Madagascar - Series Retrospective (DreamWorks Animation Retrospective #2)

Greetings, folks, and welcome to another installment of a new series of retrospectives here on Rhode Island Movie Corner that will be covering the numerous films produced by DreamWorks Animation. Given that the studio has produced more than forty films up to this point, I decided to do the same thing that I did with my retrospective series on Walt Disney Animation and split what would’ve been a ridiculously massive single post into separate parts. But whereas the Disney retrospectives were divvied up by decades, I decided to start off the DreamWorks series by focusing on the company’s biggest animated franchises; in other words, the ones that, at the very least, have yielded a trilogy of films. This, of course, began with a look at one of the indisputable juggernauts of animation, Shrek, and today, we move on to the second major DreamWorks franchise that reached the trilogy mark, Madagascar. Primarily developed by the directorial duo of Tom McGrath (who has since gone on to direct other DreamWorks films like Megamind and the Boss Baby films) and Eric Darnell (who co-directed DreamWorks’ first computer animated film Antz), the Madagascar series follows a group of animals from the Central Park Zoo who find themselves forced to survive on their own in the wild. While the series was never much of a runaway hit with critics, it has been a relatively consistent performer at the box-office as its three mainline installments and one spin-off collectively grossed over $2.2 billion worldwide, which does make it DreamWorks’ second highest-grossing franchise to date (bested only, of course, by Shrek) and the industry’s seventh highest-grossing animated film franchise overall. So, let’s not waste any more time and get ready to “move it, move it” as Rhode Island Movie Corner proudly presents its retrospective on the Madagascar series.

(Also, for those who may have missed the Shrek retrospective, the one major ground rule that I set up for these DreamWorks retrospectives is that I’ll only be covering their feature film output and none of the TV shows that any of their IPs have spawned which, in this instance, includes the Penguins of Madagascar series on Nickelodeon that I did watch a couple episodes of when I was younger, the Netflix series All Hail King Julien, and the prequel series Madagascar: A Little Wild that recently released its final season on both Hulu and Peacock.)

MADAGASCAR (2005)

As I alluded to in the intro, Madagascar is often seen as a franchise that got better as time went on, and in some cases, it’s easy to see why when looking back at the original Madagascar from 2005. Despite an impressive $556.6 million run at the box office (which made it the sixth highest-grossing film of the year), reviews for it were average at best. Going back to something that I mentioned in the Shrek retrospective, this was right around the time when DreamWorks Animation was garnering quite a bit of a reputation amongst its biggest critics for allegedly making nothing but pop-culture-dependent kiddie flicks that, as financially successful as they were, didn’t hold a candle to the likes of Disney and Pixar. And by most accounts, this was another instance of DreamWorks trying to one-up Disney as they managed to get Madagascar out before Disney’s ‘Central Park Zoo animals travel to the jungle’ film, The Wild, thus resulting in the rare instance where Disney was accused of ripping off DreamWorks even though The Wild had been in the works for much longer. Conversely, this film’s sequels/spin-offs were released during a time when DreamWorks films finally started to rely less on the studio’s established formula. Still, as much as I can see why its sequels are largely seen as superior films, the first Madagascar, just like the first Shrek, has always been a strong personal favorite of mine. For starters, I’d argue that this film is right up there with Shrek as one of the most quotable films of all time, whether it’s Marty yelling ‘Oh, Sugar Honey Iced Tea!” when he runs away from an angry Alex (think about it for a second and you’ll see what I mean 😉) or the Penguins finally reaching their desired location of Antarctica and immediately declaring “Well, this sucks!”.

Overall, the first Madagascar does succeed in being a light-hearted comedy adventure that, admittedly, is often just as light when it comes to its writing. Sure, part of this can be attributed to the fact that the filmmakers had to cut a pregnancy storyline involving Gloria (as well as a blossoming relationship with Melman) to avoid a PG-13 rating, but despite centering on a quartet of main protagonists, the film largely focuses on Alex and Marty. Still, for what it’s worth, everything with Alex and Marty, from Marty’s desire to experience life beyond the Central Park Zoo to Alex’s increasingly deranged state due to a lack of food nearly resulting in him eating Marty, is nicely handled from an emotional standpoint, thus emphasizing the strength of their friendship. And just like Shrek, this film thrives on its great ensemble cast of characters headlined by the lovable lead quartet of Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith), and Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer), not to mention a scene-stealing turn from Sacha Baron Cohen as the hilariously self-obsessed Julien, king of the Madagascar lemurs. In short, while it may be far from being the best animated film of its time, the original Madagascar has just enough of a decent emotional hook to its proceedings that it ends up being more than just your standard early 2000s animated film. As such, it’s easy to see why this ended up becoming DreamWorks’ next big film franchise after Shrek which, admittedly, isn’t something that a lot of the studio’s other films at the time were able to do.

Rating: 4.5/5

MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA (2008)

With the original Madagascar becoming DreamWorks’ biggest hit at the box-office since the first two Shrek films, it’s not that surprising to see that a sequel was put into development not long after its release; thus, in 2008, the adventures of Alex, Marty, Gloria, and Melman continued with Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. In this film, the Central Park Zoo gang seemingly find themselves on the way back to New York by way of the old derelict airplane from on top of the lemurs’ big tree. However, when said plane inevitably crash lands, the gang find themselves directly on the African mainland where they each find themselves dealing with their own bits of personal drama. Alex ends up reuniting with his long-lost parents but struggles to reacclimate into his old lion pride, especially due to the antics of his father Zuba’s (Bernie Mac) conniving rival, Makunga (Alec Baldwin). Meanwhile, Marty comes across a bunch of other zebras but soon finds himself undergoing an identity crisis when he realizes that his new zebra friends all look, talk, and act just like him (which means, yes, every zebra in this film is voiced by Chris Rock). Finally, Melman begins to try and express the romantic feelings that he has for Gloria, a process that’s complicated by a potential relationship between her and local womanizer Moto Moto (will.i.am). So, right off the bat, one of the first things that Madagascar 2 does better than its predecessor is that it does a better job of balancing out the roles of its main protagonists. Sure, Alex is still largely the central focus at the end of the day, but since this film finally utilizes the romance subplot between Gloria and Melman that had to get cut out of the first film to maintain its family-friendly rating, Madagascar 2 ends up being more of a true ensemble piece.

In general, Escape 2 Africa feels far more committed to the process of fleshing out its main characters rather than just focusing on its humor. Don’t get me wrong, this is still primarily a comedy as is usually the case with DreamWorks films, but whereas a film like Shrek the Third lost sight of its story and characters as a result of its overt focus on trying to match Shrek 2’s sharp and fast-paced wit, Escape 2 Africa manages to find a much better balance when it comes to managing its humor and its emotional beats. And when it comes to the former of those two, this film does an excellent job of following the example set by Shrek 2 by having its comedic moments come at you faster and harder, resulting in what is quite arguably a much more upbeat and energetic film when compared to its immediate predecessor. Sure, most of the new characters introduced here are, admittedly, one-off characters who don’t return for the sequel, but there are still some solid performances from the likes of Bernie Mac (in what was ultimately one of his final roles following his passing in 2008) and Sherri Shepherd as Alex’s parents Zuba and Florrie and Alec Baldwin as Makunga, a classic example of a ‘love to hate him’ antagonist. Thus, with all that and some significantly improved animation, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is very much the same kind of superior sequel that Shrek 2 was for the Shrek franchise. As much as I do still love the first Madagascar film, especially because it’s the one film from this franchise that I have the most history with (by comparison, I never owned this film on DVD but did rewatch it several times over the years), it’s hard to deny that the second film improves upon several of its predecessor’s biggest shortcomings. And as we’ll soon see, this didn’t end up being a case like the Shrek franchise where its overall success with critics peaked with its second film.

Rating: 5/5!

MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE’S MOST WANTED (2012)

Co-directors Tom McGrath and Eric Darnell were joined by a third director, longtime DreamWorks storyboard artist/director (as well as the voice of fan-favorite Shrek sidekick Gingy) Conrad Vernon, for the third installment of the Madagascar franchise, Europe’s Most Wanted. As the title suggests, the film sees the Central Park Zoo gang forced to go on the run across Europe after running amok in Monte Carlo as they tag along with a fledgling circus to try and return home to New York all while being pursued by Captain Chantel DuBois, an utterly imposing and seemingly unstoppable Animal Control agent who seeks to capture her #1 target, a lion, and add its head to her wall. And to conclude the point that I’ve been making throughout this retrospective, Madagascar 3 proved to be the franchise’s biggest critical and commercial hit upon its release. While Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa’s $603.9 million run was a significant improvement over the original’s box-office haul, Madagascar 3 managed to top that with a $746.9 million haul, which is currently the fourth-highest total that any DreamWorks film has achieved (bested only by the three Shrek sequels)… and one that, admittedly, no other DreamWorks film since has managed to top. It also pulled off a feat that most threequels never come close to achieving by garnering the best reviews in franchise history to the point where it most likely managed to win over those who weren’t too big on the first two films.

After Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa did a fine job of adopting a more rapid-fire style of humor, Madagascar 3 goes even further with that approach, resulting in a non-stop barrage of visual comedy that’s bolstered by some of the sharpest animation that this series has seen yet. Much of this is thanks to the film’s scene-stealing villain DuBois, whose borderline psychotic antics (as well as Frances McDormand’s truly committed performance in the role) provide many of the film’s best comedic bits. As usual, though, the other new additions to the cast (namely, the Central Park Zoo gang’s new friends at the circus) are solid as well, including Bryan Cranston’s Vitaly, the circus’ gruff star performer tiger who was traumatized by a disastrous past performance, Jessica Chastain’s Gia, a trapeze-savvy Jaguar who forms a romantic connection with Alex, and Martin Short’s Stefano, a happy-go-lucky sea lion. In short, while I may not have the same kind of history with this film that I have with the first two Madagascar films (to put this into perspective, the rewatch that I did for this retrospective was only the second time that I’d ever watched it), Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted is, indeed, a high mark for the franchise. It fully embraces the madcap tone and atmosphere that the franchise had slowly but surely adopted over the years, resulting in a highly entertaining animated comedy that works quite well even if it may not be as focused on its character development as it is with its humor.

Rating: 5/5!

Also, no regrets!

PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR (2014)

From the moment the first Madagascar hit theaters, it was clear that its quartet of highly trained penguins (Skipper, Private, Kowalski, and Rico) were shaping up to be the franchise’s biggest standouts. Naturally, DreamWorks capitalized on this as early as that same year with a Penguins-centric short, The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper, which ran in theaters with DreamWorks’ 2005 Aardman collaboration Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and was a bonus feature on the first Madagascar’s home video release (also, it was notably directed by Beauty and the Beast co-director Gary Trousdale). Three years later, following the release of Escape 2 Africa, the penguins headlined the franchise’s first TV spin-off, The Penguins of Madagascar, which was developed by the same team behind the hit Disney Channel series Kim Possible and ran for three seasons from 2008 to 2015 on Nickelodeon and its premium cable sister network, Nicktoons. Finally, in 2014, the penguins were given their own feature film, Penguins of Madagascar (which, to be clear, had no direct relation to the show), which, like the Shrek franchise’s spin-off Puss in Boots, originally started out as a direct-to-video release before it was promoted to the big screen. Unlike Puss in Boots, however, the Penguins of Madagascar film ended up being a financial dud. While a $373.5 million run at the box office doesn’t seem that bad… the film itself sported a hefty $132 million budget. This combined with the similar underperformance of another 2014 DreamWorks release, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, resulted in the studio having to take a $57.1 million write-down. And by most accounts, this was a prominent factor in the major bout of restructuring that DreamWorks underwent in 2015 that resulted in five hundred job terminations and the closure of their longtime animation studio, PDI.

And yet, even with all that in mind, seeing how this film was relatively on par with Madagascar 3 in terms of its critical reception, it’s safe to say that if its poor financial performance and the negative impact that it had on the studio resulted in it garnering some sort of bad reputation, the film itself certainly doesn’t give off the impression that it was an all-around disastrous release. In short, the Penguins of Madagascar film is a good old-fashioned popcorn flick with a lot of bright and colorful animation and a likable bunch of characters to headline it. Heck, the film even manages to yield some surprisingly effective emotional moments by way of its primary character arc in which the largely overlooked Private finally manages to prove himself as a valued member of the team. But, of course, just like the mainline Madagascar films, Penguins of Madagascar is a comedy first and foremost, and as usual, there are plenty of great quotable lines and visual gags throughout. Much of this is thanks to some of the fun new characters introduced in this film, such as the main antagonist Dave the Octopus (John Malkovich), who has a running gag of giving out commands that turn into bits of celebrity name wordplay (for example, “Nicolas, Cage them!” and “Kevin, Bake On!”), and Agent Classified (Benedict Cumberbatch), the leader of an animal espionage group known as the North Wind who forms a rivalry with Skipper over the effectiveness of their leadership tactics. Thus, while it’s by no means the best installment of the Madagascar franchise, Penguins of Madagascar is a harmless crowd-pleaser that, above all, provides the same amounts of genuine laughs and heart as the other Madagascar films.

Rating: 4/5

And that concludes the second installment of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s ongoing series of DreamWorks retrospectives. As always, thanks for following along and be sure to be on the lookout for the next installment of this new series which, keeping in line with my plan of starting things out with DreamWorks’ biggest franchises, will tackle the Kung Fu Panda trilogy. As usual, there’s no definite timetable for its publication, but I will note that, if anything, I’m not just going to wait until the release of the franchise’s recently announced fourth film in 2024. 

The Witches (2020) review (HBO Max)

 

When it comes to some of the most prominent authors in literary history, one whose work has consistently stood the test of time is Roald Dahl. From 1942 up until his death in 1990, Dahl was responsible for penning a whole bunch of classics such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, and Matilda. To date, his various novels and short stories have sold over 250 million copies worldwide and are widely touted for their creative imagery and their unabashed knack for dark humor to contrast with their primarily whimsical nature. Many of his works have been adapted to the big screen over the years although it is worth noting that, when he was alive, Dahl was usually quite critical about them for the various changes that were made to his stories. This included the last adaptation that was released before his death, 1990’s The Witches, which was directed by Nicolas Roeg and notably produced by none other than Jim Henson. Dahl, however, was not too pleased with this adaptation of his 1983 novel, namely due to its drastically different ending. Nevertheless, the film was well-received by critics and while it wasn’t exactly a box-office hit, it has since gone on to become a cult classic of its time. But now there’s a new adaptation of The Witches upon us, and just like the 1990 film, this one is star-studded on both sides of the camera. For starters, the cast is headlined by a pair of Oscar winners in Anne Hathaway and Octavia Spencer. And as for the behind-the-scenes crew, the film serves as the latest outing from director Robert Zemeckis, AKA the man who’s given us films like Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Forrest Gump, and this reviewer’s favorite film of all-time, Back to the Future. However, Zemeckis isn’t the only big-name filmmaker attached to this project as it was originally proposed as a stop-motion film directed by Guillermo Del Toro, who instead serves as a producer alongside his good friend Alfonso Cuaron while also being one of the credited screenwriters alongside Zemeckis and Black-ish creator Kenya Barris. And while it may be far from being the best project that any of these men have ever worked on, it still manages to be a decently charming family flick that delivers a solid new take on Roald Dahl’s classic story.

In 1968, a young boy (Jahzir Kadeem Bruno) loses both of his parents in a car crash. He’s then sent to live with his grandmother (Octavia Spencer) in Alabama, and while it does take a while, she does help him start to overcome his grief. However, their idyllic lifestyle is soon threatened when the young boy has his first encounter with a witch. And since his grandmother is quite familiar with witches after seeing one when she was a child, she tells him everything that he needs to know about them; namely, that witches are really demonic creatures and are notorious for hating children and doing anything they can to get rid of them. Thus, to avoid any further witch-based encounters, the young boy and his grandmother promptly decide to take a vacation and stay at a prestigious hotel. Unfortunately, they end up arriving at the exact same time as a whole group of witches led by the most powerful witch in the world, the Grand High Witch (Anne Hathaway). The young boy ends up eavesdropping on their meeting, where the Grand High Witch reveals her newest scheme to get rid of all the children in the world by using a special potion to turn them into mice. And to make matters worse, the young boy is then discovered by the Grand High Witch, who immediately uses her potion to turn him into a mouse. Now stuck in mouse form, the young boy crosses paths with two other kids that were recently turned into mice, food-loving Bruno (Codie-Lei Eastick) and a girl named Mary (voiced by Kristin Chenoweth), who is revealed to be the mouse that the young boy had been keeping as a pet for the past few months. With both their help and his grandmother’s, the young boy now finds himself in a time-sensitive situation as he and his friends work to stop the Grand High Witch’s sinister plan before anyone else ends up suffering the same fate as them.

While it may be easy to simply call this film a ‘remake’ of its 1990 counterpart, this new version of The Witches does manage to avoid being a straight-forward retelling of its classic story, whether it’s by having African-American protagonists or revealing that the kid’s pet mouse was a transformed kid as well. Plus, if there’s one advantage that this film has over the previous film, it’s that its ending is a lot more faithful to the book since, as noted earlier, Dahl took significant issue with the 1990 film for having a more traditional ‘happy ending’. Granted, the changes that this film makes does mean that it takes a lot more liberties with its source material than even the 1990 film did, but at the very least, this isn’t a case like Artemis Fowl where the changes that were made significantly alter the story beyond recognition. At the end of the day, most of these changes are simply from a cosmetic standpoint, and for the most part, the film does an excellent job of maintaining Roald Dahl’s whimsical style that delivers a good-natured adventure where the kids are the heroes but is still allowed to have the delightfully twisted dark humor that Dahl was well-known for. And while I’m aware that the film has gotten some criticism for supposedly being ‘too scary for children’, I’d argue that it’s relatively tame compared to all the other family-friendly films over the years that have gained notoriety for their darker moments (and yes, this includes the 1990 adaptation of The Witches). All this makes up for the fact that the film ends up feeling like a routine affair for the filmmakers who are attached to it, especially Robert Zemeckis. It’s not that the film is ‘bad’ or anything since, if Zemeckis’ past work wasn’t enough of an indication, he’s not that kind of director. It’s just that, like what happened when Tim Burton made his remake of Planet of the Apes in 2001, this is one of those instances where, if you didn’t know that this was directed by the guy who made Back to the Future, you probably wouldn’t have figured that out until the credits because it could’ve been done by anybody.

For many people, one of the best aspects of the 1990 film was Angelica Huston’s standout turn as the Grand High Witch. But while that may have been an undeniably tough act to follow, Anne Hathaway proves that she’s more than capable of taking on that daunting task. With an over-exaggerated accent that’s matched by an equally over-the-top performance, Hathaway is clearly having a lot of fun as the main antagonist. And sure, it’s completely understandable if some may find her performance to be a bit too campy at times, but at the end of the day, she’s still one of the best parts of this film. This strong performance from Hathaway is then perfectly matched by Octavia Spencer’s equally terrific turn as the main protagonist’s grandmother. Spencer has always been well-known for playing characters like this who are very much good-natured protagonists but can still dish out some tough love when necessary, usually through some delightfully spunky snark. And while he’s not in the film too much, we also get the always-reliable Stanley Tucci as the manager of the hotel that all the main characters end up at who mostly spends his time trying to deal with the eccentric gestures of the Grand High Witch. Finally, to close out the main cast, we have newcomer Jahzir Kadeem Bruno as the main protagonist who, just like in the original novel (and not the 1990 film where he was named Luke), is unnamed. He is credited as ‘Hero Boy’, however, which is rather ironic because that makes him the second main character in a Robert Zemeckis film to be called that since that’s also what the main protagonist of The Polar Express was credited as. Nevertheless, while this may only be his first leading role in a film (that and his character is a mouse for half of it), Bruno instantly makes a strong first impression with some solid charisma for his age.

While it’s admittedly been a while since I’ve done so, I did read The Witches when I was younger. It was one of many Roald Dahl books that I read growing up alongside other classics such as Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. However, you may be surprised to learn that I never watched its 1990 film adaptation. Simply put, it was just one of those films that was never on my radar back then. As such, it goes without saying that I don’t have the kind of connection to it that many others from my generation have, which has clearly had a major influence on folks’ thoughts towards this new adaptation. I mean, if the usual reception towards Disney’s recent string of live-action remakes wasn’t enough of an indication, folks are always a lot stricter when it comes to remakes. And yet, from the perspective of someone who hasn’t seen the 1990 adaptation of The Witches, I’d argue that this new version of the story is a genuinely harmless affair. It avoids being a direct carbon copy of its predecessor and even manages to deliver a more faithful take on the novel’s ending… even if the changes that it makes everywhere else are more prominent than those from the 1990 film. Really, at the end of the day, the worst thing that I can say about this film is that it’s arguably the most by-the-numbers feature that Robert Zemeckis has ever directed. To be fair, his direction is solid as always, but at the same time, I will admit that I’m curious about how this film would’ve turned out had it been the Guillermo Del Toro-directed stop-motion film that it was originally planned to be. Ultimately, though, the film does manage to be a nice showcase of Roald Dahl’s brilliant storytelling and could very well serve as a gateway for younger generations to experience the rest of his work.

Rating: 3.5/5

88th Academy Awards: Winners + Recap Post

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: EX MACHINA

BEST EDITING, COSTUME DESIGN, MAKEUP/HAIRSTYLING, PRODUCTION DESIGN, SOUND EDITING, AND SOUND MIXING: MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: THE REVENANT

BEST SONG: WRITING’S ON THE WALL- SPECTRE

BEST SCORE: THE HATEFUL EIGHT

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM: BEAR STORY

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT: STUTTERER

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT: A GIRL IN THE RIVER: THE PRICE OF FORGIVENESS

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: AMY

BEST FOREIGN FILM: SON OF SAUL

BEST ANIMATED FILM: INSIDE OUT

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: THE BIG SHORT

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: SPOTLIGHT

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: ALICIA VIKANDER- THE DANISH GIRL

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: MARK RYLANCE- BRIDGE OF SPIES

BEST ACTRESS: BRIE LARSON- ROOM

BEST ACTOR: LEONARDO DICAPRIO- THE REVENANT

BEST DIRECTOR: ALEJANDRO G. INARRITU- THE REVENANT

BEST PICTURE: SPOTLIGHT

THOUGHTS ON THE SHOW

I’m just going to cut right to the chase: This has been the best Academy Awards ceremony that I’ve seen since I’ve started this blog back in 2012. That’s saying a lot considering the obvious elephant in the room that was the non-diverse list of acting nominees for the second straight year in a row. It was already a controversy last year but this year it became a full-blown scandal with numerous celebrities from Jada Pinkett Smith to Spike Lee boycotting the event. And like I said last week in my ‘Predictions’ post, while I do completely recognize the issue at hand, I do think the boycotting was rather ridiculous and, to quote Whoopi Goldberg, ‘a pain in the butt’. At the end of the day, while the Academy definitely could’ve done a better job at recognizing minority performances, and they have made it clear that they’re going to work to do better next time, it is not all their fault. At the end of the day, they’re just the ones who are picking nominees. This whole diversity issue is not just an Academy thing; it’s also an industry and society thing as well. And that really is a perfect analogy to what this year’s show was about. It was a call for all of us, not just the Academy and the film industry, to do better and not just in regards to combating racial issues. Whether it was Leo’s speech about combating climate change or the Vice President encouraging a call to action against sexual assault, this whole Oscars was a complete takedown of the growing cynicism of our society and if you ask me, that was very much appreciated.

Right from the get go and throughout the entire show, Chris Rock did not hold back when it came to addressing the whole diversity issue and he did it with class. He wasn’t overly harsh or anything; he just pointed out the truth in regards to how minority actors are just looking to get better roles in film and the same opportunities as white actors. At the same time, he also poked fun at some of the more ridiculous elements of the controversy, like the plain old fact that there are quite frankly bigger issues at hand than the nominations that come from a simple awards show. And of course, his entire gig was full of hilarious moments, like when he said “Ah We’re Black” after a commercial break or when he joked that Rocky is like a sci-fi film given how it, and its most recent entry Creed (aka the ‘Black Rocky’ as he puts it), take place “in a world where white athletes are as good as black athletes… There are things in Star Wars that are more believable than things that happen in Rocky”. Obviously Rock’s unfiltered nature of humor is not going to fly well with everyone and I completely understand. I did see some people online say they thought he was “annoying” and there were some articles online that posed the question of whether or not Rock could potentially drive some audiences away with his commentary on the whole diversity issue. But at the end of the day, he did a fantastic job and it helped make an Oscars ceremony that was completely mired in controversy one of the best in recent memory. Because at the end of the day, the Oscars isn’t meant to be all about who wins and who doesn’t. All it is meant to be is a celebration of film and this past year gave us some really excellent films… and let’s just say I was very satisfied to see my #1 favorite film of the Best Picture nominees, Spotlight, take home the top prize this year. So instead of complaining about snubs and upsets, I was just enjoying the excitement and pageantry of it all.

And now, here are my best/worst moments from this year’s event. And to be perfectly frank, this year’s event saw a lot more ‘best’ moments than ‘worse’ ones.

BEST- CHRIS ROCK’S MONOLOGUE

In regards to the opening ‘2015 in film’ montage: “Hey I counted at least 15 black people in that montage.”

WORST- THE ‘THANKS’ TICKERS, TRIVIA POP-UPS, AND PLAY-OFF MUSIC

This year, as a way of ‘streamlining’ acceptance speeches, the Academy had its winners list all of the people they intended on thanking in their speeches and had them displayed on a ticker at the bottom of the screen. I do understand why they did this but ultimately I don’t think it turned out as well as they hoped. From what I hear, those attending the event didn’t see them and quite frankly it was hard for me to see them at times either because I didn’t watch the event on an HDTV. Plus, there were still numerous instances where the winners were being played off by music, in this case by “Ride of the Valkyries” (remember that time the Jaws theme was the play-off music?), right in the middle of their speeches. It wasn’t all bad, though. When ‘Inside Out’ won Best Animated Feature, the ticker let director Pete Docter’s kids know that they could get a dog. And when cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki won his third straight (!) Oscar for The Revenant, he thanked the Beatles and MEXICO! Another new thing this year was the inclusion of anecdotes about the presenters that popped up on-screen from time to time. While I do appreciate things like this, they just ended up being distracting and, as already noted, hard to see due to the limitations of my TV. In short, I don’t really have anything against these two new aspects of the ceremony but I do feel that they need improvement.

BEST- THE ‘BLACK ACTORS IN WHITE ROLES’ FILM MONTAGE

I always love the segments where a montage of scenes from films are played but they add in other celebs to make them humorous and this year’s parodies in particular were really hilarious in which black actors were put into films that have a predominantly white cast. Whoopi Goldberg video-bombed Joy Mangano’s QVC presentation in Joy, SNL’s Leslie Jones took over the role of ‘the bear’ in The Revenant, and Tracy Morgan took over Eddie Redmayne’s role in The Danish Girl while enjoying a good Danish, girl! Though ultimately the funniest of these clips was the parody of The Martian, in which Chris Rock became the stranded astronaut on Mars and yet Jeff Daniels and Kristen Wiig’s characters kept acting like they were ignoring him.     

WORST: THE JACK BLACK/ANGELA BASSETT BIT

One montage that didn’t work, though, was the one involving Angela Bassett and Jack Black. At first it seems like the segment is going to honor Will Smith, who of course didn’t attend due to boycotting after he was snubbed for his performance in Concussion, highlighting his work in films like Enemy of the State and Shark Tale and for being part of ‘an iconic musical duo’. Ultimately, though, Bassett wasn’t referring to Will Smith but his co-star in both of those films, Jack Black. Quite simply, this one just fell flat for me even though I do get the joke.

BEST: THE BEAR FROM THE REVENANT MAKES AN APPEARANCE

I’ve seen some people say this bit was stale but I loved this part of the show, during which a guy in a bear costume, clearly meant to be the bear that attacked Leo in The Revenant, made an appearance in the crowd. This moment was truly memorable once the camera cut to Leo’s reaction. It made me wonder if that bear was going to charge onstage if Leo won… thankfully it didn’t.  

WORST: STACEY DASH’S APPEARANCE

Clueless star Stacey Dash made one of the more controversial statements regarding the Oscar diversity issue back in January by criticizing the ‘Oscars So White’ hashtag, the BET channel, and the idea of a ‘Black History Month’. In other words, this whole diversity issue wasn’t made any better by her quite racist remarks. So it was rather confusing to see her come out on stage introduced by Chris Rock as “the new director of our minority outreach program” and exclaim “Happy Black History Month!” In other words, this was the most awkward moment of the night.

BEST: THE GIRL SCOUTS

A moment that arguably topped the moment during the 86^th Academy Awards when Ellen literally ordered pizza for the audience was when Chris Rock had a bunch of Girl Scouts come out and sell cookies, noting that all of this preparation for the show has basically kept him from helping his two daughters during Girl Scout Cookie season (Oh No!). I know some will argue moments like this are staged but come on, how can anyone not smile at something sweet like this? Plus, that troop of Girl Scouts ended up grossing over $63,000 in sales. Though I must say my favorite part during this bit was when Chris Rock urged Leo to contribute; “Leo you’ve made 30 million this year, come on!”

BEST: TOY STORY CELEBRATES ITS 20^TH ANNIVERARY

There was quite a big smile on my face when Woody and Buzz made a special appearance to honor the 20^th anniversary of ‘Toy Story’, complete with Buzz reminding Woody that “he tried to terminate him” and Woody remarking that if it wasn’t for him he’d still be left thinking he’s an actual Space Ranger. Also, “BUZZ LOOK AN ALIEN!” “WHERE?”

Also, Pixar characters presenting Best Animated Film to a Pixar film? Coincidence? I Think Not!

BEST: DAVE GROHL AND THE ‘IN MEMORIAM’ SEGMENT

No matter what, the ‘In Memoriam’ segment is guaranteed to make you feel sad and this year was no exception, especially considering some of the greats we lost this past year like Alan Rickman, David Bowie, and Leonard Nimoy. And let me tell you, major feels were abound when the video ended with Nimoy as Spock saying “I have been and always shall be your friend.” This tribute was made even more poignant by Dave Grohl’s excellent performance of the Beatles’ ‘Blackbird’.

BEST: LADY GAGA’S PERFORMANCE

Last year’s best musical performance came from John Legend and Common with their powerful song ‘Glory’ from Selma, and this year that honor went to Lady Gaga for her equally powerful melody ‘Til it Happens to You’ from the documentary The Hunting Ground. Not only was her bit introduced perfectly by Vice President Joe Biden, who encouraged us all to take the pledge to combat sexual assault on campus, but the performance was made even more emotional by the appearance of numerous survivors of sexual assault onstage with Gaga. Even though it didn’t win Best Song, there’s no denying that this was one of the best moments of Oscar night. Now on the note of it not winning…

 

WORST: THE INEVITABLE BACKLASH TOWARDS UPSETS

Yes, I’m not talking about anything that actually happened during the show. Instead, I’m referring more to the annoying backlash that came from the internet whenever a big upset happened. The first big upset was when Mark Rylance won over Sylvester Stallone for Best Supporting Actor. Clearly a lot of people wanted Stallone to win and yes, he was my #1 pick as well. But that shouldn’t take away from the fact that Mark Rylance was outstanding in ‘Bridge of Spies’ and very much earned that award. But I have the feeling that the most controversial upset of this year’s Oscars was with Best Song. Even after the aforementioned emotional powerhouse performance that was Lady Gaga’s ‘Til it Happens to You’, the award for Best Song ended up going to Sam Smith’s Bond theme for Spectre, ‘Writing’s on the Wall’. As I’ve made it clear many times already, I am an unapologetic fan of that song despite all of the criticism that it has gotten mostly due to unfair comparisons to Adele’s ‘Skyfall’. And yes, my vote for that category was for ‘Til it Happens to You’. But just because it didn’t win shouldn’t take away from either Lady Gaga’s great performance that night or its powerful message. And even though he didn’t win Best Supporting Actor, clearly Sylvester Stallone is still ‘the people’s champion’. At the end of the day, this is just a simple awards show and just because one song or one performance doesn’t win the big award doesn’t mean they didn’t deserve to get nominated. That trophy is just that… a trophy. So no, ‘Writing’s on the Wall’ winning Best Song is not ‘a travesty’. Calm down, internet!

Geez if this was how bad the internet got in regards to these upsets, imagine how furious the internet would be if Leo didn’t win Best Actor? Thank God he did!

BEST: BASICALLY ANYTHING INVOLVING JACOB TREMBLAY

The young star of ‘Room’ has quite frankly become one of the coolest kids in the industry. First off, he wore ‘Star Wars’ socks to the event… like a boss! And of course when C-3PO, R2-D2, and BB-8 came out on stage at one point, the ‘Star Wars’ fan eagerly got out of his seat to get a better look at them, plus he posted this awesome photo on Instagram of him with the droid trio. Admit it, you’d do the same thing if you were in his situation. And finally, when he and Beasts of No Nation star Abraham Attah came out to present the award for Best Live Action Short, and after Chris Rock came out again to provide them with boxes for them to stand on so that they’d be tall enough to reach the mic, Tremblay thanked him and added “I loved you in Madagascar!” Seriously can Hollywood just put this kid in everything now?

WORST: NO LOVE FOR STAR WARS?

Like I’ve been saying before, I don’t get too worked up over snubs and how certain categories are decided anymore because I feel that it’s pointless to argue over who/what wins and who/what doesn’t. Still, I wish the Academy would’ve given SOMETHING to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Like I said in my Predictions Post, I’m disappointed it didn’t get a Best Picture nomination. I know it wasn’t going to win anyway but this film was a genuine critical and commercial hit so I was hoping that it’d least win one technical award. But ultimately almost all of the main technical awards from Editing to Sound Mixing/Editing went to Mad Max: Fury Road while Ex Machina beat out Fury Road to win Best Visual Effects. For the record… I have nothing against either of those films. In fact, those two films very much deserved those awards. In the end, though, I do wish The Force Awakens could’ve been given at least one award.

BEST: GREAT SPEECHES

As always, the Oscars have been full of great acceptance speeches no matter how many times the play-off music butts in to spoil the moment. A lot of the best speeches this year were, unsurprisingly, the ones that encouraged us all to be better; Leo’s Best Actor speech, Joe Biden’s introduction of Lady Gaga, and the Spotlight crew highlighting the necessity of investigative journalism and the call to action against the sexual abuse that formed the basis of its story just to name a few.

And those are my thoughts on this year’s Academy Awards. In conclusion, it was a terrific outing this year that took the high road when it came to addressing the controversy of the need for a more diverse group of nominees. Until next year’s Oscars, Thanks for following along!

And of course be sure to sound off in the comments below with your thoughts on last night’s show

88th Academy Awards: Predictions

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 88^th Academy Awards, hosted by Chris Rock, who previously hosted the show in 2005, will be presented on February 28^th, 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 88^th 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 49^th 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.