another all-white Oscar ballot

a few fellas play it up, the media widen it, black celebs up in arms. i don't like the Academy is predominantly white, male and old, but i don't buy this notion the nominations were skewed.

Straight Outta Compton is about gangsta rap -- gangsta rap! Selma was a Best Picture nominee just last year and 12 Years A Slave won the previous. Lupita Nyong'o also won, with Steve McQueen, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Barkhad Abdi nominated. Django Unchained and Beasts of the Southern Wild had a total of 9 nominations in 2013.

Creed is a Rocky spin-off, so pause and think how much the Academy loves franchises.

Will Smith had only an outside chance and, please, he's a two-time nominee.

Samuel L Jackson had an even smaller chance plus he's not even a good actor.

they say Wiz Khalifa's See You Again was snubbed -- John Legend's Glory won just last year.

Idris Elba, now that's a snub. just like Carol and Ridley Scott were.

sure, the industry needs change, but taste is subjective. remember not so long ago the lightning rod was women not blacks? women couldn't front a film? now 3 of the 8 Best Picture nominees are about women (Mad Max: Fury Road is not about Max). all 5 Best Actress nominees are in films about women. in The Danish Girl, men want to be women. hell, Jessica Chastain didn't even kiss Matt Damon in The Martian!

i also don't buy the argument that America has this percentage of blacks so nominations should be proportionate.

i like motion pictures

let's face it, "harrowing" is overused when reviewing films. but if Room isn't harrowing, it's shuddering. i nearly was stricken by what felt like a combination of panic attack and asthma attack. if Larson is winning accolades, i don't know why Tremblay isn't. then the goodness stopped. the high standards it set itself in the first half meant the second half was always in a losing battle. Room is a two-hour film that should've been told in one hour.

i like motion pictures

As Jennifer Lawrence's harshest critic: she's really good in Joy and deserves her latest nom. I'm almost converted. Nothing else to say about the film. Too similar to Silver Linings Playbook. And I never liked Silver Linings Playbook. Never good to leave the audience feeling "That's it?"