Best of 2014: Documentaries

With Sunday's Oscars giving us a surprising slew of thoughtful and articulate speeches that brought welcome attention to a number of important issues (which you yourself can learn more about and help by clicking here, here, here and here), I'm continuing my annual superlatives with a medium that often sets out to engage with issues such as these. The nominees for Best Documentary are...

2014 Oscars: Will Win/Should Win

Gird your loins! After a full week of being snowed in, it's finally Oscar night! Let's not keep Ellar waiting.

Best of 2014: Tuneful Tunes

 

Next up: a pair of music categories. I promise I've seen more movies than Under the Skin. If you're beginning to tire of its constant presence in these write-ups (which is crazy since the movie is amazing), then you can take refuge in the fact that it doesn't show up in my newly-implemented Song Score category. Surprising, you may say, considering all the snappy, Pitch Perfect-esque musical numbers on the soundtrack. Anyway, the nominees for Best Original Score are.....

Best of 2014: Sounds and Cuts

If you were as upset about the lack of Edge of Tomorrow in Tuesday's Visual Effects lineup as I was, then you're gonna want to take a look at the latest batch of nominees I've written up. Spoiler alert: more Under the Skin love, as well! The nominees for Best Film Editing: (after the jump)

Best of 2014: Visual Effects

This is never one of the first categories presented at the Oscars, but each year it remains one of the few that I can easily close the books on early-ish in the season, in terms of having to scout viable contenders. So, since it's very doubtful that the likes of Still Alice, Mr. Turner, or A Most Violent Year will be serious threats in this field, then I can safely give you my nominees for Best Visual Effects!