Thursday, January 14, 2016

Oscar Nominations Announced: My Reactions

Best Actor
Bryan Cranston- Trumbo
Matt Damon- The Martian
Leonardo DiCaprio- The Revenant
Michael Fassbender- Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne- The Danish Girl

No surprises here. In fact, I was 5/5 in my predictions. Johnny Depp not getting in for Black Mass was pretty disappointing. Other snubs include Michael B. Jordan in Creed, Will Smith in Concussion, and Steve Carell in The Big Short, but they were never major contenders in the first place. Even Depp's hype had greatly died down by January. I was just hoping to get a pleasant surprise.

Leonardo DiCaprio: The likely winner

Johnny Depp: The snub

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett- Carol
Brie Larson- Room
Jennifer Lawrence- Joy
Charlotte Rampling- 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan- Brooklyn

Well, this took an interesting turn. The nominations were more or less narrowed down to 6 contenders with Alicia Vikander being the one who didn't get nominated here, but she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress instead, so I guess everyone wins...except not really for reasons I'll explain below. Still, I felt Charlotte Rampling's nomination was the biggest uncertainty so that's nice to see.

Brie Larson in Room

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale- The Big Short
Tom Hardy- The Revenant
Mark Rylance- Bridge of Spies
Mark Ruffalo- Spotlight
Sylvester Stallone- Creed

Well, the biggest surprise was Tom Hardy which makes me really happy since he gave a phenomenal performance. However, considering how crowded this category was, there were tons of snubs including Benicio Del Toro (Sicario), Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation), Paul Dano (Love and Mercy), Michael Shannon (99 Homes), Jacob Tremblay (Room), Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina) and Michael Keaton (Spotlight). Only 3 of my 5 predictions were correct.

Tom Hardy's unrecognizable role in The Revenant

Paul Dano's performance as Brian Wilson in Love and Mercy, a massive (but unsurprising) snub.

Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Jason Leigh- The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara- Carol
Rachel McAdams- Spotlight
Alicia Vikander- The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet- Steve Jobs

Alicia Vikander's snubbed performance in Ex Machina

Alicia Vikander's nominated performance in The Danish Girl

This is a weird one because technically all of my nominations were correct, but Alicia Vikander got nominated for the wrong movie. I predicted Vikander to get nominated for Ex Machina, which she absolutely would have deserved, but she sadly didn't make the cut in favor of her more baity performance in The Danish Girl. Academy rules dictate that an individual can't be nominated for two performances in the SAME category. This is especially irritating since Vikander is clearly lead in The Danish Girl. Well, I'm glad Vikander got nominated for something, but I still think she got in for the wrong movie. Other snubs include Helen Mirren in Trumbo, Jane Fonda in Youth, and Kristen Stewart in Clouds of Sils Maria.

Best Director
Lenny Abrahamson- Room
Alejandro González Iñárritu- The Revenant
Tom McCarthy- Spotlight
Adam McKay- The Big Short
George Miller- Mad Max Fury Road

Well, Lenny Abrahamson is by far the biggest surprise of the nominations. I can't think of a single person who thought he was getting in. I'll admit that Ridley Scott's snub for The Martian really hurts. It was such a great comeback and at 78 years old, I'm not sure how many more chances he'll have. Other snubs include Todd Haynes in Carol and Steven Spielberg in Bridge of Spies.


Best Picture
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Spotlight

None of the nominations were necessarily surprising, but there were some disappointing snubs. Star Wars wasn't expected to get in anymore, but I'm still sad it didn't make the cut. Ex Machina and Sicario would have been refreshing nominees. Straight Outta Compton is another notable snub. But the most shocking snub is probably Carol.

Best Original Screenplay
Bridge of Spies
Ex Machina
Inside Out
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compton

The biggest shock was The Hateful Eight. I knew it wasn't going to be as big at the Oscars as Tarantino's previous films, but I still thought he'd be recognized for the film's wonderful screenplay. Sicario was also a disappointing snub, though perhaps not that surprising in hindsight. Inside Out and Straight Outta Compton taking their place, the latter more surprising than the former. I'm absolutely ecstatic that Ex Machina got in however.

Best Adapted Screenplay
The Big Short
Brooklyn
Carol
The Martian
Room

None of these nominations are surprising per se, but it is shocking that Aaron Sorkin didn't get in for Steve Jobs, especially after his Golden Globe win, making Steve Jobs one of just 8 golden globe winners for Best Screenplay that wasn't nominated for an Oscar. 

Alright, so where does that leave us? Well I am thrilled about some of these nominations like Ex Machina's screenplay nod, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Charlotte Rampling, and Tom Hardy. Mad Max's recognition was also incredibly inspired and something I doubt anyone would have anticipated 6 months ago.

That said, there are definitely a lot of disappointments. Johnny Depp from Black Mass hurts, as does Ridley Scott and Quentin Tarantino's directing and screenplay snubs. Supporting actor was filled with snubs including Idris Elba, Benicio Del Toro, and especially Paul Dano. But the snub that hurts the most is probably Alicia Vikander for Ex Machina, even though she got nominated for another performance, mainly since I was really convinced that she was getting in. A nomination for playing a non-human character in a science-fiction film would have been so inspired and deserving, but I guess I was expecting too much.


The Revenant received the most recognition with 12 nominations. 
Mad Max: Fury Road was in second with 10 nominations (all in technical categories besides Picture and Director). 
The Martian received 7 nominations, but still missed out on Best Director.
Bridge of Spies, Carol, and Spotlight all received 6 nominations. 
The Big Short and Star Wars: The Force Awakens received 5 nominations.
The Danish Girl and Room received 4 nominations.
Brooklyn, The Hateful Eight, and Sicario received 3 nominations.
Ex Machina, Inside Out, and Steve Jobs received 2 nominations.

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