ARTS & CULTURE
22 Obiter Dicta
Oscars
» continued from page 16
Inside Out (Disney)
I despise that animated films can be nominated for
Best Picture. They have their own category - Best
Animated Feature. If precedent means anything,
Pixar’s “Inside Out” will get a Best Picture nomination. Both “Up” (2009) and “Toy Story 3” (2010)
earned Best Picture nominations and, by what I’ve
read, “Inside Out” is comparable to or better than each
of those films. “Inside Out” tells the story of a young
girl through her emotions (Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust
and Sadness) as they battle it out for control of her life
after a move to a new city. It is a virtual lock to win
Best Animated Feature and should also get a nomination for Best Original Screenplay for Pete Doctor and
company. It was just released on Blu-ray and DVD.
Bridge of Spies (Disney)
Similar to Tarantino, Steven Spielberg films naturally garner a lot of Oscar-buzz. His last two films,
“Lincoln” (2012) and “War Horse” (2011) were both
nominated. He has had seven of his films nominated for Best Picture. “Bridge of Spies” is set in the
heart of the Cold War. An idealistic American lawyer
is recruited to first defend an accused Soviet spy and
then help the CIA negotiate a prisoner exchange for
a captured American spy plane pilot. It is inspired by
true events which tend to give film’s bonus points.
Mark Rylance will likely win for Best Supporting
Actor; he is brilliant as the Soviet spy. However, I see
Hanks and Spielberg being shut out in the Actor and
Director categories, respectively. Nothing overly
extraordinary happens in the movie and it feels overly
“Disney-ish” at the end, especially for a Spielberg film.
A solid film, but I am listing it here solely because I am
hedging my bets on the Spielberg name. It is playing in
theatres now.
Steve Jobs (Universal)
Of the Best Picture contenders I have seen thus far,
“Steve Jobs” is my favourite. However, it doesn’t seem
to be generating much buzz. I don’t think it is what a
lot of people were expecting; it is such an unconventional film. It tells the story of Steve Jobs, over the
course of 14-years, behind the scenes at three separate public unveilings of new products. It ends in
1998, before the Apple we have come to know exists.
Michael Fassbender gives an Oscar-worthy portrayal
of Steve Jobs the visionary and Steve Jobs the asshole.
He is DiCaprio’s stiffest competition. The rest of the
cast, including Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, Jeff Daniels
and Michael Stuhlbarg give phenomenal performances. The screenplay is brilliantly written by Aaron
Sorkin (“A Few Good Men”, “The Social Network”,
“Moneyball”), who no one will ever accuse of underwriting a script. A Best Original Screenplay nod for
Sorkin and a Best Supporting Actress nod for Winslet
are likely. Fassbender, Winslet and Sorkin overshadow
Danny Boyle’s (“Slumdog Millionaire”) fine directing.
It is playing in theatres now.
Joy (20th Century Fox)
The academy loves David O. Russell films, “The
Fighter” (2010), “Silver Linings Playbook” (2 012) and
“American Hustle” (2013) all received Best Picture
nomination. All of these films are slightly overrated if
ê DiCaprio v Fassbender: My money is on DiCaprio to win his first ever Best Actor Oscar this year. Photo credit: 20th
Century Fox
you ask me. Jennifer Lawrence stars as Joy, a woman
who rises to become the matriarch of a powerful
family business dynasty. This is another film that has
not screened yet, but the trailer looks good and the
principals involved warrant the gamble on a predicted
nomination. Russell will get a Best Directing nomination and share a Best Original Screenplay nomination
with Annie Mumolo, but will not contend. Lawrence
will undoubtedly receive a Best Actress nomination; she can do nothing wrong these days. It gets to
compete with “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” on a
Christmas day release. I wonder who will win that
box-office battle?
I am going to predict that 9 films are nominated for
Best Picture this year. Since the rule change in 2009,
nine films is the mean, median and mode [2009: 10
films, 2010: 10 films, 2011: 9 films, 2012: 9 films,
2013: 9 films, and 2014: 8 films]. The two films that
I anticipate being on the Best Picture bubble are John
Crowley’s “Brooklyn” and Todd Haynes’ “Carol”.
Saoirse Ronan will likely receive a Best Actress nomination for her portrayal of an Irish immigrant in
1950s in “Brooklyn”. Blanchett, a perennial Best
Actress contender, would likely be nominated twice
this year - for her roles in “Carol” and “Truth”. But
the Academy has a rule against the same person being
nominated twice in the same category. “Carol” has
attracted much better reviews than “Truth” and is
most likely.
The buzz surrounding “Black Mass” has faded for a
Best Picture nomination. However, I still think Johnny
Depp receives a Best Actor nomination for his role as
mobster Whitey Bulger. I recently watched the trailer
for “Concussion” starring Will Smith as forensic neuropathologist, Dr. Bennet Omalu, who made the first
discovery of CTE, a football-related brain trauma
injury. Smith seems like a safe bet to get a Best Actor
nomination, but this is Fassbender and DiCaprio’s category this year.
A wildcard is Adam McKay’s “The Big Short” which
stars Christian Bale, Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling and
Brad Pitt as four outsiders who predicted Wall Street’s
collapse in the mid-2000s. The cast is amazing, but
the trailer does not make me bold enough to foresee a
Best Picture nomination. My main problem is director
Adam McKay whose previous projects include directing “Anchorman 2” and “Step Brothers” – hardly Best
Winner contenders. It opens December 23rd. But perhaps the biggest wildcard is Ron Howard’s “In the
Heart of the Sea” which is based on the true story that
inspired “Moby Dick”. I could see this being great, but
completely miss the mark with Oscar voters.
Unfortunately, the Oscar-buzz for Canadian director Denis Villeneuve’s “Sicario” is dwindling. It is a
longshot to get a Best Picture nod; however, it remains
one of the best film’s I’ve seen all year. Villeneuve had
a similar fate in 2013 when the inspired “Prisoners”
regrettably fell through the cracks come Oscar time.
“Sicario” will likely earn Roger Diekins his first ever
Best Cinematography Oscar after losing on 12 other
occasions. Benecio Del Toro is a safe bet to be nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his shadowy and
pivotal role in the film. I am excited to see Justin
Kurzel’s dark adaption of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”.
It has received great reviews from its screenings,
stars heavyweights Michael Fassbender and Marion
Cotillard; however, there is absolutely no Oscar buzz
surrounding this film at all and I am puzzled why.
There is also very little buzz for the Julia Roberts,
Nicole Kidman and Chiwetel Ojiofor led “The Secret
in Their Eyes”. If you have not seen the original 2009
Argentinian film it is based on, put it on your list. The
trailer is great; but perhaps being a remake makes the
bar that much higher.
I would also have to give an honourable mention
to “Mad Max: Fury Road” which came out in early
May (hurting its nomination chances). If it were up to
me, I would make sure George Miller receives a Best
Director nomination for his visionary work. But alas,
its best chances are in Film Editing and the Sound
categories.
We have to wait until January 14th to see how well
I did when the Oscar nominations are announced. The
winners will be announced February 28th when the
88th Oscars air live. u