Oscar Nominations 2016

Good news, everyone! Guess what’s back; it’s Oscar Season. The official nominations came through last week, and having a nose through them, my suspicion that I’ve barely seen any of them shines through. The picks for the 2015 ceremony just seemed much more interesting to me, and unfortunately I’m stuck with a  lot of work at the moment, so I’m not sure I’ll be able to go and do the big cinema roundup like I did last year. I will at least try and see The Revenant, though. That being said, we’re left in a tricky situation where I want to write my ‘traditional’ blog post, but haven’t seen very many of the nominations. So, as a divergence from last year’s review, this will be a ‘blind post’ as it were. I’ll have a look mainly at the Best Picture nominees, offering my groundless opinions where appropriate, and comment as I would normally on the film(s) I have seen, but for the rest, this will be a case of predicting the Academy’s moves, based entirely off of what I can skim from the nominations' IMDb descriptions.

So, we all good for a completely inconsequential post about my unjustified feelings towards films I haven’t seen? What? I did that last year too? Well, what can I say, this blog is just a cornucopia of misinformation.

The Big Short

I hope you don’t think you’re clever because of that title. The Big Short is giving me a very strong Argo and American Hustle vibe, the kind of dramatized adaptation of real events that looks like it might be a fun and interesting two hours, but out of place on the Best Picture nominees. And while Argo did win (despite its “meh” reception), I have doubts that The Big Short will stand tall above the other nominees.

Bridge of Spies

Bridge of Spies, as I have briefly alluded to before, appears to be pure, concentrated Oscar-bait, to the point that I imagine its production process taking place in a chemistry lab rather than on a set, being concocted by filling a test tube with ‘Essence of Historical Biopic’, a dash of ‘Tom Hanks’ and just a drop of ‘Long Runtime’ before simmering over a Bunsen burner. My friend has been to see it and thought it was alright, (7-8/10 he said), which pretty much confirms my suspicion. I don’t expect this to be a top contender, and will probably be just washed into the obscure depths of Spielberg’s catalogue. Seriously, Steve; you made Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan. They got twelve Oscars between them, including two Best Pictures. You can stop with the war films now.

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is a period piece about an immigrant. Next.

Mad Max: Fury Road

Mad Max: Fury Road, which I have talked about before, was fantastic. And yes, this is the only one of the Best Picture nominees I’ve seen. But it was damn good, and was still my fave film of last year. It certainly isn’t what I’d call traditional Oscar material. But considering how universally loved this film was, by critics and audiences, I will be very interested to see how the academy reacts to it.

The Martian

I unfortunately never saw The Martian, because my family, having read the book, wanted to see it too, and trying to get the three of them to all go to the cinema for the evening is like herding kittens, only less adorable. However, it looks great, and I’ve reserved a copy on rental for when it comes out. Again, surprised about the nomination, it might win but I’m certainly not expecting it.

The Revenant

The Revenant, I have been informed by many sources, is very good, and while I do feel like this is Iñárritu’s attempt at a home run rather than a sincere production, I am nonetheless interested to see it (I’ve heard good things about a bear fight). I feel this is the most likely one for the academy to pick, but you never know.

Room

Room is not The Room, and you’d be surprised how often I make that mistake when hearing people talk about it. From the description, this sounds like the poignancy film: the one whose sole intention is to make you cry. Like the Oscar equivalent of Marley and Me, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I’m much more interested to see this than I am Brooklyn for example, so take that as you will.

Spotlight

I’ve heard decent things, and while I’m not a hundred percent sure it’s my kind of thing, I may give it a look if it plays at my local ciné. I would accuse it of being Oscar bait, but considering it tackles the subject of child sex abuse, something that’s normally a little too risqué an issue for mainstream cinema to cover, I can’t help but feel supportive of it. It may be Oscar-bait, but it looks like high-end Oscar bait, if only because it’s about something other than racism for once. If The Revenant doesn’t win, this probably will.

And now quickly, a look at some of the other categories.

Best Animated Feature

Inside Out will win. Hands down. As intriguing as Anomalisa looks with its stop-motion approach, and despite the Ghibli name on When Marnie was There, I cannot imagine any of them winning over Inside Out. I’m not necessarily saying its better, just that it's Pixar and so critically favoured that they’d be mad to snub it.

Best Music (Original Score)

Sorry in advance if this sounds stupid, but surely the score for The Force Awakens is pretty similar to the rest of the Star Wars films? If not then fine, if so, then questionable.

Best Visual Effects

Ex Machina, Mad Max: Fury Road and The Force Awakens are all here. Of course: they had to be. And The Martian and The Revenant seem like reasonable competition. But hang on a moment. What the actual fuck has happened to Ex Machina? Two nominations? At least it’s got visual effects, but nothing for Sound Editing or Sound Mixing? Production Design? Perhaps Best Actress for Alicia Vikander? Even Best Picture? I can guarantee that whatever Bridge of Spies is like, Ex Machina is more deserving of its nomination. Ex Machina is one of the best science fiction films of recent years, and definitely one of the strongest films this year, even as good as Mad Max: Fury Road. Maybe even better (I can change my mind on these things). And even the argument that it’s not Oscar material doesn’t hold up, because Mad Max: Fury Road also is not Oscar material, as previously mentioned, and that has ten nominations. Ten! Including Best Picture. OK, rant over. But seriously, Hollywood; get your head out of your arse.

Well, that’s about everything I wanted to say for now. Stay tuned for the Oscar Follow-Up in February (I’ll be writing and posting it as soon as I can after hearing the results, in a rare effort of punctuality on my part). In the meantime, I’m sure some of these films are better than I make them out to be, but just remember to exert a bit of critical thinking and don’t get too sucked in to the hype. A lot of these film’s campaigns exist primarily to get more box office receipts on opening weekend (see American Sniper from last year for reference). Otherwise, have fun at the cinema and I’ll see you back here for more baseless film rants. Next week: Why Clockwork Orange is the Root of All Evil.