2016 Oscar Nominations

2016 Oscar Nominations

Yellow jc picks; red winners; red on yellow jc correct pick

BEST PICTURE

·         The Big Short

·         Bridge of Spies

·         Brooklyn

·         Mad Max: Fury Road

·         The Martian

·         The Revenant

·         Room

·         Spotlight

BEST ACTOR

·         Bryan Cranston, Trumbo

·         Matt Damon, The Martian

·         Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant

·         Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs

·         Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl

BEST ACTRESS

·         Cate Blanchett, Carol

·         Brie Larson, Room

·         Jennifer Lawrence, Joy

·         Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years

·         Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

·         Christian Bale, The Big Short

·         Tom Hardy, The Revenant

·         Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight

·         Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies

·         Sylvester Stallone, Creed

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

·         Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight

·         Rooney Mara, Carol

·         Rachel McAdams, Spotlight

·         Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

·         Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs

DIRECTING

·         Adam McKay - The Big Short

·         George Miller - Mad Max: Fury Road

·         Alejandro G. Iñárritu - The Revenant

·         Lenny Abrahamson - Room

·         Tom McCarthy - Spotlight

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

·         Anomalisa

·         Boy and the World

·         Inside Out

·         Shaun the Sheep Movie

·         When Marnie Was There

COSTUME DESIGN

·         Carol

·         Cinderella

·         The Danish Girl

·         Mad Max: Fury Road

·         The Revenant

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

·         Amy

·         Cartel Land

·         The Look of Silence

·         What Happened, Miss Simone?

·         Winter on Fire

DOCUMENTARY SHORT

·         Body Team

·         Chau, Beyond the Lines

·         Claude Lanzmann

·         A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness

·         Last Day of Freedom

MAKEUP AND HAIR STYLING

·         Mad Max: Fury Road

·         The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared

·         The Revenant

ORIGINAL SONG

·         "Earned It" - Fifty Shades of Grey

·         "Manta Ray" - Racing Extinction

·         "Simple Song #3" - Youth

·         "Til It Happens to You" - The Hunting Ground

·         "Writing's on the Wall" - Spectre

ANIMATED SHORT

·         Bear Story

·         Prologue

·         Sanjay's Super Team

·         We Can't Live Without Cosmos

·         World of Tomorrow

SOUND EDITING

·         Mad Max: Fury Road

·         Sicario

·         Star Wars: The Force Awakens

·         The Martian

·         The Revenant

FILM EDITING

·         The Big Short

·         Mad Max: Fury Road

·         The Revenant

·         Spotlight

·         Star Wars: The Force Awakens

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

·         Embrace of the Serpent

·         Mustang

·         Son of Saul

·         Theeb

·         A War

ORIGINAL SCORE

·         Bridge of Spies

·         Carol

·         The Hateful Eight

·         Sicario

·         Star Wars: The Force Awakens

PRODUCTION DESIGN

·         Bridge of Spies

·         The Danish Girl

·         Mad Max: Fury Road

·         The Martian

·         The Revenant

VISUAL EFFECTS

·         Ex Machina

·         Mad Max: Fury Road

·         The Martian

·         The Revenant

·         Star Wars: The Force Awakens

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

·         The Big Short

·         Brooklyn

·         Carol

·         The Martian

·         Room

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

·         Bridge of Spies

·         Ex Machina

·         Inside Out

·         Spotlight

·         Straight Outta Compton

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

·         Carol

·         The Hateful Eight

·         Mad Max: Fury Road

·         The Revenant

·         Sicario

Hail Caeser

Hail Caesar

This is probably the most disappointing Coen film I have seen. The movie has a gaggle of A listed stars which fractionalizes the movie since each one has to have their little star turn. The main stars are George Clooney and Josh Brolin. Clooney is the hapless lead in a Roman epic and Brolin is an overwrought studio executive who fixes problems. Clooney resurrects his character in the Coen movie “O Brother Where Art Thou”, who was also dimwitted. His humor here is more physical than verbal. Brolin is also funny running from crisis to crisis. The setting is post war Hollywood with the studio system still pervasive.

The comedy is mostly physical and stretches with slow drama. Some scenes go on too long. One set up has Channing Tatum dancing with a bunch of sailors (very well I may add). They did the entire Busby Berkley dance routine instead of doing a shortened version. There is a tread of a plot weaving the stars together. But it unravels with Tatum boarding a Soviet submarine off the coast of California. This refers to the Red Scare during the period.

Scarlet Johnson is an Ester Williams type with a staccato low class New Jersey accent. She has a separate plot line dealing with an illegitimate child. Her interaction with Jonah Hill lasts about three minutes.

The Coen brothers are paying homage to a by gone Hollywood that millennials, and others, will have difficulty relating to. The movie is self-indulgent, with the Coens resurrecting long dead actor types. An inside joke has a cabal of misguided scene writers exhorting money from the studio; the Coen brothers are writers too.

This is a slight film wasting copious talent. The film’s attempt at farce is lacking. Instead of the theater a better value would be “On Demand”.

The Danish Girl

This is an outstanding movie. Its picture book appearance belies the emotional and psychological challenges of the main characters. Eddie Radmayine delivers a powerful performance transforming his male persona Einar Wegener to  femme Lili Elbe. With his slight build and female affections Wegener disguising himself as a woman was easy. His nervous gestures, uncertainties and trepidations of his transformation to a woman makes his performance potent. His journey to womanhood and forsaking his past is unwavering with all the collateral damage it ensues. Radmayine is Hollywood’s latest cameleon. As a women he is not a looker, which makes his acting demanding. Radmayine’s performance here is arguably better than the Theory of Everything. Back to back Oscars are rare (only five in Oscar history), but Radmayine is a fitting candidate.

Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina) plays his wife Gerta Wegener. Her altruism, love and dedication to her husband cause her much suffering.  Vikander’s performance captures her conflicted plight between devoted wife and dealing with the challenges from another woman.

The supporting actors are also great. Many of whom are unfamiliar to American audiences (except for Q, Ben Wishaw, from the Bond movies). Finding new talent makes the film more interesting.

The cinematogray is one of the best for this season. From moody landscapes to lush Art Nouveau buildings these shots frame the movie.  Copenhagen, Paris and Dresden are transformed to their 1920’s and 30’s glory.

I initially was not enthusiast to see this movie. The other movie at the same show time was Kung Fu Panda 3, which was a tempting choice. My inner adult won out.