The Oscars will hold their 87th annual awards show Sunday, Feb. 22. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences comprises over 7,000 men and women working in the film industry. The Academy votes for the best in the industry, with actors making up the largest number of votes. This year, the nominees for best picture are “American Sniper,” “The Imitation Game,” “Birdman,” “Selma,” “Boyhood,” “The Theory of Everything,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and “Whiplash.”
But the real fight is between “Boyhood” and “Birdman.”
“Boyhood” follows a child literally growing up before your eyes, as the movie was filmed over an 11-year period with all the same actors.
“Birdman” is a dark comedy starring Michael Keaton. The story is about a struggling, aging Broadway star in a battle with colleagues, family and himself.
At the beginning of the race, it looked like “Boyhood” would sweep the Oscars, but in a recent turn of events, “Birdman”’s technical achievements and powerful performance by Keaton put them in the lead for some. In my opinion, however, there is no score going into the Oscars.
The upset came at the PGA Awards when “Birdman” won the best picture category after “Boyhood” won almost everything it was nominated for. The PGA Awards have predicted the outcome of the Oscars plenty of times in the past, including the last seven best picture awards. For this week, I decided to list some of the past winners and nominees of the best picture Oscar that are available on Netflix right now.
“Forest Gump” (Won 1994)
“Silence of the Lambs” (Won 1991)
“Rain Man” (Won 1988)
“Nebraska” (Nominated 2013)
“The Wolf of Wall Street” (Nominated 2013)
Django Unchained” (Nominated 2012)
“Silver Linings Playbook” (Nominated 2012)
“Hugo” (Nominated 2011)
All the movies I have listed are great in their own way, even if they did not win. Getting nominated for best picture at the Oscars says a lot about quality, and you should give them all a chance if there are any you haven’t seen yet.
This year, every film is amazing, and I would not be able to put them in any order. If I had to choose, I would probably lean toward “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” It is Wes Anderson’s newest movie and did not disappoint. If you don’t know much about Anderson, I suggest you watch “The Royal Tenenbaums.”
Until next time, Netflixers.
