beGone Oscars

Rating: 8/10 (4 February 2015)

BeginRantNow.
I understand most people are beyond the SNUBBED-GAME by now as I'm usually late to any game, but DAMN. How in HELL did Gone Girl miss a Best Picture nomination? Or Best Screenplay? This movie wasn't just amazingly written, but one of the most original movies I've seen in 2014 and one of the best of the year overall.
It helps that I absolutely loved the character of "Amazing Amy" (Rosamund Pike.) I will not spoil the reason why I loved her as much as I did for I discovered it myself while watching this movie pretty cold. Mercifully, they did nominate Pike for a Best Acting Oscar, though I am uncertain at this point (February 4, 2015) if she'll win, especially since I haven't seen all the Best Acting films nominated. But, I would certainly love to see her accept the award.
Now, she wasn't the best this movie has to offer. In fact, I might consider a Best Director nod and definitely – as mentioned – a Best Screenplay nominee. Heck, I even liked Tyler Perry, and I usually cannot stand him or his movies.
That all said, yeah, Ben Affleck is still a terrible actor and might have turned off some of the voters. Granted, this wasn't his worst performance, but it was definitely right on par with most of his career.
This movie completely surpassed more than half of the Best Pictures nominated for 2014. In fact, only this, Birdman, The Imitation Game and The Theory of Everything were granted the same 4/5 star rating from me with this and Birdman an imaginary tie for first place had this been nominated.
EndRantNow, and begin my remaining review.
I don't want to give away too much about the plot or what I favored the most, only because the experience of barely knowing the synopsis of husband Affleck being accused/investigated for murdering his vanished wife, Amy, was a good place to start with and then proceed with watching the complex and deep plot unravel. It's long, and yeah, some could be cut out, but it kept me going. Especially, the character of Amy.
And keeping with my experience, I implore you to see this movie and let it draw you in with its many twists like a great novel you have in front of you. I love movies like this – ones that start off with a simple premise and evolve and surprise me. I even had to rewatch the finale just to understand and absorb the whole meaning.
The Oscar voters are probably right with their picks and nominations 50% of the time. Like The Lego Movie being snubbed for both Best Pic and Best Animated film this year and nearly a decade back with the completely underserved shut out of Brokeback Mountain for the win, this movie deserves a helluva more attention.
Sorry, I did think the rant was over. So, just see the movie and you'll begin ranting yourself.
* * *
Final thoughts: Though, personally, I thoroughly encourage more penis shots in movies, the Ben Affleck completely out of left-field, quick second or three, full frontal shot wasn't just unnecessary, but felt manufactured to cause buzz. It was clearly established he was without clothes due to the shower running, so, honestly, it didn't feel like it belonged in either the scene or the movie. Granted, I'm not an Affleck fan, but seeing "it" had me scratching my head more than enjoying the view.
Did it ruin the movie? No, it's still a penis shot, after all. And even though I didn't think it fit, at least it wasn't the billionth woman to disrobe for cinema.