

Why should Guardians of the Galaxy win?

Guardians of the Galaxy was one of the biggest surprises of 2014.  Expected to be Marvel’s first flop in their cinematic universe, Guardians was a huge hit.  Chris Pratt’s performance helped carry the movie.  The soundtrack contains hits from the 1970s and 80s ranging from Blue Swede to David Bowie.  The “Awesome Mix Vol. 1” became a huge hit and was constantly downloaded on Spotify and iTunes.

Why should Birdman win?

Throughout Birdman, there is a constant drum beat that permeates the atmosphere of the movie.  While annoying at first, the viewers quickly adjust to it and find it soothing.  Occasionally, there would be breaks in the drumming that would grab the attention of the audience.  Whenever the drumming stopped, everybody knew that something important was going to happen.  Birdman‘s unique soundtrack was a risk that worked out in the long run.

Winner:  The Lego Movie

While it was denied a Golden Globe and an Oscar, The Lego Movie is not going home empty-handed.  It is the winner of the 2014 Best Musical Soundtrack Natie Award.  Everything about the movie was awesome (see what I did there), especially the soundtrack.  This may have actually been one of the toughest awards to judge.  All of these movies had beautiful musical scores and contended for the award down to the end.

Up Next:  Actor of the Year