Oscars preview 2016
Our lowdown on who should win what and why.
Awards season is in full swing, and the golden daddy of them all, the self-congratulating glittery gang-bang that is the Oscars, will be hooraying for Hollywood on the 28th of this month. So, whether you’ll be hosting an all-night Oscars party, downloading a rip of the ceremony from an illegal file-sharing site, or not giving a single fuck about such frivolous nonsense, here’s Outline film scribes Jay and Smiley with a lowdown on the nominations.
So, the big winners of the nomination race are Alejandro Iñárritu’s brutal revenge epic The Revenant, and George Miller’s demented post-apocalyptic demolition derby Mad Max: Fury Road, with 12 and 10 nominations, respectively. There’s a lot of Academy love, too, for Ridley Scott’s survivalist yarn The Martian with 7 noms, and a good showing for Sapphic smoocher Carol, cold war borer Bridge of Spies, and Catholic-botherer Spotlight, with 6 nominations apiece. The craft and technical categories look to be a pitched battle between Mad Max, The Revenant, The Martian, and The Force Awakens, but let’s have a look at the main nominees…
Best Picture
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Spotlight
Big surprises here are the exclusion of Carol, which featured heavily in films-of-the-year lists; there’s no mention of The Hateful Eight, which is pretty baffling; and the excellent NWA biopic Straight Outta Compton isn’t included. So, to the ever growing embarrassment of the Academy, it’s a largely straight-white-guy year. Having said that, it’s good to see nods for the sublime isolation drama Room and touching period trans-Atlantic romance Brooklyn, both of which revolve around strong female leads. No matter though; this is pretty much a two-horse race between Spotlight and The Revenant, which leave our pick of the bunch, the inspired housing-market-crash-comedy drama The Big Short at the starting gate.
What will win: Spotlight
What we’d like to win: The Big Short
Best Director
Adam McKay, The Big Short
George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, The Revenant
Lenny Abrahamson, Room
Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
Nothing for Spielberg, Tarantino, or Scott, but it’s hard to find fault with the list. The sheer audacity and ambition of both Iñárritu’s element-defying, natural-light-only work on The Revenant and Miller’s relentless, organic-effect laden Mad Max look set to secure one of them a gong, and rightly so. But, once again, Anchorman director Adam McKay’s first foray into more serious matters is a spectacular coming of age, and it deserves serious attention.
WWW: Alejandro G. Iñárritu
WWLTW: Adam McKay (Jay)/ George Miller (Smiley)
Best Actor
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Matt Damon, The Martian
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl
You don’t eat slabs of bison liver and nearly freeze to death and drown unless there’s a statue at the end of it, and it looks like Leo’s always-the-bridesmaid Oscar lock-out could finally end. Elsewhere, whilst the not-really-true transgender pioneer biopic The Danish Girl was a bit syrupy and superficial, Eddie Redmayne’s performance was astonishing. Also, a nice surprise in Bryan Cranston’s nom for Trumbo, a film that we really enjoyed, but which received a tepid critical reception.
WWW: Leonardo DiCaprio
WWLTW: Eddie Redmayne
Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room
Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
The local angle here is Charlotte Rampling’s shock nomination, flying the flag not just for England, but for our own fair Norwich, where silver-haired romantic drama 45 years was shot. She’s unlikely to win, though, with the smart money going on Brie Larson’s complex and faultless performance in Room, which has already netted her a Golden Globe. One can never rule out the potential for upset, though. Never, EVER, underestimate the J-Law, and Saoirse Ronan’s blossoming in Brooklyn is a remarkable breakthrough performance. (It’s pronounced “Seer-Sha,” by the way. We had to look it up.)
WWW: Brie Larson
WWLTW: Brie Larson
Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale, The Big Short
Tom Hardy, The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
Sylvester Stallone, Creed
Hollywood can’t resist an underdog tale, and this could be the year it finally rewards Stallone as an actor for one of cinema’s most hardy creations. His atypically vulnerable turn as the reluctant trainer in Creed would certainly be a popular choice.
WWW: Sylvester Stallone
WWLTW: Sylvester Stallone
Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara, Carol
Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
The big pre-nominations question in this category was whether Alicia Vikander’s extraordinary performance would feature in the Best Actress or Best Supporting list. As it happens, it’s landed here and, as such, is pretty much a shoe in.
WWW: Alicia Vikander
WWLTW: Alicia Vikander
And that’s all we’ve got room for, we’re afraid. We’d like to thank our editor, Lizz, for her unwavering support, and our mums for…*music swells*
