It’s time once again for my favorite post of the year. Another year gone by and I haven’t been as diligent with my movie watching as I should be. If only someone would pay me to do this so I could offer more sound opinions! Until then, this is going to have to do. Since I didn’t get to see a lot of the Academy nominated films, I thought I would start with my top 5 non-Academy movies of 2015…
5. Unfriended
My wife loves scary movies, so my movie watching profile has skewed more towards horror than if previously had. This was easily one of the best of the year. It was smart and well made. The premise, in the wrong hands, could have been highly annoying, but these film makers did a great job and made this little horror movie a social commentary as well
4. Trainwreck
I love Amy Schumer, so it’s no surprise this one made my list. It was a laugh out loud riot and one of the funniest movies I’ve seen in awhile.
3. Me, Earl, And The Dying Girl
I wasn’t ready for how great this movie was. I thought I was going to see a cute little indie and got a funny, heartwarming tearjerker. This is a must see movie that does a great job encapsulating the emotional struggles of youth. It will make you laugh out loud one minute and cry the next. Just a well made movie from people who obviously love movies.
2. It Follows
This was more than a horror movie. The atmosphere and the cinematography and the music all come together to create a fantastic movie experience. The opening scene is one of the best movie scenes I have seen in a long time. It is beautiful and haunting and wonderfully shot. This is a perfect example of horror done without gore or spectacle. I would have loved to have seen it get a little recognition, but oh well.
1. Love & Mercy
Of all the movies I saw this year, this is the biggest Oscar snub as far as I am concerned. Granted, I was a huge Beach Boys fan when I was a kid, but this movie was enthralling. The scenes of Brian Wilson in the recording studio laying down tracks for Pet Sounds are amazing and truly help explain why that album is so highly regarded. The movie does a great job showing what a genus Wilson is and the horrible effects it had on his life. This is a must see movie for any music fan.
Now on to the awards...
Best Cinematography
Nominations: Carol (Ed Lachman), The Hateful Eight (Robert Richardson), Mad Max: Fury Road (John Seale), The Revenant (Emmanuel Lubezki), Sicario (Roger Deakins)
Who I Want To Win: Roger Deakins
Who I Think Will Win: Emmanuel Lubezki
The only one of these that I have seen is Mad Max, which was a highly entertaining film and certainly very beautifully shot, but I don’t even have to have seen Sicario to know that I want Roger Deakins to win this because he deserves it, damn it! That being said, I have a strong feeling that this will be Deakins 13 trip to the ceremony without a trophy. Emmanuel Lubezki is a genus and has created some of the most amazing cinematic visuals. Word is The Revenant is amazing visually and Lubezki’s reputation makes me think that is probably the case. This is most likely going to be three years in a row for him
Best Animated Feature
Nominations: Anomalisa, Boy and the World, Inside Out, Shaun the Sheep Movie, When Marnie Was There
Who I Want To Win: Anomalisa
Who I Think Will Win: Inside Out
Can someone other than Disney please win this category! Is not that I didn’t like Inside Out, as usual, Pixar has made a fantastic movie, I’m just tired of Disney getting it every year. Can’t we just call it the Disney Best Animated Feature Oscar and give it to the best non-Disney movie? I haven’t seen Anomalisa, and it doesn’t sound like something the Academy would like, but it sounds like a fantastic film. Come on guys, let’s shake things up and give the award to Charlie Kaufman.
Best Documentary Feature
Nominations: Amy, Cartel Land, The Look of Silence, What Happened, Miss Simone?, Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom
Who I Want To Win: The Look of Silence
Who I Think Will Win: Amy
I haven’t seen any of these, but Joshua Oppenheimer got robbed a few years ago. His documentary The Act of Killing was one of the most disturbing and artistic films I’ve seen. The Look of Silence is the sequel or follow up to that story, so I’m hoping it wins.
Best Original Screenplay
Nominations: Bridge of Spies, Ex Machina, Inside Out, Spotlight, Straight Outta Compton
Who I Want To Win: Ex Machina
Who I Think Will Win: Spotlight
This is a tough category for me. In all honesty, I didn’t get to see a ton of the Academy movies this year, but everyone I did see was excellent. Usually there are a few highly regarded movies that I just despise, but this year I like everything I saw. Spotlight was a great movie and I hope it wins a lot of awards, but I would really like to see this one go to Ex Machina. It is an unsettling story thats mood is created through the fantastic dialogue between the two human characters and a robot. As well written as Spotlight was, I think Ex Machina relied on its writing much more.
Best Adapted Screenplay
Nominations: The Big Short, Brooklyn, Carol, The Martian, Room
What I Want To Win: Brooklyn
What I Think Will Win: The Martian
So there is one movie I am going to hate on in this post, Room. I haven’t seen it, but I read the book and hated it. For some reason people loved it, but I thought it was horrible written, so much so, I have zero desire to see the movie and will talk about how much it shouldn’t be nominated for anything without even seeing it. This category belongs to either The Martian or Brooklyn. I wouldn’t mind The Martian winning, it was a great movie, but once again, I feel like Brooklyn relied more on the writing to tell a fantastic story, so I would like to see it win instead.
Best Supporting Actress
Nominations: Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight), Rooney Mara (Carol), Rachel McAdams (Spotlight), Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl), Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)
Who I Want To Win: Rachel McAdams
Who I Think Will Win: Jennifer Jason Leigh
The Hateful Eight was the first Quentin Tarantino film since Jackie Brown that I haven’t seen in the theater. So, I can’t really comment on the job Jennifer Jason Leigh did even though everyone is raving about it. To me, Spotlight was all about the amazing acting and McAdams was astonishing. There weren’t any big moments in her performance, which will certainly hurt her, the Academy loves big moments, but it was the subtly of the performance that made it so amazing. What she was able to convey and the story she was able to tell with the smallest reactions and the most tender gestures makes this one of my favorite performances of the year.
Best Supporting Actor
Nominations: Christian Bale (The Big Short), Tom Hardy (The Revenant), Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight), Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies), Sylvester Stallone (Creed)
Who I Want To Win: Mark Ruffalo
Who I Think Will Win: Sylvester Stallone
This category feels like a joke this year. I didn’t get a chance to see Creed, so there will be no tirade about how Michael B. Jordan or Ryan Coogler got robbed, but I do find it hard to believe that Sly deserves this award. I have spent a lot of time blasting Mark Ruffalo on this blog but, like I said, Spotlight was the best acted movie of the year and I didn’t see most of these films, so I’ll be rooting for Ruffalo this year.
Best Actress
Nominations: Cate Blanchett (Carol), Brie Larson (Room), Jennifer Lawrence (Joy), Charlotte Rampling (45 Years), Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)
Who I Want to Win: Saoirse Ronan
Who I Think Will Win: Brie Larson
This is going to be the most painful award of the night for me. I have nothing against Brie Larson. She seems to be a very talented actress. She was great in Short Term 12 and I already talked about how much I liked Trainwreck, but I REALLY don’t want Room to win anything. Saoirse Ronan was breathtaking in Brooklyn and was the reason that movie worked so well. The loneliness she expressed in the movies early scenes was amazing. Why don’t we give the award to her?
Best Actor
Nominations: Bryan Cranston (Trumbo), Matt Damon (The Martian), Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant), Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs), Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)
Who I Want to Win: Matt Damon
Who I Think Will Win: Eddie Redmayne
Eddie Redmayne is going to be the king of the gimmick Oscar win. They are going to hand him another award for aping something that everyone considers edgy. I guess there is hope that DiCaprio wins, but I don’t know how much better that is, I’m not a huge fan of him either. For my money, Damon should get the nod. The Martian was a highly entertaining movie and it’s hard to picture it working with anyone other than him.
Best Director
Nominations: Adam McKay (The Big Short), George Miller (Mad Max:Fury Road), Alejandro G. Inarritu (The Revenant), Lenny Abrahamson (Room), Tom McCarthy (Spotlight) Who I Want To Win: Tom McCarthy
Who I Think Will Win: Alejandro G. Inarritu
I know there is very little doubt that this is not going to Inarritu for the second straight year. Maybe, just maybe, the Academy will give it to Miller as a life time achievment thing. But, there is very little doubt in my mind that Tom McCarthy was the best director this year. Spotlight was a very subtly handled a huge and disturbing topic. There was nothing flashy or explosive about it, yet you were enthralled and captivated through the whole thing. The movie relied on its acting, and as much as the right casting helps, it takes great direction to get all those performances out of the actors. I was in awe of how well Spotlight was put together.
Best Picture
Nominations: The Big Short, Bridge of Spies, Brooklyn, Mad Max:Fury Road, The Martian, The Revenant, Room, Spotlight
Who I Want To Win: Spotlight
Who I Think Will Win: The Revenant
I didn’t get a chance to see Bridge of Spies or The Revenant, and like I already stated a couple times, I will never see Room, but this was one of the better movie years of recent memory. I highly enjoyed every movie I saw on this list this year. It feels like The Revenant may win from the word going round. I can’t comment on how deserving it may or may not be, but there is some part of me that wants to root against it.
Both Mad Max:Fury Road and The Big Short were entertaining but didn’t really feel like an Oscar movies. The Big Short was creative and told in an odd way that made it fun to watch, but didn’t ever feel like something special or award worthy. Mad Max was exciting and fun and beautifully shot but again, not something I would give best picture too.
Brooklyn is not the type of movie I would typically enjoy, but Saoirse Ronan was amazing in capturing the pain and homesickness of the immigrant experience. In an age where communication is taking for granted, this movie took the viewer back to an era where moving across the ocean meant leaving your family forever. The characters were easy to fall in love with and root for which made it easy to get wrapped up in epic tale. I don’t think it should win, but it is definitely a must see movie.
The Martian was the biggest crowd pleaser of the bunch. Matt Damon was great. The writing was both funny and gripping. The movie had you on the edge of your seat. I would be ecstatic if it won, but I think it was missing a weightiness that I look for in best picture.
My favorite movie from this list was Spotlight. I won’t say easily because I really liked Brooklyn and The Martian, and would be joyed to see either win. But at the end of the day I feel like Spotlight was the best made movie of the year. The acting was incredible. The story was heartbreaking and extremely redemptive. It was just a powerful story told by a group of amazingly talented people. I really feel like it's the type of movie that people will be talking about for years. Something we haven’t seen with most recent Oscar movies.
