A Spiritual Look At The 2014 Academy Award Nominations

Because I’m such an avid moviegoer, I thought it might be best to post a light entry about some of my own comments surrounding this year’s 2014 Academy Award nominations.

Year after year, I do my best to see just about every movie that’s garnering any kind of Oscar hype prior to the nominations even being announced. Sometimes it’s quite difficult to see some of them though because of their releases only being in New York City and Los Angeles. Other times, I’m also not able to see those really obscure ones, which usually fall into the documentary or foreign film categories. But, when the day arrives and I hear those nominations, I generally have seen more than 90% of the films being nominated through all the categories. And this year is no exception to that.

While I love movies in general and will see a wide range of them throughout the year, I’m always surprised on what actually ends up getting nominated. It used to anger me a long time ago when I saw each year’s nominations get announced because none of the films I was watching were ever getting recognized. What I learned very quickly was that the movies I most often watched would never get a single nomination with maybe the exception of something in the visual effects or sound editing categories. So it was a safe bet to assume that most summer blockbuster films, comedies, and general action flicks I saw would never get a single nomination. So I finally decided one year I would start watching all the films that had any Oscar hype surrounding them to better understand more of what the Academy might vote for. And while I’ve definitely cultured myself a lot more because of that decision, and maybe even grown more spiritually too, I find myself still questioning many of their decisions.

With this year’s nominations, American Hustle and Gravity both led the way with 10 apiece. And while I’m happy for Gravity because it was definitely a breakthrough on so many levels, I’ve been pondering the Academy’s praise for American Hustle. Don’t get me wrong, this movie was incredibly directed and well acted. In fact, I can see how it received each of its nominations. But what actually bothers me is when I see movies like this getting recognized the most when they weren’t very spiritual or heart moving on any level.

American Hustle was all about people conning people to make money. Its focus was really no different than that of The Wolf Of Wall Street either, which also received a high number of nominations. Last year the two films that were most recognized were Lincoln and Life of Pi and each were extremely spiritual and heart moving.

I guess I’m just in a very different mindset today when it comes to the films I enjoy watching the most. Seeing movies that are about conning, greed, gluttony, and addiction are not my cup of tea anymore. And watching any of them receive incredible praise and recognition for being the best films of the year truly baffles me. From an artistic sense, I’ll admit that I can see why films like American Hustle and The Wolf Of Wall Street got that praise. But what I wonder most about is why some of the best heart stirring and spiritual based movies this year were almost completely over looked.

Saving Mr. Banks, All Is Lost, Captain Phillips, Fruitvale Station, The Spectacular Now, The Way Way Back, and The Book Thief were all snubbed this year and pretty much left behind in the theater. Each of these movies in themselves was incredible in so many ways but none of them received the recognition they really deserved. I’m not sure if I’ll ever understand how exactly the minds of those Academy voters think when they place their votes, but thankfully, I don’t allow myself to get irritated or angry anymore about their decisions either. I’m able to detach now from the whole process and appreciate whoever ends up winning no matter what the category.

Regardless, I will look forward to the Oscar ceremony on March 2nd, 2014, especially because one of my favorite inspirational people (Ellen DeGeneres) will be hosting it. And I personally want to thank Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson, Robert Redford, Michael B. Jordan, Miles Teller, Sam Rockwell, and Geoffrey Rush for making the movies you did this year. Each greatly affected my heart and hopefully one day, the Academy will start giving more recognition to more of these types of spiritual movies. Until then, I’m happy for those that do…

Good luck Gravity, 12 Years A Slave, Philomena, Nebraska, and Dallas Buyers Club…

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson