By Matt Paolizzi and Matt Soderberg, Co-Sports Editor and Staff Reporter
It’s Oscar Day! Accordingly, we tackle the two most prestigious awards, often overlapping, Best Director and Best Picture. The winners might be a little clearer than last year, but each film demonstrates its merit, and there certainly are openings for upsets in both. The prior awards, such as the BAFTAs, DGAs, PGAs and WGAs, have all been split, so it’s no sure thing. Here are our predictions for who should and who will win Best Director and Best Picture.
Best Director
The Nominees
Alejandro G. Iñárritu – “The Revenant”
Tom McCarthy – “Spotlight”
George Miller – “Mad Max: Fury Road”
Adam McKay – “The Big Short”
Lenny Abrahamson – “Room”
[one-half-first]
Matt Soderberg
Should Win – Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Best Director tends to, of course, correspond with some of the year’s best films, as evidenced by all five films here also being up for Best Picture. But this category does not only pertain to who directed the best movie, but who brought the most to their project, and demanded the best from all parties involved. Spotlight is one of, if not the best, films of the year but Tom McCarthy will be overlooked because the film has no epic turns – something that probably shouldn’t disqualify him, but will. Adam McKay, known mainly for his Will Ferrell comedy films, helms something of a whole other tier here, but it’s not the complete masterpiece to earn him an award. The two that could actually grab it tonight are Lenny Abrahamson and Iñárritu, looking for a repeat of last year. That leaves George Miller, whose Fury Road is probably the best directorial story of the year, produced a few decades after the previous installment, and frankly, an awesome film in every way. The real award deserved there is for Charlize Theron, but that’s another story. Miller brings his franchise back with a roar, certainly, but it’s not on par with Room or Revenant. Expect a repeat, but don’t be shocked if Abrahamson pulls it out. His steady-handed direction benefit what could have gone very wrong by keeping Room from easy melodrama. But Iñárritu, as he did last year, deserves the award he’ll pick up. Where Birdman was intense and high-octane, The Revenant is epic and beautiful. Iñárritu has a way of making his presence known, and that’s what the Academy will honor.
Will Win – Alejandro G. Iñárritu
[/one-half-first]
[one-half]
Matt Paolizzi
Should Win – Alejandro G. Iñárritu
I’ll come out and say it. I’m biased. Iñárritu is one of my favorite directors of all time. The man is a genius. No one shoots movies the way he does nowadays, no one. The camera work for all his movies are nothing short of incredible. During my multiple viewings of The Revenant, it became clear that this one was something different. The cramped, claustrophobic quarters of Birdman’s New York City gave way to the open parries and pine forests of 1830’s South Dakota. Beautiful shots of DiCaprio limping through the wilderness are still etched into my memory. The fact that he got this movie off the ground, that he got those performances out of DiCaprio and Hardy just add to the mystique. He got pretty boy Leo to eat raw bison liver! I may be biased, but Alejandro is my homeboy. He’s never done me wrong. It would be even more impressive, given the fact that this would be his second straight victory, the first since Joseph L. Mankiewicz for the 1949 and 1950 shows.
Who Will Win – George Miller
Miller is the only guy I could see beating Iñárritu. The Mad Max director does one of the hardest things a filmmaker can do: make a hardcore action movie while always being artistically divine. I’ve always been a fan of the Mad Max series, but I wasn’t expecting much out of Fury Road. I was surprised. The haunting desert landscapes and brutal camerawork help give the film a sense of loneliness, but the occasional “boom” scenes really showcase Miller’s talents. They contain some of the best action choreography since the legendary Die Hard. With some many cookie-cutter superhero movies and bland action movies with faceless white male leads, it’s so refreshing to have Miller deliver us a masterpiece in this time of need. Thanks man, you’ll get an Oscar while Iñárritu looks on angrily.
[/one-half]
Best Picture
The Nominees
“Room”
“Spotlight”
“The Revenant”
“The Big Short”
“Brooklyn”
“Mad Max: Fury Road”
“Bridge Of Spies”
“The Martian”
[one-half-first]
Matt Soderberg
Should Win – “The Revenant”
First let’s get it out of the way: there are three movies that can win this. Spotlight, The Big Short, and The Revenant. All have the buzz and accolades to pull it off. The Big Short is actually one of the weaker films in a category that has no real dud. In terms of most deserving, we can easily cross off Big Short, Martian, and Bridge Of Spies. The latter two are good, if not great, but certainly not of best picture standards. The next two we have to eliminate are the underappreciated and quickly dismissed Room and Brooklyn. They’ll earn their recognition in the acting departments. We of course have to discuss Mad Max. It’s just awesome. It is, in a way, THE MOVIE, of 2015. Nothing matches its entertainment value. But that is not a mark of best picture. Which leaves us with Spotlight and The Revenant. I have considered both at times as the best movie of the year. Spotlight is this perfect send-up to investigative journalism: it’s real, it’s raw, and its dialogue has a way of just biting. It puts together, certainly, the most talented ensemble of the year. And it maintains this all without slipping into the easy overdramatizing that could consume a movie about this topic. It is hard to make an argument against it. But what The Revenant does is something else. Even though many weren’t fans, it brought out something. It is impossible to watch the movie without feeling something, and without that feeling being intense. Even a month after seeing it, it sticks with me. What Inarritu, and Hardy and DiCaprio and Gleeson have done is something new and powerful and overwhelming. It’s an epic that can hold its own against the ancients, and it will deserve to take home the Academy’s biggest honor.
Will Win – “The Revenant”
[/one-half-first]
[one-half]
Matt Paolizzi
Should Win – “The Revenant”
It’s all be leading up to this. The movie of the year. It’s the big one people. While on paper it can be seen as competitive, it really only comes down to two: The Revenant and Spotlight. The Big Short is a great, hard hitting comedy, but doesn’t reach that “next” level. Bridge of Spies and The Martian were quality for mainstream flicks, but I would’ve rather seen them replaced with more broad selections, like the animated masterpiece Anomalisa or a foreign piece like the outstanding Son of Saul. I understand that you have to include some names most people will recognize, but it’s not like they’ll have a chance. Brooklyn and Room are great pieces of filmmaking, but again, they just aren’t on the same quality as the two favorites. Mad Max: Fury Road is supremely underrated (even though it’s already highly rated) and, honestly, has a chance to steal the show. Unlike Spotlight and The Revenant it’s already been christened a classic and has achieved the hardest accolade of all: universal love from both the audience and the critics. Spotlight wasn’t seen by everyone, though it’s been a critics’ darling. The Revenant, although successful at the box office, was lost on the public and faced both intense praise and harsh insults from critics. But, The Revenant has the upper hand. While I enjoyed all of them immensely and find them all to be fantastic, The Revenant was the only one that passed the final test. Did I feel something afterwards? Spotlight had me nodding my hand and saying, “That was good, that was good.” Mad Max had me pumped and ready to go do something intense, but I forgot about it after I did whatever I did. The Revenant had me like Birdman had me. Emotionless, stuck on the couch. Unable to do anything but think about what I had just witnessed. That final scene, oh my god that final scene. Leo, after seeing a vision of his dead wife, after avenging the murder of his son, stares into the camera. The wind still howling, the snow still frozen. I was shocked. The Revenant is written off as some sort of overly masculine period piece. There really aren’t any women in it. But there’s more to it. This movie is deep. There’s gold down below. To reach it, you may have to be mauled by a bear. You may have to eat raw bison liver. You may have to sleep in a dead horse. You may have to watch you own son be murdered as you helplessly watch, parleyed on an itchy. There’s so much down below the ice, you just have to dig.
Will Win – “The Revenant”
[/one-half]
