2015 (88th) Academy Awards, My Pick for Best Picture
The 88th Academy Awards for films released in
2015 was held on February 28th, 2016 and the night went mostly as
expected but still had a few surprises. The 2016 ceremony was mired in the
controversy that became known as “#OscarsSoWhite.” From the moment the full list
of nominees was announced the two became inextricably linked. No one could
mention one without the other, and unfortunately the controversy was completely
valid: for the second year in a row there was an incredible lack of diversity
among the nominees, especially in the acting categories where all of the
nominees were white. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced
changes to the requirements for membership in hopes to increase member
diversity. What, if any, effect the changes may have won’t be seen
until the next batch of nominees are announced in January of next year.
The eight Best Picture nominees for 2015 covered a wide
range of subjects and genres but still encompassed many elements favored by the
Academy. The nominees included: three movies based on true stories (Bridge of Spies, Spotlight, The Big Short)
and one based on a novel which is partly based on a true story (The Revenant); a sweet, sentimental
romance (Brooklyn); an independent,
character heavy drama (Room); a
thrilling adventure in a faraway land (The
Martian); and, most surprisingly, an epic, big budget action movie (Mad Max: Fury Road). Room was the only nominee set in the
present day. All of the other Best Picture nominees are set either in the past
or the future. The Big Short was the
most topical of the nominees with its events having taken place most recently
(2005-2008) and the effects of its subject (the housing market collapse and resulting
recession) still being felt by many, many people. It’s an entertaining and
important film, and I’m interested to see how it will or will not hold up in
the coming years. I think that despite winning no awards, the feel good,
thrilling science fiction film The Martian will be a movie that audiences will re-watch and rediscover in the
future.
Leonardo DiCaprio won Best Actor for The Revenant and while I’m glad he has an Oscar (he’s one of my
favorite actors after all), I’m disappointed it’s for a simple one note
performance in a rather unenjoyable movie. Alejandro G. Iñarrìtu won Best
Director for The Revenant making him
the third director to have back to back Oscar wins. The other two directors are
John Ford for The Grapes of Wrath
(1940) and How Green Was My Valley
(1941) and Joseph Mankiewicz for A Letter
to Three Wives (1949) and All About
Eve (1950). I don’t feel like I’m going out on a limb when I say that
Iñarrìtu, when included with the likes of John Ford and Joseph Mankewicz, pales
in comparison. The Revenant is a
technically well-made film, but that is all it has to offer. The films that Ford and Mankiewicz won for are true classics. However, Iñarrìtu
will now forever be part of a very small club.
The big surprise of the 88th Academy Awards
involved the big award itself, Best Picture. Spotlight won the Oscar upsetting The Revenant, which seemed as sure as a sure thing can be. The Revenant had won several awards
leading up to the Oscars and the odds were heavily in its favor. However, it is
a film that no one seemed to enjoy (I don’t recall reading any wholly positive
reviews of the film). In the end, the Academy’s preferential ballot may have
worked against The Revenant since
the second choice of the voters can add up and outweigh the apparent first
choice. Spotlight does have the hallmarks
of a Best Picture winner (ensemble cast, true story, an important and serious
subject) but this shouldn’t diminish its accomplishments or its win. It is undeniably
an important film but it is also a solid, well-made, and riveting thriller. Spotlight won the first award of the
night, Original Screenplay, and the last award of the night, Best Picture, and
nothing in between making it the first film since The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) to win Best Picture with only one
other award (the other win for that movie was also for writing).
Spotlight is a
great film and I’m glad it won, but my vote for Best Picture would go to…
My Pick for Best Picture 2015: Mad Max: Fury Road
If I picked the winner for Best Picture of 2015 I would have
to pick the full throttle feminist action film Mad Max: Fury Road. As much as I loved this movie when I saw it in
theaters back in May of last year, I would have thought it crazy that this movie
would have been my pick for Best Picture or that it would have even been
nominated. Fury Road took home 6 Oscars for the "technical categories" (Editing, Costume Design, Makeup & Hairstyling, Production Design, Sound Editing, and Sound Mixing), all of which were well deserved wins. I’ve seen this movie three times so far and each time there is
something new to notice or appreciate. This is an era when anything visually
spectacular in a movie is automatically assumed to be done by a computer, but
this is not the case with Fury Road. The
stunts performed in this movie are performed by real people doing exactly what
it looks like they are doing. The flame throwing guitar is completely real and
works as a guitar and a flamethrower. The War Boys swinging on poles like
pendulums to attack our heroes are stunt men really swinging on poles. The
stunt team worked on perfecting this stunt to the point that it was safe enough
to perform on moving vehicles. Director George Miller (who had my vote for Best Director) was even able to convince Tom Hardy to shoot a few takes on top of the swinging pole, despite his fear of
heights.
All of these practical effects and stunts foster believability in this
wild, post-apocalyptic world. Max and Furiousa are not superheroes; you believe
everything you see these characters do. All of the characters in Fury Road are bound by the laws of
physics. They hurt and bleed and have personalities that the movie showcases
instead of glossing over. The setting may be a dystopian fantasy and the genre
is action, but this is a movie about people. Charlize Theron was not nominated
for any awards for her performance as Imperator Furiosa, but it is a great
performance nonetheless that carries this movie and gives every action
importance. As good as Tom Hardy is as Max, this film would not work without
Charlize Theron in the lead.
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