I’ve
seen all of this year’s best picture nominees and quite a few nominees in other
categories, and I’ve found most of them to be wholeheartedly deserving. However, as I’ve said before, deserving an Oscar doesn’t necessarily
mean getting nominated for one, and plenty of equally talented people go
unrecognized in a year. These are the
people and films I would’ve nominated in my nine favorite categories – I agree
with some of the Academy’s picks, but there are others I would’ve preferred to
see instead. (Just nominations. I had a hard enough time picking winners in
some of the real categories yesterday, and these are packed with even more of
my favorites!)
Best Picture – The category allows up to 10, so I’m not
throwing any slots away! (The Revenant need not apply.)
Beasts of No Nation – Netflix or not, this film deserves
to be up here.
The Big Short
Brooklyn
Creed – At absolute minimum, one of my top three films of the
year. So fantastically well done.
Inside Out – Another Pixar knockout.
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
Room
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compton
Best Leading Actor – A lot of shakeups here. Sorry, Leo – you’re always great, but The Revenant doesn’t do it for me, and I
can’t help but feel that Eddie Redmayne playing a trans woman is cheating.
Abraham Attah (Beasts of No Nation) – I know he’s
young, but he’s an absolute revelation in this role; so good.
Matt Damon (The Martian)
Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)
Tom Hanks (Bridge of Spies)
Michael B. Jordan (Creed)
Best Leading Actress
Cate Blanchett (Carol)
Brie Larson (Room)
Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)
Charlize Theron (Mad Max:
Fury Road) – It’s Furiosa! Accept no substitutes.
Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina) – Vikander is excellent in The Danish Girl as well, but this is
really her showcase role for 2015.
Best Supporting Actor – Nothing against the other actors,
but Sylvester Stallone is the only holdover here. So many good, interesting performances this
year, so few spots. (By the way, this
category probably has my most “Huh?” choices.)
Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation) – No excuse for not
nominating this man.
Colin Firth (Kingsmen:
The Secret Service) – Yeah, I said it. I know the Academy are snobs, but Firth kills it (figuratively and literally) in
this movie.
Nicholas Hoult (Mad Max:
Fury Road) – Insane and riveting.
Hoult has grown so much as an actor.
Jason Mitchell (Straight Outta Compton)
Sylvester Stallone (Creed)
Best Supporting Actress – Kate Winslet wound up being the
only original name to make the cut here. Rooney Mara and Alicia Vikander really have
leading roles, and while Rachel McAdams is reliably good, her part is nothing
spectacular.
Joan Allen (Room)
Angela Bassett (Chi-Raq) – Her delivery of the rhyming
dialogue always sounds so natural.
Jessica Chastain (The Martian) – This role maybe edges a bit toward lead actress, but really,
other than Watney, it’s such an ensemble cast, so I ultimately kept her here.
Tessa Thompson (Creed)
Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)
Best Directing
The Big Short
Creed – Ryan Coogler’s directing snub really annoys me; this film is so amazing.
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
Room
Best Original Screenplay – The only
completely untouched category. Partially
a thumbs-up to the Academy, and partially a sad commentary on how few 2015
films I saw that had great original screenplays.
Bridge of Spies
Ex Machina
Inside Out – Such thoughtful, sophisticated
storytelling.
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compton
Best Adapted Screenplay – I did a little snooping and
discovered that both Creed and Mad Max:
Fury Road count as adapted
screenplays, since, as franchise installments, they include
characters/situations from earlier films.
Beasts of No Nation
The Big Short
Creed
Mad Max: Fury Road – This one might
feel like an odd placement, but while the plot
(what happens) is pretty straightforward action, the story (characters, themes, and ideas) is fantastic.
The Martian
Best Cinematography
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Room – Surprised this one didn’t get nominated. Really well done.
Sicario
No comments:
Post a Comment