Transcript:
The Oscars are coming up so today I'll be talking about my favourite pics from the nominees and some films I feel got missed out.
Now it's important to point out that I don't particularly like the Oscars. Whilst I recognise that they are important (both for the industry and wider society) I feel they're outmoded, non-inclusive (as the #oscarssowhite campaign rightly highlighted), shallow and just far too mainstream.
That said it's always interesting to see what gets nominated and there's usually some good stuff thrown in there so let's take a look!
BEST PICTURE
The Big Short, Bridge of Spies, Brooklyn, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, The Revenant, Room and Spotlight.
This year's list of best picture nominees is good but it's been better. It's nice to see a more out-there and popular choice like Mad Max make the cut but why only nominate eight films when you can have ten? Brooklyn was a disappointment and I'm honestly quite boggled at the amount of praise this middling film has received.
The Martian was good fun but again, isn't good enough to be on this list. Spotlight was a great, important story but could have been a TV movie and The Revenant was an atmospheric, technical marvel but had little going for it story or character wise.
The nominated film I'd like to see win best picture would be the cinematically smart, absolutely devastating Room. In all honesty though I'd rather pick The Look of Silence – an incredible documentary about the 1960s Indonesian genocide – which is my highest rated eligible film of last year.
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Bryan Cranston for Trumbo, Matt Damon for The Martian, Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant, Michael Fassbender for Steve Jobs and Eddie Redmayne for The Danish Girl.
It's not a brilliant list in my opinion as no one on it really blew me away. Leonardo DiCaprio was fine in The Revenant but if he was ever going to win an Oscar it probably should have been for The Aviator or The Wolf of Wall Street.
I'd pick Cranston's role as Dalton Trumbo for my favourite from this list as I think he did a fantastic job of making the character lovable but flawed. If I had my way though Abraham Attah would be walking away with the award for his blisteringly complex and mature performance as Agu in Beasts of No Nation.
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Cate Blanchett for Carol, Brie Larson for Room, Jennifer Lawrence for Joy, Charlotte Rampling for 45 Years and Saoirse Ronan for Brooklyn.
Not a bad list here at all although it could have done with some love for Charlize Theron for Mad Max, Emily Blunt for Sicario and Bel Powley for Diary of a Teenage Girl. Blanchett, Ronon and Lawrence all did good work but for me it comes down to Larson or Rampling for the top spot with Larson getting my vote for her nuanced, traumatic performance as Ma in Room.
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Christian Bale for The Big Short, Tom Hardy for The Revenant, Mark Ruffalo for Spotlight, Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies and Sylvester Stallone for Creed.
This is a decent list with Hardy and Stallone doing good work for both their respective roles in The Revenant and Creed. Rylance and Ruffalo are both nominated for brilliantly playing subtle, sensitive characters but personally I think Rylance has the edge. In an ideal world however this award would have gone straight to Idris Elba for his horrifying turn as the tyrannical Commandant in Beasts of No Nation.
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Jennifer Jason Leigh for The Hateful Eight, Rooney Mara for Carol, Rachel McAdams for Spotlight, Alicia Vikander for The Danish Girl and Kate Winslet for Steve Jobs.
No one here really stood out to me but Vikander does a commendable job of keeping the otherwise tepid The Danish Girl afloat with her moving performance.
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Anomalisa, Boy and the World, Inside Out, Shaun the Sheep Movie and When Marnie Was There.
When Marnie Was There was great and made my top 20 films of 2015 but I was really disappointed with Inside Out – it was good but it's depiction of the mind just didn't speak to me. In my opinion the award should go to Anomalisa – although it's not a perfect film it's yet another great probe into humanity's darker side by the legendary film-maker Charlie Kaufman.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Carol, The Hateful Eight, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant and Sicario.
Perhaps the strongest category this year as every single nominee deserves the win but I'm going to go with The Revenant for it's Dogma 95-like dedication to using only natural light and stunning vistas. If I had my way though Tangerine would have at least gotten a nomination for what it managed to achieve visually using only iPhones for cameras.
DIRECTING
The Big Short, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant, Room and Spotlight.
Spotlight is a great film mainly for it's story, acting and characters but I found it's direction quite flat and generic so why it's included on this list is anyone's guess. For my choice it was a tough call between Miller or Iñárritu as both braved the elements to create technical wonders but, considering his age I'm going to go with Miller.
That said if I had my way Joshua Oppenheimer would have the honour for his brave, intelligent and important work on The Look of Silence.
DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)
Amy, Cartel Land, The Look of Silence, What Happened, Miss Simone? And Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom.
I didn't see nearly enough documentaries last year, though I really enjoyed Amy and think Going Clear should have at least be nominated, but let's be honest I was always going to choose The Look of Silence. The Academy made a big mistake two years ago by not giving The Act of Killing the top spot so this year it's time for them to put it right and give this remarkable achievement what it deserves.
FILM EDITING
The Big Short, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant, Spotlight and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
There's no competition here – Mad Max was amazingly edited and all props go to Margaret Sixel for making the screen come alive and the action going at breakneck speed whilst keeping it coherent from start to finish.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Mustang, Son Of Saul, Theeb, A War and Embrace The Serpent.
From this list only A War has actually been released in the UK so unfortunately I can't comment on what is usually the most interesting category at the Oscars although I will most likely be reviewing all of them later this year. There are also some notable films missing here such as The Assassin and Taxi Tehran which I think at least deserved a nomination.
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
Bridge of Spies, Carol, The Hateful Eight, Sicario and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
A tough category to pick from as all of the films listed had great original soundtracks but I'd have to go for Sicario (sorry Morricone) as Johann Johannsson's score was incredibly tense and creepy; adding so much to the oppressive atmosphere of the film. I would have also like to have seen nominations given to Matt Johnson for Hyena and Cat's Eyes for The Duke of Burgundy.
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
The Big Short, Brooklyn, Carol, The Martian and Room.
Whilst Drew Goddard and Phyllis Nagy both did great work bringing The Martian and Carol to the screen this award has to go to Emma Donoghue for taking on the risky task of translating her own book into the fantastic screenplay for Room. I'd also liked to have seen a shout out for Marielle Heller's wonderful adaptation of Phoebe Gloeckner's graphic novel Diary of a Teenage Girl.
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
Bridge of Spies, Ex Machina, Inside Out, Spotlight and Straight Outta Compton.
The writing for Spotlight was great but my choice is definitely Matt Charman and the Coen brothers for their humorous but smart screenplay for Bridge of Spies.
And that's yer lot!
Obviously I've missed out a few categories because, let's face it, that would just make this article way too long but those are my thoughts on the majority of this year's Oscar nominees.
What are your thoughts on the films nominated this year and what did you think of my pics?
Let me know in the comments below and as always be sure to subscribe for more videos and reviews coming soon!
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Bryan Cranston for Trumbo, Matt Damon for The Martian, Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant, Michael Fassbender for Steve Jobs and Eddie Redmayne for The Danish Girl.
It's not a brilliant list in my opinion as no one on it really blew me away. Leonardo DiCaprio was fine in The Revenant but if he was ever going to win an Oscar it probably should have been for The Aviator or The Wolf of Wall Street.
I'd pick Cranston's role as Dalton Trumbo for my favourite from this list as I think he did a fantastic job of making the character lovable but flawed. If I had my way though Abraham Attah would be walking away with the award for his blisteringly complex and mature performance as Agu in Beasts of No Nation.
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Cate Blanchett for Carol, Brie Larson for Room, Jennifer Lawrence for Joy, Charlotte Rampling for 45 Years and Saoirse Ronan for Brooklyn.
Not a bad list here at all although it could have done with some love for Charlize Theron for Mad Max, Emily Blunt for Sicario and Bel Powley for Diary of a Teenage Girl. Blanchett, Ronon and Lawrence all did good work but for me it comes down to Larson or Rampling for the top spot with Larson getting my vote for her nuanced, traumatic performance as Ma in Room.
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Christian Bale for The Big Short, Tom Hardy for The Revenant, Mark Ruffalo for Spotlight, Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies and Sylvester Stallone for Creed.
This is a decent list with Hardy and Stallone doing good work for both their respective roles in The Revenant and Creed. Rylance and Ruffalo are both nominated for brilliantly playing subtle, sensitive characters but personally I think Rylance has the edge. In an ideal world however this award would have gone straight to Idris Elba for his horrifying turn as the tyrannical Commandant in Beasts of No Nation.
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Jennifer Jason Leigh for The Hateful Eight, Rooney Mara for Carol, Rachel McAdams for Spotlight, Alicia Vikander for The Danish Girl and Kate Winslet for Steve Jobs.
No one here really stood out to me but Vikander does a commendable job of keeping the otherwise tepid The Danish Girl afloat with her moving performance.
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Anomalisa, Boy and the World, Inside Out, Shaun the Sheep Movie and When Marnie Was There.
When Marnie Was There was great and made my top 20 films of 2015 but I was really disappointed with Inside Out – it was good but it's depiction of the mind just didn't speak to me. In my opinion the award should go to Anomalisa – although it's not a perfect film it's yet another great probe into humanity's darker side by the legendary film-maker Charlie Kaufman.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Carol, The Hateful Eight, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant and Sicario.
Perhaps the strongest category this year as every single nominee deserves the win but I'm going to go with The Revenant for it's Dogma 95-like dedication to using only natural light and stunning vistas. If I had my way though Tangerine would have at least gotten a nomination for what it managed to achieve visually using only iPhones for cameras.
DIRECTING
The Big Short, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant, Room and Spotlight.
Spotlight is a great film mainly for it's story, acting and characters but I found it's direction quite flat and generic so why it's included on this list is anyone's guess. For my choice it was a tough call between Miller or Iñárritu as both braved the elements to create technical wonders but, considering his age I'm going to go with Miller.
That said if I had my way Joshua Oppenheimer would have the honour for his brave, intelligent and important work on The Look of Silence.
DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)
Amy, Cartel Land, The Look of Silence, What Happened, Miss Simone? And Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom.
I didn't see nearly enough documentaries last year, though I really enjoyed Amy and think Going Clear should have at least be nominated, but let's be honest I was always going to choose The Look of Silence. The Academy made a big mistake two years ago by not giving The Act of Killing the top spot so this year it's time for them to put it right and give this remarkable achievement what it deserves.
FILM EDITING
The Big Short, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant, Spotlight and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
There's no competition here – Mad Max was amazingly edited and all props go to Margaret Sixel for making the screen come alive and the action going at breakneck speed whilst keeping it coherent from start to finish.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Mustang, Son Of Saul, Theeb, A War and Embrace The Serpent.
From this list only A War has actually been released in the UK so unfortunately I can't comment on what is usually the most interesting category at the Oscars although I will most likely be reviewing all of them later this year. There are also some notable films missing here such as The Assassin and Taxi Tehran which I think at least deserved a nomination.
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
Bridge of Spies, Carol, The Hateful Eight, Sicario and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
A tough category to pick from as all of the films listed had great original soundtracks but I'd have to go for Sicario (sorry Morricone) as Johann Johannsson's score was incredibly tense and creepy; adding so much to the oppressive atmosphere of the film. I would have also like to have seen nominations given to Matt Johnson for Hyena and Cat's Eyes for The Duke of Burgundy.
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
The Big Short, Brooklyn, Carol, The Martian and Room.
Whilst Drew Goddard and Phyllis Nagy both did great work bringing The Martian and Carol to the screen this award has to go to Emma Donoghue for taking on the risky task of translating her own book into the fantastic screenplay for Room. I'd also liked to have seen a shout out for Marielle Heller's wonderful adaptation of Phoebe Gloeckner's graphic novel Diary of a Teenage Girl.
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
Bridge of Spies, Ex Machina, Inside Out, Spotlight and Straight Outta Compton.
The writing for Spotlight was great but my choice is definitely Matt Charman and the Coen brothers for their humorous but smart screenplay for Bridge of Spies.
And that's yer lot!
Obviously I've missed out a few categories because, let's face it, that would just make this article way too long but those are my thoughts on the majority of this year's Oscar nominees.
What are your thoughts on the films nominated this year and what did you think of my pics?
Let me know in the comments below and as always be sure to subscribe for more videos and reviews coming soon!
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