PICTURE
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Spotlight
ACTOR
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Matt Damon, The Martian
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl
Best Picture (Drama): The Revenant
Best Picture (Musical or Comedy): The Martian
Best Actor (Drama):Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant
Best Actress (Drama): Brie Larson – Room
Best Director – Motion Picture: Alejandro G. Inarritu – The Revenant
Best Actor (Musical or Comedy): Matt Damon – The Martian
Best Actress (Musical or Comedy): Jennifer Lawrence – Joy
Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: Kate Winslet – Steve Jobs
Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture: Sylvester Stallone – Creed
Best Original Score: The Hateful Eight – Ennio Morricone
Best Screenplay:Steve Jobs – Aaron Sorkin
Best Original Song:Spectre – “Writings on the Wall”
Best Foreign Language Film: Son of Saul (Hungary)
Best Animated Feature: Inside Out
Best TV Series (Drama): Mr. Robot
Best TV Series (Comedy):Mozart in the Jungle
Best Limited Series, Mini-series or TV Movie:Wolf Hall
Best Actress in a TV Series, Drama:Taraji P. Henson – Empire
Best Actor in a TV Series, Drama:Jon Hamm – Mad Men
Best Actress in a Musical Or Comedy Series: Rachel Bloom – Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Best Actor in a Musical Or Comedy Series: Gael García Bernal – Mozart in the Jungle
Best Actor in a Limited Series Made For Television: Oscar Isaac – Show Me a Hero
Best Actress in a Limited Series Made For Television: Lady Gaga – American Horror Story: Hotel
Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie: Maura Tierney – The Affair
Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie: Christian Slater – Mr. Robot
By Armando Inquig
Directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, the best director for last year’s best picture ‘Birdman’, ‘The Revenant’ completely caught me by surprise. There’s a lot more to the film than what the promotional materials have shown us. Not only did it deliver the epic and thought-provoking movie promised by the trailer, but it also captivated me throughout its 156-minute running time with intriguing storytelling, a visceral atmosphere, solid performances, thrilling battle scenes, and one intense, brutal sequence of tour de force filmmaking involving a grizzly bear.
Set in 1823 Montana and inspired by true events, the movie follows the extraordinary experiences and adventures of fur trapper Hugh Glass during an expedition in the American wilderness. After he was brutally attacked by a bear and left for dead by his own hunting team, Glass miraculously survived and crawled hundreds of miles through the storms of South Dakota to exact revenge against the man who killed his son.
Along the way, he was chased by a hostile American tribe whose chief was looking for his kidnapped daughter. He ate raw bison and roots, traveled through a blizzard, jumped off a cliff, and, in one truly memorable scene, slept inside the torso of a dead horse.
Will he survive the incredible ordeal and exact revenge against the man who killed his son?
‘The Revenant’ tells a classic tale of revenge, survival, and the power of the human spirit. It also serves as a stirring tribute to both the beauty and harshness of Mother Nature. Technically, it showcases an impressive blend of practical effects, CGI, dynamic camera work, and immersive cinematography. Emmanuel Lubezki, who also collaborated with Iñárritu on ‘Birdman’, is responsible for the latter. For film buffs, certain elements might evoke memories of films by Malick and Gibson, such as ‘The New World’ and ‘Apocalypto’.
As for DiCaprio, he left no stone unturned in his performance. He truly gave his all and deserves all the accolades he has received, and will surely continue to receive, for his masterful work.
‘The Revenant’ also stars Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, Forrest Goodluck, Will Poulter, and Lukas Haas. It is rated R for strong violence, language, and brief nudity, and has a runtime of 156 minutes.
By Armando
Historically, the Producer Guild Awards (PGA) is considered a strong indicator of how Oscar best picture will turn out. Consider this metric: over 80% of PGA nominees have become Oscar nominees since 2009.
However, it has been a wide-open awards season so far. Aside from the consensus building around Spotlight, Oscar front-runners this year seems more difficult to determine.
This year, PGA keeps it interesting with the surprise inclusion of a few well-reviewed films — the artificial intelligence thriller “Ex Machina”, and the border drama “Sicario”.
Here is the list of the PGA’s film nominations. The awards will be given out Jan. 23.
“The Big Short”
“Bridge of Spies”
“Brooklyn”
“Ex Machina”
“Mad Max: Fury Road”
“The Martian”
“The Revenant”
“Sicario”
“Spotlight”
“Straight Outta Compton”
Winners will be announced on Jan. 23 during a ceremony in Los Angeles.
Full list below:
Continue reading
By Armando
What a lovely day. Following last week’s surprise announcement from the National Board of Review naming Mad Max: Fury Road as the best film of 2015, George Miller and company received another unexpected nods from yet another Oscar precursor: Golden Globe lavished the movie with Best Picture and Best Director nominations.
Below is the full list:
Best Picture, Drama
Carol
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Room
Spotlight
Best Picture, Comedy or Musical
The Big Short
Joy
The Martian
Spy
Trainwreck
Best Director
Todd Haynes, Carol
Alejandro Innaritu, The Revenant
Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
Ridley Scott, The Martian
Shu Qi as Nie Yinniang, the assassin. (Nie Yinniang 2015)
Sight & Sound’s Top 20 Films of 2015
1. The Assassin
2. Carol
3. Mad Max Fury Road
4. Arabian Nights
5. Cemetery of Splendor
6. No Home Movie
7. 45 Years
8. Son of Saul
9. Amy
10.Inherent Vice
11.Anomalisa
12.It Follows
13.Phoenix
14.Girlhood
15.Hard to Be a God
16.Inside Out
17.Tangerine
18.Jafar Panahi’s Taxi
19.Horse Money
20.The Look of Silence
By Armando Inquig
‘Steve Jobs’ depicts the man as a flawed yet brilliant innovator: a salesman who expects employees to meet his standards, and a creative and artistic mind obsessed with product design.
Starring Michael Fassbender as Jobs, the movie is structured like a three-act play. Each act focuses on a pivotal product launch: the Macintosh in 1984, the NeXT (also known as The Cube) in 1988, and the iMac in 1998. Each act is preceded by flashbacks or a series of TV and news montages.
Just before Jobs takes the stage for each product launch, he’s confronted by various figures from his past. These include his ex-girlfriend Chrisann Brennan (Katherine Waterston), Lisa, a daughter he once denied was his, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Apple CEO John Scully who played a role in Jobs’s dismissal, and original Mac team member Andy Hertzfeld. Through these interactions, his exasperated marketing executive Joanna Hoffman (Kate Winslet) consistently supports him, striving to maintain focus amidst the distractions that always seem to surface at the most inopportune moments.
While the film’s structure offers an intriguing approach, it leaves the characterization of the title character feeling unsatisfying and inconsistent. The movie doesn’t delve deeply into his history as an adopted child, omits key aspects of his professional relationship with Wozniak, and the reference to the invention of the iPad—shown as Jobs reacts to his daughter’s use of a portable cassette player—comes off as forced. Given the numerous recent portrayals of Jobs, this film fails to provide fresh insight.
The movie reaches its pinnacle in the third act, set in 1998 before the iMac launch, as Jobs reconciles with his daughter. Here, Fassbender truly captures the essence of Jobs, closely resembling the tech icon’s familiar image. This segment is a pleasure to watch.
Aaron Sorkin’s script provides a riveting, humorous, and captivating glimpse behind the scenes of Steve Jobs during pivotal product launches. However, it doesn’t match the depth, purpose, or impact of his work on ‘The Social Network’.
