If I Had an Oscar Ballot…

OscarThis Thursday morning, J.J. Abrams, Alfonso Cuaron, and Chris Pine will announce the nominations for the 87th Annual Academy Awards. In an unprecedented broadcast, the trio will announce the nominees in all twenty-four categories. Voting for the categories themselves closed on Friday, and following Thursday’s nominations, many fates will start to be (literally) sealed for Hollywood’s favorite night, which be held in the Dolby Theater on February 22nd.

I, unfortunately, take no part in the voting process on either end of the nomination announcements, but it’s a fun time of year regardless. You hold out for dark horse favorties that you’ve had throughout the entire year, wishing that you could be so lucky enough to check off their names on a ballot and move them one inch closer to securing, at the very least, an Academy Award nomination. In an effort to indulge my own personal fantasy, I have borrowed an exercise from Kris Tapley at Hitfix.com and have constructed my very own Oscar ballot. Below you will see my picks in every category with a write-up justifying my choices. The write-ups, as can be expected with me, might be a bit lengthy, so feel free to skim and read as you see fit. And, of course, this functions as if I were playing God and had the ability to vote without restriction over every single category regardless of branch.

Continue reading

Reel Reactions’ Best of 2014: Mike Murphy’s Top 10 Films

foxcatcher 1

Back so soon.

Compared to previous years, 2014 proved to have more films than ever in contest to make my final Top 10 tally. Both 2012 and 2013 were packed to the brim with marvelous films, but for me 2014 felt like it was overflowing. My initial whittle, that discarded all of the duds and middle-of-the-road films that I had no problem leaving behind, numbered just under fifty films! Chopping that list in half was no easy feat, but I’m sure that films I let go will pop up on my co-critics’ lists so they’ll thankfully get their due. However, I know I can’t include everything and even with that being the conclusion I come to terms with each year, accepting that was harder than ever this year.

Continue reading