The Academy Awards are like that girl or guy that you know is bad for you, but you just keep coming back. You talk bad about the Academy all the time. They’re elitists. They only like movies about show business. They’re sexist. They’re racist. The never value comedies. They only pick the movies that campaign the most. You were horrified they picked "Birdman: or (The Pretentious Subtitle You Never Felt Like Reading)" for Best Picture last year, and you swear you’re done with the Academy Awards.
But here you are again.
The nominees were released Thursday morning, along with their snubs and surprises. Aaron Sorkin, a gimme in the Adapted Screenplay category, failed to get a nomination this year with "Steve Jobs." Tom Hardy continues to dominate the movie world with a surprise nomination for "The Revenant."
The Best Picture category came with its surprises, as well. Both "Room" and "Brooklyn," two small-scope indies with strong female leads, were nominated, despite both being on the fringe, while the award-hoarding "Carol" mysteriously got snubbed. There were also the obvious ones to get in, too, like, "Mad Max: Fury Road," "Spotlight," and "The Revenant," which led with 12 nominations.
But obvious doesn’t necessarily mean good, and surprise doesn’t necessarily mean bad. All of these nominees are on the same playing field. It just comes down to how good they are now.
Here are my rankings of the 2016 Academy Award Best Picture Nominees from worst to best:
8. The Revenant
Alajandro Gonzalez Iniarritu is not resting on his laurels. After wowing the Academy with 2014's "Birdman, " he's back with "The Revenant,", an equally ambitious film. "The Revenant" benefits from its talented cast and crew: actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy, cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, and Iniarritu.
This film seems to be this year's "Apocalypse Now," as, with "Apocalypse Now", the filming of this film is, at times, more noteworthy than the the film itself, having taking their actors through horrible conditions.
These conditions actually seem to be the centerpiece of the film, showing what humans can go through to survive, like an 18-century "The Martian." And it seems like it only focused on these conditions, as most of the story revolves around them instead of telling their own story.
A couple of saving graces, though. DiCaprio's acting was reliably great. I just knew it, though: he would win Best Actor in a role that wasn't his best. The action sequences, too, were great. While George Miller took a step back and let us see all the action in "Mad Max: Fury Road," Iniarritu and Lubezki got very close and made the audience feel like they were there. At one point during a fight between Hardy and DiCaprio, I think one of them might have actually bumped into the camera. If only this movie had balance, it would be higher in the list.
7. The Martian
After 2013's effects-light "Gravity" and 2014's gloomy "Interstellar," it was perfect timing for "The Martian," a story-heavy and more pragmatic than serious film directed by sci-fi god Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon.
"The Martian" does great at showing the ins and outs of trying to get Watney (Damon) off of Mars without dumbing it down to the audience. It rarely gets dull, and is a great portrait of what humans can accomplish. It's no wonder why President Obama called it his favorite film of 2015.
The Hollywood Foreign Press received a good amount of criticism for nominating "The Martian" for Best Comedy/Musical. And though "The Martian" is not "Spy" or "Trainwreck," , there is a very large amount of comedy in this film. So much, in fact, that it is to "The Martian"'s detriment. What was originally a harrowing film regarding a man's life is, well, a feel-good movie. A good feel-good movie, but do we really need to have that many jokes toward Lewis' (Jessica Chaistain) taste in music?
"The Martian" is a good film, though I think many of us would have picked another certain sci-fi film in this list, a certain film with Domnhall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, and Oscar Isaac and I'm not going to give the name of this film so let's just call it "Ex Machina."
6. Bridge of Spies
Not too much to say about this one. "Bridge of Spies" is a period piece about a little-known event in the Cold War (safe), with Tom Hanks (safe), Steven Spielberg (safe), and the Coen Brothers (as of 2007, safe). So this films sits comfortably safe at number six, not the worst film, but not among the best.
5. Mad Max: Fury Road
I've seen several "Best Movies of 2015" lists, and many have "Mad Max" at number one. Probably more than any other movie, I think. And when I read the description--or justification, I guess--for "Mad Max," I don't hear too much of the story, the characters, the themes, or, frankly, anything about the movie itself. What I do see is how "Fury Road" is an important movie for film, one that is going to revert Hollywood from its over-reliance on CGI.
Being an independent film fan, I can fully support this and, yes, "Mad Max: Fury Road" is an important movie, one that is very much needed. But I start to wonder if people are choosing the movie solely on the action and its importance instead of the movie itself.
The action, yes, is fantastic. George Miller, a favorite for the Academy Award for Directing, lets us see the action as it happens, and that action is fantastic.
But what does this film have for it as a film? If you didn't know, "Mad Max: Fury Road," is actually the reboot of the third act of "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome." Yes, 30 minutes stretched into two hours, which seems appropriate. Yes, there are touches of story, and I loved the feminist theme that was put in here, but this structure was few and far between. Even the action got dull after being inundated by it for so long.
If I have so many criticisms for this film, why is it fifth and not eighth? I'm being extra hard on this film because of the praise it's getting. It was a very good film--my favorite action movie of the year--but the best film? More like the fifth best Best Picture nominee.
4. The Big Short
All "Anchorman" haters seem to be silenced now with Adam McKay's surprise hit: a surprisingly detailed look at the 2007 housing market detriment. "The Big Short" seems to be the flashier "Spotlight" in almost all facets: its directing and editing are wild, its actors will occasionally dance on screen, and, for such a dull subject matter, its screenplay has several comedic moments.
With all of this, sometimes McKay bites off more than he can chew. We don't see too much into Ryan Gosling's character, Jared Vennett. McKay also tries to sneak comedy into every little crevice, too, resulting in the audience not laughing, not because it's not funny, but because the audience is trying to piece together what's happening on screen, which is a lot.
All in all, this is an important film, but not necessarily for film itself. This is an important film for America, the perfect representation of "If we do not learn history we are forced to repeat it." With a movie as savvy and funny as this, it's something you will watch repeatedly.
3. Brooklyn
A period piece I thought I would snooze through, "Brooklyn" is sneakily compelling and relatable. Saoirse Ronan, who I really liked in "The Grand Budapest Hotel," has a great performance as Ellis, an Irish young woman moving to Brooklyn.
Though originally I thought this movie would be about immigration and opportunity, I was surprised how much I related it to my first semester in college. Finding that person who knows the place and latching onto them for every bit of advice. Chatting to that classmate after class, trying to make a friend, even if it's over nothing. And, above all, asserting who you want to be.
2. Room
What if all you knew was a single room? In a more globalized world, this question seems to be more and more esoteric, but this film has an excellent portrayal of it. Despite its themes, though, like the role of television, how to raise a child, and the role of family, "Room" stays committed to its story throughout.
"Room" is possibly one of the smallest scaled films of the year--at least in the mid-level market it's in--but it grabbed me and never let me go. The escape sequence was easily my favorite of 2015, and Brie Larson's performance for the strong but scared Ma makes the film as complicated, yet human, as its subject matter.
1. Spotlight
I don't inherently love films like this, slow burning ones where the screenplay is mostly about exposition and story. I'd usually prefer something a little more thematic, like "Ex Machina," or funny, like "The Grand Budapest Hotel." "Spotlight" benefits greatly, though, through Tom McCarthy's screenplay, one in which every scene matters, and makes the audience die to know what happens next, whether it be through inter-cutting between scenes or giving emphasis where emphasis is due.
Not to say that "Spotlight" doesn't pack its punches, though. This film is a disciplined fighter, only attacking where there's an opening. When the church says they just want to get on the same page and Michael Keaton's Walter "Robby" Robinson says, "Is that why we're here? To get on the same page?" it reminds me of a more disciplined, more rooted Aaron Sorkin line, one that's not flashy to be flashy but flashy to make a point, like that person that only curses when they really mean it.
Despite being about the wrongdoings of the Catholic Church, "Spotlight" does not stray from being the know-all be-all. A movie truly about journalism, it's unbiased, sometimes criticizing the Spotlight team for not taking this issue until it's thrust upon them.
"Spotlight" builds upon the viewer, as it goes on crisply layering it, like a newly-printed Sunday edition of the Boston Globe.
