The Major & Minor of the 87th Academy Awards

Welcome to the first edition of the Major & Minor. I'm trying this out as way to provide analysis to the many awards shows that are out there, while hopefully bringing something new to the table. I'll be looking at the highs and lows, best and worst, positives and negatives, or whatever you want to call it, of the 2015 Oscars, which is the biggest of all awards shows and not a bad place to start.




Major: Good Things Happen When Neil Patrick Harris Sings (and Jack Black & Anna Kendrick Cameo)

The opening show number written by Robert and Kristin-Anderson Lopez (Frozen's "Let It Go") provided the kind of pizazz and showbiz acumen most of us had hoped for when it was announced that Harris would be the host. His past stints doing the same duties for the Emmys and Tonys showed how apt he was and for four minutes, he lived up to the hype. Comedic timing and a solid voice should be all you need to do this thing successfully, right?

Major: #Cumberflask

Best "I'm A Big Star, But Don't Take Myself Too Seriously" moment since Meryl Streep stared down Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt.

Major: O to the N to the D to the Pearls Of Love

I'll leave the fashion analysis to the experts, but the eyes don't lie: stunning is stunning. Also, someone please include Lupita Nyong'o's smile in a romantic comedy.





Major/Minor: This Was More Of A Leading Role, But The Right Man Won

I'm a huge fan of  Whiplash and I'm happy to see J.K. Simmons get some recognition, but you can't convince me that he didn't have a leading role. There's no doubt that Miles Teller had the bigger transformational arc. He's the protagonist. I get that, but Simmons' is the force that pushes that movie. I understand studios submit actors and actresses in categories they have the best shot at winning (once upon a time, Harvey Weinsten tried to push off Kate Winslet as a supporting actress in The Reader), but it will always continue to rub me the wrong way. I could always just stop nitpicking and appreciate the fact he won an award for the role of the tyrannical Terence Fletcher, one of the scariest, most well-rounded, brimstone-spewing characters we've seen this decade. I'm not entirely sure that it's a given he would have lost if he had been submitted in Best Actor. Sure, the category was already loaded with major contenders like Keaton, Redmayne and Cumberbatch already, but neither one of them was as showy as Simmons' performance, which the Academy often leans towards. Let's say Best Actor ends up like this:

What If The Oscars Had Ten Best Picture Nominees In Years Past?

For fun, I decided to take my hand at imagining what the Best Picture race at the Oscars would have looked if there had been ten nominees in years past. Yes, these are the things I think of as "fun" in my head. I decided to do from 1998-2008 since I really didn't follow the Oscar race as intensely in years before, but not to say I don't ever see myself not taking a look at years prior to.

I've listed the five films that were nominated for that year with the five possible nominees following after.

1998

** denotes the winner.

Elizabeth
**Shakespeare in Love**
Life Is Beautiful
Saving Private Ryan
The Thin Red Line

Gods And Monsters
The Truman Show
Out of Sight
Primary Colors
A Simple Plan

The Truman Show was the only one that was seen as a major snub, as Golden Globe winner Jim Carrey also failed to get a acting nomination.