2015 AWARDS Season

[Chris Knipp]

The Golden Globes

BEST MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA
Carol
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Room
Spotlight

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room
Rooney Mara, Carol
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl
Will Smith, Concussion

BEST MOTION PICTURE, MUSICAL, OR COMEDY
The Big Short
Joy
The Martian
Spy
Trainwreck

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE, MUSICAL, OR COMEDY
Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Melissa McCarthy, Spy
Amy Schumer, Trainwreck
Maggie Smith, The Lady in the Van
Lily Tomlin, Grandma

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE, MUSICAL, OR COMEDY
Christian Bale, The Big Short
Steve Carell, The Big Short
Matt Damon, The Martian
Al Pacino, Danny Collins
Mark Ruffalo, Infinitely Polar Bear

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN ANY MOTION PICTURE
Jane Fonda, Youth
Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Helen Mirren, Trumbo
Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN ANY MOTION PICTURE
Paul Dano, Love & Mercy
Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
Michael Shannon, 99 Homes
Sylvester Stallone, Creed

BEST DIRECTOR, MOTION PICTURE
Todd Haynes, Carol
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, The Revenant
Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
Ridley Scott, The Martian

BEST ANIMATED FILM
Anomalisa
The Good Dinosaur
Inside Out
The Peanuts Movie
Shaun the Sheep

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Brand New Testament
The Club
The Fencer
Mustang
Son of Saul

BEST SCREENPLAY, MOTION PICTURE
Emma Donoghue, Room
Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer, Spotlight
Charles Randolph and Adam McKay, The Big Short
Aaron Sorkin, Steve Jobs
Quentin Tarantino, The Hateful Eight

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE, MOTION PICTURE
Carter Burwell, Carol
Alexandre Desplat, The Danish Girl
Ennio Morricone, The Hateful Eight
Daniel Pemberton, Steve Jobs
Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alva Noto, The Revenant

BEST ORIGINAL SONG, MOTION PICTURE
"Love Me Like You Do," Fifty Shades of Grey
"One Kind of Love," Love & Mercy
"See You Again," Furious 7
"Simple Song #3," Youth
"Writing's on the Wall," Spectre

BEST TELEVISION SERIES, DRAMA
Empire
Game of Thrones
Mr. Robot
Narcos
Outlander

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES, DRAMA
Caitriona Balfe, Outlander
Viola Davis, How to Get Away With Murder
Eva Green, Penny Dreadful
Taraji P. Henson, Empire
Robin Wright, House of Cards


BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES, DRAMA
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Rami Malek, Mr. Robot
Wagner Moura, Narcos
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan

BEST TV SERIES, MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Casual
Mozart in the Jungle
Orange Is the New Black
Silicon Valley
Transparent
Veep

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES, MUSICAL, OR COMEDY
Rachel Bloom, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Jamie Lee Curtis, Scream Queens
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Gina Rodriguez, Jane the Virgin
Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES, MUSICAL, OR COMEDY
Aziz Ansari, Master of None
Gael García Bernal, Mozart in the Jungle
Rob Lowe, The Grinder
Patrick Stewart, Blunt Talk
Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent

BEST TELEVISION LIMITED SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
American Crime
American Horror Story: Hotel
Fargo
Flesh and Bone
Wolf Hall

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Kirsten Dunst, Fargo
Lady Gaga, American Horror Story: Hotel
Sarah Hay, Flesh and Bone
Felicity Huffman, American Crime
Queen Latifah, Bessie

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Idris Elba, Luther
Oscar Isaac, Show Me a Hero
David Oyelowo, Nightingale
Mark Rylance, Wolf Hall
Patrick Wilson, Fargo

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A SERIES, LIMITED SERIES, OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Uzo Aduba, Orange Is the New Black
Joanne Froggatt, Downton Abbey
Regina King, American Crime
Maura Tierney, The Affair
Judith Light, Transparent

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A SERIES, LIMITED SERIES, OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Alan Cumming, The Good Wife
Damian Lewis, Wolf Hall
Ben Mendelsohn, Bloodline
Tobias Menzies, Outlander
Christian Slater, Mr. Robot

[Chris Knipp]

http://www.chrisknipp.com/links/sc.jpg

The Academy Awards Nominations
ABC will broadcast the Oscars on Feb. 28.
Here's a NYTimes article (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/15/movies/oscar-nominations.html?_r=0) about the maneuvering behind the selections.

Obviously something is wrong if CAROL is not included in the Best Picture or Best Director categories, though it did get six nominations, and fortunately Ed Lachman has been nominated for his superb cinematography and Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett are in the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress categories. THE REVENANT is a tedious and pretentious film that's being overhyped. It stands out only for its natural light photography, not its directing, writing, or acting. The Best Foreign Oscar category is more satisfying, since SON OF SAUL is a superb, if disturbing, film, MUSTANG likewise is a vibrant debut, and it's most unusual to see a film about bedouin Arabs speaking an obscure dialect featured, as is the case of THEEB, also a stunning debut and a remarkable story. Certain categories are awesome, such as Cinematography, full of great cameramen; Editing; Sound Editing; Production Design -- lots of pros. Lookuing at Best Picture, despite liking all these tittles except the tedious THE REVENANT, this doesn't seem like a year to get really excited about. The Documentary list shows signs of campaigning for a few titles. There are others just as good or better. It's exciting to see a film as intelligent as SPOTLIGHT getting six nominations, including Best Picture, Screenplay, and Director. The Best Actor nominees are all fine actors, but none has been nominated for his best work. In the Best Actress category, four out of five of the performances are their best, or close to it. Overall, the nominations are notable for their lack of racial diversity, despite being chided for this last year. Choosing Chris Rock as the emcee is unlikely to compensate.



Best Original Screenplay
Bridge of Spies
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Matt Charman
Spotlight
Tom McCarthy, Josh Singer
Ex Machina
Alex Garland
Inside Out
Pete Docter, Ronnie del Carmen, Josh Cooley, ...
Straight Outta Compton
Jonathan Herman, Andrea Berloff, S. Leigh Savidge, ..

Best Writing Adapted Screenplay
The Martian
Drew Goddard
The Big Short
Adam McKay, Charles Randolph
Room
Emma Donoghue
Carol
Phyllis Nagy
Brooklyn
Nick Hornby

Best Cinematography
Robert Richardson
The Hateful Eight
Edward Lachman
Carol
Emmanuel Lubezki
The Revenant
Roger Deakins
Sicario
John Seale
Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Film Editing
Stephen Mirrione
The Revenant
Tom McArdle
Spotlight
Maryann Brandon
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Mary Jo Markey
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Margaret Sixel
Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Production Design
Hamish Purdy
The Revenant
Eve Stewart
The Danish Girl
Jack Fisk
The Revenant
Michael Standish
The Danish Girl
Celia Bobak
The Martian

Best Sound Editing
Oliver Tarney
The Martian
David Acord
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
David White
Mad Max: Fury Road
Mark Mangini
Mad Max: Fury Road
Lon Bender
The Revenant
Martin Hernández
The Revenant
Matthew Wood
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Alan Robert Murray
Sicario


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

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

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

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

Best Song
Simple Song #3
David Lang
Til It Happens to You
Lady Gaga, Diane Warren
Earned It
The Weeknd, Stephan Moccio, Belly, ...
Writing's On The Wall
Sam Smith, Jimmy Napes

Best Original Musical Score
Bridge of Spies
Thomas Newman
Sicario
Jóhann Jóhannsson
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
John Williams
The Hateful Eight
Ennio Morricone
Carol
Carter Burwell

Best Animated Feature Film
Shaun the Sheep Movie
Richard Starzak, Mark Burton
Anomalisa
Charlie Kaufman, Rosa Tran, Duke Johnson
Inside Out
Pete Docter, Jonas Rivera
Boy & the World
Alê Abreu
When Marnie Was There
Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Yoshiaki Nishimura

Best Visual Effects
Mad Max: Fury Road
Dan Oliver, Andrew Jackson, Tom Wood, ...
The Revenant
Richard McBride, Matt Shumway, Cam Waldbauer, ...
Ex Machina
Andrew Whitehurst, Sara Bennett, Paul Norris, ...
The Martian
Anders Langlands, Richard Stammers, Chris Lawrence, ...
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Neal Scanlan, Chris Corbould, Roger Guyett, ...


Best Makeup
Robert A. Pandini
The Revenant
Sian Grigg
The Revenant
Duncan Jarman
The Revenant
Eva von Bahr
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
Love Larson
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
Lesley Vanderwalt
Mad Max: Fury Road
Damien Martin
Mad Max: Fury Road
Elka Wardega
Mad Max: Fury Road

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

Best Picture
Bridge of Spies
Steven Spielberg, Marc E. Platt, Kristie Macosko Krieger
Mad Max: Fury Road
George Miller, Doug Mitchell
The Revenant
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Steve Golin, Arnon Milchan, ...
Spotlight
Steve Golin, Michael Sugar, Blye Pagon Faust, ...
The Martian
Ridley Scott, Simon Kinberg, Michael Schaefer, .


Best Foreign Film
War
Tobias Lindholm
Son of Saul
László Nemes
Embrace of the Serpent
Ciro Guerra
Theeb
Naji Abu Nowar
Mustang
Deniz Gamze Ergüven


Best Documentary Feature
Amy
Asif Kapadia, James Gay-Rees
The Look of Silence
Joshua Oppenheimer, Signe Byrge Sørensen
Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom
Evgeny Afineevsky, Den Tolmor
Cartel Land
Matthew Heineman, Tom Yellin
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Liz Garbus, Amy Hobby, Justin Wilkes


Best Animated Short Film
Sanjay's Super Team
Sanjay Patel, Nicole Paradis Grindle
World of Tomorrow
Don Hertzfeldt
Bear Story
Gabriel Osorio, Pato Escala
We Can't Live Without Cosmos
Konstantin Bronzit
Prologue
Richard Williams, Imogen Sutton

[Johann]

Looks like The Revenant will do well at the Oscars.

I'm happy for Leonardo DiCaprio. The guy works hard. He's earned an Oscar here. I have only seen clips of the Revenant (and read your review Chris) and it looks great. DiCaprio is not a big star for no reason. The man's got mad talent, and seems genuinely cool, a guy you could have a beer with and shoot the shit, with no star trip going on. His speech at the Globes was CLASS- he deferred to Natives, who have gotten a raw deal forever. Respect to you, Leo. You were awesome in Django and The Wolf of Wall Street- you went for it like a hellion. You don't need an Oscar for validation, but it is deserved.

[Chris Knipp]

You may be right. I mean, which of the other nominees is more deserving than Leo? But the system isn't working, because it should be acting, not an endurance test, a schtick, a stunt, or political correctness.
Best Actor
Eddie Redmayne
The Danish Girl
Michael Fassbender
Steve Jobs
Bryan Cranston
Trumbo
Matt Damon
The Martian
Leonardo DiCaprio
The Revenant They can't give Eddie two in a row, Fassbender has been so much better other times, as has Damon; Cranston is just doing a schtick. Leo does deserve an oscar. He deserved one MORE for What's Eating Gilbert Grape? or for Total Eclipse or for Titanic. I hope the Academy voters aren't giving their votes on the basis of watching trailers of clips. Meanwhile despite criticisms for lack of racial diversity year after year, Michael B. Jordan and Will Smith didn't get named here for truly fine ACTING.

Maybe I need to go back and re-watch THE MARTIAN. I don't quite understand the superlatives. I found it enjoyable and polished. I didn't see greatness. But it gets endorsement from Dr. Michio Kaku, Nobel-Prize-winning physicist, who says it's one of the most scientifically accurate of sci-fi movies.

[Johann]

Marlon Brando asked Johnny Depp how many movies he does in a year, and warned him that actors "only have so many faces in our pockets", and that Johnny should think about over-exposure. (Samuel L. Jackson could heed that too)

No one is more deserving than Leo this year, and I haven't seen the movie! You're right- he went for it with Total Eclipse, Gilbert Grape and even Titanic- can you imagine anyone else in that role? If so, who?
I have the complete poems of Rimbaud, and he did right by Arthur. (and David Thewlis did right by Verlaine). But I would've liked to have seen more brooding and rebelliousness in Leo's part. Rimbaud was a brooder, had a genius chip on his shoulder, and I'm not sure Leo quite got it. But he did right by the legend in the grand scheme...

The Martian doesn't interest me, and neither does Matt Damon. Ridley Scott is a fantastic director with all kinds of great work to his credit. I don't understand The Martian, or why people would call it a comedy.
The Academy is wonky. They vote strangely to me, unevenly, and yes, ethnic groups are shunned a lot. I don't like Will Smith, but if he's as good as you say then yeah, why no nomination?

[Chris Knipp]

I am sure you are right, that Leo was not a complete Rimbaud, that there were other elements that he did not capture in his performance, but he brought a boldness to the role and the relationship with Verlaine that made up for it. He threw himself into roles then as much as he does now. He made Jack Dawson (Titanic) and his love for Rose (Winslet) wonderful, sweet, buoyant, romantic -- again, he gave it his all, and he was in his physical prime as a pretty young man at that time, so the girls and the gay boys fell in love with him completely. I loved that movie. Highbrows who dismissed it didn't know what a great experience they were missing.

I used to say Matt Damon just looked like a bellhop. That was before the Bourne series, another mainstream thing that I love -- those are films that I have copies of and enjoy rewatching. But The Martian just seems overrated to me. It is lighthearted, as I noted in this thumnail, but not a comedy. It didn't seem worth more than a thumbnail, but I was busy with the NYFF too:
http://www.chrisknipp.com/links/mars.jpg
THE MARTIAN (Ridley Scott). Robinson Crusoe in space. Amiable everyman (and team botanist) Matt Damon accidentally left by himself on Mars a billion miles from Earth -- and he jokes. It's fun. But tough. "I'm going to have to science the shit out of this." Writer Andy Weir's book puts the science back into science fiction. You may not understand a lot of the chatter if you're not scientific, but this is a good story, with constant interplay between loneliness and togetherness: the Chinese even chip in and help the Americans save their man. If that doesn't work for you, enjoy the lovely images of space suits and orange landscape (the Red Planet turns out to be the color of Jessica Chastain's hair) -- and disco music, all Watney's got to listen to. At Regal Union Square 3 Oct. 2015.

[Johann]

You're absolutely right about Titanic. I'm someone who should be against that movie: a love story that didn't historically happen, the SFX exaggerating the actual sinking, but guess what? I'm a movie lover. And Titanic is a movie lovers dream. I especially like the tension and drama that James Cameron maintained after that ship hits the iceberg. He did it so well that no one will ever attempt another Titanic movie. It's been done for all times, just like Peter Jackson sewed-up Lord of the Rings cinematically.

Kate Winslet and Leo both shined in that movie (and so did Billy Zane- he was a delicious villain!)- they carried the movie for the whole 3 hours. Yeah it's Hollywood, but man, James Cameron put A LOT on the line with that one, and he delivered something timeless. I agree with you- highbrows do not know what a great movie Titanic is. Sappy, romanticized, staged?...yep. And it is Great. It's what we look for, isn't it?

[Chris Knipp]

We are completely on the same page on this one. We could be joint authors of a single admiring and appreciative review of James Caameron's magnificent TITANIC. I admit I was excited and eager before I ever even saw this movie. It was a great experience. Classic. This was also a time when a filmmaker brought to bear an equal amount of technical prowess and humanity. Unfortunately, there are rarely such works up at Oscar time and THE REVENANT is not one of them.

[Chris Knipp]

The repeatedly all-white Oscar nomination slates.

This has become a big topic of discussion. From today's New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/21/nytnow/your-thursday-briefing-flint-alexander-litvinenko-academy-awards.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0):
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is expected to announce measures aimed at making its Oscar nominations more diverse. One change might be an immediate return to a 10-film field of best picture nominees.

A 10-film field of Best Picture nominees would please me for other reasons. It would surely guarantee including CAROL, which should be up at the top, not THE REVENANT.

[Johann]

The Revenant is tedious and pretentious? And the acting sucks? Visually it looks great.

[Chris Knipp]

Looks great. Exactly. You haven't sat through it, my friend. I have.

[Johann]

Then that means Mad Max: Fury Road is the most deserving of Best Picture.
I said it's a masterpiece, and it is. But the Academy like to think they're the Ultimate Arbiters of Taste, so it probably hasn't got a hope in hell of winning.
Why George Miller isn't directing the sequel mystifies me.

[Chris Knipp]

From the Los Angeles Times. This year's 20 best acting Oscar nominees. All white.

http://www.chrisknipp.com/links/osc.jpg

Source. (http://ktla.com/2016/01/14/all-white-cast-of-20-nominees-for-acting-oscars-draws-criticism-for-academy/)

[Chris Knipp]

Then that means Mad Max: Fury Road is the most deserving of Best Picture.
I said it's a masterpiece, and it is. But the Academy like to think they're the Ultimate Arbiters of Taste, so it probably hasn't got a hope in hell of winning.
Why George Miller isn't directing the sequel mystifies me.

I would name SPOTLIGHT and CAROL.

[Chris Knipp]

See The Baffling 2016 Oscar Nominees." (http://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/the-suffocating-solemnity-of-the-revenant" "The Suffocating Solemnity of 'The Revenant'" [/URL]by Richard Brody in The New Yorker. He argues this movie would have been better if made in a studio and Hugh Glass's dragging himself across the snow had been done by stunt doubles with Leo's face digitally collaged on "because the artifices of a studio production and its digital contrivances would have pushed Iñárritu outside his narrow aesthetic ideology regarding physical reality and spiritual redemption. Escaping the self-imposed limits of climatic and theatrical rigors alike might have sparked his imagination."
This film is more effort than imagination.

See also Brody's other recent essay, "[URL="http://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/the-2016-oscar-nominees?mbid=social_twitter)

[Chris Knipp]

See "The Suffocating Solemnity of 'The Revenant'" (http://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/the-suffocating-solemnity-of-the-revenant) by Richard Brody in The New Yorker. He argues this movie would have been better if made in a studio and Hugh Glass's dragging himself across the snow had been done by stunt doubles with Leo's face digitally collaged on "because the artifices of a studio production and its digital contrivances would have pushed Iñárritu outside his narrow aesthetic ideology regarding physical reality and spiritual redemption. Escaping the self-imposed limits of climatic and theatrical rigors alike might have sparked his imagination."

There is no imagination in this film, only effort. Tremendous effort though.

Brody has another recent essay, "The Baffling 2016 Oscar Nominees." (http://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/the-2016-oscar-nominees?mbid=social_twitter) Great observations here about the whiteness of the Creed nomination, the limitations and strengths of Carol, and why Ed Lachman's cinematography deserves the award, why Hanes's direction is too subtle to make it through the Academy's "gross filter." Why the Academy will miss a lot of what's best about Carol because they watch a lot of the films at home on their TV screens.

I have to add that you need to watch visually splendid films like Carol or The Assassin on a truly fine film screen like the Walter Reade Theater's where the NYFF is shown. I rewatched Carol on the Landmark Albany Theater in Albany, California, and it was diminished, had lost a lot of the Ed Lachman glow.

[Johann]

Yes, something's very wrong here. Is it outright racism, or just plain ignorance? Either way, it makes the Academy look very bad.

If I was Leonardo DiCaprio, I might consider handing the trophy to Michael B. Jordan. Just take it, walk off stage, down into the audience, and hand it to him, with nothing but a nod. That would shake people up just like Brando did with his trophy for The Godfather. Leo's got enough talent (and is young enough) to win another one, no? :)

[Johann]

I love Stallone's quote from CREED: "Time takes everybody out. It's Undefeated."

[Chris Knipp]

Yes that is a good line by Stallone's character.

[Chris Knipp]

The SABG (Screen Actor's Guild) awards, 2016.

Just the film not TV ones listed here. They seem to mix up very different types of "screen" indiscriminately -- a mistake. But some justice was done here: for instance Idris Elba's citation.

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
SPOTLIGHT (Open Road Films) (WINNER)
BILLY CRUDUP / Eric MacLeish
BRIAN D’ARCY JAMES / Matty Carroll
MICHAEL KEATON / Walter “Robby” Robinson
RACHEL McADAMS / Sacha Pfeiffer
MARK RUFFALO / Michael Rezendes
LIEV SCHREIBER / Marty Baron
JOHN SLATTERY / Ben Bradlee, Jr.
STANLEY TUCCI / Mitchell Garabedian

BEASTS OF NO NATION (Netflix)
ABRAHAM ATTAH / Agu
KURT EGYIAWAN / 2nd I-C
IDRIS ELBA / Commandant

THE BIG SHORT (Paramount Pictures)
CHRISTIAN BALE / Michael Burry
STEVE CARELL / Mark Baum
RYAN GOSLING / Jared Vennett
MELISSA LEO / Georgia Hale
HAMISH LINKLATER / Porter Collins
JOHN MAGARO / Charlie Geller
BRAD PITT / Ben Rickert
RAFE SPALL / Danny Moses
JEREMY STRONG / Vinny Peters
MARISA TOMEI / Cynthia Baum
FINN WITTROCK / Jamie Shipley


STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON (Universal Pictures)
NEIL BROWN JR. / DJ Yella
PAUL GIAMATTI / Jerry Heller
COREY HAWKINS / Dr. Dre
ALDIS HODGE / MC Ren
O’SHEA JACKSON JR. / Ice Cube
JASON MITCHELL / Eazy-E

TRUMBO (Bleecker Street)
ADEWALE AKINNUOYE-AGBAJE / Virgil Brooks
LOUIS C.K. / Arlen Hird
BRYAN CRANSTON / Dalton Trumbo
DAVID JAMES ELLIOTT / John Wayne
ELLE FANNING / Niki Trumbo
JOHN GOODMAN / Frank King
DIANE LANE / Cleo Trumbo
HELEN MIRREN / Hedda Hopper
MICHAEL STUHLBARG / Edward G. Robinson
ALAN TUDYK / Ian McLellan Hunter

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
BRIE LARSON / Ma – “ROOM” (A24) (WINNER)
CATE BLANCHETT / Carol Aird – “CAROL” (The Weinstein Company)
HELEN MIRREN / Maria Altmann – “WOMAN IN GOLD” (The Weinstein Company)
SAOIRSE RONAN / Eilis – “BROOKLYN” (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
SARAH SILVERMAN / Laney Brooks – “I SMILE BACK” (Broad Green Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
LEONARDO DiCAPRIO / Hugh Glass – “THE REVENANT” (20th Century Fox) (WINNER)
BRYAN CRANSTON / Dalton Trumbo – “TRUMBO” (Bleecker Street)
JOHNNY DEPP / James “Whitey” Bulger – “BLACK MASS” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
MICHAEL FASSBENDER / Steve Jobs – “STEVE JOBS” (Universal Pictures)
EDDIE REDMAYNE / Einar Wegener/Lili Elbe – “THE DANISH GIRL” (Focus Features)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
ALICIA VIKANDER / Gerda Wegener – “THE DANISH GIRL” (Focus Features) (WINNER)
ROONEY MARA / Therese Belivet – “CAROL” (The Weinstein Company)
RACHEL McADAMS / Sacha Pfeiffer – “SPOTLIGHT” (Open Road Films)
HELEN MIRREN / Hedda Hopper – “TRUMBO” (Bleecker Street)
KATE WINSLET / Joanna Hoffman – “STEVE JOBS” (Universal Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
IDRIS ELBA / Commandant – “BEASTS OF NO NATION” (Netflix) (WINNER)
CHRISTIAN BALE / Michael Burry – “THE BIG SHORT” (Paramount Pictures)
MARK RYLANCE / Abel Rudolph – “BRIDGE OF SPIES” (DreamWorks)
MICHAEL SHANNON / Rick Carver – “99 HOMES” (Broad Green Pictures)
JACOB TREMBLAY / Jack – “ROOM” (A24)

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
“MAD MAX: FURY ROAD” (Warner Bros. Pictures) (WINNER)
“EVEREST” (Universal Pictures)
“FURIOUS 7” (Universal Pictures)
“JURASSIC WORLD” (Universal Pictures)
“MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – ROGUE NATION” (Paramount Pictures)

[Chris Knipp]

The Oscars.

Best original screenplay: “Spotlight,” Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy

Best adapted screenplay: “The Big Short,” Charles Randolph and Adam McKay

Best supporting actress: Alicia Vikander, “The Danish Girl”

Best costume design: “Mad Max: Fury Road,” Jenny Beavan

Best production design: “Mad Max: Fury Road,” production design by Colin Gibson; set decoration by Lisa Thompson

Best makeup and hairstyling: “Mad Max: Fury Road,” Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega and Damian Martin

Best cinematography: “The Revenant,” Emmanuel Lubezki (AKA 'Chivo; - 3rd Oscar in a row!)

Best film editing: “Mad Max: Fury Road,” Margaret Sixel

Best sound editing: “Mad Max: Fury Road,” Mark Mangini and David White

Best sound mixing: “Mad Max: Fury Road,” Chris Jenkins, Gregg Rudloff and Ben Osmo

Best visual effects: “Ex Machina,” Andrew Whitehurst, Paul Norris, Mark Ardington and Sara Bennett

Animated short film: “Bear Story,” Gabriel Osorio and Pato Escala (First Chilean Oscar winners!)

Best animated feature film: “Inside Out,” Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera

Best supporting actor: Mark Rylance, “Bridge of Spies” (Good choice, but Sly was great too!)

Best documentary, short subject:“A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness,” Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

Best documentary feature: “Amy,” Asif Kapadia and James Gay-Rees

Best live-action short film: “Stutterer,” Benjamin Cleary and Serena Armitage (surprise! my favorite!)

Best foreign-language film: “Son of Saul,” Hungary

Best original score: “The Hateful Eight,” Ennio Morricone

Best original song: “Writing’s on the Wall” from “Spectre”

Best director: “The Revenant,” Alejandro G. Iñárritu (third Oscar in a row!)

Best actress: Brie Larson, “Room”

Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, "Revenant"

Best Picture: "Spotlight"

[cinemabon]

Best part of tonight's ceremony - when Ennio Morricone won his first and probably his only AA for Best Original Score. Wow! It took him over 60 years, but he finally won (given to him by Quincy Jones!). He thanked John Williams! Outstanding!

A few surprises - The Martian, shut out. Not a single win. Mark Rylance? Wow! Who would have predicted. Spotlight for Best Pix - a long shot at best. Brie Larson? Anyone else see that one coming? (although she did win at SAG). Ex-Machina for Visual Effects, another shocker. Funniest moment - C K Lewis announcing winner of Best Documentary Short Subject - Mad Max (which took home most of the technical awards). Deakins nominated 13 times - no wins! The Susan Lucci of cinema.

[Chris Knipp]

Yes, a beautiful moment, and I guess another case of Tarantino giving a deserved, neglected film person an opportunity to shine.

Morricone was nominated for a César award the other day, for another composition for a recent FRench film, but he did not win. . A French site says he got a liftime achievement award presented by Clint Eastwood in 2007, is that true?

César music nominatons:
Warren Ellis, Mustang (WINNER)
Raphael, Cowboys
Ennio Morricone, Come What May
Stephen Warbeck, Mon Roi
Gregoire Hetzel, My Golden Days

I've reviewed those other films on Filmleaf, but not Come What May - haven't seen it.

[Johann]

I watched the Oscars last night and I guess they addressed the "white people's choice awards" issue, huh?
Chris Rock was edgy and interesting as host, and his white tux was amazing. I've never seen a suit like that before- he looked great. His monologue didn't hold back. I loved his zinger for Jada Pinkett. BAM! The Jack Black bit was also a riot (with Angela Bassett- they hit the right tone of anger and levity).

Mad Max: Fury Road was recognized (6 trophies!) and I'm very happy about that, but George Miller didn't win for Best Director...Wha?
Dave Grohl's "Blackbird" cover was nice for the departed. Lady Goofball continues to annoy me to no end. Girl is wack.
As for Best Picture- that came out of nowhere, huh? And Best Actress- I predict Brie Larson will never win again, and I never saw Room. To me that award was Cate Blanchett's, and some say it was Jennifer Lawrence's..so what gives, Academy? "Room" strikes me as a horror movie- nothing inspiring to me there. Sappy heart-strings-pulling covered with horror. Yeah, I'll rush out to see that...lol

I've gotta see Ex Machina- that looked amazing, and won best visual effects.
I don't really have a problem was last night's show. But the soliciting for Girl Guides was a little weird, no?
It was like passing the plate at church, with Pastor Chris essentially telling everybody not to offend God and give. lol
He raised $65,000 in twenty minutes.
Star Wars didn't get much recognition, but the audience gave JJ Abrams much love when he presented. (I guess people want to get hired by him in the future?)

Leo DiCaprio gave a heartfelt speech, mentioning his first director (Michael Caton-Jones), his mentor Scorsese and his friend Tom Hardy. He also warned about climate change, and my respect for him went even higher. Canada's PM Justin Trudeau met Leo recently, and told him to stop being so vocal against our oil industry, that many people's livelihoods are in that industry. Trudeau cannot pacify the environmentalists and the oil lobby in the same breath. That makes him a full-blown hypocrite. He knows full-well that Harper's complete focus on the energy sector was a disaster, a disaster that is almost unfixable with the current status quo.

I don't get upset when actors or entertainers express concerns about world issues. What better people to raise awareness?
Just because they're super-wealthy does not necessarily mean they are as oblivious as a Kardashian. A lot of celebs have consciences and do make efforts to right wrongs. (See the Girl Guide cookie stunt). I enjoyed the Oscars last night. It wasn't stellar, but it also wasn't boring.

[Chris Knipp]

Well, this is very thorough, and I'm glad you were satisfied. I think it was one of the most satisfying though I don't share your love of Mad Max, and I would refrain from judging films I have not actually seen, such as Room. There are reasons why Brie Larson's acting in it is memorable. On the other hand I wish Carol had gotten more recognition and several other films. But to have a film as intelligent as Spotlight in the top spot is very nice. The "Blackbird" cover was beautiful. I missed Lady Gaga; anyway from what I hear neither that song nor that doc are more than well meaning. I was unmoved by Ex Machina, and don't think it's much of a movie, really.
DiCaprio's speech was not only heartfelt, but very smart and extremely well planned, unlike Iñárritu's, which needed to be condensed more. And I cannot see why he and his cameraman need three Oscars in a row. The only one I can enthuse over is Birdman and it's really something you don't remember or want to go back and re-watch. Bird People on the other hand I couldn't wait to see a second time and I did, at IFC Center in Oct. 2014. Iñárritu tries so damn hard; I guess the Academy likes signs of effort. I like sprezzatura, careless ease, polish and brilliance without evidence of effort, a feel of having fun, like Tarantino.

Everybody looked so great, even people who aren't good lookign, like Liev Schreiber. They must run them through an Oscar-ization lab on the way to the Oscars stage.

[Johann]

You have a sense of ha ha- I'm definitely sure they have an Oscar-ization lab.

The Oscars are garish, as we all know. Presenters get $25,000 goody-bags as a token for getting up there and handing out a gold trophy.
But it's always interesting to see what Hollywood does on Oscar night. I laughed a lot- even Sacha Baron Cohen as Ali G was a riot. Levity was nice to see.
I also witnessed a wild ad for "Gotham City" starring Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck), for Turkish Airlines. Anyone see that? The tie-ins for this Batman v Superman are extensive: kids cereal, doritos, etc. I stand by my statement that Jesse Eisenberg is atrociuous in that movie. It may have merits outside that sad fact, but I'll wait for the DVD, if even that. I'll need to gather intel on whether or not it was any good. The trailers don't exactly pump me up, as Zack is known to do. Maybe he's been reigned in by higher powers? Who knows?


Carol looked incredible, from what I saw. Cate Blanchett is the real deal. She mentioned that Gena Rowlands was a huge influence when she was given an Honorary Oscar, and I can see that. Room seems well-intentioned, but man, to me that one seems like a horror movie. Anne Frank-level, almost.
I'll keep an eye out for Bird People.
Yes, I agree with what you say about Leo's speech. It was worth watching the show to see him up there. He said he doesn't take it for granted and I believe him.
Innaritu is definitely on a roll, and so is his cameraman. They are the hot team right now, so what's next? I can see why Michael Keaton was so stoked when Spotlight won Best Picture. Innaritu had a killer night, and so did his latest work. Batman (the Real Batman if you wanna get down to it) is in the best pictures these days. And that's the way it should be. :)

[Chris Knipp]

Carol's cinematographer was Ed Lachman, who also did Far from HEaven and more recently the mini-series Mildred Pearce I've met Ed Lachman; he's frequently at Lincoln Center screenings and sits in the back where I usually sit. He is an interesting dude and a great and original cinematographer. Forgot Roger Deakins. Lachman is in on the cooler stuff. So it is great that he was nominated, and would have been greater if Iñárritu's dp hadn't gotten the superfluous third prize.

I agree Chris Rock's perfect white suit was striking, I noted everybody even usually ugly people looked perfect on the stage, and are you aware that he is over fifty years old? He takes care of himself. He manages to be both prickly and teflon-coated, which is a good combination for a comic/critic.

I am sorry that my festival coverage duties even on the weekend kept me from watching every minute of the Oscars. I think it was a good one and from what you say even the ads were cool.

I don't want to sound mean about Iñárritu and his cameraman, sure they are on a roll. But simply getting a nomination would have been enough. Intelligent voting would lead one to change winners from year to year, in my opinion. Unless they are gods. But they are not.

[Johann]

I agree with you on intelligent voting. Race has been addressed (partially at least) now let's focus on awarding truly the best in film, eh?

There are some incredible cameramen out there- Robert Richardson deserved the Best Cinematography Oscar but was shut out by a three-time winner. Yes, Lubeski is a Master. No one's arguing that. But Roger Deakins or Robert Richardson were slightly better craftsmen this year. Very cool about Ed Lachman. Hard category this year. Shouldn't the use of old cameras on 70mm give the edge to Robert? And those epic, grande, Master shots in The Hateful 8...Killer.

There seem to be a lot of young voters in the Academy now. They seem to be imposing their will a bit, here, no? Am I imagining that? lol