arts / 8 theotherpress.ca Another year, another snub from the Oscars » Movies that didn’t make the cut Cazzy Lewchuk Staff Writer he 2015 Oscar Academy Awards have come and gone, but what 2014 movies were truly award-deserving will always be a matter of debate. There were definitely some movies that came out last year that were snubbed by the Academy Awards. Critically acclaimed, loved by audiences, and still talked about today, these films barely snagged a single nomination at the Oscars, if any at all. It seems Hollywood and the Academy Awards have a certain style, one which includes regularly ignoring some of the most interesting movies of the year. Image from Wikipedia : The Lego Movie snub this year was this animated classic. Image of ‘Interstellar’ : : Interstellar This awe-inspiring and emotional : film was deep both literally and : philosophically. It made us think about : humanity’s purpose and future. It did : gain some Oscar love in the visual and : sound effects categories, but was nota : contender for Best Picture or Best Actor : awards, even though the movie starred : Matthew McConaughey, who won Best Actor last year. Perhaps the most shocking Oscar Almost no nominations at all, except : Gone Girl : for Best Original Song for “Everything : is Awesome.” This was a movie entirely : made out of Lego that took years to create : : and was adored by the masses, yet it : + : wasn't even considered for Best Animated : § : Movie. If it had been nominate d, it : would’ve almost certainly won. eS t This suspenseful driving thriller : by avery respected director kept us all : panicked and shocked until the very : end. But the biggest shock of all was the : lack of nominations this film received. : Rosamund Pike was amazing as Amy : Dunne, and the Best Actress category : acknowledged that. However, that was : the only nomination this movie received. : It’s surprising that it didn’t get a nod for ’ : Best Picture, considering the category : only had eight nominees this year out of a : : possible 10. The category wasn't even full, : yet this film, along with Interstellar, still : didn’t get a nomination for it. It was also : based ona similarly acclaimed novel, but : The Book of Life Image of ‘Gone Girl’ : : the translation to film didn’t get any love : for Best Adapted Screenplay either. i a , ¥, red = - h Image of ‘The Book of Lif e! : Another surprising snub in the : animation department is this film with a : very Spanish/Mexican plot and behind- : the-scenes elements. It was absolutely : beautiful to watch, and had considerably : better animation than The Boxtrolls. Two : Japanese animated films were nominated, : which is great because it shows a larger : foreign representation at the Oscars, : especially for animation. But it’s strange : to see a snub for such a large, critically : acclaimed movie such as this. : Overall, the Oscar Awards will always : bea strange place. Snubs like these : prove it doesn't really matter who wins : the Academy Awards since we'll each : remember the movies of 2014 that we : want to. Animesque: Losing consciousness » ‘Ghost in the Shell’ ponders the meaning of life Adam Tatelman Senior Columnist QOOSS : human need to create life in our : own image. The plots are fast-moving, Noir-esque mysteries, even : though much of the dialogue : the Shell for that. : worse, so let’s forgive Ghost in Controversially, the films : contain animated female : nudity, but always in some Meee Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell and Ghost in the Shell: Innocence are set in a cyberpunk world where people project their minds into robot bodies called “shells” and computers can hack people’s brains. These films are considered two of the most influential and philosophically long-winded sci-fi anime in history, defining the genre for over a decade. Both films are similarly paced, opening with a fanfare of gunfire and then settling into a hypnotic rhythm of introspective navel-gazing before kicking back into the action at the climax. The first film ponders the meanings of individuality and cop Kusanagi’s existential crisis as she pursues a notorious hacker who is more than he seems. Innocence dives deeper, fleshing out the cyber society and exploring the inexplicable : is waxing metaphysical. : Innocence is especially guilty of : this, randomly blurting quotes : from Plato, Nietzsche, and the : Buddha. This turgid thematic : bludgeoning isn’t helped by the : one-note, eardrum-piercing : chants masquerading as a : score. Without all the ironic : montage and shock reveals, the : films would truly reach oil drill levels of boring. Some accuse the Ghost : in the Shell films of cinematic : theft. Entire visual sequences, : such as the flight to the : cathedral in Innocence, have : been cribbed from Blade : Runner. However, Ghost in : the Shell inspired the famous : “raining code” sequence from : The Matrix, which is often consciousness, following cyber- credited with inventing the : effect. Even more blatantly, : Innocence’s distinctive : industrial-holographic style : has been aped by video games : such as Deus Ex: Human : Revolution. It’s all part of the : sci-fi continuum for better or : gruesome circumstance that : illustrates robotics altering the : human body. For instance, the : gynoids from Innocence have : not yet been covered with fake : flesh and so are doubly naked, : doll-like. It is this artistically : conservative depiction that : manages to keep the films from : devolving into the realm of : mere cheesecake. Could machines become : self-aware? Is consciousness : the same thing as life, or must : there be physical genesis? If : individuality is the sum of : personal experience, what if : your experiences aren't real? : After viewing Oshii’s opuses, : T still can’t answer those : questions, but that might be : the point. These questions have > no easy answers, and if modern : debates on the subject of robo : ethics are any indication, : they will only become more : pressing. So if you’re a fan : of Isaac Asimov or William : Gibson, you should find much : to enjoy here. Image of ‘Ghost in the Shell: Innocence’