While I won’t get into the reason why just yet, obviously it
is shaping up to be quite a controversial and tense Oscar ceremony this year.
The 88th Academy Awards, hosted by Chris Rock, who previously hosted
the show in 2005, will be presented on February 28th, honoring the
many great films that came out this past year. But like with every Oscar
ceremony, there’s been quite a lot of controversy surrounding it and not just
for the one thing that everyone’s talking about at the moment (which, again,
we’ll get to later on). Every year’s ceremony is subjected to much criticism and
scrutiny by film fans over the nominations; who got nominated and who didn’t,
etc. But as for me, I’ve moved on from complaining about snubs and all that
noise because I feel that it’s just pointless to get worked up over stuff like
this. Award shows are just as subjective as film itself. No matter how
‘accurate’ these shows are in honoring the best in film from the past year,
they never fully please anyone. Everyone has their own opinion on who and what
should win; for example, if I had a hand in picking the awards, I would give a
lot of them to blockbusters like ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Tomorrowland’ because those
were some of my favorite films from 2015. So in other words, do not expect me
to point out a lot of ‘snubs’ in this post. Because if you ask me, people
shouldn’t be taking the Oscars THAT seriously because they’re not meant to represent
the be-all and end-all of film opinions. I don’t take them that seriously and
yet still enjoy watching the show every year for the pageantry and excitement
of it all.
So with that said, today I’ll be listing my predictions for
this year’s Academy Awards from the technical categories like ‘Best Visual
Effects’ and ‘Best Score’ to the big ones like ‘Best Actor/Actress’, ‘Best
Supporting Actor/Actress’, and of course, ‘Best Picture’. For the record,
though, I will not be covering every single one of the 24 Oscar categories in
this post, and the primary reason for that is in the case that I haven’t seen
enough of the films featured in that category, which is usually the films
nominated for ‘Best Foreign Film’ and ‘Best Documentary’. I will say though
that, for the second year in a row, I have been able to watch all eight of the
nominees for Best Picture. So when we get to that category, I’m just going to
rank all of those films from least favorite to my #1 pick. And of course, as I
just pointed out earlier, this is all subjective so be sure to sound off in the
comments below to give your own picks for this year’s Oscars. So, without
further ado, here are my picks for the 88th annual Academy Awards.
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
*EX MACHINA
*MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
*THE MARTIAN
*THE REVENANT
*STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
MY PICK: STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
I have the feeling that a lot of cinefiles are rooting for
‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ to win this award for its predominantly practical effects
work, particularly in regards to the action sequences. Another possible
favorite for them is ‘Ex Machina’, with its impressive effects on a small
budget. But as great as the effects in both of those films were, my vote goes
to another film that, like ‘Mad Max’, also made the effort to do as many
practical effects as possible; ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’. And I’m just
going to get this out of the way right now… I’m legitimately a little
disappointed that it didn’t get a Best Picture nomination. I mean, sure, I have
the feeling that it wouldn’t have won anyway given the other films in that
category but the film was a legit critical hit with both fans and audiences.
This wasn’t like the highly polarizing prequels; this was a genuine critically
acclaimed hit so I think it should’ve at least gotten some more recognition
from the Academy than just getting nominations in the technical categories.
Well, at the very least, it’ll probably go home with at least one or two
technical awards and I feel that Visual Effects is its best chance at an Oscar.
After the much-maligned heavily-CGI developed nature of the prequels, J.J.
Abrams brought back the series’ original tradition of having as many practical
effects and real sets as possible, something that he also did with his ‘Star
Trek’ films. The end result is most certainly one of the best-looking films of
the year, hence why it earns my vote for best visual effects.
P.S. Don’t get too
mad, ‘Fury Road’ fans, that film will get my runner-up spot in this category.
BEST FILM EDITING
*THE BIG SHORT
*MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
*THE REVENANT
*SPOTLIGHT
*STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
MY PICK: STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
Once again I’m going with ‘Star Wars’ because editing is
pretty darn crucial to the energetic nature of these films that make them so entertaining.
In fact, some would argue that the editing was what saved the original ‘Star
Wars’ from being a disaster all those years ago. For my runner-up pick, I’ll go
with ‘The Big Short’. There were definitely a lot of quick edits in that film
but I thought it all worked pretty well in conveying the chaos of the troubled
economy of the time.
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
*CAROL
*CINDERELLA
*THE DANISH GIRL
*MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
*THE REVENANT
MY PICK: CINDERELLA
Admittedly I can’t say much about this category so I’ll just
make it quick. My vote goes to the excellent costume design from my #3 favorite
film of last year, Cinderella, as done by legendary costume designer Sandy
Powell. Simply put, Powell’s period-piece costumes were just as beautiful as
the film itself, particularly Cinderella’s iconic blue ball-gown. My runner-up
pick goes to ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’. After all, costume design is a vital part to
any ‘Mad Max’ film. In fact, I have the feeling ‘Fury Road’ is actually going
to win this award this Sunday instead. Still, even with that in mind,
‘Cinderella’ does take my pick for this category partially because I kind of
want to see a win for one of my favorite films from this past year.
BEST MAKEUP/HAIRSTYLING
*THE 100-YEAR OLD MAN WHO CLIMBED OUT THE WINDOW AND DISAPPEARED (Try
saying that title five times fast)
*MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
*THE REVENANT
MY PICK: MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
Admittedly I don’t know how much I can truly say about ‘Fury
Road’ when it comes to hairstyling seeing how two of the main characters,
Furiosa and Nux, and all of the War Boys were bald. The makeup for the film was
much more noteworthy, though, especially in regards to the pretty darn iconic
look of the War Boys.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
*CAROL
*THE HATEFUL EIGHT
*MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
*THE REVENANT
*SICARIO
MY PICK: THE REVENANT- EMMANUEL LUBEZKI
I’ve already talked about this film a couple of days ago so
I won’t try to repeat myself too much here. Simply put, ‘The Revenant’ was one
of the absolute best-looking films of the year thanks to Emmanuel Lubezki’s
amazing cinematography, from the beautiful and occasionally wintry forest
landscapes to the fact that he and Inarritu basically shot the entirety of the
film with only natural lighting. For my runner-up pick, I’m going to go with
the other wintry film in this category; Quentin Tarantino’s ‘The Hateful
Eight’. That film prided itself on its cinematography as it was shot in
glorious 70mm. And while I never got the chance to see the film in that style,
the film was still one great-looking film with its wintery mountain backdrops
and wide shots.
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
*BRIDGE OF SPIES
*THE DANISH GIRL
*MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
*THE MARTIAN
*THE REVENANT
MY PICK: MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
While I may not have been as big on ‘Fury Road’ as, well,
most of the internet was, that doesn’t mean that I won’t be giving it any attention
with these predictions. I’m sure it’s going to win a few awards this Sunday. So
with that in mind, ‘Fury Road’ does earn my pick for Best Production Design
because let’s face it, that’s the best aspect of the film. Hell, that’s
arguably the best part of any ‘Mad Max’ film, and ‘Fury Road’ arguably
outshines them all. George Miller and comic artist Brendan McCarthy spent years
coming up with the designs for the vehicles and the final result is truly one
for the ages, from Immortan Joe’s ‘Gigahorse’, made from the frames of not one
but two Cadillac Coupe de Villes, to the insanity that is the ‘Doof Wagon’, an
8-wheeler complete with a line of drummers, big speakers, and of course
everyone’s favorite flame-throwing guitar wielder, the Doof Warrior. And that’s
just in regards to the vehicles. The whole film is one gorgeous-looking effort
from the filmmakers and the eye-popping color palette produces one great
looking cinematic experience. I don’t even have a Runner-Up for this category
because I don’t see how any of the other four films are going to beat ‘Fury
Road’. It’s won nearly every major award for Production Design this awards
season and I think it’s safe to say the film will earn that same award from the
Academy this Sunday.
BEST SOUND MIXING/EDITING
MY PICKS: STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
I’ll admit that I don’t know too much about sound mixing and
sound editing so I can’t say much about it here. In short, my vote for both of
these categories goes to ‘Star Wars’ because in some ways I feels that the
sound design of the film is just as important as everything else that goes into
making it all work. For runner-up, I’m again going to go with the same film for
both categories; ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’. The reason? Well remember that scene in
the film where Max is on a long pole and moves across the screen as a big-ass
explosion happens behind him? That moment was one of the best uses of a
theater’s sound system that I’ve ever witnessed. You really could feel the
thundering nature of that explosion even when considering the fact that you
were just sitting in a theater watching it happen onscreen. In fact, I kind of
have the feeling that my runner-up pick might end up being the actual
frontrunner for both of these categories. Who knows?
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
*EARNED IT (FIFTY SHADES OF GREY)
*MANTA RAY (RACING EXTINCTION)
*SIMPLE SONG #3 (YOUTH)
*TIL IT HAPPENS TO YOU (THE HUNTING GROUND)
*WRITING’S ON THE WALL (SPECTRE)
MY PICK: ‘TIL IT HAPPENS TO YOU’
I actually have to admit that when I was originally writing
this section of the post, my original pick for Best Song was the criminally
underrated theme from the criminally underrated Bond film ‘Spectre’; Sam
Smith’s ‘Writing’s on the Wall’. Admittedly, the primary reason why I wanted it
to win was just so that in doing so, it would go against all of the criticism
that the song got when it first debuted online because I do think that it’s a
really good Bond theme, especially in regards to its orchestration and
romanticized feel reminiscent of past Bond themes like ‘Nobody Does It Better’
and ‘For Your Eyes Only’. However, after listening to the other nominees, my
pick changed to Lady Gaga’s emotionally powerful piece from the documentary
‘The Hunting Ground’, ‘Til it Happens to You’. ‘The Hunting Ground’ covers a
really serious topic in regards to sexual assaults on college campuses and
without having seen the actual film, this song is easily one of the best that
Lady Gaga has ever done. She herself has been a victim of sexual assault in the
past along with another member of her family so this song clearly must have
meant a lot to her and it shows in her performance. This whole year has been a
big one for Lady Gaga, as she also recently, and in some online circles rather
controversially, won a Golden Globe for her role in ‘American Horror Story:
Hotel’. And I think it’s safe to say she’ll probably be adding a well-earned
Oscar win to her long line of accolades this Sunday.
But what about the other songs in this category? While it
may not be my #1 pick anymore, ‘Writing’s on the Wall’ is still my runner-up
pick of the other 4 nominees for the reasons that I listed earlier. ‘Manta Ray’
from the documentary ‘Racing Extinction’ has a nice melody to it but I’m not as
positive on the vocals. I can’t really explain why but I feel that the song
would’ve just worked better as an instrumental piece. As for ‘Simple Song #3’
from the film ‘Youth’, it too has a very nice and calming melody, in this case
courtesy of a violin accompaniment. It also features a really nice performance
by South Korean singer Sumi Jo, resulting in a very relaxing song that played a
major part in the film, represented as a piece that had been written by Michael
Caine’s character. And finally, want to know a fun way to stun a lot of
cinefiles? Tell them that ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ got an Oscar nomination.
That’s right, ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’, one of the most mocked films of last
year, can now bear the distinction of being an Oscar nominated film. But you
know what? For as much flak as I know that I’m going to get for this, I’m not
bothered by this, simply because the film actually did have a pretty decent
soundtrack. Though with that said… why ‘Earned It’? I thought the big one from
that soundtrack was ‘Love Me Like You Do’ by Ellie Goulding. That was the one
that got nominated for a Golden Globe. But then again, ‘Earned It’ won a Grammy
so I guess it was technically the ‘bigger’ song on that album. I’m not
defending the film or anything, in fact it was on my Top 10 worst of the year
list, but even lousy films can have a solid soundtrack every now and then and,
at the very least, I can say that about ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’… which is pretty
much one of the only positive things that I can say about it.
P.S. Hey Academy, why
no nom for ‘See You Again’ from ‘Furious 7’?
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
*THOMAS NEWMAN- BRIDGE OF SPIES
*CARTER BURWELL- CAROL
*ENNIO MORRICONE- THE HATEFUL EIGHT
*JOHANN JOHANNSSON- SICARIO
*JOHN WILLIAMS- STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
MY PICK: THE HATEFUL EIGHT
As much as I would love to give my pick to John Williams for
his always excellent work for the ‘Star Wars’ franchise, my vote this year
actually goes to another legendary film composer, Ennio Morricone, who provided
the score for Quentin Tarantino’s latest balls-to-the-wall film epic, ‘The
Hateful Eight’. As many others will no doubt point out, there’s a very haunting
quality to Morricone’s score which matches pretty damn perfectly with the
tension that comes from the story and the snowy landscape. Some have even said
that the score feels like something out of a horror film, which is actually a pretty
decent analogy seeing how Morricone did the score for John Carpenter’s ‘The
Thing’, which just so happened to star ‘The Hateful Eight’s Kurt Russell. I
should probably also point out that Morricone actually hasn’t won an Oscar yet
for his work despite his long and historic run in the film industry. He did win
an ‘Honorary Academy Award’ in 2007 but has never won an official Oscar for
Best Score despite having been nominated five times before for films like ‘Days
of Heaven’ and ‘The Untouchables’. So yeah, I think it’s high time to give
Morricone an Oscar. But for my runner-up pick, I’m still going to go with John
Williams for his work on the latest ‘Star Wars’ film. Simply put, Williams and
‘Star Wars’ go together as well as PB&J.
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
MY PICK: SANJAY’S SUPER TEAM
I’ll admit that I haven’t seen four of the five nominees for
Animated Short Film so I’m just going to cut to the chase… my vote goes to
Pixar’s ‘Sanjay’s Super Team’, which was released in theaters along with ‘The
Good Dinosaur’. Sadly, no nomination was given to the short that ran with
‘Inside Out’, ‘Lava’. Based on what I’ve seen online it seems like that one
didn’t do as well with critics which is a shame because I personally thought it
was great. I thought it was really charming, had some gorgeous animation, and I
love the title song for it. But anyway, I’m getting off track… back to
‘Sanjay’s Super Team’. Watching this short, you can most certainly sense how
personal of a project this was to its creator, Sanjay Patel. This was directly
inspired by Sanjay’s childhood growing up in San Bernardino, where he struggled
at times with his identity due to him both following his family’s Indian
traditions and acting like your typical American kid through watching cartoons
and playing with action figures. This translates well into a short that has a
lot of heart to it, especially in regards to its ‘father-son’ story as the
father and son come to accept both of these identities instead of each of them
favoring one over the other. And of course, the animation is excellent, even
bringing in a cool superhero vibe. The Hinduist designs produce a superb,
colorful, and exotic style that gives the short a nice original look unseen
anywhere else. And speaking of Pixar…
BEST ANIMATED FILM
Well I’ve only seen
one of these films so, again, I’ll just cut to the chase. My pick goes to…
MY PICK: INSIDE OUT
What more needs to be said about ‘Inside Out’? While I’m not
one of the people who always expects Pixar to deliver a 15/10 masterpiece with
every film, ‘Inside Out’ does its purpose of satisfying ‘that crowd’, being the
first Pixar film since ‘Toy Story 3’ to receive universally positive reviews
from critics and audiences. And rightfully so as it was definitely one of the
studio’s finest and arguably most mature efforts to date. Not only did it
develop a pretty unique concept around the idea of personified emotions that
guide us through our daily lives (and yes, I’m aware of the ‘Herman’s Head’
comparisons. Moving on.), but it also handled them in a very mature way through
putting the main character of Riley through situations that a lot of us can
relate to, whether it’s moving to a new town/city like San Francisco or
starting class at a new school. And yes, as ironic as it is to say given the
fact that this is a film based around emotions, there are some very, very
emotional scenes throughout this film that are guaranteed to make you tear up.
Pair that with some of Pixar’s most colorful animation to date and a terrific
voice cast highlighted by Amy Poehler and Phyllis Smith in the roles of Joy and
Sadness, respectively, and you have an animated masterpiece that definitely
deserved all of the praise that it got when it was released. Though shockingly,
it didn’t get a nomination for Best Picture, which definitely surprised a lot
of people given how critically acclaimed it was and the fact that previous
critically acclaimed Pixar films like ‘Up’ and ‘Toy Story 3’ did end up getting
nominated for Best Picture as well as for Best Animated Feature. Well, at the
very least, I think it’s safe to say that this is the front-runner for this particular
category.
While I haven’t seen the other films in this category, I’m
sure they were great as well. This includes what may be Studio Ghibli’s final
film ‘When Marnie Was There’, Aardman Animation’s ‘Wallace and Gromit’ spin-off
‘Shaun the Sheep Movie’, and Charlie Kaufman’s highly acclaimed stop-motion
animated flick ‘Anomalisa’. However, this also resulted in two fairly
disappointing snubs in my opinion in regards to some of the other really great
animated films from this past year. One was Pixar’s other 2015 release ‘The
Good Dinosaur’, which unfortunately pretty much confirmed the film’s status as
a severe under-performer for the company. It only grossed about $300 million at
the box-office and while ‘Inside Out’ was critically acclaimed by both critics
and audiences alike, ‘The Good Dinosaur’ was received on the same level as
‘Brave’ and ‘Monsters University’, which is sad because I think that it’s
really underrated, even if it is much simpler in execution compared to ‘Inside
Out’. The other big snub was Blue Sky Studios’ ‘The Peanuts Movie’. And while I
know it wasn’t the most critically acclaimed animated film of the year, I
really, really loved this film as I felt it was one of the most heartwarming
films of 2015 by resurrecting one of the most classic franchises in pop culture
history but doing it with class and affection for the source material, which is
a very big deal considering that the filmmakers made the risky venture of
bringing the world of Peanuts to computer animation.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
*THE BIG SHORT
*BROOKLYN
*CAROL
*THE MARTIAN
*ROOM
MY PICK: THE MARTIAN
This category is a bit trickier to decide because I haven’t
read any of the books that these five films were based off. So instead, I have
to base this pick around which screenplay was the most well-written in my
opinion. So for my pick, I’m going with Drew Goddard’s screenplay for ‘The
Martian’ for making the complicated science that it covers easy to understand
without talking down to the audience. For my runner-up pick, I’m going to go
with a more serious screenplay in the form of ‘Room’. ‘Room’ primarily focused
on a young boy experiencing the outside world for the first time in his life
after he and his mom escape their captor who had kidnapped the mother years
earlier and trapped them within a tiny shed they call ‘Room’, hence the title
of the film. Obviously it is a very emotionally devastating story but it is one
that is executed perfectly thanks to the direction, the cast, and a solid
screenplay that does a fantastic job in conveying both the boy’s new life
experiences and his mother’s struggles with re-adjusting to normal life.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
*BRIDGE OF SPIES
*EX MACHINA
*INSIDE OUT
*SPOTLIGHT
*STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON
MY PICK: INSIDE OUT
Why not? If you ask me, I’d say this award should go to
Pixar’s latest masterpiece, which would actually be a first for an animated
feature as usually those films only get recognized for the ‘Best Animated
Feature’ award with a rare few occasionally getting a ‘Best Picture’ nom as
well. And because ‘Inside Out’ didn’t get a Best Picture nom this year, I think
that giving it the award for Best Original Screenplay would be a nice way to
compensate for that ‘snub’ by honoring one of the most maturely written
screenplays that Pixar has ever done. For my runner-up pick, I’m going to go
with ‘Spotlight’. Like ‘Room’, it covers a heavy subject, in this case a sexual
abuse scandal involving Roman Catholic priests, but handles it with maturity by
sympathizing with the victims of this scandal, not over-glorifying its
protagonists, and also conveying the effect that this scandal had on the people
of Boston.
Before I get into the acting categories, it’s now time for
me to finally address the elephant in the room; the Oscar diversity issue… again.
Yes, for the second year in a row, all of the nominees in the acting categories
are white with no minority actors or actresses getting a nomination. This
controversy, which spawned the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag, was an issue last year
as well but it has torpedoed into a full-blown outrage this year now that it’s
happened again. It’s gotten to the point where some folk in the industry, like
Spike Lee and Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, have announced that they’re
boycotting the ceremony… and I’m just going to be frank… I feel that the whole
boycotting situation is rather ridiculous. Now for the record, I’m not saying
that this diversity thing isn’t an issue. It is, and thankfully the Academy has
made it clear that they recognize the issue at hand as well and are now taking
considerable efforts to prevent something like this from happening again. But
remember in the intro to this post how I said no one should take the Oscars
‘that’ seriously? Well, the same principle applies here because it’s not entirely
the Academy’s fault that this has happened. I concur with people like Whoopi
Goldberg who say that it’s more of an issue with the film industry in general
for not giving enough roles to minorities. And to quote Goldberg again,
boycotting the show would be a huge disservice to Chris Rock, who has to
weather all of this as this year’s host.
Now, sure, the Academy could’ve done a much better job at
highlighting minority performances from this past year, like the cast of
‘Straight Outta Compton’ or Samuel L. Jackson in ‘The Hateful Eight’. But at
the end of the day, they’re just voting for a winner. They’re not the ones who
are responsible for making the films that come out every year. All that they’re
doing is just listing some of the best performances of the year and picking
four names out of the 20 that are nominated. Of course these award shows are
just as subjective as film itself and as some have argued, considering the fact
that the acting categories are limited to five names per category, it’s really
hard to limit down the best performances of the year to just five. Similar to
how the Best Picture category has grown in size from five nominees to ten
nominees and then a random number of nominees every year for some reason, some
suggest that the acting categories should be expanded from just five
performances from the past year. But at the end of the day, that’s as much as
I’m going to say about this whole Oscar diversity thing because I don’t like to
normally talk about this stuff when it comes to film. That doesn’t mean I don’t
recognize the issues at hand, I just don’t like talking about them. And again,
I do recognize the issue at hand with the Academy’s troubles when it comes to
diversity. However, this whole diversity issue is more of an issue with the
film industry in general than it is in regards to a simple awards ceremony. Now
that I’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s get into this year’s nominees for
Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
*JENNIFER JASON LEIGH- THE HATEFUL EIGHT
*ROONEY MARA- CAROL
*RACHEL MCADAMS- SPOTLIGHT
*ALICIA VIKANDER- THE DANISH GIRL
*KATE WINSLET- STEVE JOBS
MY PICK: JENNIFER JASON LEIGH
Of these next categories, Best Supporting Actress was the
hardest to pick because this category is full of terrific performances across
the board. While ‘The Danish Girl’ ended up being a rather polarizing film in
regards to how it handled the true story of Einar Wegener/Lili Elbe, Alicia
Vikander was easily the film’s biggest highlight, even outshining her co-star
Eddie Redmayne in the role of Einar/Lili’s wife Gerda Wegener. Again, while the
film itself didn’t really cover the complete story of Lili and Gerda, Vikander’s
performance helped give the film a really good amount of heart and emotion,
resulting in one of many great performances from her in what has most certainly
been her breakout year. Another terrific performance that stood toe to toe with
the film’s main lead was Kate Winslet in the role of Steve Jobs’ confidant
Joanna Hoffman in the Apple founder’s titular biopic. Winslet, who has already
proven herself time and time again to be one of the best actresses in the
businesses, more than held her own against Michael Fassbender as the one who
was responsible for keeping Jobs’ moral compass in check. Rachel McAdams also
shined in the role of reporter Sacha Pfeiffer in ‘Spotlight’, the Spotlight
team’s lone female reporter whose family, particularly her grandmother, ended
up being hit hard by the Catholic Priest Scandal, and as for Rooney Mara in
‘Carol’… well I haven’t seen the film so I can’t comment on it.
Ultimately though my pick goes to Jennifer Jason Leigh for
her standout turn as the feral Daisy Domergue in Quentin Tarantino’s ‘The
Hateful Eight’. Believe it or not, this is Leigh’s first nomination for an
Academy Award despite the fact that she’s long been regarded as one of the best
actresses in the business. And while I’ll admit that I haven’t seen a lot of
the films that she’s been in, her turn in ‘The Hateful Eight’ is more than enough
proof of how talented of an actress she is. To put this next statement as
nicely as I can, given the fact that pretty much all of the main characters in
this film are despicable people, Daisy Domergue is a very animated character
and Leigh, who’s particularly been known for her method acting, really sinks
into the role of a character who spends the whole film chained to Kurt
Russell’s John ‘The Hangman’ Ruth, resulting in yet another classic Tarantino
character. The tough part now is trying to list my runner-up pick for this
category. I guess if I had to choose from the other three whose films I have
seen my main runner-up pick would be Kate Winslet in ‘Steve Jobs’. It seems
like Winslet’s currently a favorite to win having also won a Golden Globe and
BAFTA award for her work in the film. I think it’d also be pretty cool to see
Alicia Vikander win for ‘The Danish Girl’, even though a lot of film fans feel
she should’ve been nominated for her role as Ava in Alex Garland’s ‘Ex Machina’.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
*CHRISTIAN BALE- THE BIG SHORT
*TOM HARDY- THE REVENANT
*MARK RUFFALO- SPOTLIGHT
*MARK RYLANCE- BRIDGE OF SPIES
*SYLVESTER STALLONE- CREED
MY PICK: SYLVESTER STALLONE
At the 49th Academy Awards, one of the biggest
upsets in Oscar history occurred when ‘Rocky’, in an underdog manner that
paralleled the journey of its titular character, won the Oscar for Best Picture
beating out films like Martin Scorcese’s ‘Taxi Driver’, ‘Network’, and ‘All the
President’s Men’. Its star/writer Sylvester Stallone was nominated for Best
Actor as well but did not win. Nearly four decades later, it’s looking like
Stallone will finally land Oscar gold for his seventh turn as the most famous
character of his career, Rocky Balboa, in Ryan Coogler’s ‘Creed’. And given the
rapturous ovation that he got when he won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting
Actor last month, clearly a lot of people want to see him win it… and quite
frankly he should. Stallone has always been great in the ‘Rocky’ films and in ‘Creed’,
he’s arguably at his best. Rocky may not be the main character this time around
but he still is a vital part of the story as he takes on the role of mentor for
his old rival Apollo’s son, Adonis Johnson Creed. But at the same time, Rocky
finds himself struggling with his own fight outside of the ring when he learns
that he’s been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. It’s probably the lowest
that we’ve ever seen Rocky be at and it gets to the point where he feels his that
time is done, especially considering many of those who were close to him (e.g.
Adrian, Paulie, Apollo, etc.) are now gone. It’s arguably the most emotional
performance of Stallone’s career and that’s why he earns my vote for Best
Supporting Actor.
But that shouldn’t take away from the other great
performances in this category. Mark Rylance was the big standout of ‘Bridge of
Spies’ with his reserved and in some ways unassuming composure in the role of
Soviet spy Rudolf Abel. Mark Ruffalo was also one of the biggest standouts of
his film as reporter Michael Rezendes in ‘Spotlight’, who’s shown to be the
most on edge of the Spotlight team when it comes to uncovering the Boston
church scandal. As John Fitzgerald in ‘The Revenant’, Tom Hardy portrayed a
‘villain’ that was actually a pretty layered character despite his status as an
antagonist towards Hugh Glass. And despite the instances where the film strayed
from the true story it was based on, Hardy’s performance was just as superb as
his main co-star’s was. And finally, there’s Christian Bale in ‘The Big Short’
as Michael Burry, the hedge fund manager who was the first to notice the rocky
stability of the housing market back in 2005. Burry is quite frankly the most
fascinating of the film’s main characters; he’s undoubtedly a genius but also
fairly anti-social, primarily due to him being diagnosed with Asperger
syndrome. Of these four, my runner-up pick is actually going to be a tie
between Hardy and Ruffalo, though obviously I think it’s safe to say that
Stallone will be taking this one come Sunday.
BEST ACTRESS
*CATE BLANCHETT- CAROL
*BRIE LARSON- ROOM
*JENNIFER LAWRENCE- JOY
*CHARLOTTE RAMPLING- 45 YEARS
*SAOIRSE RONAN- BROOKLYN
MY PICK: BRIE LARSON
This year’s group of Best Actress nominees featured two
particularly noteworthy performances from Brie Larson and Saoirse Ronan. Both
of these actresses have already had fairly lengthy careers but this year saw
them both experiencing their true breakout performances through ‘Room’ and
‘Brooklyn’, respectively. Ultimately, though, it was Larson who shined the most
in her turn as Joy ‘Ma’ Newsome in ‘Room’. Simply put, it was a very tough role
for Larson, who had to take on the responsibilities of a character who was both
a young mother and a kidnap victim, whose son is the only real bright spot of
her life at that point. While the bulk of the film centered around her son Jack
experiencing the outside world for the first time, we also see how Joy
struggles to readjust to her normal life after her very traumatic experience.
Obviously, this is one very emotionally devastating story and Larson handles
her character’s shattered composure perfectly. Speaking of characters named
Joy, my runner-up pick for this category (even though Larson is clearly the
front-runner) is Jennifer Lawrence for her turn as entrepreneur Joy Mangano in
David O. Russell’s ‘Joy’. Though with that said, it seems like Lawrence’s third
straight Oscar nomination since 2012 has attracted a much more polarizing
reaction from film fans as a result of the film’s generally polarizing
reception. But I heavily disagree with those who say that she shouldn’t have
been nominated, mostly because I think they’re just saying that because they
weren’t big fans of the film. But even if ‘Joy’ wasn’t the absolute best film
of the year, there’s no denying that Lawrence was still superb in the role of
Mangano. Once she starts getting into the entrepreneurial business, Lawrence
takes command of the screen and as a result, is easily the best part of the
film.
BEST ACTOR
*BRYAN CRANSTON- TRUMBO
*MATT DAMON- THE MARTIAN
*LEONARDO DICAPRIO- THE REVENANT
*MICHAEL FASSBENDER- STEVE JOBS
*EDDIE REDMAYNE- THE DANISH GIRL
MY PICK: LEONARDO DICAPRIO
Yeah I know… I’m obvious. But hey, can you blame me? Leo was
put through one hell of a shoot for ‘The Revenant’ but he came out on top to
deliver yet another terrific performance that will hopefully get him that long
awaited Oscar that has eluded him for so long. Another reason why I’m rooting
for him? Well that would be the fact that I’d hate to see how angry the
internet would get if Leo doesn’t win. Obviously, Leo’s cold streak at the
Oscars has become quite a running joke online but something tells me that the
internet would be particularly pissed off if he doesn’t win this year. So if
any of the other 4 nominees in this category ends up winning instead, they’re
definitely going to catch a lot of heat from angry film fans for stealing Leo’s
thunder. Of those four, something tells me that last year’s winner Eddie
Redmayne would get blasted the most on the internet if he beats Leo because
‘The Danish Girl’ wasn’t as well-received as Redmayne’s last Oscar flick ‘The
Theory of Everything’. But you know what? If he ends up winning, I will defend
the guy from angry internet fanboys because he actually did do a really good
job in ‘The Danish Girl’.
Now like I said earlier, ‘The Danish Girl’ isn’t a perfect
film, primarily due to the fact that it’s more of a fictional interpretation of
the story of Lili Elbe. It should also be noted that Redmayne’s casting in the
role of Lili attracted a considerable amount of backlash due to the fact that a
cisgender man (in other words, one who identifies with his/her assigned gender)
was taking on the role of the famous transgender figure. But even with that in
mind, Redmayne did handle the role with maturity and grace and because of it,
he and Alicia Vikander were the biggest bright spots of the film. It wasn’t
their fault that the film didn’t completely deliver on the emotional depth of
its true story. So in conclusion, if Redmayne wins this award for the second
year in a row, I will legitimately be happy for him because he is one of my
favorite up-and-coming actors in the industry. However, considering the
typically savage nature of the internet when it comes to the Oscars, it’d
probably be better that he doesn’t win so that the internet won’t crucify him
for beating DiCaprio. In fact, he isn’t even my primary runner-up pick. That
distinction actually goes to Michael Fassbender as Steve Jobs in, well, ‘Steve
Jobs’. He may not have necessarily looked like Jobs but he most certainly acted
like him. Matt Damon was also terrific in ‘The Martian’ but I don’t think he’s
got much of a chance at winning this year.
BEST DIRECTOR
*ADAM MCKAY- THE BIG SHORT
*GEORGE MILLER- MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
*ALEJANDRO G. INARRITU- THE REVENANT
*LENNY ABRAHAMSON- ROOM
*TOM MCCARTHY- SPOTLIGHT
MY PICK: ADAM MCKAY
I’ll admit that this was another tough category to
determine. I’ve seen some argue that maybe it should go to either George Miller
for ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ or Alejandro G. Inarritu, which would be his second
straight win in this category, for ‘The Revenant’ due to the generally rough
shoots that they had to endure in order to get these films made. But as
well-shot and well-directed as both films are, they both suffered in terms of
writing so instead I’m focusing more on the other three nominees in this
category due to the fact that their films were a bit more balanced when it came
to the material. Ultimately, my pick for Best Director will be Adam McKay for
‘The Big Short’. Obviously McKay is mainly known for his work in comedy,
particularly his collaborations with Will Ferrell including ‘Anchorman’ and
‘Talladega Nights’. He even helped write the screenplay for ‘Ant-Man’. With
‘The Big Short’, though, McKay ended up going ‘against type’ to helm a
true-story drama. But that doesn’t mean that his comedic abilities weren’t
utilized, as the film’s witty screenplay helped lighten up the mood, which is a
good thing considering that this film was about the financial crisis of 2008. For
my runner-up pick, I’ll be going with Tom McCarthy for ‘Spotlight’, where he
perfectly balanced the elements of this true story in order to highlight the
importance of investigative journalism without over-glorifying its
protagonists.
BEST PICTURE
And finally we come to Best Picture. For this part, I’m just
going to do a ranked list of the eight nominees, starting from my least favorite
to the film that earns my vote for Best Picture.
8. MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
So yeah, if you’ve been following me for at least a year
now, you probably know that I wasn’t too big on ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’. I didn’t
‘dislike’ it but I do feel that the internet had considerably overhyped it in
regards to many people calling this ‘one of the best films of the year’. I’ll
admit I went into it without having previously seen the last three ‘Mad Max’
films but even though some say that you don’t have to see them before seeing
this film, I do feel that doing so would’ve helped me get a better idea of what
to expect. Now despite what I have to say about this film, I will give it
credit for its greatest asset; its action. Primarily shot with practical
effects and stunt-work unlike a lot of today’s action films, ‘Fury Road’ does
feature some amazing action backed up by a terrific production design and an eye-popping
color scheme. The film also features terrific performances from the likes of
Charlize Theron as the film’s true main character Furiosa and Nicholas Hoult as
arguably the film’s stand-out character Nux. But while those two performances
are great as is the action, the film is severely lacking in regards to its
story. Now for the record, I know that this wasn’t really the primary goal of
the filmmakers and that the film is meant to be focused more on the visceral
nature of the action. Still, at the end of the day this is just a simple ‘road
chase’ film and Furiosa and Nux are really the only major characters in this
film to get any sort of character development. And while the film may be called
‘Mad Max’, Tom Hardy is severely underused in the role of Max, who’s basically
just a spectator to this whole plot and nothing more. Again, let me be clear, I
don’t ‘hate’ this film but I just don’t see why some treated this film like it
was the second coming of Christ. As great as the action is, the story is
lacking so I feel that adding just a bit more to it, namely in regards to
character development, would’ve truly made it one for the ages in my book.
7. BROOKLYN
‘Brooklyn’ is a very charming romantic drama featuring a
standout performance from lead actress Saoirse Ronan. She stars as a young
Irish girl named Eilis who immigrates from her hometown in Ireland to Brooklyn,
New York when her sister gets her a job in the city. While there, she meets and
falls in love with a local boy named Tony (Emory Cohen) but when she learns
that her sister has died, she returns home for the funeral and is courted by a
local bachelor named Jim (Domhnall Gleeson), which puts her in a conflict
regarding her status in both her hometown and her new home of Brooklyn. The
film is very nicely shot and does a great job of capturing the struggle that
Eilis goes through in having to adapt to a new world and the heartbreak that
comes from having to leave her family behind, which does result in some
genuinely heartbreaking moments like when Eilis first talks with her mom over
the phone after her sister’s death. While she has already had a pretty lengthy
career with films like ‘Atonement’ and ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’, I view
‘Brooklyn’ as Saoirse Ronan’s true breakout performance. It’s the most mature
role that she has taken to date and she handles it beautifully, all while being
backed by a solid supporting cast that includes Cohen and Gleeson as her
potential suitors and Julie Walters in a standout turn as Eilis’ stern but kind
landlady in Brooklyn. The only reason why it’s this low on this list is because
as good as it is, I don’t think it’ll take Best Picture.
6. THE REVENANT
Again, I already talked about this film earlier this week in
my official review for the film. For a more extensive description of my
thoughts on it, click
Here for that review. In short, ‘The Revenant’ heavily
benefits from terrific cinematography from Emmanuel Lubezki and solid direction
from Alejandro G. Inarritu. It also features Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy in
some of the best performances of their careers. But despite the great
cinematography, the film itself lacks quite a bit in terms of emotional depth,
primarily because it occasionally goes against the real-life events that it is
inspired by. This film gives the character of Hugh Glass a son that he never
had in real life so we don’t care too much about the son when he gets killed by
John Fitzgerald. Plus, the film’s ending is drastically different from what
really happened to Glass and Fitzgerald and as cool as this finale is, I think
the real ending would’ve been much more interesting and even rather
thought-provoking because of the fact that Glass ultimately never got the
chance to take revenge on Fitzgerald for leaving him to die. By the time he
returned to civilization, Fitzgerald had joined the army and Glass realized
that he would’ve gotten in even bigger trouble if he killed a U.S soldier. But
in the end, that’s not the path the film takes and as a result it feels rather
hollow. Still a great-looking film though featuring what could be the
performance that could finally earn Leo his long-awaited Oscar.
5. BRIDGE OF SPIES
While not my favorite of this year’s Best Picture nominees
or even one of Spielberg’s absolute best, there’s still no denying that ‘Bridge
of Spies’ is very much a Spielberg film. With him in control, you can always
expect a well-shot, well-edited, and overall just well-made film and that’s
definitely the case here with this true story about how one man, James B.
Donovan, orchestrated a prisoner exchange between the U.S. and the Soviet Union
in the midst of the Cold War. Tom Hanks, as usual, is terrific in the role of
Donovan as is Mark Rylance in the role of the unassuming Rudolf Abel, who was
put in the center of the U.S.’s Cold War paranoia when he was arrested on the
charge of being a Soviet spy. Really the only thing that keeps this from being
one of Spielberg’s all-time best films is the fact that because the film is
covering two major ‘storylines’ in the form of Donovan taking on the already
lost case of Abel and the prisoner exchange for Francis Gary Powers, it can be
a bit dry at times and lacks a bit in terms of tension. But again, this film is
pure Spielberg and fans of his work are most certainly going to love his latest
offering.
4. ROOM
‘Room’ is one hell of an emotionally-draining film, in which
Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay star as a mother and son who, unbeknownst to the
son, have been held captive for years in a tiny shed by a man who had kidnapped
the mother, Joy, when she was a teenager. Once they finally get free, the film
primarily focuses around Joy’s struggles with PTSD and her son Jack
experiencing the world for the first time. Again, heavy stuff here but the film
also brings us a terrific mother-son relationship between Joy and Jack, both of
whom are played excellently by Larson and Tremblay, which makes the happy
moments between them all the more satisfying. Like Saoirse Ronan in ‘Brooklyn’,
‘Room’ is easily Brie Larson’s breakout role and she handles the deep emotional
turmoil of Joy perfectly. I’ll admit it took me a little bit to get used to
Tremblay as Jack but once the two of them get free, Tremblay is also superb and
Jack’s adjustment to the real world is fascinating to behold. All of this comes
together for a film that is, again, very hard to watch at times but also gives
us a great story about how a mother’s love for her son helped them escape their
precarious situation.
3. THE BIG SHORT
I’ll admit it… I know very little about economics and
anything relating to Wall Street and the housing market. But the great thing
about Adam McKay’s drama ‘The Big Short’, which focuses on three separate
parties who in 2005 realize that the housing market is about to collapse and
shows how they decided to bet against it, that it recognizes that not everyone
is going to understand the details of the topics that it’s covering. So in
order to combat that, the film maintains a generally light-hearted tone via the
occasional quips, mostly from Ryan Gosling’s character Jared, who basically
serves as the film’s narrator, and a series of cameos from the likes of Margot
Robbie and Selena Gomez who help explain some of the things they’re talking
about in this film. The fact that this film does take a bit of a humorous slant
to the story definitely is impressive and in some cases I guess you can say
necessary for a story like this. That’s because, as the film clearly shows,
while the main characters all come off wealthy as a result of them betting
against the housing market, that’s actually coming at the expense of pretty
much almost everyone else in the country. It serves as a biting indictment of
the big banks for letting this happen in the first place and for basically getting
away with it. In short, McKay’s rare foray into drama turns out to be an
incredibly well-acted and fast-paced take on one of the most fascinating events
in recent U.S. history by focusing on those who saw it coming before anyone
else.
2. THE MARTIAN
While it may not have made my Top 12 for the year, ‘The
Martian’ was most certainly one of the most entertaining blockbusters of 2015.
And that’s saying a lot considering that this film, based on the novel of the
same name by Andy Weir, is primarily based around a lot of science and could’ve
ran the risk of being overly complicated for some viewers. Thankfully, that
doesn’t happen as Drew Goddard’s screenplay, Weir’s writing, and Ridley Scott’s
direction give the film a solid structure in which the science is explained in
a way that’s pretty easy to understand without talking down to the audience.
Plus, the film is anchored by Matt Damon’s outstanding performance in the lead
role of stranded astronaut Mark Watney. Damon brings a lot of charisma to the
role while also providing us with a good amount of humor via the occasional wit
that comes from the screenplay. Though with that said, I guess I do need to
address the ‘elephant in the room’ which is the fact that, at this year’s
Golden Globes, the film was nominated for Best Comedy… and won. That became a
running joke on the internet but honestly I think the backlash towards this
nomination was a bit overblown. Yes, technically speaking, ‘The Martian’ is not
primarily a comedy. It’s a story of survival in the harsh environment that is
the Red Planet. But it was because of Matt Damon’s performance that the film
gained a nice amount of humor via Watney’s wit and occasionally cocky (in a
good way) attitude. So in other words, this film being nominated for Best Comedy
isn’t a ‘completely out of left field’ move. To quote the RT consensus, this
film is ‘surprisingly funny’, which I felt was a good move because it helped
lighten the mood at just the right moments without being a straight-up comedy,
hence why ‘The Martian’ was most definitely one of the most enjoyable films
from this past year.
But at the end of the day, my favorite film of this year’s
Best Picture nominees, and subsequently my vote for Best Picture, goes to…
MY PICK: SPOTLIGHT
‘Spotlight’ is the true story of what happened in 2001 when
the ‘Spotlight’ team of the Boston Globe
investigated into the very substantial child sex abuse scandal involving up to
87 Catholic priests in the Boston area and the cover-up of it as orchestrated
by Cardinal Law. Obviously this is a very serious subject matter and director
Tom McCarthy handles the situation with maturity. It’s not like the film tries
to over-glorify its heroes, the members of the Spotlight team. Instead, it
balances the focus between the Spotlight team and the victims of this scandal.
And ultimately the reason why this works is because the film really does
highlight how impactful the scandal was for the people of Boston given how big
the Church has been in the lives of many in the area and the fact that all of
the members of the Spotlight team were raised as Roman Catholics. At the same
time, the film also highlights the importance of investigative journalism as
well as even taking a little bit of time to address the growing divide between
print and online journalism, which basically makes this an absolute must-see
for anyone interested in the journalism industry. And of course, the film
features a terrific ensemble cast. While everyone in the cast is great, from
Stanley Tucci to Rachel McAdams to Liev Schreiber, the two biggest standouts
are Michael Keaton as Spotlight’s no-nonsense editor Walter Robinson and Mark
Ruffalo as reporter Mike Rezendes, who quite arguably takes the reveals of
their investigation the hardest as evident in a scene where he and Robinson get
into an argument over publishing the story before the Boston Herald is able to write it before them. Admittedly I don’t
know what this film’s chances are at taking Best Picture but of these 8
nominees, my favorite of the bunch is ‘Spotlight’.
So those are my picks
for this year’s Academy Awards. What films/performances have your vote for this
year’s event? Sound off in the comments below with your picks and stay tuned
for my Post-Oscars reaction post sometime after Sunday.
