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2016 Oscars thread

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Dick Whitman, Jan 6, 2016.

  1. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    The awards are a few months away, but all the entries are in, now that it's January.

    An interesting list of contenders here, for Best Picture:

    2016 Oscar Predictions - Best Picture

    There should be a riot if either "The Martian" (emotionally empty and falls apart in the third act) or "Mad Max: Fury Road" (essentially a two-hour music video) is selected over "The Force Awakens" as the token blockbuster.
     
  2. bigpern23

    bigpern23 Well-Known Member

    I enjoyed both The Martian and Fury Road, but I agree that Star Wars was better.

    I've seen very few of the contenders. Ex Machina might be the movie that has stayed with me the most this year, but I doubt it sniffs any Academy love. I'm hoping The Revenant is as good as it looks.
     
  3. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    I enjoyed them both, too, and I certainly liked "The Martian" as an ode to problem-solving. I posted some of my issues with it on the movie thread, mostly that it lacked heart, which it tried (and failed) to generate desperately in the third act. Once they decide to turn that ship around, it's just a standard-issue blockbuster.
     
  4. bigpern23

    bigpern23 Well-Known Member

    I agree. I think the lack of heart owes to two things: A) They jumped right into the story with the crew in danger, rather than giving us any establishment of Damon's relationship with the rest of the crew (Chastain, in particular). I think they could have spent 10 minutes with the crew on Mars before disaster strikes so that the audience can feel the bonds between the actors. Damon's flirtation with Chastain in the third act seemed woefully out of place since it hadn't really been established while they were still on Mars. 2) They don't inform the crew of Damon's survival until the third act, so whatever emotions and feelings they were going to have don't show up until nearly the end of the film. It's almost like the writers suddenly realized, "Oh crap, we need someone to care whether he gets home or dies!"

    Also, I hated the soundtrack, which was so out of place that it was distracting. It wasn't an interesting juxtaposition with the visuals (such as Ludwig Van in "A Clockwork Orange") and it wasn't established credibly in the film why Chastain, who was born in 1977 and more likely grew up on grunge music and alt rock, loves disco so much. It was just such an odd choice.

    That said, it was a fun ride and Damon was very good. I would give the film a solid B, but wouldn't rate it as Oscar-worthy.
     
  5. dooley_womack1

    dooley_womack1 Well-Known Member

  6. heyabbott

    heyabbott Well-Known Member

    THe Danish Girl seems like reverse engineering to get an Oscar
     
    Ace likes this.
  7. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Eddie Redmayne just sort of creeps me out. I don't care if he's wearing a dress.
     
  8. TigerVols

    TigerVols Well-Known Member

    I think The Big Short will be the Big Winner.
     
  9. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Good movie. Cleverly done. Bale has a shot at Best Actor/Supporting Actor. Not a lot of Best Actress potential, though.
     
  10. JackReacher

    JackReacher Well-Known Member

    Mad Max might have been my favorite movie of 2015.
     
  11. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    It looks cool. The people talk cool. The imagery is fantastic.

    Tremendous music video. Best since "Thriller."
     
  12. nietsroob17

    nietsroob17 Well-Known Member

    I saw "Room" with my wife last Friday. She read the book a couple of times and wanted to see the film adaptation. It's about a 17-year-old girl who gets abducted and is forced into a tool shed, with her only means of escape being a code that only her captor knows. Early along in the 5 or 6 years she's there, she gives birth to a boy that was the product of the unwilling relationship.

    While the genre of movie is not my cup of tea, it was a very good movie led by Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay, her 9-year-old co-star -- both of whom could easily get Oscar noms, in addition to the film itself and the screenwriting.
     
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