Un-Awesome: Golden Globes Stupidly Pass Over The LEGO Movie In 2014, it was hard to find a movie more entertaining and joy-inducing than The LEGO Movie. Released in February - classically one of the less-great parts of the Hollywood release schedule - the film stood out and sparkled, not only by delivering numerous deep-gut laughs, but also having something fascinating and deep to say about creativity and how we express it. It was one of the best features of the year, but badly, tonight it was snubbed in a pretty big way. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association held their annual Golden Globes ceremony tonight, and while The LEGO Movie was considered by many to be the front-runner in the Best Animated Feature category, presenters Kevin Hart and Salma Hayek both announced and gave the award to DreamWorks Animation's How To Train Your Dragon 2. While both were certainly some of the best reviewed movies of the year and top earners at the box office, it’s pretty easy to argue that the HFPA voters made a mistake in their decision.
Even if we’re looking on beyond The LEGO Movie’s absolutely fantastic script, which is entirely filled with wonderful characters, great jokes, brilliant narrative choices and miles of heart, the film is also just a wonder on a technical level. There has never been a movie that looks quite like Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s creation, and despite playing with a whole new rulebook the movie still challenges itself with brilliant attention to detail like fingerprints, dust, and hair follicles to create something beautiful and honestly realistic. Calling the Golden Globes’ choice incorrect shouldn’t be translated as an insult to Dean DeBlois’ How To Train Your Dragon 2, as I actually enjoyed that film immensely when I saw it this past summer, but The LEGO Movie’s positive aspects really outweigh it all around. I will give the DreamWorks feature plenty of credit for being an adventures piece of storytelling and stunning to look at, but the immense creativity and originality of Warner Bros.’ film leaves really no comparison, and it’s a shame that it wasn’t rewarded for it.
Interestingly, it’s the "F" in HFPA that may very well have prevented The LEGO Movie from taking home this award – which it very rightly deserved. While Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s animated feature was a huge hit here in the United States – ranking as the fourth biggest domestic hit of the year with an impressive $257 million pull – the film didn’t really translate abroad. Factoring in worldwide numbers, The LEGO Movie falls to 15th on the 2014 charts – which is four spots below the $618 million take of How To Train Your Dragon 2. It’s very possible that this sway was reflected in the voting for the Golden Globes as well, explaining the end result. Obviously, the Golden Globes is just one of many awards shows, and it’s still probable if not likely that The LEGO Movie will wind up earning an Academy Award in a few weeks’ time, but this one still does sting. Everything is not awesome.The 2015 Golden Globe Awards nominations were revealed on Thursday morning, including the contenders for Best Original Song and Best Original Score.And although I'm not arguing with the most of the Hollywood Foreign Press's selections -- Lorde's "Yellow Flicker Beat" is an eerie wonder, Trent Reznor's score for Gone Girl is masterful – I am raising a serious red flag at one egregious snub.
"Everything is Awesome!!!" from The Lego Movie -- performed by Tegan & Sara ft. The Lonely Island and co-produced by Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh -- truly deserved a Golden Globe nomination.I know why the Hollywood Foreign Press overlooked it. Nearly every other song they nominated has a gravitas about it that screams, "This is a deep song about a serious subject!" "Everything is Awesome!!!", on the other hand, has three exclamation points in the title and a verse from joke rappers. On first listen, it sounds pretty dopey.2015 Golden Globe Nominees: Lorde, Lana Del Rey, Sia, John Legend & MoreBut that's the point -- and why it's a much smarter song than anything the Globes did nominate. "Everything is Awesome!!!" simultaneously celebrates and satirizes mindless pop culture consumption. You can listen to it earnestly one moment and sardonically the next.As used in the beginning of The Lego Movie, it gently skewers the herd mentality of the main character. At the end of the film, it serves as a rallying cry, after the protagonist has learned the value of thinking both outside and inside the box.
It's a hilarious song that pokes fun at mainstream society while acknowledging that people have to work together to survive.Plus, it's one hell of an earworm. Fingers crossed the Academy Awards give "Everything is Awesome!!!" the nod it deserves.Oscar nominations were announced Thursday morning, and one of the biggest shocks of the morning came during the Best Animated Picture category where beloved break-out hit “The LEGO Movie” was snubbed. The crowd at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills sounded surprised themselves after the five noms were announced. Instead, here’s what was nominated: “Big Hero 6” Don Hall, Chris Williams and Roy Conli“The Boxtrolls” Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable and Travis Knight“How to Train Your Dragon 2” Dean DeBlois and Bonnie Arnold“Song of the Sea” Tomm Moore and Paul Young“The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” Isao Takahata and Yoshiaki Nishimura People are not reacting kindly to the snub. The credits at the end of #TheLegoMovie that were made out of @LEGO_Group bricks took a year to make!
— HLN (@HLNTV) January 15, 2015 The absolute complete snubbing of #TheLegoMovie is absurd. So much heart and soul was in that movie and it gets no recognition. — Nick Bosworth (@Nick_Boz) January 15, 2015How the heck does #TheLegoMovie not get nominated for Best Animated Feature?!? — Kevin McCarthy (@KevinMcCarthyTV) January 15, 2015 Wow…truly shocked and bummed out that The LEGO Movie didn’t get nominate for best animated picture at the Oscars…unreal. — Patrick Campbell (@pj_campbell) January 15, 2015 Yeh, this just about covers the #TheLegoMovie snub. — R. K. Bentley (@rkbentley) January 15, 2015 Even Simon Otto, head of character animation on the “How to Train Your Dragon,” series is shocked. #TheLegoMovie not getting nominated is a travesty! It’s one of the most clever and entertaining movies of the year without a doubt. — Simon Otto (@SimonOttoAnim) January 15, 2015 “How I Met Your Mother “co-creator Carter Bays echoed that sentiment.
Congrats to @chrizmillr and @philiplord for making one of the best movies of the year, animated or otherwise. — Carter Bays (@CarterBays) January 15, 2015 “The LEGO Movie” director team duo Chris Miller and Phil Lord seem to be taking the snub better than their fans. This is not a tragedy. Congrats to incredible crew and cast of The Lego Movie, who made a classic. — philip lord (@philiplord) January 15, 2015 Congrats to “Everything is Awesome” though currently the title of the song doesn’t seem especially accurate! — Chris Miller (@chrizmillr) January 15, 2015 Warner Bros.’ animated picture became the first break-out film of 2014 making $69.1 million opening weekend. It went on to become one of the highest-grossing movies of last year with over $460 million at the box office worldwide. As a result, the film kicked off a franchise. More “LEGO” movies are in the works, including a stand-alone LEGO Batman spin-off. This was the year where “The LEGO Movie” really had a chance to take home Oscar gold because Disney didn’t release ANY Pixar movie.