Oscar Voting Begins on Wednesday. By the time the ballots are in voters hands, most of them will already know what movies they’re voting for and why. They’ve been given time to mull it over, talk about it with others at parties, debate it on Facebook. The Producers Guild and Directors Guild are also voting right now. They, too, will have figured out which films they want to honor and why. Their collective wisdom will settle on one choice, the best-regarded ‘right’ choice, the one almost everyone can agree is the best of the year.
There is a current running through this year’s Oscar race that conflicts with recent history. It’s a current that perhaps lifts us from our usual state of being and into one that is impacted by the upcoming election, by the war on terrorism, by the knowledge that we have to act now or our planetary habitat as we know it, along with countless other species, will not live to see 100 years. The last time there was a major shift in American culture was in 2008, when the first black president took office just as the Academy expanded their Best Picture slate.
Since then, the industry has been all but consumed by the story of the Lost Man. Sure, there are other themes involved. Birdman is about superhero movies strangling art in Hollywood. 12 Years a Slave is about slavery. Argo is about imagining how Hollywood might have helped to free the hostages in Iran, The Artist is about evolving out of the fading silent film industry on the cusp of the sound era and a celebration of old Hollywood, The King’s Speech is about defeating Hitler with a stiff upper lip, and the Hurt Locker is about personal calamities created by the war in Iraq — but each of these films at its core circles a singular male protagonist. This most recent phase in the Academy”s evolution has been a time of making history with the first film directed by a black man to win Best Picture, and the first film directed by a woman to take home six of the top Oscars. How could we witness the inauguration of our country’s first black president and not see some kind of shake up reflected in the Oscar race — and in the identity crisis of the mostly white male patriarchy that rules it?
The Academy itself is dragging members kicking and screaming into the present day by electing their own first black female president. There has been nothing overly confident or ideologically strident in most of the protagonists who’ve driven the past few Best Picture winners since 2008 — if anything, the opposite attitude has taken hold — a kind of self-pitying back-patting that says, “There there now, everything will be all right.” Even Solomon Northrup, a man who could never have been expected to carry the burden of the modern American white male, by dint of his tribulations was never granted authority as a strident hero. Rather, he could barely act within his confines of oppressive enslavement. Even Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker, who chooses the numbing madness of war and killing over the equally paralyzed domestic bliss of ordinary life back home, has in him a fair amount of the flawed, lost man.
But all of that could shift quite suddenly this year, an election year that has brought us to the precipice of perhaps the first woman president (“there there, now”) or the first socialist Jew (a hero to many lost citizens, man and woman alike). For the first time since Crash we’re potentially looking at a film that has bigger themes on its mind than a flailing lost man-child protag. Spotlight is not about a man grappling with his own identity or struggling to wrestle free from failure. It’s about heroic determined individuals doing their job, standing up for truth, justice and the American way — which includes holding true to the importance of the Free Press to achieve important things like toppling the corrupt Catholic archdiocese of Boston, for starters.
Even if you move away from the frontrunner to The Big Short — wildly brilliant but altogether too perplexing (probably) for industry voters — you’ll see a theme that is bigger than all of its fumbling, stumbling protagonists put together. In both films, there is a sense of redefining the rules by which we Americans will have to live our lives, no matter who becomes president.
Somehow in our growing realization that we face another phase of upheaval in the upcoming transformation, we’ve become embedded in the 1950s, a time when things weren’t ideal for many people — like gay women in Todd Hayne’s Carol, or suspected KGB agents testing our definitions of human rights in Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies. Perhaps that’s one reason the third film set in the 1950s, with its fresh-faced immigrant finding ways to adapt in John Crowley‘s Brooklyn, isn’t quite resonating the same way; for Eilis Lacey that era feels less oppressive and more a time to remember fondly.
The urgency of our perilous times as a species and a culture is embodied in Alejandro Inarritu’s through-the-past-darkly wilderness epic, The Revenant — which illustrates the corrupt methods through which modern American civilization was launched upon a pristine continent. Mad Max: Fury Road and The Martian offer two different paths towards the future — one leads to a horrifying apocalypse and the other shows us how things could go better if we invest in science as a way out. It is hard not to feel the pressing urgency in each one of these films and it’s not surprising when others that don’t feel as urgent are falling away.
Last year, we had two disparate choices in the Best Picture race: Birdman and Boyhood, uncomfortably stuck together for some of us as “Boyman.” We knew it would go one or the other and by the end, the voters opted for the man-child over child-man in a dramatic way. Still, both of those movies were early gets for savvy Awards observers — Sundance and Telluride, way back during the wooing phase where a potential suitor could be met and then properly vetted over the next few months, to outlast the others.
This year is a little less certain. We don’t have two certainties. We really have one quite likely and a whole bunch of maybes. The SAG Awards Ensemble nominations threw everything off because one of the long-proven rules of Oscar stipulates that you can’t win Best Picture without one. That may have stopped many potential favorites in their tracks: The Martian, Room, Brooklyn, The Revenant. It seems to leave Spotlight, The Big Short, Beasts of No Nation, Trumbo and Straight Outta Compton as the 5 films with this essential prerequisite. These weren’t the droids we were looking for. Thus, we pundits must consider the option to throw out everything we know about the Oscar race. Just toss every stat and do what Luke did in the original Star Wars: go on instinct. Let the Force guide us rather than rely on our own knowledge of the stats and the facts.
If we throw everything out that we know, my friend on Facebook who says The Revenant will win could be right. JJ Abrams could be the man of the hour, swoop in with a host of nominations and take the season old school, the way the Oscar race used to go where a film could dive bomb in like Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby and take the season like a boss.
If we throw out everything that we know about the Academy, Ridley Scott could finally win the Oscar he didn’t win for Gladiator, Alien or Blade Runner, Black Hawk Down or Thelma and Louise, and the year’s beloved crowdpleaser, The Martian could take the whole thing. If we throw out what we know, George Miller and Mad Max: Fury Road could sweep, leaving the SAG Awards rule in the dust. If we throw out what we know, the first African American director could win with F. Gary Gray conquering the whole thing with Straight Outta Compton. Or Netflix could crash the party and one of the year’s two genuine masterpieces could win Best Picture with beasts of No Nation. If we throw out what we know, Todd Haynes could be the first openly gay director to win an Oscar, and Carol could become the first film with a lead actress nominee to win Best Picture since 2004. Room, for that matter, could win on the crest of its enormous emotional impact.
Beyond all of this there’s a movie that represents a stellar example Hollywood’s biggest shift, though it veers far away from our truth-confronting narratives in the Best Picture race. Star Wars: The Force Awakens has shattered box office records and jolted global culture with all of the right ingredients for trending-topic populist appeal. A female protag, a black hero, warmly kissing the old series goodbye to usher in a fresh start for a durable blockbusting series that should take the top spots at the box office for years to come, just like the first Star Wars did. The good: it reinvents the roles women play in blockbusters. The bad: it depends on branding and pre-awareness to drive this thing, which means more branding and pre-awareness driving all Hollywood product. And less original thinking. The ugly: oh, how easy we are to predict and manipulate, we humans. Give us what we want with fewer choices disguised in more pretty packages. This is true of fast food and it’s true of the Star Wars franchise.
Fandango movie goers were asked to name the best film of 2015, and they answered this way:
1. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”
2. “The Martian”*
3. “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2”
4. “Avengers: Age of Ultron”
5. “Furious 7”
6. “Jurassic World’
7. “Creed”
8. “Trainwreck” *
9. “Inside Out” *
10. “Mad Max: Fury Road”
Of these movies — and The Force Awakens won by an overwhelming margin — only three are films that do not come with any kind of branding or pre-awareness (bolded above). This is the popular multiplex climate in which Star Wars is once again changing how we go to the movies, what defines a blockbuster. Its success will lead the way to many more movies just like it moving into the future.
Is it any wonder the voters in awards groups cling to the kinds of dramas that still remind them of who they are, or once were? Lost men grappling with their identity amid a fast changing industry and potentially collapsing world. This year we’ll see the difference illuminated in the Best Picture category as bug guns from all the big studios go up against a traditional independent film that has the best chance to beat them all. At least, for now, unless we throw out everything we know about the Oscar race.
Can Star Wars break through? It didn’t look like it could at first but more and more it’s looking like it might. Somehow, it has to get at least 300 people to choose it as the number one film of the year. It won Fandango’s poll by a big margin.
The Academy has almost always emphatically rejected sequels of any franchise except the Godfather movies and Lord of the Rings — exceptions for obvious reasons. Awards voters across the country are already choosing Mad Max: Fury Road; will they pick Star Wars too and thus, will there be two sequels in the mix? Will they pick Star Wars, The Martian and Mad Max and make this a historic year three sci-fi films in the BP race? The Producers Guild probably will, but I don’t know about Oscar.
If we stick to what we know about the Oscar race, there can be only two winners: Spotlight and The Big Short. To listen even more closely to history and stats only one winner emerges and that’s Spotlight.
That would mean the Best Picture race is over before the nominations have even been announced, and you know, that makes things feel a little quiet. Too quiet. That means there is potential for upset.
Who or what or why or how? That’s what we intrepid Oscarwatchers must find out.
Coming up this week–
The Producers Guild (January 5) (quick spitballed predictions)
Spotlight
The Martian
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Carol
The Revenant
Mad Max: Fury Road
Room
Straight Outta Compton
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Alt: Beasts of No Nation
The Directors Guild (January 7th) (spitballed predictions)
Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
Ridley Scott, The Martian
Adam McKay, The Big Short or Steven Spielberg, Bridge of Spies
Alejandro G. Inarritu, The Revenant
George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
“The bad: it depends on branding and pre-awareness to drive this thing, which means more branding and pre-awareness driving all Hollywood product. And less original thinking. The ugly: oh, how easy we are to predict and manipulate, we humans. Give us what we want with fewer choices disguised in more pretty packages. This is true of fast food and it’s true of the Star Wars franchise.”
Amen to literally ALL of this. It’s one thing to be inspired or even pay homage to something, it’s another thing entirely to rip-off your already-iconic Original PLOT POINT by f**king PLOT POINT. The Star Wars Originals have been parodied and referenced endlessly! The problem is that Disney & Abrams think we’re stupid enough that we’ll accept whatever rehashed garbage they throw at us, hoping the adult fans will fall head over heels with the superficial technical details like the Failed Awakening being shot on FILM, them using REAL SETS.
These superficial technical aspects mean absolutely shit if there isn’t a strong story however, and they’re smugly betting we’ll be so busy analyzing the “characters” #MazisdicountYoda and what happens in the “movie” (really PRODUCT though, to be completely honest.) that people will let it go just how lazy and messy this thing is. The most frustrating part is how we’re inevitably proving them right, by making it one of the Top 10 highest grossing movies ever, not adjusted for inflation. But the real money, and the REAL reason why this PRODUCT exists shows where Disney will be making most of their money: MERCHANDISE!
It used to be with the Original SW Trilogy, and even other movies today like Mad Max Fury Road and Jurassic World even, that the movies would come out and there would be toys/games/etc. as byproducts of the movie. With Star Wars: The Force Awakens, or The Failed Awakening as I’ve now come to call it, THE MOVIE IS A BYPRODUCT OF THE TOYS/GAMES!!!!
I’ve been telling everyone I know NOT to see this sick thing, because all it does is send a few deadly messages to Hollywood:
1. We want more of the same, no matter how little effort or thought is put into it.
2. We are perfectly happy to convince ourselves that what we’re seeing is good if it’s a sacred brand name we recognize and love enough, and will “just have fun with it.”
3. Also, free pass to lazy, rehashed scripts, no matter how close it comes to the Original that it can arguably be called a PARODY (Adam Driver was Darth Vader if Vader had been a f**king incompetent whiny, and sometimes bland IDIOT, #KyloChristensen ) if the film is shot on actual film and it has women and/or non-white characters in lead roles. Practical effects whenever possible, and any mediocre CGI quality is automatically forgivable.
These are the lessons we’re teaching Hollywood executives with the phenomenal FINANCIAL success of The Failed Awakening. They are horrible lessons I genuinely fear will lead to the decline and maybe even downfall of the American movie industry. Hear my warning, and know I am completely sincere.
“The good: it reinvents the roles women play in blockbusters.”
LOL. I wish, Sasha! That’s coming from a hardcore feminist, BTW.
Try checking out Mad Max: Fury Road to see a female action hero that isn’t bland, or even stiff and awkward at times as was sadly the case with Ms. Ridley’s character/caricature Rey. And no, just to clarify I do not think that the allegations of Rey being a “Mary Sue” are sexist at all, but rather depressingly accurate. 🙁
Hope you thought Luke was a “Mary Sue” too in Episode I
NO way! Luke got rescued so many times, he couldn’t do anything! That’s what made him so relatable and awesome, was his arc throughout the entire trilogy.
When he blew up the Death Star, it was so tension-filled because the movie had set him up as just this normal guy. Would he be able to use the force to save the rebel alliance and the Galaxy?! There was actual SUSPENSE. Remember back when Star Wars had that? I miss those days LOL.
Maybe you saw the movie too many times ? I saw it once and it absolutely had suspense regarding Rey.
HA! I only saw the Failed Awakening ONCE. Just once, that was it, on opening night no less! Rey wasn’t a freaking human being crafted by STORYTELLERS, she was a marketable action figure concocted by greedy studio executives and marketing departments aimed at getting Hunger Games fans into seats for their new SW product. I was more emotionally invested in Elsa from another Disney MOVIE called Frozen, and she wasn’t even the main character of that movie!
I honestly could not have cared if Rey had lived or died in this entire thing, her funny one-liners came off as forced and unnatural, just as her “character” in general did. Even Qui-gon had more personality and was more interesting than Rey!
I am a HUGE feminist, by the way. Lindsay from Freaks & Geeks, Marceline from Adventure Time, I LOVE a strong female character, with emphasis of course on the character. Rey is too perfect to be genuinely relatable, and her moments of selfishness feel calculated and like something lazy screenwriters would come up with.
Luke whined, he wasn’t perfect, and Mark Hamill sold him perfectly in ALL the OT as a completely normal person thrust into extraordinary circumstances. And when he blew up that Death Star, you cheered. When The Death Star rip-off “Starkiller Base” gets blown up and when the powerful Kylo Ren gets defeated by the NAIVE and INEXPERIENCED Rey, you groan with boredom thinking “again?!” With the former, and laugh at the ridiculousness and narrative cheapness of the latter.
Just earlier I had a debate with Clarence (Awards Daily TV) about the potential Oscar nominations and where Star Wars: The Force Awakens might fit in. It’s a fascinating topic, and I dared made him imagine if J.J. Abrams got in as Best Director. I know, I know, easy to dismiss that as never-gonna-happen. I like to think that could well happen (not a solid prediction) and would really shake things up more than they are already.
I really hope not. I enjoyed the movie a lot, but I’ll be honest, I feel like JJ Abrams is taking the franchise to a more Marvel direction. Star Wars is, on its own, a more unique and special universe than most of the superhero stuff out there (in my opinion). But with TFA, I feel like Abrams and Disney are trying to conform it to the Marvel movie franchise model.
What I’m trying to say is, yes, Abrams managed to manage all those high fan expectations fairly well, but for me he has as much right to be on the Best Directors list as whoever it is that did the latest Avengers movie.
TFA was a good movie because of how special Star Wars and all its existing history is, not because of Abrams. He just managed not to let too many people down too much, I don’t feel like he did anything too “inspired” with the direction that needs to be recognized with a Best Director nomination.
From Critics Top Ten, a site that has compiled 364 top 10 lists:
http://criticstop10.com
1. Mad Max
2. Spotlight
3. Carol
4. Inside Out
5. Ex Machina
6. Brooklyn
7. The Martian
8. Creed
9. Room
10. Anomalisa
18. The Big Short
21. Revenant
22. Star Wars
27. Bridge of Spies
31. Straight Out of Compton
9.” Room” not ”The Martian”
For anyone interested, I’ve been keeping a tally of all of the NOMINATIONS that films have been getting with the various critics groups and/or industry things that have already come out. The results aren’t all that shocking, but thought I’d share anyway. I’ve included only the categories & nominees that have at least 10 notices so far. At the bottom are all the groups that I’ve included results from, but basically anyone that has announced nominees already, and in situations (like NYFCC) where only winners/runners-up are announced those are considered nominees as well.
Picture:
1. Spotlight – 35
2. Mad Max: Fury Road – 32
3. Carol – 24
4. The Martian – 20
5. Room – 18
6. The Revenant – 14
7. The Big Short – 12
7. Brooklyn – 12
7. Inside Out – 12
10. Sicario – 10
Director:
1. George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road – 28
2. Thomas McCarthy – Spotlight – 25
3. Todd Haynes – Carol – 21
4. Alejandro G. Inarritu – The Revenant – 19
5. Ridley Scott – The Martian – 16
Actor:
1. Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant – 27
2. Michael Fassbender – Steve Jobs – 22
3. Matt Damon – The Martian – 16
4. Bryan Cranston – Trumbo – 14
4. Eddie Redmayne – The Danish Girl – 14
Actress:
1. Brie Larson – Room – 32
2. Saoirse Ronan – Brooklyn – 29
3. Cate Blanchett – Carol – 25
4. Charlotte Rampling – 45 Years – 17
5. Charlize Theron – Mad Max: Fury Road – 12
Supporting Actor:
1. Mark Rylance – Bridge of Spies – 26
2. Sylvester Stallone – Creed – 23
3. Michael Shannon – 99 Homes – 19
4. Paul Dano – Love & Mercy – 14
5. Benicio Del Toro – Sicario – 11
5. Idris Elba – Beasts of No Nation – 11
Supporting Actress:
1. Alicia Vikander – Ex Machina – 22
2. Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight – 18
2. Kate Winslet – Steve Jobs – 18
4. Kristen Stewart – Clouds of Sils Maria – 15
5. Rooney Mara – Carol – 13
Original Screenplay:
1. Spotlight – 34
2. Inside Out – 17
3. Ex Machina – 16
4. The Hateful Eight – 13
Adapted Screenplay:
1. Room – 23
2. The Big Short – 16
2. Carol – 16
2. The Martian – 16
2. Steve Jobs – 16
Animated:
1. Inside Out – 31
2. Anomalisa – 24
3. Shaun the Sheep Movie – 22
4. The Peanuts Movie – 19
5. The Good Dinosaur – 14
Foreign Language:
1. Son of Saul – 26
2. The Assassin – 17
3. Goodnight Mommy – 14
4. Mustang – 13
5. Phoenix – 12
Documentary:
1. Amy – 36
2. The Look of Silence – 23
3. Best of Enemies – 15
3. Cartel Land – 15
5. Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief – 10
Cinematography:
1. Mad Max: Fury Road – 22
2. The Revenant – 19
3. Carol – 17
4. Sicario – 12
Production Design:
1. Mad Max: Fury Road – 13
2. Brooklyn – 10
Score:
1. The Hateful Eight – 16
2. Carol – 13
3. Mad Max: Fury Road – 12
Film Editing:
1. Mad Max: Fury Road – 14
Included: Gotham, NBR, BIFA, Spirit, Annines, IDA, Cinema Eye Honors, NYFCC, Satelitte, Boston Online, LAFCA, NYFCO, Boston Society, WAFCA, AAFCA, OFCS, NAACP, SAG, HFPA, Detroit, San Diego, San Francisco, Houston, Toronto, Phoenix, BFCA, Indiana, Dallas-Ft. Worth, St. Louis, Chicago, Southeastern, London, Indiewire, Vancouver, Phoenix Critics, Las Vegas, Austin, Black Reel, Kansas City, Women, AFI, Women Journalists, Florida, Nevada, Utah, Florida Circle, North Carolina (perhaps I have missed some)
How closely does Mad Max follow Gravity and Dark Knight in this respect if you were around for those ?
Personally, I think Fury Road is comparable to Budapest Hotel in terms of being completely off the radar (due almost entirely because of when it came out) until it became a critical darling in December and took the race by storm, especially in the tech fields. Where it differs is that I think it could actually win BP.
Did Wes Anderson have the same kind of support as Miller ?
Miller has way more support, in terms of winning precursors, and critical and audience acclaim.
“These weren’t the droids we were looking for. Thus, we pundits must consider the option to throw out everything we know about the Oscar race. Just toss every stat and do what Luke did in the original Star Wars: go on instinct.”
Yeah, I guess it’s not going to be an easy season for you guys (pundits) to maintain people’s interest in the BP race, especially once the pre-nomination phase will be over. 🙂 Of course, you could, theoretically, be right, and something completely illogical, stats-wise, could end up happening. Anything’s possible. (If that has to happen, then I at least hope it’s in the form of a Star Wars BP win!)
Hi Sasha – just wanted to throw out there. The Bells of St. Marys and Toy Story 3 were sequels nominated for Best Picture. Silence of the Lambs was also nominated which is a “sequel” in the loosest sense of the word to Manhunter.
it’s very rare for me to comment here allhough im always reading comments and visit all the time. one thing that really bothers me is how everyone, pundits-oscar prognosticators-journos STILL underestimate TRUMBO’s chances. this is obvious in my eyes, the movie appeals 100% to members, its well made, has a good lead and nice support, got in most precursors but….STILL everyone leaves it outside looking in. For me its a sure thing for a BP nom, maybe because im from greece-i dont know you people- have a nice holiday y’ all
Fully agree but I’ve mentioned that several times on this site about “TRUMBO”, especially I think that Helen Mirren will receive big love from HFPA members at the Globes. If this scenario comes true then the doors are wide open for the OSCARs. Cheers!
its not that i liked it so much, but this is right up their alley, its THEIR story and i think it should b considered a near lock.
Yes you’re right sir, many HFPA and ACADEMY members like that kind of stuff. You should know something else about “TRUMBO”, from my point of view it fits perfectly to watch it at home on your TV. That said, many AMPAS members are going to enjoy it with their delivered screeners to their homes. That’s a hughe advantage for receiving positve votes.
Leo, ur right on spot. obviously in Greece we cant yet watch most of the movies in conversation , so u get it…Also Spotlight is very enjoyable on TV, will have a good run there in the years to come
I saw “TRUMBO” together with a DIRECTOR ACADEMY member a couple of days ago.
It was really entertaining and I loved it very much. Cheers!
I enjoyed Trumbo but I felt like I was watching a film made 30 years ago. The script was also deadly.
they’re too busy overestimating The Martian, Room and The Force Awakens.
Maybe it is because it is not an engaging movie at all ? Not that AMPAs care about all that.
kinda liked it, Milli b, maybe for historical reasons. thing is ,as precursors already show, it is strong going to the last phase but only a few mention it. i believe it has a good shot for a pic nom, it will not be the first time for them to do their thing and ignore critics
No of course they will probably nominate it. There is no way they nominate more than 2 genre movies. These will take their place.
AMPAS members have their own minds and I can imagine that they love ”Trumbo”. Reasonable BO and its Hollywood storyline are its main advantages to getting nominated.
Maybe because when you watch Carol, Brooklyn, and Bridge of Spies you realize that the 1950s can be done artistically and not just by pointing and shooting your camera?
yeh i can understand and i fully agree. but, in terms of predicting, it should b considered as a strong possibility for a BP nom. happy new year
I agree, Trumbo seems underestimated but I’m sure everyone has it on the back of their mind. The truth is, I think it’s a fine movie, nothing too special, but good. So, it can be hard to talk about it when other movies offer a lot more interesting points of conversation. I still have it on my list though, exactly for the reasons you mentioned : it’s a movie about Hollywood and the Academy, so it’s very likely they’ll find it irresistible.
I think Sasha’s 10 are probably the way the BP nominees will pan out. I do think “Room” is the movie that won’t make it. Subject matter too unsettling for a lot of people. And the others are definitely more popular with the mainstream. Brie Larson’s performance may get a deserved nod, along with screenplay. But I think a BP nomination is not going to happen. Especially with the way the critics awards have been going. Room isn’t mentioned often, if at all, as a BP nominee in the critics circles. It does get attention for Best Actress and Best Screenplay. Those are safe bets. It will be interesting to see how the various guilds will vote, though, in the upcoming weeks. Cinematography, Film Editing, Production Design, Score . . . all very competitive categories this year . . . with perhaps Mad Max being the favored one in technical categories (but I wouldn’t rule out The Martian, Star Wars, and Bridge of Spies to garner a lot of technical nods).
I just want to say something about a movie that seems to be being dismissed by a lot of people, Joy. I watched it the day after Christmas with family, and while it may not win any Best Picture race, I think it would be right at the top if there was a Best Christmas/Family Picture category. It was not nearly as bad as critics made it out. I really enjoyed it and I think it’s a movie that’s going to find its way into the Christmas playlist for families for years to come. I know I definitely want to watch it again when I’m in the mood for something uplifting.
In the awards conversation, I think Jennifer Lawrence is being underestimated. She was a wonderful lead in a movie I enjoyed more than a lot of other, more serious contenders. People seem to be doubting if she even gets nominated and I really hope they’re wrong. I was rooting for Saoirse Ronan up to now in Best Actress, but now I’m torn.
I didn’t like Joy, but I agree with you on all counts. It still has a chance at PGA and DGA. Lawrence had a strong box office year and will have another next year. There are a few studios who would be happy to see her get another Oscar nomination. She is already mainstream and won’t need to campaign much if she gets a nod.
I personally want Rampling to get her first nomination and win it. But I think Oscar voters may put Mirren in the veteran spot.
If Adam McKay gets on the DGA list, that pretty much eliminates Mad Max as a realistic BP contender and it comes down to Spotlight v. Big Short.
Perhaps… It definitely would be a big boost, because DGA does more to reveal the top 5 contenders for the BP Oscar than to reveal the eventual BD Oscar nominees. If anything is NOT on the DGA list, it’s very unlikely to win Best Picture.
Mad Max always had a tough path to BP, having to basically rely on the Gravity path with Director and all the techs. If Big Short has a Director/Script/Acting troika then it emerges as a huge threat for the win. Can’t be emphasized enough that Brad Pitt as the producer on Big Short is a HUGE advantage (he arguably pushed 12 Years across the finish line two years ago)
Yeah, I agree…
Pitt doesn’t hurt, but I’ll note that GRAVITY had Clooney on board, so the two probably cancelled each other out in that respect.
Clooney wasn’t Gravity’s producer though. I think Pitt being in the Big Short cast AND the producer will be a large advantage over Spotlight.
To clarify, I LOVED Mad Max and the fact that Miller got such a gonzo film even released is amazing to me. The lack of a script nomination and, frankly, Tom Hardy’s less than stellar reputation will hurt it come the campaign phase.
McKay getting in instead of Miller?
Miller still gets in DGA/Oscar. But McKay knocking out Haynes or Scott would put Big Short either in the #2 BP slot or even #1A.
Last year Birdman won without an editing non. I think this year could easily break the SAG trend if no other guilds end up agreeing with their noms. I’d still watch out for Big Short and Mad Max.
Admittedly, BIRDMAN didn’t look edited in any way. It winning without an editing nom does about the same to the Editing stat as GRAVITY would have done to the SAG ensemble stat if it had won Best Picture. It was just an anomaly.
Also, THE BIG SHORT *does* have a SAG ensemble nomination, so it wouldn’t break any trends if it went on to win the Best Picture Oscar somehow.
“if no other guilds end up agreeing with their noms.”
Big if…
Come January, will ”Room’s” BO takings possibly hurt its chances getting nominated for BP Oscar. Lowest takings out of all in contention. Thoughts? PGA?
It hasn’t gone very wide yet, so they are clearly waiting to get Oscar nominations before they expand it or give it a hard push. CAROL has still made less, as have a number of films with sketchier BP hopes (e.g. THE DANISH GIRL, SON OF SAUL, YOUTH, THE REVENANT, SUFFRAGETTE, etc.).
Also, “Come January” doesn’t really matter for nominations, since they have started voting now.
You can’t compare the others….Room has been out since mid-October and has taken less than 5mil. Suffragette is no longer in contention. I just thought it would do better since it has a GG BP nomination. AMPAS start voting tomorrow.
Obviously it’s been out since October, but’s never been on more than 200 screens. It’s made more than any film this year that has been on so few screens (although HATEFUL EIGHT will overtake it, to be sure, before it expands).
”The Hateful Eight” is doing amazing it’s already on the same as ”Room”.
Carol has made more than half of what Room has, in less than half the time and a fraction of the screens. Carol was in 4 theaters for two full weeks and made a fourth of what Room had made since October.
Room’s PTA is alarmingly low and sales continue to drop. When it misses out on all the noms everyone thinks it’s getting, they’ll stop rationalizing a bloop box office.
True. Carol, The Danish Girl and The Hateful Eight are all raking it in. Brooklyn, Trumbo and Spotlight too!! At the end of the day money matters!!
It’s an all-or-nothing strategy, to be sure… One wonders if A24 simply hasn’t figured out how to sell ROOM or if it’s a calculated risk. It seems to me they’re just copying tricks from the Weinstein playbook with ROOM’s release (e.g. THE ARTIST barely had made more at this point and CITY OF GOD was basically four-walled for six months so it would remain in the conversation), albeit with less box office heat than those films typically generate. I suspect that when they saw it wasn’t going to be able to sustain 700+ screens throughout the holiday season, they decided to keep its release tight and hold back on marketing until Oscar nominations emerged.
If REVENANT or HATEFUL also fail to secure BP nominations, they’ll have left a lot of money on the table like CAROL and ROOM. This is a pretty stark contrast in comparison to last year, where most of the films made most of their money before nominations (AMERICAN SNIPER being the biggest exception).
I think Room’s biggest challenge is going to be keeping the screens it already has. Carol is still only in 16 theaters. Spotlight only in 480. Brooklyn in 300. The Revenant in 4, The Hateful Eight opening wide soon. These are all titles that theaters are going to give priority to, especially once they rake in their own Oscar nominations. Room has been out too long and will have a very hard time adding enough theaters/screens to increase their B.O.
Perhaps. It probably doesn’t help the film’s cause that A24 is still a fledgling distributor and can’t command screens in the way that a company like Weinstein can.
It got the screens with ”Ex Machina”.
Not sure what you’re implying. That was during a dead spot at the box office, with a film that was performing more strongly… There’s more product competing for screens right now, and the top box office attraction ever is playing.
A24 could of easily commanded screens for ”Room” considering all the buzz and awards its received instead they’re using the ”waiting for Oscars” excuse instead. If Fox, Focus Features and Open Road can do it for their movies, I’m sure A24 can do it too! Just sayin’.
I was responding to a comment that was talking about post-nomination expansion, which is an entirely different animal. Obviously they could have gone wider earlier if they wanted to, but they probably saw that that would have resulted in a money loss.
It’s hard to understand how you are perceiving the film’s box office as a liability in garnering nominations. It seems to be doing just fine in garnering awards nominations and wins this season (I doubt box office was to blame for its lack of BP/BD Spirit nominations). The Academy has hardly shown itself to be averse to nominating things that aren’t box office smashes, as long as the film in question isn’t perceived to be a flop. By never going wide, ROOM could be said to be dodging the question, but it’s not perceived as a flop either.
unless you consider it being a horrible, dry and not-at-all-remarkable film as a flop.
Even in limited release, it’s on the edge of being a flop, especially since a lot of its competitors (e.g. Brooklyn) seem to be doing better. Dodging the question for so long doesn’t give a good impression.
It’s made more money than any film this year that has played on so few screens. It’s not a flop. It just hasn’t gone nearly as wide as films like BROOKLYN (197 screens vs 947!).
”Brooklyn” is still doing better even with its screens decreasing until Jan. Spotlight too. The ”Hateful Eight” has taken over that title I’m afraid.
I replied to your initial comment because you asked for thoughts, but I am not sure you want others’ thoughts so much as an argument.
I’m not arguing, you’re just defensive over a movie
You’re restating points that I’ve already made as if they are news to me. I don’t have a horse in this race… (I’m rooting for CAROL to win, although it won’t).
Probably Spotlight
Those other award nominations were weeks ago, I’m referring to Oscars. Considering its budget is $13 million… yes, it’s on the verge. Contenders have made their production budget by the time nominations come around. ”Room” has a lot of catching up to do in a very crowded and competitive field.
Lots of incorrect information here… You keep making false claims.
– I doubt ROOM cost that much to make. It wouldn’t have been eligible for the Spirit awards if it had. Wikipedia lists the budget as $4.8 million.
– Plenty of Oscar nominees are released in a manner to capitalize on nominations and make much of their money after the fact.
I remember reading that its budget was $13 million when it screened at Toronto. Spirit is less than $20 million. The $4.8 million you’re seeing on Wiki is its BO takings. If you do your research you’ll find that contenders have made their production budget before nominations. What they make after is a bonus.
My bad… I just quickly glanced at the wikipedia page.
”Room” would of done really well if A24 had taken the chance and released it wide back in OCT/NOV when it had serious momentum; with its many audiences awards and AFI, GG, Spirit nominations. Come Jan and Feb there will too much competition with other Oscar contenders and other big studio releases for it to catch up. Its budget is $13 million.
Still Alice barely dented the box office and Julianne Moore rolled to the win.
I’m not sure what your argument here is. Are you saying Larson can win Best Actress even if Room isn’t BP nominated and has a lazy box office? If that’s what you’re saying then I agree with you, but that isn’t what the thread preceding this was really about.
Moore won her Oscar last year because it was ”overdue” regardless of whether ”Still Alice” did well or not. Larson on the other hand doesn’t have that advantage. She’ll be nominated, I’m just not sure if the AMPAS will hand out an award to an ”unknown” when BO takings aren’t great.
Julianne Moore is a previous 4 x nominee. It was ”owed” to her regardless. It’s a different story this year.
The concept of the movie is a hard sell to the average person. I wouldn’t have watched it if it wasn’t a contender.
Without an Oscar nomination, it will be dead. They should be worried that the GG nomination hasn’t helped much.
I would say ”Spotlight” was in the same category regarding ”hard sell” due to its subject matter. But it’s doing fantastic!
Can you remind me of Whiplash’s box office please?
If you see scroll down further you will see the comparisons from another commentator. ”Whiplash” looked out because it had made over its production budget before AMPAS voting commenced whereas ”Room” isn’t even halfway there at this stage. ”Room” is included in Variety’s top under-performing indies of 2015.
PGA 2016
1. Brooklyn
2. Bridge of Spies
3. Carol
4. The Big Short
5. The Revenant
6. The Martian
7. Mad Max: Fury Road or Ex Machina
8. Spotlight
9. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
10.Room or Straight Outta Compton or Trumbo
Oscars 2016
BEST PICTURE
1. BROOKLYN
2. BRIDGE OF SPIES
3. THE BIG SHORT
4. CAROL
5. STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
6. THE REVENANT
7. SPOTLIGHT
8. MAD MAX: FURY ROAD OR CREED
9. ROOM OR TRUMBO OR TRUTH OR CONCUSSION
PGA:
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Carol
The Hateful Eight
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compton
Oscar:
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Carol
The Hateful Eight
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Spotlight
if 8: The Martian
if 9: Brooklyn
if 10: Room
Oscar, to me: The Big Short, Spotlight, Carol, Mad Max Fury Road, Room, Bridge of Spies and Trumbo (shocker). If 8, The Martian, if 9, The Revenant, if 10 Straight outta Compton. Possible dark horse: Creed.
I think for sure we get: The Big Short, Carol, Mad Max: Fury Road and Spotlight. I have a hard time believing The Revenant misses out because it’s destined to have too many nominations to ignore, and a likely Best Actor winner. That’s 5. The rest could go any which way, but dependent on a lot of factors.
Dependent on a gender bias: Brooklyn and Room.
Dependent on a sci-fi/fantasty/blockbuster bias: The Martian and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Dependent on middling reviews from much-loved directors: The Hateful Eight and Joy.
Dependent on muted, died-down attention: Bridge of Spies and Steve Jobs.
Then there is always the chance of dark horse surprises: Inside Out, Sicario, Trumbo, Straight Outta Compton, Beasts of No Nation…
The perceived “gender bias” toward Brooklyn and Room is majorly offset by the fact they are indie movies. Being an indie movie, no matter its quality, will get you into the Oscar BP race over proven quality mainstream movies.
but Carol and Spotlight are also indie movies, and unlike Room and Brooklyn grabbed the indie nominations with the Spirit Awards, which is why they’re the “sure bets” and Brooklyn and Room are not, which on top of being (arguably) third and fourth tier indie movies, have the uphill battle of a gender bias.
muted, died down attention: Bridge of Spies is so much stronger than Steve Jobs, plus it has the “feel good, America” component.
that doesn’t change the fact that no one is talking about either film anymore
“Bridge of Spies is so much stronger than Steve Jobs”
Chances-wise, yes. But I much prefer Steve Jobs as a movie. BoS is easily my least favorite Spielberg since Munich.
The Revenant might miss Picture and Director, as Iñarritu just won last year for Birdman, and voters might choose The Martian instead (more of a crowdpleaser but a similar film at its core: focused on one individual against an extremely hostile environment). There’s even a high danger, both films could end cancelling each other out, in key cathegories, depending on the voter’s taste. Still Leo seems to be a lock for the nom, while Matt still can go either way. I see Room nominated, but I honestly don’t see Brooklyn getting any important nom aside of Actress and Screenplay, maybe some technical.
i agree with you homer. Spotlight’s subject matter is just too average. I hope Star Wars;TFA wins the best picture or Carol.
I just hope that Spotlight doesn’t win, it would be a completly average winner especially when we have right behind us the masterpiece of the year in so fuckin levels! Ah, mediocre!
It breaks my heart not to see Brooklyn listed. I feel semi-confident that it will show for Best Picture at the Oscars with a lot of influence from the BAFTA and the Brit vote. I certainly think Brooklyn will get in ahead of Room.
Fingers crossed !!
I have every faith that “Brooklyn” will be nominated BAFTA, PGA & Oscars!!!
I agree, Brooklyn is ahead of Room, especially for voters who watched during holiday season. Room has good performances but is incredibly miserable as a movie. Brooklyn, on the other hand is very relatable.
I dunno… the HFPA would seem to me to by sympathetic toward an immigrant’s story like BROOKLYN, yet they nominated ROOM and not that for Best Picture.
Similarly, ROOM has 2 SAG nominations to BROOKLYN’s 1.
Finally, at the BIFAs BROOKLYN was shut out of Picture and Director (although Ronan did win) whereas ROOM won International Independent Film over CAROL and SON OF SAUL.
I am not saying BROOKLYN can’t surge, but I’m not sure that I see the logic in assuming that it will.
“I certainly think Brooklyn will get in ahead of Room.”
Hope you’re right!
I had a different take on Spotlight, actually more in keeping with your ‘Lost Man’ theory, something about the way heroism has to come to terms with the old boy’s network it’s evolved around, and the evil that attaches itself to that structure. SLIGHT SPOILER……The revelation at the end, carried so subtly throughout and then depicted so honestly, is surely the Lost Man story of our times, willful, instinctive blindness being forced to reconcile with itself.
It’s been such an odd year in the Oscar race that there’s only one movie (Spotlight) I’d be completely stunned to see snubbed from the Best Picture field. Revenant or Carol getting snubbed would also surprise me quite a bit, though there’s just enough uncertainty (subject matter, the Academy hasn’t warmed to other Haynes films) that it wouldn’t completely shock me if it was snubbed. Haynes himself I’d still consider something of a 50-50 shot at a Best Director nod.
Other than those three films, it’s pretty much up in the air. You can break all the other contenders down into a few categories…
Propped Up By A Heralded Acting Nominee: Room, Bridge Of Spies, Brooklyn
Larson, Rylance and Ronan are all getting nominated, but it’s just a question as to whether the heat around their performances will translate to their films getting enough support. Room has the best chance of the bunch, followed by BOS with Brooklyn seemingly fading, yet if I had to guess, I’d actually say Bridge Of Spies is the least likely. Where’s the passion or buzz for this movie? People admire Spielberg and Hanks, yet is that really likely to translate to the magic number of #1 votes?
The Sci-Fi Bunch: Martian, Star Wars, Mad Max
Again, I’d like to note that ‘Martian’ is probably not likely to be interpreted by many crusty old Academy voters as sci-fi — it’s an astronaut movie with only somewhat advanced technology set in a world virtually the same as our own, not something set in a dystopian nightmare or in a galaxy far far away. Martian isn’t likely to be hurt by the so-called “sci-fi vote” since by comparison, I can see older voters turning more towards it than with more far-out Star Wars or Mad Max.
Late-breaking Favourites: Hateful Eight, Big Short
Big Short is pretty close to a lock for a nomination, though not a win; it has all the feeling of this year’s American Hustle as a big flashy busy star-studded studio movie that seems lesser the more you think about it. Hateful Eight has a good shot since Tarantino is so beloved by the Academy, though I wonder if the film will be hurt by things like Mad Max splitting the cinephile vote.
Not Happening: Inside Out, Beasts Of No Nation, Straight Outta Compton
I feel Sasha is overrated the importance of the SAG Ensemble Award nomination. You may not be able to win Best Picture without one, though just getting one doesn’t automatically put you into the race. Keep in mind that we’re just a couple of years removed from Exotic Marigold Hotel, The Butler and August Osage County getting nommed by the SAGs.
“I feel Sasha is overrated the importance of the SAG Ensemble Award nomination. You may not be able to win Best Picture without one, though just getting one doesn’t automatically put you into the race. Keep in mind that we’re just a couple of years removed from Exotic Marigold Hotel, The Butler and August Osage County getting nommed by the SAGs.”
Yup.
Just saw Spotlight, and my initial thoughts during the screening was that while the subject matter was compelling and important, this was not compelling or artistic filmmaking- something past Best Picture winners DO include. Our recent champs that include Birdman, 12 Years a Slave, Argo, The Artist, King’s Speech and Hurt Locker all had innovative ways of lifting their themes to another level; Birdman with the artistic camera angles, 12 Years a Slave with the poetic performances, Argo with the outstanding editing and fresh script, Artist with it’s homage to the silent film era, King’s Speech with eccentric art direction and The Hurt Locker with layered suspense at war told from a woman’s perspective.
Spotlight offers none of these things. It felt flat and basic. Perhaps that was the point- after all, journalism is all about cynicism and getting the story. So maybe that’s why the director chose a bland way to present the material. But I wouldn’t watch it again. There are no performances worthy of awards attention save Mark Ruffalo and the underrated Stanley Tucci. Other then that, Rachel McAdams has no business being a contender. She’s less interesting then a dial tone, which is a shame because she’s a very good actress. But the screenplay never lets us into her personality, so it comes off very robotic. Michael Keaton’s weird attempt at a Boston accent doesn’t work, and his character is forgettable.
I don’t think Spotlight is winning Best Picture this year. I think we’re in for some surprises. I could be wrong, but this would be the most boring champion for the top prize since A Beautiful Mind way back in 2001.
Why do people shit on A Beautiful Mind?
Because it wasn’t very good? I actually might rank it as the worst BP winner of the last 16 years (yes, even below Crash).
Ah. I actually loved it till i found out how dramatised Nash’s life was made.
What’s that got to do with anything? It’s fiction. If it’s dramatized well, they can invent anything, and it shouldn’t detract from how good the movie is.
I mean i met John Nash and all and I also study his research extensively. Very hard for me to separate the two. If you can enjoy them separately, amazing! I liked it when i saw it first.
Uh…The Hurt Locker says hi, followed by The Artist and Birdman.
Because it was an absurd version of The 6th Sense?
Well, I had never thought about that.
As a journalist, I have to say that ”Spotlight” hit home for me. I especially loved how the movie showed that great reporting is a result of lotsa research and shoe leather. For me, it was an exciting detective story.
That said, I do pretty much agree with you about the performances: Ruffalo has the flashiest role, so he’s a natural for a nomination, but I actually thought Tucci’s been way underrated. I’ve loved Keaton in so many movies, but he seems too ”actory” here, too forced. And Adams, who’s a fine actress, doesn’t deserve to be in Oscar contention at all. As written, all her character does is deliver exposition and listen to witnesses talk. As written, Adams hasn’t been given anything pro-active to do; she doesn’t drive any of her scenes. (I read that the original script gave more background about the reporters, but that got lost in the editing.)
I’m a sucker for newspaper movies, and I think so are the critics who’ve been showering ”Spotlight” with awards. But will the Oscar voters agree? So far, a film about journalism has never won Best Picture, and there have been quite a few great ones, like ”Citizen Kane,” ”Network” and ”All the President’s Men” …
He repeats: Gentleman’s Agreement (definitely) and, arguably, also It Happened One Night.
Interestingly, Sasha Stone addressed this issue in her Oct. 31 column: Can ‘Spotlight’ break the curse, or can a movie about journalists finally win Best Picture? I agree with Sasha that it’s not really a movie about journalism: Yes, Gable plays a journalist, but it’s really a romantic comedy/road picture. In Sasha’s column and the 46 comments that followed, no one mentioned ”Gentleman’s Agreement.” Yes, Peck plays a reporter, but the fact that it’s an ”issue” movie about anti-Semitism (to me) overshadows it as a newspaper movie per se. My idea of a journalism movie is set in a newsroom, where reporters wrangle over a story. Others that fit this description: ”The Front Page,” ”Deadline USA,” ”Broadcast News,” etc.
Yes – but the point is there are CLEAR arguments (and, to me, pretty hard ones to argue with) for it being a journalism movie, by many people’s definitions, even if not yours or Sasha’s (because the whole premise is a journalistic endeavor). I don’t see how anyone can deny that. Whether it’s a journalism movie to you or X is irrelevant. The point is that it’s definitely going to be a journalism movie to a number of people, and you won’t be able to bring forth any valid arguments that prove them wrong, because it depends on the definition. Is there a clear, official definition for this anywhere? I don’t think so, but maybe I’m wrong…
But, if I’m not, then the whole argument about no journalism movie ever winning is shaky, at best. You can say ALMOST no journalism movie has ever won, or no journalism movie has won FOR ALMOST 60 years, and those are quite decent points (though, again, this sort of argument is only useful when the precursor stats don’t clearly point in one direction or another – otherwise precursor stats are clearly prevalent, because they show what’s going on NOW, as opposed to what’s been a historical tendency, and times DO change… unless you’re telling us we shouldn’t have been betting on The Artist or The Return of the King, despite the overwhelming precursor evidence that they were winning, simply because no movies like that had ever won), but you can’t say it the way you and others have been saying it and prove that you’re right, and those who say otherwise (like me) aren’t.
Spotlight isn’t very flashy but that doesn’t mean in it’s bland. I thought there was an undeniable quality to the direction, editing and writing. The whole thing has a terrific rhythm to it and the camera position and blocking is never off-point. It’s a procedural drama and it isn’t calling any attention to itself, it lets the urgency of the story take precedent and I think that’s good filmmaking.
Well thank god Fandango movie goers do not vote for Oscars. They might just be worse than AMPAs.
Big Short is a film that you see every year.. Like literally every year there will be Big Short with wonky editing and almost a documentary like quality that is elevated to movie status by some seasoned actors. A year with such great movies should not have this in top 2.
The Academy itself is a niche audience. Especially the Actor’s Branch, who dominate, and nominate the Actors, with an accent on the TORS. You have to think like an actor to figure this all out. I was one back in the day. And I direct actors in my plays. Acting is the central creative process to all this. And they want it to stay that way. Not special effects. No. No. They like characters and PLOTS and themes. Not fantasies. So that does sound like “Spotlight” is thier cup of tea, doesn’t it? But it’s ripe for an upset. “Trumbo” anyone? Or “Son of Saul”?
That’s why “Birdman” won. It was about acTORS.
Steve Pond at thewrap.com has a fascinating story about how many (and how few) votes you need to land an Oscar nomination. Even though there are nearly 6,300 voters, it’s possible to get a Best Picture nod with only 315 first-place votes. And among the 227 in the cinematography branch, you just need 38 first-place ballots!
http://www.thewrap.com/how-many-votes-oscar-nomination-magic-number-academy-award/
The reason one needs so few votes is there are so few voters. Factor in the large number of contenders vying for a rare spot and even getting as little as 20 1st place votes becomes a VERY harduous task. But what it does tell you is that if one is an Academy voter then one’s vote does matter and can truly make a difference!
Hi Sasha and to all my AwardsDaily friends. Have a little laugh with me about a real true OSCAR curiosity what happened in the past. David Lean’s epic in 1962 “LAWRENCE OF ARABIA” is unique in being the only film to win the Best Picture award without containing a single female speaking role. In fact the only female featured in the entire film is a camel named Gladys! -:)))) Oh Gladys ……
Weird… had never thought of that…
Yeap, and the Oscars for Best single female speaking role went to our beloved camel Gladys ……
What a story of the time of Golden Hollywood. :-)))
Spotlight is a great film, and if it sweeps, fine by me. The cheap thrills of a close contest should not have anything to do with how it’s treated.
I still like to think that Inside Out will find a way into the PGA nominees, and subsequently into the BP nominees. Ditto with Steve Jobs. They could easily replace several of these predictions, including Bridge of Spies and Straight Outta Compton. As for the DGA, anyone other than Miller, McCarthy, Haynes, Inarritu, and Scott would be a surprise. By my count, these are the only nominees that have won awards throughout the season so far, with Miller maintaining a dominating lead (15), as opposed to his closest competitors, Haynes (3) and McCarthy (3). They’ve also shown up the most as nominees (all five are up for the Golden Globe), while I can’t really recall seeing Spielberg or McKay nominated anywhere off the top of my head.
If AMPAS nominates Steve Jobs and snubs TFA, they’ll lose all credibility that’s left (and that isn’t much).
I wouldn’t be surprised if that happens. Steve Jobs is better written and better acted (guaranteed to get nominations for both), and that’s usually what attracts the Academy.
I will be surprised if Steve Jobs is nominated. It carries the stench of a box office dud and no matter how good a movie is the Academy doesn’t like movies that are complete commercial failures. A movie can’t be too successful or too unsuccessful and expect a nomination. I expect screenplay because Sorkin is worshiped, probably Winslet, and maybe Fassbender, but he’s on the bubble for actor.
SJ is neither. It’s totally forgettable, panders to niche actors branch among AMPAS who think gimmicky acting is everything. Nobody’s ever going to care for that movie and performances after Oscars are handed out.
So you’re trying to say that Abrams’ remake of “A New Hope” was better written? It’s a fine movie, but if it gets a screenplay nomination, then their credibility would really be shot.
Totally. SJ doesn’t work and has awful cop out ending.
…and blowing up the villains’ gigantic base yet again somehow isn’t? Again, a fine film, but they could have tried for something a little more original.
Anything is better than SJ ending drivel and you focused on blowing another base over the drama in the woods. Which was brilliant.
Ah yes, another lightsaber battle, between the Darth Vader-wannabe (seriously, he was praising DV’s helmet) and the Luke Skywalker-Stand-in (the young hero forced to leave home to fight in a big cause). Granted, this exact confrontation didn’t happen until Empire, but you get the point. You’re making Steve Jobs’ writing sound better than TFA with each comment.
You are so wrong. these characters are wonderful and reflection of our times. Emo kid, nerdy loner girl, goofy kid. I’ll leave the essay for TFA forums where people are receptive to TFA subcontexts but just want to say you are so wrong. these characters >>>>>>>>>>> that shallow motor mouth performance in SJ.
And yet, it’s that “shallow motor mouth performance” that’s been earning a boatload of nominations, plus a few wins, that is, where DiCaprio didn’t end up taking the top spot. And that’s not to mention the multitude of nominations for Sorkin’s brilliant script.
That’s great that you loved TFA, but you’re simply in denial if you can’t see that there’s very little originality to be found in it. I enjoyed the film, but once I realized what Abrams was doing (i.e. making his version of “A New Hope”), I knew exactly how it was going to play out, which was a bit disappointing.
And finally, it’s rather silly to tell someone that their opinion is wrong. It’s a rather childish mistake in any discussion of opinions. I haven’t lied about any of this, so none of it is wrong. Notice how I never said you were wrong about any of your statements, because this seems to be how you genuinely feel.
TFA isn’t getting boatload of noms because it wasn’t screened due to Mystery Box shit. So it isn’t the same situation.
Fassbender sucked ass.
But there have still been a number of groups that announced after the critics’ screenings started on the 15th, and still very little. Though that nod from the AFI was rather interesting.
Steve Jobs flopped with critics awards.
How so? Fassbender has won a few times (again because DiCaprio is dominating the category), while the screenplay hasn’t won thanks to Spotlight (along with Room and The Martian) dominating the Screenplay/Adapted Screenplay categories. And that’s not to mention that only three films have won Best Picture awards so far (Spotlight, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Carol), so going by your logic, there are a multitude of films that have “flopped” with critics awards.
Movie and director flopped. Hard. That forgettable crap ain’t taking TFA or any other movie’s BP spot. No sir.
Well, it didn’t exactly flop “hard” (it lost a total of $5 million, which isn’t all that much). That being said, I somehow knew I was going to have to point this out: Box Office has never been an indicator of quality. Adam Sandler’s garbage makes millions of dollars, and yet they’re some of the worst films out there (see also: The “Twilight” series). At the same time, a lot of the great films of the last several years haven’t made very much money.
And it’s rather amusing that you keep calling Steve Jobs forgettable, and yet, no one seems to have a problem remembering it pretty well as it’s been highly praised ever since it started screening. However, even the biggest fans of TFA have been able to admit that it’s a retread of “A New Hope.”
Trivia: Adam Sandler’s last live-action movie, ”The Cobbler,” debuted in spring in limited release and on video on demand. Wikipedia says it has been reported to be the biggest box-office flop of Sandler’s career – only $24,000 at the U.S. box office in its opening weekend.
”The Cobbler,” which co-starred Dustin Hoffman, garnered only 8% at Rotten Tomatoes.
”The Cobbler” was directed and co-written by Tom McCarthy.
Yes, of ”Spotlight” fame. Talk about going from the ridiculous to the sublime!
Oh wow, I totally forgot about The Cobbler (and also forgot that it was McCarthy’s doing, which is rather amusing). Nobody really talked about that one very much, and if they did, it was to bash it in. Makes you wonder how it would’ve done with a wide release like his other trash usually gets.
Steve Job costs 30M. Flop. Hard.
…and it made $25 million. Most people would not consider that flopping “hard.”
25M worldwide. LOL.
I hope you’ll be able to keep up that level of jocularity on the 14th when it gets more major nominations than Star Wars.
TFA will get Picture and Steve Flops will get Failbender, Winslet and Sorkin. And, hopefully, ZERO wins.
TFA: STILL 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. By Oscar nomination time, it will be the most popular film in American history. Written by the guy who wrote the best SW movie before this, Empire Strikes Back. The Oscars’ very credibility is at stake here. TFA has done its part.
I’m fine with it not getting the screenplay nomination – it’s definitely not a great script. But BP it should be up for.
But that’s the problem right there. Without a screenplay nomination, it would be a rather hollow BP nomination. Add that on to the fact that it’s not going to be nominated for Director, Film Editing, or any acting awards, and you have a really empty gesture on the part of the Academy, similar to what they did to Selma last year.
This and Selma last year might be empty gestures to you, but not to me. And since I mostly care what I think about it, why should I be bothered by that? 🙂
No one said it should bother you. If a Best Picture nomination without anything else major is good enough for you, then you should be happy with that. When I say it’s an empty gesture, I mean in terms of its chances of actually winning, which are non-existent if that’s all it gets.
It is. Because they gave American Sniper screenplay and Best Actor nominations, they gave Precious screenplay, acting AND directing nominations (these being just the two most annoying, to me, examples) – and those are easily my two least favorite BP-nominated movies in the last 10 years, at least, and I never would have given them anything major… so, yeah, I don’t really see the difference between just BP and BP + other major noms.
Well, like I said, without anything else major, it has no chance of winning, which is why I call it an “empty gesture.” It’s basically the Academy saying that they really liked the movie, but nothing else important about it (i.e. the directing, acting, screenplay).
Yes, but if American Sniper and/or Precious had better chances of winning, then I really have no reason to care what they think has a chance of winning, or what they like anything else about… I only care about being able to say my favorite movie of the year was a BP nominee – I know it won’t win anyway, regardless of whether it gets any other major noms or not, because of the SAG (and other) stats – which is better than not being able to say that. I don’t care what other people think that’s worth. I know what it’s worth to me, and that’s all I care about.
And why do you assume I want it to get nominated because I think that’s some sort of validation, that I think the Academy liking it somehow makes it better? I don’t, necessarily – a bit (because I tend to like their nominees, on average, a bit more than I like everything else, but that hardly applies to all of them – see above -, so it’s no set in stone rule), but definitely nowhere near enough for me to change my opinion of it in any way, whether it gets nominated or not. I would prefer for it to get nominated because it’s in no way worse than if it doesn’t. It’s extra recognition, which can’t hurt.
Well, I never made any assumptions about anything, and it certainly shouldn’t change you mind about a movie one way or the other. All I was commenting on were its chances of winning without other nominations, that’s all. Ultimately, I don’t think anyone really cares whether or not their favorite film gets nominated for BP, though, as you say, the recognition doesn’t hurt. I’m happy to say that my favorite film of the year has been nominated for the last seven years in a row (and even won once), though this year will be a bit of a nail-biter because I’m not sure if Inside Out will make the cut or not.
Oh, no, if that’s what you meant, then, yeah, I definitely don’t think it has any real chances of winning, with or without extra major nominations, so it makes no difference whatsoever. I would like to see Daisy Ridley nominated, if possible, but I understand it’s probably not their thing, so I won’t be broken up about it if she isn’t.
They will nominate both. You will seethe and cry with joy.
I could see that happening (them nominating both).
Spielberg managed a BFCA nomination, but that’s pretty much it. McKay picked up a few critics group nods for Best Director.
From a friend of an Academy member on what they are all voting for, click on the pic!
Star Wars? They should resign.
Why? This type of attitude is what will ultimately doom the Oscars is massive, wholesale changes aren’t made. The Academy has become too pre-occupied with message movies or movies that make Hollywood look good. When you continue to reward movies that very small percentages of the population care about you make yourself an irrelevant niche group. Star Wars is a critically acclaimed, box office legend. To discount it automatically because it’s “just” Star Wars is to have forgotten what movies are about: entertainment. Only egotistical elitists believe movies HAVE to be something more to be good.
Movies are about entertainment, awards are (or should be) about artistic merit.
Says who? You? Artistic is in the eye of the beholder and you don’t get to choose what someone else considers to be artistic. Are you aware at the first Oscars there was a category “Best Artistic Quality of Production” and the winner was not the same as the Best Picture winner? That shows that voters considered Best Picture to mean the one they enjoyed most (otherwise the winners would have been the same). Each voter today approaches Best Picture differently. To some it means the most artistic, to others it means their favorite picture of the year. Those two do not go together often and the voters are now obsessed with the idea that the movie has to say something for it to be worthy. If that doesn’t change the Oscars and other awards shows will become obsolete. Should they pander? Of course not, but refusing to acknowledge a movie because you consider the subject matter or genre to be “undeserving” is preposterous and arrogant.
Thank you for serving some serious realness to film snobs.
Sorry, if you think Star Wars is “artistic” you don’t know much about cinematic art. Star Wars is an excellent commercial feature, that’s all. Not awards material. It’s not about personal taste, it’s about competence. If you are an Academy member you should be at least competent, you should know the matter. Otherwise let’s give Oscar ballots to the Fandango moviegoers.
I didn’t say I considered it to be artistic. I said you don’t get to decide what is and what isn’t for other people and that’s the problem. People like yourself are clearly far too arrogant and think way too highly of yourselves and your opinions to realize that you don’t have that authority.
Obviously.
problem is, AMPAS tends to nominate movies that are neither art nor commercial. Just awards-pandering drek. So in that situation,m how’s nominating a commercial and critical hit worse?
You have a point. The Force Awakens is way better than bland Oscar baits the Academy awarded in the past but can’t be considered the ideal choice for Best Picture. Not in any circumstances and especially not this year.
this year isn’t that strong. I’d nominate MMFR, Revenant, H8ful, Martian, Carol and Inside Out along with TFA. Everything else can go screw itself cause they are bland and interchangable. Oh, and carol’s a slog but it has merit so I included it.
And it’s people like you that have contributed to the decline of the Oscars as a legitimate awards show in the eyes of the moviegoing public. You folks nominate movies and performances no one outside of the southland has seen or ever will see. Oscars have a chance to erase 6 years of going for artsy fartsy festival dreck and get with the program.
TFA in ALL major categories (Picture, Actress, S. Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Score and all techs as well). Keep the car chase movie on the sidelines.
So you’re saying none of its parts are artistic in any way: the cinematography, acting, score, direction, etc. – none of that is good enough for you? And, if so, what do you say to the competent critics who have argued otherwise? Or are those elements not part of the art of cinema?
No, the Academy decides what artistic that is why they hold these award shows. That is why it’s called the Academy awards. If you don’t agree with them, create your own award show. I would have thought to most people the two are not mutually exclusive. Even if one were to enjoy, say, Star Wars, it doesn’t mean you can’t recognise that it doesn’t have the necessary artistic merit to nominated for BP never mind to win BP. What the academy is looking for and should be looking for is the whether the film has artistic merit before anything else. And let me correct you, art is not “in the eye of the beholder”, you need extensive knowledge. You don’t need any knowledge to enjoy Star Wars or anything, so it does not really mean much if you enjoy it or not.
The continued arrogance of all of you just proves my point, you know. You love these awards shows, yet you’re willing to watch them go down in flames as long as they continue to meet your expectations of what they should be. I can’t help but wonder how many of you support Mad Max, a movie that has dominated the critics awards, for a nomination while insisting that artistic merit is attuned solely to subject matter.
You know very well that these commercial film are not made with artistic merit in mind. They are supposed to appeal to mass audience and pop culture. It’s not surprising that brand driven franchise and sequels don’t appeal to the Academy. We need to be careful or we will not have good original and artistic movies anymore. Avatar was an original film and broke box office records and was directed by a big beast.
Also, would you care to explain Avatar then?
“And let me correct you, art is not “in the eye of the beholder”, you need extensive knowledge.”
Good critics have extensive knowledge. Many of which do think The Force Awakens is one of the best movies of the year. Chances are the Academy does too…
TFA has artistic merit that many important oscar bait shit doesn’t but is nominated regardless cause they mistake importance for art.
But commercial movies also do have artistic merit ?? It is not just for Oscar Baits .
hear hear! Quoted for truth! I hope Star Wars gets in. It should have gotten acting nods for Ridley and Driver who totally kill it but, of course, they aren’t in an Oscar bait drivel and Mystery Box screwed them over. Even freakin Danish Girl will end up with 2 acting noms. Oy!
hear hear hear! Just saw TFA on Saturday and yes, Driver should get a supporting nod, and Ridley and Ford should get nods for actress and actor (though Ford might be supporting). But yeah, TFA was amazing 10/10. Best film i’ve seen this year.
Team TFA Rises!
I saw “The Force Awakens” this evening. I had been looking forward to the movie, and made a particular effort to go in spoiler free. (I am a Star Wars fan mostly of the original trilogy.) Got to say – I found it mostly mediocre. I am shocked some people think it could be a best picture nominee. Some of the things I feared when Abrams was announced the director came true in terms of homage and parallel story lines from prior films. Particularly the dialog I found at times not so good. While I acknowledge Oscar selection has historically its own set of problems, god help us if selection is made based on mass appeal. (Trump for president!?) Or as I often say, in the event my liberty ever hinges on a vote from a “jury of my peers” (have you been to the DMV lately), I will be high tailing it to Canada, lol.
I saw The Force Awakens last night and I have to agree. It’s fine for what it is, which is basically a solid Star Wars movie, but nothing more. It relies far too much on nostalgia and callbacks to the original, and superior, entries in the series without bringing anything new to the table. I’m a bit baffled that some people are seriously considering this to be up for Best Picture (and the BFCA looks even more ridiculous for bending their own rules for its inclusion).
Oh well, at least it was better than Jurassic World.
It is obviously a great movie but not better than other commerical movies like MArtian or MMFR. If they nominate Star Wars oer these two and also Inside Out it will just be because it is such a commercial success. Very much better than Revenant though so would be glas if Revenant gets booted.
Some of us think it IS better than The Martian (and most others).
Lol nah.
No, no, we actually do…
Weren’t you the one schooling me about how Spotlight will win because Statistics ?
Oh, so I can’t root for one thing and at the same time recognize that something else is clearly winning? Since when?
Nah you can obviously. I just wanted to see if you were the same person. Root on i guess. Hope you all can get Ridley some noms.
Are my name/avatar THAT unremarkable?!… 🙁 We’ve talked multiple times this season already.
no. i remember Cassie. I thought it was one of the trolls i was arguing with. It was a long time ago.
🙂
I guess they’re not really supposed to talk about it but what I got from it is everyone’s voting for Spotlight for the win, TFA and TBS have huge support, and also said there’s strong support for a certain indepent movie so I’m guessing that’s Room.
Brooklyn, Carol or Trumbo?
you’re so pretentious lol
And here’s my top ten of 2015 so far. I haven’t yet seen Carol, Room, Brooklyn, Anomalisa, Son of Saul, The Hateful Eight, The Revenant, The Danish Girl, and a few others.
1. Inside Out (Pete Docter & Ronaldo Del Carmen)
2. Spotlight (Tom McCarthy)
3. The End of the Tour (James Ponsoldt)
4. Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller)
5. Amy (Asif Kapadia)
6. The Diary of a Teenage Girl (Marielle Heller)
7. Sicario (Denis Villeneuve)
8. Shaun the Sheep Movie (Mark Burton & Richard Starzak)
9. Love & Mercy (Bill Pohlad)
10. It Follows (David Robert Mitchell)
Honorable mentions would include: Tangerine, Creed, Ex Machina, Steve Jobs, The Big Short, The Martian, and The Gift.
Small point of correction on the point that Todd Haynes would be the first openly gay director to win an Oscar: John Schlesinger, who won for “Midnight Cowboy” in 1969, holds that distinction. That is not necessarily a well known fact, so it would still be a big deal for Haynes, but it’s a fact nonetheless. George Cukor would be first, winning in 1964, but you could debate how “openly” he would have been out. It was a well known secret in Hollywood but not so much for the general public.
Bill Condon and Pedro Almodovar have also won for screenplays of films they directed, but neither won for directing.
Best Director different from screenplay. Was Schlesinger out though? Out to the public I mean?
Schlesinger wasn’t out to the public at the time of Midnight Cowboy, Or at least it wasn’t an issue.
John Schlesinger was not publically known as a gay man when he won for a film with a negative portrayal of gays in “Midnight Cowboy”.
Gay/straight, LGBTQ… That constant need to put labels on people’s necks is so 20th century, whether the intention is to quarantine some people into a corner or on the other hand to give themselves a sense of belonging to a community or even make themselves feel special. Aren’t we all supposed to be fluid by now? Methinks it’s better that way: everyone kinda understanding each other, free to love whomever their heart chooses, without having any impact on how they are perceived by society.
You really don’t think Todd Haynes stands a chance at DGA? He crafted a film that is perfect in every facet of filmmaking. It’s a masterpiece.
Yeah. I don’t know. With the Academy a better chance but not sure about DGA. Just not sure. Locks are: McCarthy, inarittu, ridley Scott, George Miller (I think?) maybe Spielberg or McKay for fifth – that’s how I see it but I could totally be wrong.
God forbid if the DGA left out Inarittu.
This has been one crazy Oscar season so far. I honestly don’t know what to make of anything (that Supporting Actor race, yikes). It seems that there are plenty of great options and I’ll be happy with the eventual winners no matter what.
I caught The Big Short over the weekend, and I really do wonder what the Academy is going to make of it. I was impressed and surprised by it (seriously, I did not realize Adam McKay had this in him), but I could easily see enough people hating it and preventing it from getting nominations. A Golden Globe win would probably help it a lot.
Right now I see the race between Carol, Spotlight, and Mad Max, with either The Martian or Room upsetting if they get enough guild support.
I am curious as to who that mystery friend on Facebook (probably an Academy member) believes that The Revenant will win. It is a sleeper contender that can take off with the help of the BoxOffice and the power of Leonardo DiCaprio. There are two prominent Academy members that have already declared it a masterpiece – Sean Penn and Edward Norton. It had the highest average per theater over the weekend – $115,000 per screen (it was only shown in 4 theaters) so I’d watch for that. There will be a ton of people flocking to see Leo’s Oscar Winning Role. Combined with the hardship and sacrifice for the sake of art narrative as well as the climate change themes embedded in the film and watch out… The critics are kinda not agreeing but The Academy loves to dismiss the critics so we’ll see.. It could potentially come in with the most nominations – or tie with Mad Max. But Star Wars is stealing a lot of Mad Max’s momentum which can only help movies like The Revenant..
Or perhaps I am nuts – we’ll see!
Hi there Velimir Petkov! – No.1. First of all, you aren’t nuts-:))
But it’s still time for movies like “THE REVENANT”, THE MARTIAN” or “TRUMBO” to make their moves into the BP race. PGA, DGA, nominations & ceremonies are still to come. All I can say too you is, be patient and have a glas of Whiskey, or maybe two of them – why not? I’m predicting that “SPOTLIGHT” will get a lot of troubles when it comes up to the OSCARS night. – Oh, by the way from my point of view there is no doubt that Leonardo DiCaprio is reaching for his first Oscar-Gold. Cheers!
I shall have a glass! 🙂 BTW, I am also predicting that Inarritu will win the Golden Globe for Best Director. That would be interesting, won’t it? 😉 And I am totally predicting Tom Hardy to get that Supporting Actor Nomination at the Oscars! 😉 People are underestimating him but there is passion behind him as well. Obviously, not as much as there is for Leo but I suspect that he’ll get in. He might even show up at BAFTA..
Not to diminish the raves that Penn & Norton have of ”The Revenant,” but they might be a bit predisposed to enjoy Inarritu’s work. Penn was in Inarritu’s ”21 Grams” and Norton was in ”Birdman.” … As for the highest average per theater, didn’t ”Steve Jobs” hold that record until it went into wide release? 😉
That said, I believe ”The Revenant” & Leo have a lot more potential than a 2nd biopic about Steve Jobs.
Yeah, I’m SO worried about The Revenant taking BP away from Spotlight…
Why Todd Haynes (Carol) is not being considered as best director?
And why Stars Wars is being considered? This movie has such a week script! I suppose people are being influenced (emotionally) by the return of the movies, because in my opinion, it is undeserved.
Star Wars is fantastic, grows with repeat viewings and Mystery Box robbed Ridley and Driver of their nominations. Sad.
by repeat viewings do you mean watching A New Hope again?
Oh, boo-hoo-hoo. Joy bombed. TFA is getting in. Try harder.
The Force Awakens was a fun movie, but to pretend it’s original is just absurd. It’s so similar the A New Hope. It should justifiably get the tech nods, but Best Picture it is not (said Yoda).
Nobody pretends that TFA is original but there’s tons of pretending that some other unoriginal movies are.
like what
If Gravity can get nominated for BP with a script like it had, and nobody really complains, then I don’t see how anyone can complain about a far superior script (with definite problems of its own, though still far fewer and less glaring than Gravity’s) with an equally beautiful movie around it making the list.
Mad Max: Fury Road all the wayyyy.
Officially this is the year when I’ve seen the highest number of motion pictures in my lifetime. A remarkable year seen from any angle. In 2016 I should slow down, probably. My list veers toward the emotional and is highly personal. I didn’t care for academics. I did not consider non-fiction.
Bryce’s favorite films of 2015!
1. “The Assassin” (Hou Hsiao-Hsien)
2. “Blackhat” (Michael Mann)
3. “Carol” (Todd Haynes)
4. “My Golden Days” (Arnaud Desplechin)
5. “Mad Max: Fury Road” (George Miller)
6. “Sunset Song” (Terence Davies)
7. “Testament of Youth” (James Kent)
8. “The Club” (Pablo Larraín)
9. “Creed” (Ryan Coogler)
10. “The Hateful Eight” (Quentin Tarantino)
11. “From Afar” (Lorenzo Vigas)
12. “Magic Mike XXL” (Gregory Jacobs)
13. “Bridge of Spies” (Steven Spielberg)
14. “Phoenix” (Christian Petzold)
15. “Cemetery of Splendour” (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
16. “The Lobster” (Yorgos Lanthimos)
17. “Crimson Peak” (Guillermo del Toro)
18. “45 Years” (Andrew Haigh)
19. “Timbuktu” (Abderrahmane Sissako)
20. “Right Now, Wrong Then” / “Hill of Freedom” (Hong Sang-soo)
21. “A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence” (Roy Andersson)
22. “Ex-Machina” (Alex Garland)
23. “Our Little Sister” (Hirokazu Koreeda)
24. “The Forbidden Room” (Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson)
25. “The Martian” (Ridley Scott)
26. “Office” (Johnnie To)
27. “Mountains May Depart” (Jia Zhangke)
28. “Welcome to New York” / “Pasolini” (Abel Ferrara)
29. “The Second Mother” (Anna Muylaert)
30. “Hard to Be a God” (Aleksey German)
31. “Maze Runner: Scorch Trials” (Wes Ball)
32. “Horse Money,” (Pedro Costa)
33. “99 Homes” (Ramin Bahrani)
34. “Equals” (Drake Doremus)
35. “Dheepan” (Jacques Audiard)
36. “The King of Habana” (Agustí Villaronga)
37. “The Boy and the Beast” (Mamoru Hosoda)
38. “Bone Tomahawk” (S. Craig Zahler)
39. “Taxi” (Jafar Panahi)
40. “High-Rise” (Ben Wheatley)
41. “Chi-Raq” (Spike Lee)
42. “Maryland” (Alice Winocour)
43. “War” (Simon Jaquemet)
44. “Amour fou” (Jessica Hausner)
45. “James White” (Josh Mond)
46. “Queen & Country” (John Boorman)
47. “Taklub” (Brillante Mendoza)
48. “Madonna” (Shin Su-won)
49. “The Clan” (Pablo Trapero)
50. “The Wonders” (Alice Rohrwacher)
51. “While We’re Young” / “Mistress America” (Noah Baumbach)
52. “When Evening Falls on Bucharest or Metabolism” (Corneliu Porumboiu)
53. “Amnesia” (Barbet Schroeder) / “We Are Your Friends” (Max Joseph)
54. “Results” (Andrew Bujalski)
55. “Journey to the Shore” (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
56. “Brooklyn” (John Crowley)
57. “Experimenter” (Michael Almereyda)
58. “The Duke of Burgundy” (Peter Strickland)
59. “When Marnie Was There” (Hiromasa Yonebayashi)
60. “Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem” (Ronit Elkabetz, Shlomi Elkbetz)
61. “Paulina” (Santiago Mitre)
62. “Anomalisa” (Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson)
63. “Queen of Earth,” (Alex Ross Perry)
64. “Sicario” (Denis Villeneuve)
65. “Love & Peace” (Sono Sion)
66. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” (J.J. Abrams)
67. “Krampus” (Michael Dougherty)
68. “The Walk,” (Robert Zemeckis)
69. “Tangerine” (Sean Baker)
70. “Beasts of No Nation” (Cary Joji Fukunaga)
71. “The Mend” (John Magary)
72. “Son of Saul” (László Nemes)
73. “Kingsman: The Secret Service” (Matthew Vaughn)
74. “The Diary of a Teenage Girl” (Marielle Heller)
75. “Inside Out” (Pete Docter)
76. “Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation” (Christopher McQuarrie)
77. “Room” (Lenny Abrahamson)
78. “It Follows” (David Robert Mitchell)
HONORABLE MENTIONS: “Alléluia,” “Faults,” “La Sapienza,” “Ant-Man,” “The Kindergarten Teacher,” “The Boy Next Door,” “Macbeth,” “Mediterranea,” “Jupiter Ascending,” “Youth,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Dope,” “Ricki and the Flash,” “Heaven Knows What,” “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,” “The Peanuts Movie,” “Cinderella,” “The Overnight,” “Stonewall,” “Buzzard,” “The Dark Horse,” “Unfriended,” “The Taking of Tiger Mountain,” “Truth,” “Spotlight,” “Mr. Holmes,” “The Big Short,” “Victoria,” “Embrace of the Serpent,” “Welcome to Me,” “Güeros,” “Tokyo Tribe,” “A War,” “Joy,” “The Voices,” “Grandma,” “The Green Inferno,” “Shaun of the Sheep Movie,” “Manglehorn,” “She’s Funny That Way,” “Felix & Meira,” “The Fool,” “I’ll See You in My Dreams,” “We Are Still Here,” “The Wave,” “Cop Car,” “The Revenant,” “Baskin,” “The Gift,” “How to Win at Checkers (Every Time),” “Chronic,” “Mississippi Grind” “Gabriel,” “Blind,” “Tu dors Nicole,” “Fort Tilden,” “The Smell of Us,” “Meadowland,” “The Anthem of the Heart,” “Appropriate Behavior.”
NICE TRY: “Land and Shade,” “Goodnight Mommy,” “Closet Monster,” “Pawn Sacrifice,” “The Keeping Room,” “Uncle John,” “The Stanford Prison Experiment,” “Zoom,” “The Invitation,” “Creep,” “They Look Like People,” “Ardor,” “Far from Men,” “The Salvation.”
MOST CRUSHING DISAPPOINTMENTS: “Arabian Nights,” “Spectre,” “Fantastic Four,” “In the Heart of the Sea,” “Tale of Tales,” “Our Brand Is Crisis,” “The Childhood of a Leader,” “Journey to the West,” “Miss Julie.”
SORELY MISSED: “Louder Than Bombs,” “A Bigger Splash,” “Francofonia,” “Evolution,” “Queen of the Desert,” “The Witch,” “Green Room.”
I should probably write at least a paragraph for each title on my top 10 a la IFC… a farewell of sorts to the cinematic year on Thursday.
No place for The Revenant – or you probably haven’t seen it yet?
I liked it. I honorably mentioned it.
The Childhood of a Leader is the best movie of the year, not a disappointment. Boldness never disappoints.
WOW!!! So much to go through here.
Thanks. I guess in a sense all that really matters (if anything at all) is the Top 10-20 titles.
Nice list, thanks! I’m sad to see Childhood of a Leader in your disappointments list. I haven’t seen it, but I hope to fall on the opposite side in that one.
Thanks—and hey, don’t take my word for it, “We Are Your Friends” is on my list after all.
Where did u see Land and Shade? Indeed, where the fuck did u see all these fucking films? You’re one lucky cunt.
You’ll love The Witch if you’ve any taste. Though, you did hate Journey to the West, and you didn’t hate Stonewall, so I wonder if, perhaps, you absolutely do not… 😛
I think you will love Green Room.
wow okay The Assassin is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too low on your list. Though so is Carol so idk idk
The PD of The Assasin was off the charts. Also someone else finally liked Testament of Youth!
If more than anything, the PGA, DGA, and BAFTA should give us more clues as to who’s ahead or not.
I’m holding out hope for Creed to be nominated as BP and in more than 1 category.
The last Oscars were pretty boring but this year there is uncertainty. I think there could be a few surprises.
Ridley Scott definitely deserves the nod. In my opinion the most enjoyable cineamtic experience in 2015.