The Academy Awards will be announced on February 22nd in a star-studded and usually too long television program.  This year the big scandal is that in three categories the same people have won every award running up to the Oscars and seem like a sure thing.  Also, except for a few films, most of those nominated for Best Picture are small independent films that received great critical acclaim, but not so great box office earnings.  Good ratings are always an issue for Hollywood.

 

Luckily, modern technology makes these films available on DVD for those whose area cinemas didn’t show the nominated films or if they did, moved them in and out in a few weeks so that film lovers didn’t get a chance to see them.

 

The two leading contenders for Best Picture are now available to check out of the library’s collection.  “Boyhood” with supporting acting nominees, Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette, and best director, Richard Linklater was released last month.  “Birdman” with best actor nominee, Michael Keaton, best supporting acting nominees, Edward Norton and Emma Stone, and one of the leaders for best director, Alejandro Inarritu, was released just this week.

 

“The Grand Budapest Hotel” has been available since summer.  “Gone Girl” with best actress nominee, Rosamund Pike, was released last month as was “The Judge” with best supporting actor nominee, Robert Duvall.  “The Theory of Everything” with acting nominees, Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones, about the life story of Stephen Hawking was also released this week.  “Whiplash” with best supporting actor nominee, J.K. Simmons, will be available on February 24th    as is the animated feature nominee, “Big Hero Six.”

 

Coming in March is “The Imitation Game” with nominees, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Keira Knightly.  Other films with nominations, “Interstellar,” “Unbroken,” “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies,” and “Foxcatcher” are also scheduled for March.  “Selma,” “Wild,” “American Sniper,” “Still Alice,” and “Into the Woods” have not yet been scheduled.

 

Nominated films in the specialized categories such as best special effects, cinematography,  makeup and hairstyling, etc. that are already on the library’s shelves include “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,”  “The Boxtrolls,” “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” “Maleficent,” and “Nightcrawler.”