2016 Oscar Run-down

Originally published 14 January 2016

We may only live once, but most of us will die twice, according to the narrator of Beowulf. First when our bodies expire, and again when those who remember us have died as well. Of course this means that David Bowie and Alan Rickman will never really die, which I am very happy to convey.

Rickman once said that actors don’t win awards, parts do. I think the 2016 Oscar nominations reflect that notion in part, based on the acting categories and the favored winners.

The above picture is a clue to where my sympathies lie. 2015 was a resume-setting year for Oscar Isaac and Domhnall Gleeson, and neither of them have a chance for a statue. They co-starred in Ex Machina and Star Wars — The Force Awakens, while Gleeson almost charmed Saoirse Ronan into staying in Ireland in Brooklyn, and tried valiantly to assert authority among the mountain men in The Revenant. Regarding Isaac, while A Most Violent Year was technically released in 2014, nobody outside a couple of LA and NYC zip codes could see it until this year. He also starred in the HBO series Show Me A Hero, for which he won a Golden Globe. Tom Hardy had a similarly ridiculous year with Mad Max, Legend and The Revenant, but at least he could walk away with a much deserved award for the last one.

The performances and movies that I prefer leave me with a sense of wonder, charm, or breathlessness, and Ex Machina had all three from Oscar Isaac. Michael Shannon similarly blew me away in 99 Homes, and Charlize Theron dominated a sci-fi action flick like few other women have had the chance to (Sigourney Weaver, Scarlett Johansson). All of these were left out of contention. I can’t dismiss most who were nominated, but let’s be frank about a few. I loved The Martian, and who doesn’t like Matt Damon, but was he really acting all that hard? I felt like I was watching….Matt Damon. Mark Ruffalo did a great job being angry without turning big and green in Spotlight, but again, was his character a real stretch? Or Mark Rylance, whose performance I can barely remember in Bridge of Spies? Rachel McAdams was just fine in Spotlight, but how far was her character from being Rachel McAdams? I can’t comment on Kate Winslet, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Charlotte Rampling, Jennifer Lawrence, Cate Blanchett or Rooney Mara, because I haven’t seen Hateful Eight, Joy, 45 Years, Steve Jobs, or Carol (07-Feb: See my second comment below for an update on Carol, 45 Years). And it did not occur to me until typing that list how many female led “prestige” films I’ve missed this year. Bias? Probably not. I did see Brooklyn twice, after all.

Now for some lists:

• Films I’ve missed, and don’t plan on seeing: The Hateful Eight, Steve Jobs.
  I was surprised by the number of people who told me (in the SF Bay Area no less!) that they had no interest in watching a movie about a corporate sociopath. These conversations often took place while waiting in line at the Apple Store. And The Hateful Eight is supposedly Tarantino’s most violent film. After throwing my shoe in disgust at the TV while watching Reservoir Dogs, I shall pass.
• Emperor’s New Clothes List: Tangerine, Anomalisa, The Assassin, It Follows.
  Oh, happy day that Tangerine and The Assassin, which appeared in many top 10 lists, did not garner a single nomination! Without the novelty of transgender actors and being filmed with an iPhone, is there anything left to discuss about Tangerine? It was a repulsive film. And if I want to see beautiful still landscapes, I’ll visit a museum rather than watch The Assassin. They forgot the “moving” part of moving picture. Anomalisa wasn’t quite as bad as those two; it had some interesting ideas and it is nominated for best animated film, but Inside Out will easily and deservedly walk away with that one. Finally, It Follows would have leapt far up in my regard if they just deleted the obnoxious and jarring electronic soundtrack. It could never be a contender, but I just mention it here because of the numerous odd high rankings it has achieved on 2015 best film lists.
• Best Films in the cold: Sicario, Diary of a Teenage Girl, The Walk, Clouds of Sils Maria, Love & Mercy
  I so want Emily Blunt to win an award, but her character in Sicario was only an observer of incredible events and people, so had she been nominated for this film, I might have listed her with the other questionable choices above. But that movie! And Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro! Outstanding work. Eight films were nominated for Best Picture, and I like to think Sicario was a close #9. Diary of a Teenage Girl, unseen by me, could have included a nomination for Bel Powley; I know many people were rooting for her. The Walk I won’t be seeing, because I’ve never before encountered a film that was intentionally marketed as an experience that will make you vomit. It would also be nice to show all the haters that Kristen Stewart can act, keeping up with veteran Juliette Binoche in Clouds of Sils Maria. And were Paul Dano and John Cusack not considered by the Academy for having only acted in half a film each, for Love & Mercy?
• Humorless Hollywood: Nothing for Trainwreck! Well OK, I’m not sure which film or other nomination I would trade for Trainwreck, unless they could somehow combine John Cena and LeBron James into one guy. My goodness they made me laugh! And Welcome To Me should have bumped Jennifer Lawrence in favor of Kristen Wiig, who also had a hell of a year — The Martian, Diary of a Teenage Girl, and something weird called Nasty Baby.
• Acting One-offs: Trumbo, Joy
  These are the films which are biopic in nature, and the lead actor has received a nomination, and that’s it. I often don’t bother with these movies, because they can receive middling reviews overall, regardless of how compelling the nominated performance is. Reviews for both of these movies stated that Cranston and Lawrence respectively elevated what was otherwise a flawed film. Trumbo was better than the consensus gave it credit for (71% Tomatometer), but I haven’t seen Joy, and I’m not feeling enthusiastic about it. I’ll be happy to entertain any opposing viewpoints in the comments below.

Disappointments aside, I’m impressed with the overall quality of these films, and some of the “expected” winners don’t even annoy me. I thought Tom Hardy was astonishing in The Revenant, but I’m fine with Leo getting the big prize, at least among this nominated group. I don’t know what the oddsmakers are saying about Best Supporting Actress, but I’d go with Alicia Vikander, because she also could have been nominated for Ex Machina. I have been scornful of the “dutiful wife” nomination in the past, but in The Danish Girl, she represented everyone who has had to support a loved one with gender identity issues, and the film was very fair in its depiction of the sense of loss that accompanies that role.

Much of the Oscar commentary will focus on the pallor of this year’s nominations, and I quite agree that Michael B Jordan and Ryan Coogler got hosed. But above them, I’d recognize Idris Elba for Beasts of No Nation. He was as hypnotizing as any real-life tyrant ever was, I’d bet. My thoughts on Tangerine and The Hateful Eight are above, and I haven’t seen Straight Outta Compton or Chi-Raq, but the latter one is definitely on my to-see list.

I’m not touching on foreign films, documentaries, or really anything outside the “major” categories, which is a terrible slight to the hard work that many talented people performed. I haven’t seen Son of Saul or Amy, two big award favorites. But that’s mainly because of the huge number of high quality films that were so easily accessible this year at the average multiplex. 2015 will be remembered as a great year for movies.

A final note — don’t get all cynical if Stallone wins an Oscar, if you haven’t seen Creed. He was amazing, like a completely different character from the other Rocky films. It’s almost sad, because it’s evidence that he could have had a prestigious acting career, with the right scripts and directors. I’m sure he’s crying all the way to the bank over it.

One of my invaluable sources for this article is from the Metacritic website, which publishes this list every year: http://www.metacritic.com/feature/film-critics-list-the-top-10-movies-of-2015

Now go forth, and read other, lesser Oscar commentaries.

My first follow-up note — I’m watching our new “The Martian” blu-ray, and it strikes me how similar some of the survival scenes are to “The Revenant,” thematically, anyway.

Second follow-up note — I’ve now seen 45 Years and Carol, and of those two films, I’d give biggest props to Charlotte Rampling, because I’ll never forget her expressions while 1) viewing slides of her husband’s previous girlfriend, with a big cataclysmic reveal, and 2) watching her husband during the culminating moment of the film, as he gives a speech at their anniversary party, and she inwardly marvels at how he has, at her insistence, dutifully filed away his emotions over that girlfriend, never to have them surface again. I’ve never seen a film show the stark Venus/Mars gender distinction between men who can simply “get over it” (“it” referring to some emotionally devastating conflict) and move on without a change, while women linger. I can’t even write about it sufficiently, because I’m one of the former. I could accept her winning the big statue.

Carol was an excellent film, but not terribly challenging, for the audience or the actors, I thought. Thoroughly enjoyable melodrama.