I really liked The Big Short, even though I know a lot about the subject matter and disagreed with some of the substance. Christian Bale was amazing, and I loved the style of the movie, very unique way of telling a complex story. By contrast, Spotlight, which I also liked a lot, was completely a straight shot down the middle of the road, with everyone looking earnest all the time. It was worth seeing, it sparked lots of discussions with friends, a perfectly worthwhile project, but there’s no reason for anyone to watch it twice, ever.
Saorise Ronan: This year’s inaction star. She stands there and looks intense and beautiful. The two peaks of the movie are when she stands there in a supposedly old-fashioned bathing suit. It lets you know that if you are really intense and beautiful, the fashion of by-gone eras looks great on you, especially if your costume designer lets a little contemporary sensibility about color and fit into the picture.
Leonardo DiCaprio: Debate between me and my wife this morning. She refuses to see The Revenant for all the reasons given above, but thinks DiCaprio should win the Best Actor Oscar because he’s consistently a great actor and has never won it. I am desperate to see The Revenant because I love the way it looks in the previews, all that blue fog, and I’ve loved all of Inarritu’s films except Birdman, which I disliked a lot, but I have never thought DiCaprio gave the best performance in any year he was nominated. He is consistently a great actor, though.
Yep, if you hate action movies with chase scenes, you’ll hate Mad Max. I didn’t remember it as being particularly graphically violent, though.
JHS, definitely see the Revenant without your wife. It is a long, slow slog through misery, with more moaning then conversation. A lot of close up bloody stuff. They really went over the top with that. That seems to be the entire show, one graphic gross scene to the next. However, the outdoors scenery is beautiful.
I’ve only seen one of the nominated movies, “The Martian”. I read the book and loved it. The movie didn’t ruin it and I consider that a complement since so often movies butcher the book. Matt Damon imo did a great job with his role.
I really enjoyed the Big Short. Oscar material? Probably makes sense it was nominated but shouldn’t win.
I seem to be the anomaly here in that I loved Brooklyn - totally didn’t expect to and thought it was great. I think Saorise Ronan does a superb job. Best picture? Maybe not but once again, very very good and not shocked it was nominated. Will be seeing Spotlight on Monday so can’t weigh in.
Really enjoyed Bridge of Spies - excellent movie and great performances.
Really enjoyed the Martian and think it falls into those big movie production kind of movies - the kind that isn’t quite an epic but has amazing special effects. That said, while I think Matt Daman does a great job and the movie was quite entertaining, in my opinion it is more flash than substance.
So this leaves me without a personal favorite for best picture - maybe the answer for me lies in the ones I haven’t yet seen.
BTW, Infinitely Polar Bear wasn’t the best movie but think Mark Ruffalo totally should have gotten a best picture nod for that…
I like the original Mad Max trilogy and enjoyed Fury Road; but Oscar material? Really? Well, I guess part of the rationale is that it Fury Road featured a female heroine, which I am quite happy about (Star Wars fans, take note).
We really need to get to the movies. I let the boys drive the agenda most of the time with the result that the only movie I’ve seen on this list is The Martian. I agree that the book was great and the movie didn’t ruin it. I’m not a Matt Damon fan, and thought he wasn’t snarky enough for the role, but he did okay. We all kind of intended to see Bridge of Spies, but somehow never quite got around to it.
I enjoyed Spotlight and Martian, but don’t think they are Oscar worthy. My want-to-be actor patient has mark RuFolo as his idol, and he did a great job of acting earnest. I thought all the actors in this movie were good.
Why Nark R? Cuz he auditioned hundreds of times before he got hired, and his mother believed in him and supported him.
Even though I know there is no chance whatsoever, my vote would go to Charlotte Rampling for Best Actress for 45 Years. Her performance was truly masterful. Loved the movie.
I swooned for every minute of Brooklyn. That was by far my favorite movie of the year. And the book is even better.
I saw The Martian and The Bridge of Spies–both were entertaining, but not award material. Going to see The Revenant tomorrow with H. I’m sure I will end up covering my eyes for much of it. Also plan on seeing Room when my D is visiting next week.
Went to see Hateful Eight at a theater with 70mm equipment–photography was breathtaking. Otherwise the film was quintessential Tarantino. I can’t decide if he’s crazy or a genius. (Loved Inglorious Bastards and hated Django Unchained.)
Yes! Brooklyn is based on the Colm Toibin novel. Can I just reaffirm just how much I love that book? The movie doesn’t quite capture what I saw as the primary theme of the book but it was a closer-than-average adaptation and the script by Nick Hornby has its own charms. And the lead actress – my spelling skills are not up to the challenge of putting her name here – is positively ethereal most of the time but convincingly plain at a few critical moments. She is one of my new favorite actresses. So lovely.
Yes, Bromfield2, Brooklyn is based on Toibin’s book, but the screenplay was written by Nick Hornby. I am another Brooklyn fan. I thought it was beautifully filmed and Saorise Ronan was wonderful.
I am very disappointed that Tom Hanks wasn’t nominated for best actor for Bridge of Spies. Sometimes I wonder how they come up with their choices, anyways. He has been in so many different movies, and I believe that he is that character, every single time. I think that is the mark of a great actor. Honestly, to me, Jennifer Lawrence is always Jennifer Lawrence playing somebody else, she just doesn’t make me believe it.
I haven’t seen any of the movies yet. We will probably see The Revenant this weekend. I urge everybody to read Room before seeing the movie. If you haven’t seen the movie trailer yet, try to avoid it and just read the book cold. I can’t remember how or why I started reading it, but not knowing what it was about allowed for an authentic experience as the story developed. I really enjoyed that book.
I liked inside out, but it was s feel good but not best picture. I did like Bridge of Spies, which I enjoyed watching on the plane. Hanks was very believable and it was well done.
I have no particular interest in seeing the other nominated movies, even if free on the plane. I’m not into gore or violence, but perhaps the nonviolent ones.
My DH really wants to see athe Reverant and I have no desire, especially at 3 hours long. I think I’m just oung to have to tell him No, even if it’s his birthday…I read the bear mauling scene is 6 minutes.
SPOILER ALERT (although I’ll try to keep it cryptic):
Does the Toibin novel Brooklyn do a better job than the film of helping you understand what it going on inside Eilis during the second half of the story? I found it a little bewildering – and my wife found it so offputting that it made her positively dislike the movie – that a character presented as fundamentally good and grounded for the first hour of the movie was suddenly, and continuously, behaving in a not-so-good, not-so-grounded way, but pretty much looking and acting the same as she always had, She didn’t resolve her contradictions until forced to do it by outside forces, and when she did it seemed to be without much of a sense of compassion towards some of the people affected by it.
I could make up some narratives for what was going on, but the film seemed deliberately not to adopt any particular rationalization of the story, and to force the viewer to justify Eilis’ behavior or not. What doe the novel do?
I’ll add to JHS’s questions about Brooklyn (so more spoiler alert!!)
I walked out thinking there was more chemistry between her and her Irish beau than between her and the Italian guy. I didn’t buy that relationship (the one with Tony), so didn’t buy her ultimate decision. I don’t know that the movie made enough of a case for why her life in Ireland was that miserable, proved that the town was horrible aside from the one nasty shop owner.
I read Brooklyn and would give it 3 of 5 stars. The average rating among the members of my book club was probably lower.The thing is…most of them grew up in Catholic immigrant enclaves in NYC during the 50s and they thought Toibin got most of it wrong. I guess it would be sort of like going to see Gravity with a lot of NASA engineers. I thought the sex scenes in the book were ridiculous. I didn’t know at the time that Toibin is gay, but while reading the sex scenes I became convinced that the author was gay because they were so preposterous. I hope the movie at least gets those right!
