Oscar Dates Announced for 2014 and 2015

 

Oscar dates have been set for the next two years, thus allowing me to set aside two dates on my calendar to wrestle with the inevitable rage that coincides with the distribution of tiny gold eunuch statues.  In case you’re wondering (you weren’t), the early betting favorites in Las Vegas for next year’s Best Picture  are Paul Greengrass’ Captain Phillips starring Tom Hanks and Monument Men with George Clooney and Matt Damon.  The ceremony next year will be pushed back into March so as to not get crushed by the ratings juggernaut that is the Olympics.  Justin Timberlake is an early rumored host and if he can do for the Oscars what he does for Saturday Night Live when he hosts it, I’m all for that.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the ABC Television Network have today announced the dates for the 86th and 87th Academy Awards presentations and, in both cases, they’re falling a bit earlier than usual. The 2014 Awards will air on ABC on Sunday, March 2 with the 2015 awards arriving Sunday, February 22.

AMPAS also revealed the below calendar of important event dates relating to the 2014 presentation:

Saturday, November 16, 2013: The Governors Awards
Monday, December 2, 2013: Official Screen Credits due
Friday, December 27, 2013: Nominations voting begins
Wednesday, January 8, 2014: Nominations voting ends 5 p.m. PT
Thursday, January 16, 2014: Oscar nominations announced
Monday, February 10, 2014: Nominees Luncheon
Friday, February 14, 2014: Final voting begins
Saturday, February 15, 2014: Scientific and Technical Awards
Tuesday, February 25, 2014: Final voting ends 5 p.m. PT
Oscar Sunday, March 2, 2014: 86th Academy Awards

The 86th and 87th Academy Awards ceremonies will be held at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, California and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network.

Movie Review: The Social Network (2010)

The Social Network tells the incredibly complex and weirdly compelling story behind the founding of Facebook. It’s interesting for me to watch because the period during which Facebook was developed and went live was the exact time that I was in graduate school. I remember when it hit our campus and how it completely mainstream it went in just a matter of a month or two. Since then, of course, Facebook has wormed its way into nearly everything. The iconic white and blue F logo appears at the bottom of nearly every ad. Obama used the site to great effect during his presidential campaign. It’s become the most transformative social platform on the Internet. And it started because Mark Zuckerberg got drunk and angry after his girlfriend dumped him.

That’s overly simplistic. The founding of Facebook already spawned a bestseller by Ben Mezrich, which is the jumping-off point for Aaron Sorkin’s script. As he did in Charlie Wilson’s War, Sorkin masterfully weaves a decade’s worth of information into a seamless script that should finally earn him an Oscar. The story is told on three levels. Two depositions from two separate parties wronged by Zuckerberg during the website’s evolution and the flashbacks to the actual events in the past. It would be easy for the mass of characters and information to overwhelm the viewer, but at no point did Sorkin lose his audience. His trademark back and forth dialogue is present, but it’s by far the most restrained work of his career. The script is the star of the film and director David Finch, who is also long due an Oscar, wisely gets out of the way of the words and let them be the movie’s true star.

This is not to say that the cast isn’t worthy of their own kudos. Jesse Eisenberg, who I had previously dismissed as a Michael Cera clone, takes the thankless job of playing this closed-off, semi-sociopathic loner in Zuckerberg and gives an outstanding performance. He does more with his eyes in showing the dammed up, walled off sea of confusion and rage in Zuckerberg than most actors could ever do with words. The movie wouldn’t have worked though without a sympathetic figure, because Zuckerberg sure isn’t one. As Zuckerberg’s partner, Eduardo Saeverin, Andrew Garfield nearly steals the movie. I was highly critical of Garfield’s casting as the new Spider-Man, but after this movie I can’t wait to see what he does with the character. And I have to eat a massive amount of crow and say that Justin Timberlake can act. He can act extremely well. So well, in fact, that I wish he’d just host SNL and act from now on and save the world from his godawful music.

The Social Network is a must-see film. It’s an amazing story, a stunning character piece, and a reflection on how fast and how integrated Facebook has become in our lives. The next time you post a status update or see the F in the bottom of an article, ad, restaurant menu, or website, you’ll stop for a second and remember how this came to be. The downside being, you may not feel so good about it once you know how this particular sausage was made. This is one of the best films of the year and a force to be reckoned with come awards time.
9.75/10