The most prestigious awards in filmdom will be handed out Sunday night. I didn't get to see as many of the nominated films as I would have liked, but I did manage to see all eight Best Picture contenders (not among them is my favorite film from 2015, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl). Below I give a detailed ranking of the Best Picture nominees, along with my picks for some of the other major categories (my favorites will be bolded in italics and nominees from films which I failed to see will have a strike-through).
Best Picture:
Spotlight - Some films get nominated not because they're especially well done, but because they touch on important topics. This year Spotlight is that film. It's competently directed and the acting is solid, but it doesn't even stand out as a great entry in its own genre.
The Martian - I love the trend of hard sci-fi films becoming blockbusters, and The Martian was a very entertaining film. The film was inspiring, but not really awe-inspiring, and hardly ground-breaking. Plus, the previously nominated Gravity was a much better film, and it didn't win.
Bridge of Spies - Stephen Spielberg and Tom Hanks teamed up to prove that they're the Frank Capra and Jimmy Stewart of their generation. While I appreciated the sure hands of the Hollywood veterans, there was probably a bit too much schmaltz for it to be the best picture of the year.
Room - Room had great performances, sophisticated direction and touched on an important issue. The biggest knock against it is that it's in no way an entertaining film. If it's not too depressing to win an Oscar, it's indie sensibilities are enough to sink it.
The Big Short - In some ways, this is the artiest film of the bunch. The story is disjointed, non-linear, it breaks the 4th wall several times, and it also aims to inform its audience. It's like a documentary with very entertaining dramatizations littered throughout. I greatly admired The Big Short, and I think it's an important film, but it's too far outside of the Oscar norm to get the statue.
Brooklyn - What makes Brooklyn great is also what makes it an Oscar loser. It's completely lacking in flash or melodrama. The acting is focused and restrained. The most entertaining scenes take place during discussions at dinner tables. It feels like a real story about real people, with all the twists and turns that real life musters. It's a near flawless film, but it doesn't demand attention, and that's why it won't win the award.
Mad Max: Fury Road - Yes, it's a post-apocalyptic chase movie, but make no mistake-- this is a brilliant film that will stand the test of time. No other film looked better last year, and no other film had such brutally efficient storytelling. It even had a focus on women's rights, which created quite a stir when it was released last summer. It would probably win if not for the fact that it's a post-apocalyptic chase movie...
The Revenant - No director has ever had two films win back-to-back Best Picture awards, but I think it's going to happen this year. Birdman was a pretty artsy film to win the award in 2015, and Alejandro Inarritu's follow-up is in the same vein. There are several scenes in the film that will wow the audience, and it succeeds both on technical and dramatic merits. Unlike Fury Road, The Revenant is a slow and ponderous with punctuated scenes of great intensity; despite some very violent moments, it is full of beautiful and poetic imagery. Of the nominees, it's probably touches on the fewest socially important topics, but somehow it feels more important than all of them. It may not be the best film of the year, but it's pretty damn good, and worthy of being an Oscar winner.
Best Director: Aside from Tom McCarthy, I think all the nominees in this category did brilliant jobs. Still, I suspect the Academy will reward Inarritu as Director along with Best Picture.
Alejandro G. Inarritu (The Revenant)
Adam McKay (The Big Short)
George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)
Lenny Abrahamson (Room)
Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)
Best Actor: I didn't see some of the performances in this category, but I was completely charmed by Bryan Cranston's portrayal of Dalton Trumbo during the Hollywood blacklist era. Matt Damon was great in the most Matt Damon role ever, but his performance didn't go beyond that. And, honestly, I don't think DiCaprio should get an Oscar for breathing heavily for 3 hours.
Bryan Cranston (Trumbo)
Matt Damon (The Martian)
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)
Best Actress: I saw even fewer performances in this category, but I'd love to see Saoirse Ronan win for a subtle, nuanced performance in a category that can over-celebrate flashy roles.
Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)
Brie Larson (Room)
Best Supporting Actor: Sylvestor Stallone was great in Creed, but if he wins it's for nostalgia only-- everybody else in this category was better than him. Christian Bale was overly mannered and Mark Ruffalo was nothing special. Mark Rylance did an exceptional job in the Bridge of Spies, but I really think the Tom Hardy should win-- his performance in The Revenant was so casually amazing, it's one of the reasons it deserves to win Best Picture.
Tom Hardy (The Revenant)
Christian Bale (The Big Short)
Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)
Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)
Sylvester Stallone (Creed)
Best Original Screenplay: Bridge of Spies had really great dialogue, and a tight structure. The other scripts had great concepts, but didn't seem as well executed.
Bridge of Spies
Ex Machina
Inside Out
Spotlight
Best Adapted Screenplay: If there was ever a film that felt like it came from a book, it's Brooklyn. The other nominees were wonderful, but Brooklyn's script was perfect.
Brooklyn
The Big Short
The Martian
Room
Best Production Design: The production design in Fury Road was just awe-inspiring. Its post-apocalyptic world was fully realized and believable, and it made the film.
Mad Max: Fury Road
Bridge of Spies
The Martian
The Revenant
The Danish Girl
Best Film Editing: The Revenant deserves praise for its hide-the-cuts approach to filmmaking, but everything that made The Big Short work was how it was edited.
The Big Short
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Spotlight
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best Visual Effects: Some of the effects in Ex Machina and The Martian looked cheap to me, and some in The Force Awakens were too damn cartoony. Fury Road probably has better visual effects throughout the film, but nothing beats the bear attack in The Revenant.
The Revenant
Ex Machina
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
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