If only we could all be this happy. Image via Forbes

There is nothing Americans love more than complaining about things that they know nothing about. Thus, the Oscars are a complainer’s paradise.

Yes, the Oscars are just an awards show, and not the end of the world. But scoring a nomination is actually important. For example, if Jennifer Aninston scored a nod for Cake, maybe we would finally be able to see it. Seriously, I don’t know a single non-critic who has seen the movie. I don’t even think Jennifer Aniston has seen it. But at the end of the day, it’s a hunk of shiny medal shaped like a naked bald dude holding a sword.

There is also the disparity between what deserves an Oscar and what will actually win an Oscar. A lot of films that win Best Picture are forgotten years later. For instance, let’s look at 2004. Million Dollar Baby won that year. I would argue that the most influential and memorable film of that year is Mean Girls. That is the one that everybody still watches and quotes, but of course it wasn’t nominated for any Oscars. It is not an Oscar movie; it is the kind of movie that people dedicate Tumblr accounts to.

When deciding what I think the biggest snubs were, I took into account both what I wish was nominated, and what would actually make sense as a nomination. Yesterday, I talked about which nominations made me happy. Today, I discuss which snubs make me sad. Cue the anger!

Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler

It is insanity that Gyllenhaal wasn’t nominated. Does the Academy hate weirdos or something? As the frighteningly ambitious Lou Bloom, Gyllenhaal created a sociopath as memorable as Norman Bates and Patrick Bateman. His performance is so physical: just look at his eyes; it looks like they were clamped open Clockwork Orange style and he never learned to shut them again. There are probably thousands of Lou Blooms out there who’s view of the world is crafted by internet comments and self-help books rather than actual life experience.

Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel

Oscar voters have never understood how difficult comedy is. In his performance as Gustave, Fiennes had to be silly and effete one moment, and martyr for the cause of humanity the next. He works his magic on you in an almost invisible way; you won’t realize how much you cared about his character until the very end. This performance is so unique because nobody else could have played it. Had Gustave been played by a different actor, he would have been insanely flat as Mortdecai. I am only saying this because both characters have mustaches. That’s enough for a comparison for me.

Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl

Sure, Flynn had something of an unfair advantage, given that she was adapting her own book to the screen. But the fact that her story worked so well with very few changes (at least from what I have heard) is a testament to the power of her writing. Besides the brilliant twists and turns, the most genius part about this script was that it made it impossible to root for anybody. This is moral ambiguity done right.

Life Itself

I kind of snubbed Life Itself as well. I never wrote a review of it, and I neglected to include it in my year end list. This riveting documentary on the life of Roger Ebert was the definition of warts and all. We see his arrogance in his fights with Gene Siskel, and we even watch a feeding tube get shoved into his neck when he is hospitalized. This is a thorough celebration of a man who was both populist and elitist, and who completely changed film criticism forever. If you didn’t cry at the end of this, then you might be a sociopath. I will credit this snub to the fact that voters probably hate film critics.

The Lego Movie

When J.J. Abrams announced that “Everything Is Awesome” was among the Best Original Song nominees, people gasped. When The Lego Movie did not appear amongst the Best Animated Feature nominees, a million angry voices shouted, “everything is not awesome!” If commercial success can’t get you anywhere at an awards show, than creativity should. If you still doubt The Lego Movie is any good, than just realize that people are angry that a movie based on a toy wasn’t nominated for an Oscar. What a crazy world we live in.

Selma

The most talked about snub of the year has been of Selma. Now, Selma was nominated for the big prize, but the fact that it was left out of most of the other major categories is confounding. I do not want to charge the Academy with racism, even though their lack of diversity does not look good for them. The real issue for me is that David Oyelowo deserved some recognition for his incredible performance, which was beyond mere imitation. Plus, Ava Duvernay deserves credit for elegantly directing such challenging material. If you want to know more about why Selma got the cold shoulder, read this intelligent and level-headed piece over on Grantland.

Tilda Swinton, Snowpiercer

I have a feeling that the Academy didn’t take Snowpiercer as seriously as it should have because, well, it is a summer blockbuster. Don’t be so pretentious, guys. I still think of Tilda Swinton’s creepy and hilarious bureaucrat who is basically Kim Jong-un with a Scottish accent. It is like watching your weird aunt go on a power trip. Swinton might not have been nominated this year, but this character will be remembered for years to come.

Nowadays, the pervasive narrative is that film is dead and television is better. This statement is only half true. While television is better than ever before, cinema isn’t doing too badly, either.

Most of my film experiences this summer were nothing but pleasant. Besides anything Michael Bay had his name on, there were very few complaints to be had about the intelligence of Hollywood blockbusters (in retrospect, I even enjoyed Winter Solider). In the art house world, some directors were doing things with the form that nobody has done before. Well, that happened in the blockbuster world as well.

Film is in a transitional period. This was the summer of On Demand, where a lot of films were available on your TV set the same day they were playing in select theaters. While I still prefer a trip to the theater any chance I get, it was nice to have access to the sort of films that usually don’t expand nationwide. It is too bad this wasn’t around when I was a high schooler yearning for my hometown to be a hip, indie place.

Here are my top six films of summer 2014. I choose six because math is irrelevant to me:

6. Obvious Child

There is nothing like a good summer indie to get away from all of the blockbuster explosions. Obvious Child was the breath of fresh air I needed. While Obvious Child wasn’t the most original romantic comedy ever made, it was never trying to be. In this tale of abortion, the one thing it is striving for is honesty, and that is exactly what it achieves. Plus, Jenny Slate delivers a career-defining performance. She turns all the noises she makes and fart jokes she tells into art.

5. 22 Jump Street

With both The Lego Movie and 22 Jump Street under their belts, Phil Lord and Chris Miller have made two of the best movies of the year. By seamlessly combining action and comedy, 22 Jump Street is the rare sequel that manages to surpass the original. It takes meta to the extreme without crashing and burning. Oh, and it is hilarious. At this point, Lord and Miller could film a pile of dog poop for three hours and everyone in America would pay to see it.

4. The Immigrant

This film about the American Dream does not shy away from the grittiness of history that historical films often try to conceal. The Immigrant contains a great performance from Marion Cotillard and a mesmerizing one from Joaquin Phoenix. It concludes with an ambiguous final shot that will one day be studied in film classes. In terms of stories of dirty, miserable, early 20th century New York, The Immigrant is a fine companion piece with The Knick (which you all should be watching).

3. Snowpiercer

The best of summer indies combined with the best of summer blockbusters make for the most entertaining allegory in ages. Chris Evans proves that he is an action star for the ages, and Tilda Swinton proves that she can play anything, even if you don’t understand what her character is. Snowpiercer is about rebellion, the class system, and even God. Not to get all current event-y here, but look at some of the recent events happening in Ferguson or the Middle East, and tell me that doesn’t remind you of Snowpiercer at all.

2. Guardians of the Galaxy

Contemporary blockbusters have two settings: they are either grim and gritty, or goofy and self-aware. By being both goofy and sincere, Guardians of the Galaxy is the first comic book adaptation in a long time that manages to be both. Guardians of the Galaxy is one of the funniest movies so far this year, and it gets all of its humor based off of its characters, which you wouldn’t normally see in a giant space opera. I have seen Guardians of the Galaxy twice and purchased a Rocket Raccoon action figure. Guardians reminded me why I love to write about movies in the first place.

1. Boyhood

This coming-of-age epic was twelve years in the making and worth the wait. The way Boyhood was made is an achievement on its own, so the fact that it was actually good is pretty amazing. This is the first film I have seen that I feel like really captured my childhood, though people that grew up in every generation have said the same. Richard Linklater’s ability to hold my attention for nearly three hours with nothing but conversations and small milestones is miraculous. If Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, and most of the other people involved don’t get Oscar nominations, then I will be extremely disappointed. There are so many moments in Boyhood that could have turned out to be terribly corny (“we don’t seize the moment…the moment seizes us”), but the overall authenticity truly sells it. Guardians of the Galaxy made me remember why I love movies, while Boyhood made me remember why I love life, even in all of its triumphs and failures.

Honorable Mentions: Life Itself, Edge of Tomorrow, X-Men: Days of Future Past, They Came Together

It is impossible to know what will be revered down the road, but it is truly something to behold when you witness a film that you are just sure will be a future cult classic. From the detailed world to the crazy monologues, I get a good feeling that Snowpiercer will be just that.

Snowpiercer, the latest film from Bong Joon-ho, is a rare breed: too smart to be a summer blockbuster, yet too fun to be a moody summer indie flick. So instead, it is a little bit of both, with fantastic results. Based on a graphic novel, Snowpiercer takes place in a post-apocalyptic world. After a solution to solve Global Warming fails, the Earth freezes over. A select few are given their own ark, in the form of a train that runs on a perpetual engine. Snowpiercer is able to explain this in a manner that is much more succinct than the normal blockbuster would. This is a film that truly knows how to pace itself.

The train is organized like the Titanic, as the wealthiest take the front of the train, and the poor occupy the back. Like an old fashioned caste system, everybody is expected to stay in their pre-ordained position. Conditions are just right for a little rebellion, and that is exactly what happens as Curtis (Chris Evans) reluctantly leads a revolt against the upper class, who have been kidnapping children and feeding the poor with disgusting looking protein bars as the rich dine on steak and sushi.

Snowpiercer is one of those films that doesn’t deserve to be as good as it is. Yet, it is by far the best action movie I have seen so far this summer. While American blockbusters have been trying so hard to appeal to audiences overseas (*cough* Transformers *cough*), maybe American filmmakers should instead pay attention to how filmmakers are making movies overseas. Snowpiercer is a masterclass exercise in action that doesn’t cloud character and story development.

At its core, Snowpiercer is partially that classic story of “The One.” You know that story, because you have all seen Star Wars. That is when some random guy is chosen as the one who is going to save the world from the mess they are all in, even if that one person is going to spend the first two acts of the story complaining about being chosen. In stories like that, often, the other characters don’t mean as much. Everyone in Snowpiercer feels instrumental. This is less a story about “The One,” and more a challenging narrative about how society chooses its heroes. Yet, Chris Evans proves once again that he makes an awesome hero. Curtis is quiet for somebody who is selected to be a leader. Once he does talk, he delivers an incredibly memorable monologue, one that may or may not involve eating babies.

Snowpiercer has an impressive cast, with Tilda Swinton mainly stealing the show as the deranged but often very funny henchman. She works for Wilford, the train’s engineer and the supposedly benevolent leader. I could tell you who plays Wilford, or you could look it up on IMDB. However, the buildup to him is so well done and so suspenseful that it works even better if you don’t know. The less you know about Snowpiercer before seeing it, the better. So, maybe that means that reading this review is pointless. All I can say is that any blockbuster makes me think of class politics and the possible existence of God, and then throws in a night vision ninja fight on top of it, is good in my book. In a different era, people might have waited in line around the block just to get a glimpse of Snowpiercer.

Brain Farts From The Edge

• The difference between a good summer blockbuster director and a bad summer blockbuster director: a good summer blockbuster director pays attention to the world surrounding the characters, and makes it interesting before blowing it all up. A bad blockbuster director treats their world like a kid who just got a hold of a toy truck and some fireworks.
• Snowpiercer feels like an action film directed by Wes Anderson. You expect Wilford to come out and say, “let me tell you about my train.”
• Alison Pill might not be famous enough yet to merit “cameo” status. Still, there is a great cameo by Alison Pill in this as a propaganda-spurting school teacher.
• Prediction: One day, kids will be buying Wilford Industries shirts at Urban Outfitters.
• I have been watching a lot of really good TV lately. Whenever I watch a lot of really good TV, I tend to forget about movies. I tried to imagine Snowpiercer as a TV show. It would be a miniseries and each episode would focus on a different part of the train. Sure, it would be cool and incredibly in depth. However, maybe it would be too much detail, to the point of lingering. That is the good thing about film: you can get in, and then get out. A good director knows what details to focus on most in order to maximize the allotted two hours. Go to the movies, people. There are some good ones out there right now.