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Is This the Closest Best Picture Race in Years?

Oscars 2016: The Pros and Cons of Every Best Picture Nominee

JamesArthurArmstrong JamesArthurArmstrong With the 88th Academy Awards just around the corner, we thought we'd take a look at the pros and cons of the eight Best Picture nominees as they look to bag the ultimate goal in Hollywood. With ballot papers just about ready to be turned in, the most wide-open Best Picture race in years is still up for grabs. Some still have a chance of stealing away the statuette from the grasps of current favourite, The Revenant.

Many believe that Best Picture is The Revenant's to lose, and it is hard to argue with that notion, as the film has swept up the main awards of the year so far. But the Academy use a preferential voting system which most certainly doesn't guarantee success for Inarritu and his epic film. The only other award show to use such a system is the Producers Guild of America Awards (PGA), which handed their main award to The Big Short. So with that train of thought, the race for Best Picture is not over by a long way.

THE REVENANT

Pros

• It has won both incarnations of Best Movie at the two biggest award shows this year: Golden Globes and BAFTA.

• Alejandro G. Inarritu's epic period Western is as much Oscar-worthy as you can get. The director is also on course for earning himself back-to-back Best Picture wins, let alone two consecutive Best Director nods. It's a potential history making film.

• Its lead Leonardo DiCaprio can win his first Best Actor gong of his career at the fifth attempt. Academy voters may be hard pressed not to give him the hounour for sentimental reasons.

Cons

• Is this really DiCaprio's best performance of his career to date? It's hard to say his performance in The Revenant — albeit very astute — is better than say, Blood Diamond, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Aviator and What's Eating Gilbert Grape?

• Many would argue that the achievements of Inarritu's Birdman far out weigh his skillset on display in The Revenant. It is without a doubt a fine example of epic scope filmmaking, but Birdman, from a technical standpoint, was exemplary.

• The Revenant's narrative is fairly bare compared to that of The Big Short, Spotlight, Bridge of Spies, Brooklyn and Room. Stripping away its impressive visuals, it doesn't pack a contemporary story that exactly relates to its viewers.

SAG, Golden Globes nominee Christian Bale in "The Big Short"
SAG, Golden Globes nominee Christian Bale in "The Big Short"

THE BIG SHORT

Pros

• Director Adam McKay infuses comedy to make the film's sometimes confusing examinations of technical banking jargon become understandable. This use of comedy builds to a punchline that is as much tragic as it is funny.

• It is an impeccably written and produced film, as is proven by the amount of prizes it has racked up to date. So far it has bagged a BAFTA, Critics Choice, PGA Award, AFI Movie of the Year, amongst other awards. It is The Revenant's biggest and most feared competitor.

• A cast of riches litter The Big Short. Best Supporting Actor nominee Christian Bale gives an impressive showing, as does Steve Carrell who is now showing the world what a great lead actor he can be. Carrell should feel hard done by as hindsight may suggest that he should've been given his second Best Actor nomination.

Cons

• Does it lean too heavily on the comedic side of the fence to be truly considered an important look at the financial world's meltdown? Many cinephiles may have preferred a more realistic, warts and all approach.

• Are the Academy willing to hand out their biggest honour to what is basically a comedy at heart? Last time a "comedy" won Best Picture — Annie Hall in 1977.

Matt Damon as Mark Watney in The Martian
Matt Damon as Mark Watney in The Martian

THE MARTIAN

Pros

• Many see The Martian as a rebirth of sorts for esteemed director Ridley Scott, who has a lot supporters amongst Academy voters. Being highly thought of is always a plus.

• Matt Damon is particularly proud of this movie, and rightly so. It is certainly one of his strongest performances to date and it always helps to have the lion's share of screen time, too.

• The Martian is Scott's highest grossing movie of his career. Having a genuine box office hit always plays well with Academy voters.

Cons

• The Martian hasn't fared too well at other award shows. Its biggest wins came at the Golden Globes, who gave Damon the honour of Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, and the film Best Motion Picture in a Musical or Comedy — two genres this sci-fi drama doesn't exactly sit under.

• The outcome of sci-fi movies can be hard to predict at Oscar ceremonies. Last year, Interstellar only won one in a technical category from five nominations. The year before, Gravity won big by nabbing seven wins from ten nominations.

The cast of "Spotlight"
The cast of "Spotlight"

SPOTLIGHT

Pros

• It has an incredibly impactful narrative that anyone would find hard not to be engrossed by. Not only that, it is brilliantly written which has proven to be universally agreed upon as Spotlight has a good number of screenplay awards this season.

• An esteemed ensemble give this movie legitimacy. Spotlight is packed with strong and considered performances, non more so than Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams — who give what could turn out to be Oscar winning in both supporting categories.

Cons

• Although its narrative has the right ingredients for success, it is a touchy subject matter. Tackling the church is never a surefire thing. Are the Academy willing to reward it and ignore concerns of supporters of the church, for which there will be religious members on the Academy?

• Heading into award season, Spotlight was considered by many to be the early frontrunner. However, it has lost some steam over time and found its only success in writing categories.

Tom Hanks as lawyer James Donovan
Tom Hanks as lawyer James Donovan

BRIDGE OF SPIES

Pros

• It's a Steven Spielberg-Tom Hanks-Coen Brothers combination, and that's a pretty strong line-up. It has gained a very healthy number of nominations across many award shows but has yet to make any sort of impact.

• It's Spielberg's best movie in quite a few years, but does it really stack up against some of his finest work? The common answer is no, but Spielberg is a god-of-sorts, so never rule him out.

• Mark Rylance has been Bridge of Spies biggest weapon this award season and is the favourite to land the Best Supporting Actor prize.

Cons

• Plot holes plague this film and was the biggest criticism of many writers after press screenings. Performances are more than strong but many expected more from such a combo of Hollywood's finest.

• It is probably the weakest of the eight Best Picture nominees, and a selection many didn't see coming with Todd Haynes' critically acclaimed Carol being overlooked. Although it has a hefty amount of nominations, it has zero momentum heading into the ceremony.

Tom Hardy gunning in Mad Max: Fury Road
Tom Hardy gunning in Mad Max: Fury Road

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

Pros

• The fans favourite. Public love for Mad Max: Fury Road is incredibly strong. I can't remember a time when a blockbuster had so much love behind it heading into an Oscars. It helps that director George Miller is mad genius, too.

• A huge box office sensation gives this film massive momentum. The Academy enjoy handing out their biggest prize to a film that is universally cherished, for the simple reason, no one will question their decision.

• It's just as epic as The Revenant and plays out perfectly on the big screen. With numbers dwindling at cinemas, what better way to encourage people to head back out to their local theatres than to give Mad Max the Best Picture? It could give faith to paying audiences that there is a reason to still go the cinema.

Cons

• Does its technical brilliance overshadow its narrative strength? Much like The Revenant, Mad Max: Fury Road hardly boasts a storyline of depth and complexity.

• No acting or screenplay nominations will likely go against Mad Max. The Academy will be hard pressed to award Best Picture to a film that lacks any of those two key nominations. If Mad Max did win, Miller would've executed one of the biggest Oscar coups in years.

Saoirse Ronan Classy Brooklyn
Saoirse Ronan Classy Brooklyn

BROOKLYN

Pros

• Director John Crowley managed to keep the same level of drama and impact that can be found in Colin Toibin's novel. Words always read better on paper and it's a tougher task to turn them into visuals and remain faithful to the original source material. Brooklyn proves it can be done.

• Lead Saoire Ronan was always Crowley's first choice to head Brooklyn, and luckily for him, she turned in one of the most pitch perfect performances of the year. Ronan has every chance of taking Best Actress away from favourite Brie Larson.

Cons

• Brooklyn is totally worthy of being nominated for Best Picture, but, unlike the other seven nominees, it is probably the lesser known to audiences. It didn't see a wide release and didn't turn in that much preferred strong box office receipt.

• Brooklyn hasn't exactly bagged many nominations or wins compared to its competitors during this years award season. It only found success at the BAFTA's, and given it's a British film, it was always going to do something at a British award ceremony.

Brie Larson in Room
Brie Larson in Room

ROOM

Pros

• Room is the genuine dark horse in this Best Picture race. It has key nominations in the right categories — Best Actress, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay — to go along with its Best Picture nod.

• Room has an emotional narrative running in its favour — Academy members love a good sob story.

• Director Lenny Abrahamson's nomination is the key component as to why Room is the dark horse. Everyone expected Ridley Scott to land a Best Director nom, especially after he was selected by the DGA in their annual awards. Yet, Oscar voters were clearly touched by Abrahamson's movie. Scott's omission increases Room's chances of success come Oscar Sunday.

Cons

• Although Room has that ability to do what films should do and change you, some voters may see it has too arty or too focussed on doing just that. A shame, but that's how some may think.

• Like Brooklyn, it didn't hit a home run at the box office given it only saw a limited release. Although they shouldn't, these things do come into voters way of thinking.

• Some voters may also see awarding Brie Larson Best Actress as enough of a nod to Room. On the surface, the filmmakers will likely accept that but underneath they know their movie is worth more.

Posted in The Oscars,

JamesArthurArmstrong JamesArthurArmstrong

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