Official 2016 Oscar Nominations and Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Lord Dalek]

I suspect a lot of people that haven't been picking 'The Revenant' haven't seen 'The Revenant'.

That's a bit extreme wouldn't you say? Most reaction I've seen to the film has been incredibly mixed. Whereas hardly anybody actually saw Spotlight last November but those few who did really really liked it.

 

[Brandon Conway]

My 2015 Top Ten, and how I ranked other BP nominees that didn't make my Top Ten

1. Mad Max: Fury Road - 10/10
2. Steve Jobs - 10/10
3. Spotlight - 10/10
4. Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens - 10/10
5. The Peanuts Movie - 10/10
6. The Revenant - 9/10
7. Inside Out - 9/10
8. The Martian - 9/10
9. Ant-Man - 9/10
10. Room - 9/10

The Big Short - 8/10
Bridge of Spies - 7/10
Brooklyn - Still need to see

I also haven't seen many of the films the performances have come from: The Danish Girl, Carol, 45 Years, Joy. I have not seen any of the feature documentaries, feature foreign language films, or any of the short films. The only animated feature I've seen is Inside Out.

Other films with nominees in bigger categories:

Creed - 8/10
Sicario - 8/10
Trumbo - 8/10
The Hateful Eight - 7/10
Straight Outta Compton - 7/10

 

[Brandon Conway]

Gotta say, most awkward moment of the night for me:

After Biden's intro and Gaga performance about sex abuse, they introduce Room with Ali G? Who signed off on that?

 

[Stan]

OMG, probably one of the worst shows they've ever done.

Especially that opening monologue by Chris Rock. Not terribly PC to say, but it was apparently bash white people time. Ten minutes of him whining about how blacks were passed over? There was nothing racist that happened this year, but no black people rose to the level of being nominated for an Oscar.

What's next? Future nominees must be 74% white, 20% black, and 6% "other". I'm even shocked the gay guys won, finally. Surpsised it wasn't cut from the broadcast.

I'll probably be deleted, warned, maybe even banned, so read fast.

 

[TonyD]

Abe Vigoda.

It was too late to add him this year I guess.

 

[Craig S]

Abe Vigoda.

It was too late to add him this year I guess.

Abe Vigoda d. 1/26/16
Alan Rickman d. 1/14/16
David Bowie d. 1/8/16

Not too late at all, they just chose not to include him..

 

[TravisR]

Abe Vigoda d. 1/26/16
Alan Rickman d. 1/14/16
David Bowie d. 1/8/16

Not too late at all, they just chose not to include him..

Obviously, he was in The Godfather(s) but I think he was best known for his TV work so it's probably better to recognize him at this year's Emmys.

 

[Michael Elliott]

I thought THE REVENANT was very good but a bit overrated. I mean the story itself really wasn't anything overly original. I also thought it was make up time for DiCaprio. I will say that the director winning back-to-back awards is something that deserves much more talk than it's getting.

I'm fine with SPOTLIGHT winning. For the most part I thought 2015 was a rather weak year for movies with there only being four great ones. SPOTLIGHT, MAD MAX, ROOM and THE BIG SHORT so I would have been okay with any of them winning.

 

[Sam Favate]

I thought it was one of the better Oscar shows. I've been wanting to see Chris Rock host for a while now, and this was the right year for him. Spotlight was my choice for best picture, out of the limited nominees I saw.

The only real head-scratcher for me was the Bond song winning. I didn't even think it was a particularly good Bond song.

Oh, and I absolutely hated the "thank you" scroll. I doubt anyone was reading them.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Rock was abysmal in 2005 (I mean "Worst Hosts of All-Time" level bad) so I guess having something to constantly throw shade on made him a slight improvement.

...Not much of one but still

 

[Chuck Mayer]

I viewed the 8 BP nominees through the AMC Best Picture Showcase the past two Saturdays (I had only seen two of them). So I'll just rank these eight with some brief thoughts, although there are some films that I thought were better than some of the BP noms (Inside Out, Ex Machina, etc).

Full disclosure: I didn't watch a single minute of the show for the first time in years. It felt like a relief. If they want to save the show, they need to get rid of the almost two MONTH "awards season." By the time the players get to the Oscars, they've done weeks of this process. The talent have lost all spontaneity, perspective, and joy by this point. That is why the Oscars feel like a death march year after year. It is the last 1.2 miles of a marathon.

1) Mad Max: Fury Road
2) Spotlight
3) The Martian
4) Room
5) Brooklyn
6) Bridge of Spies

7) The Big Short

8) The Revenant

It was a strong year for great movies, and the top 6 films up there would rank highly on my lists in any recent year.

I did not much care for The Revenant. I was floored by the trailer, but I just didn't connect with the film at all. It was missing the thematic heft to go with the beautiful visuals and technical virtuosity. In the end, though, just a travelogue of misery inflicted upon Leo, to the point of audience apathy (from my perspective). It did win him an Oscar and won Inarritu his second consecutive Oscar, putting him in very rarified air. Two more than Hitchcock and many other all time directors.

Spotlight was the opposite. Unshowy but exceedingly well-constructed. Each scene pushed the story forward in a satisfactory way, each character had interrelated motivations, each piece of the puzzle was comprehensible. I enjoyed every facet of the film, and thought it handled two core themes (journalism and institutional failings) very effectively.

Brooklyn and Bridge of Spies were older school, meticulously crafted, and incredibly funny in the best sort of way. I was thrilled to see both nominated. Room was challenging and tough, and was the film I saw the first Saturday that stuck with me the most. Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay were both exceptional in very, very difficult roles.

The Martian (which I saw for a second time) just works. Directed by one of the best, it is charming and effective and optimistic. The Big Short is a good film, but a bit too cute (and repetitive) for me. I wanted to scream that I got it about a third of the way in, but there were still about 4 more analogies of the same thing to come. But still, good film.

I was thrilled to see that Margaret Sixel won. I consider Editing the third most meaningful Oscar category (behind Picture and Director), and in some ways, the most important. As I've said many times, editing is the central artistic achievement of cinema, since the other crafts can be found elsewhere in the arts.

I don't regret skipping the ceremony. I'll try to do so again next year.

 

[PMF]

Emmanuel Lubezki became the first Cinematographer to win an Academy Award for three consecutive years.
After 88 years of Oscars there are fewer and fewer histories to be made and, surprisingly, no mention was made of this fact by the announcer, as Mr. Lubezki walked to the podium to receive his prize. What an amazing feat.

Until last night, John Ford and Joseph L. Mankiewicz had been the only two film-makers to have won Best Director for two consecutive years.
Now, with Alejandro G. Inarritu's win, he not only joins "Mank" and Ford but breaks away from the pack and distinguishes himself by becoming the first Triple-Crown winner ("Birdman": Best Producer/Best Director/Best Screenplay) who went on to win Best Director in the following year.

And then there's the Birdman, himself. Michael Keaton. Both with "Birdman" and Spotlight" taking home the prize for Best Picture, Mr. Keaton can now boast being in two Best Pictures for two consecutive years. More research may be needed but, at the moment, I can not think of any other actor who has this distinction upon their resume.

It's a shame the Academy Awards has eliminated the acceptance speeches for those recipients of the Honorary Oscar. To my mind, THAT was consistently the highlight of watching the Oscars. I wish they would reinstate that aspect of the show. Watching those acceptance speeches of Peter O' Toole, Deborah Kerr, Charlie Chaplin, Laurence Olivier, Groucho Marx, Mary Pickford, Alex Guinness, Hal Roach, Elia Kazan, Jack Cardiff, Ennio Marricone; to name but a few; was the best of the best, year in and year out. As far as past telecasts went, the Honorary Oscar was the Academy's platform which enabled us to see and hear cinematic royalty. These are not speeches of the unexpected and excited winner from any given year; but, rather, speeches of an artists reflective summation of their careers and lives. But they pulled the plug on that one; and we have since missed out on hearing the speeches of Lauren Bacall, Kevin Brownlow, James Earl Jones, Angela Lansbury, Maureen O' Hara and Gena Rowlands. The at-a-clip visual references and sound bites from an Academy luncheon just doesn't cut the mustard. Essentially, though, all Honorary recipients have been silenced. Ironically; in this highly controversial year; few watching the telecast even knew that an Honorary went to Spike Lee. I would like to have heard his speech, as well. Dear Academy, PLEASE reinstate this portion of the ceremonies.

 

[Malcolm R]

I thought Chris Rock's opening monologue was great. But then they just had to keep hammering the point over and over again.

They seemed to make sure the presenters were multi-cultural.

 

[Malcolm R]

The only real head-scratcher for me was the Bond song winning. I didn't even think it was a particularly good Bond song.

Ditto here. I thought the song from "The Hunting Ground" had a lock on that award. Powerful song; a "message" song. Seemed to have the right criteria to get votes.

Must be the curse of Diane Warren strikes again (she's 0 for 8 in Oscar nominations, I believe).

 

[Robert Crawford]

Rock was abysmal in 2005 (I mean "Worst Hosts of All-Time" level bad) so I guess having something to constantly throw shade on made him a slight improvement.

...Not much of one but still

I thought Rock was a lot better this year. I liked it kept hammering the issue and throwing darts at the academy and its critics that boycotted the event. I don't expect him to be invited for dinner at Will Smith's house.

"Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties. I wasn’t invited,” Rock said. Pinkett Smith said that she wouldn't attend the Oscars due to a lack of diversity in nominations.

 

[David Weicker]

It's a shame the Academy Awards has eliminated the acceptance speeches for those recipients of the Honorary Oscar. To my mind, THAT was consistently the highlight of watching the Oscars. I wish they would reinstate that aspect of the show. Watching those acceptance speeches of Peter O' Toole, Deborah Kerr, Charlie Chaplin, Laurence Olivier, Groucho Marx, Mary Pickford, Alex Guinness, Hal Roach, Elia Kazan, Jack Cardiff, Ennio Marricone; to name but a few; was the best of the best, year in and year out. But they pulled the plug on that one; and we have since missed out on hearing the speeches of Lauren Bacall, Kevin Brownlow, James Earl Jones, Angela Lansbury, Maureen O' Hara and Gena Rowlands. The sound bites and clips don't cut the mustard and is not my idea of one receiving their due. Essentially, all have been silenced. Ironically; in this highly controversial year; few watching the telecast even knew that an Honorary went to Spike Lee. I would like to have heard his speech, as well. Dear Academy, PLEASE reinstate this portion of the ceremonies.

Debbie Reynolds won the Hersholt award. Was she in attendance at the 'special' handout? They didn't show her

 

[TravisR]

They seemed to make sure the presenters were multi-cultural.

Yeah and it was beyond transparent. I understand that they're scared of the media's coverage of the reaction on Twitter but that was more insulting. Not only were they pandering, they also thought that the people that are complaining were stupid enough to be placated by such an obvious move.

"Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties. I wasn’t invited,” Rock said.

That's a great joke.

 

[PMF]

From what I've gathered, Debbie Reynolds was unable to attend.

 

[ScottHM]

Mr. Keaton can now boast being in two Best Pictures for two consecutive years. More research may be needed but, at the moment, I can not think of any other actor who has this distinction upon their resume.

Clark Gable did it in 1934 and 1935 with It Happened One Night and Mutiny on the Bounty. And that's without giving it much thought.

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[PMF]

Clark Gable did it in 1934 and 1935 with It Happened One Night and Mutiny on the Bounty. And that's without giving it much thought.

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Nice catch!
Nonetheless, it is a short list; to be certain.