Oscar season has got to be one of my favourite times, replacing the weekly Friday in Ocean for the Cinema De Lux Nottingham and their amazingly comfortable reclining seats! In the December-January cold spell, I am much happier walking past everyone shivering in their skimpy night out wear in my parka and bobble hat en route to watch the amazing films on offer. Here are the Oscar nominated films that I have seen and my views, rated out of 10.
Ex Machina
This film is so different to all the others that have been nominated and it truly deserves it’s nomination. Nothing is more poignant than an unexpected ending, and this film does not disappoint. Domhnall Gleeson plays the main male role and he definitely does it justice, with his gentle demeanour and empathetic nature. I think Domhall Gleeson deserves a mention for being involved in three Oscar nominated films (Ex Machina, Brooklyn and The Revenant) and playing a vividly different character in each, he is a very good leading and supporting actor! The main female (Robot) role is played by Alicia Vikander who definitely deserves her nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Danish Girl but should also be remembered for this role which she played perfectly. This film has been nominated for best original screenplay and after looking at the other nominations, this film is my personal favourite.
7/10
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is beautifully filmed, highlighting the romantic scenery of rural Ireland and the contrast between American life for an Irish immigrant in the 1950s. The film is perfect for a relaxing night and is quite enjoyable to watch. At times myself and my friend found ourselves exchanging outraged looks as she begins to string along poor Domhall Gleeson on her return to Ireland. Probably my favourite aspect of this film was the interactions between the Irish girls who stay in Mrs. Keogh (Julie Walters) house. This dialogue is funny and well placed and the easy going nature of the film made it enjoyable to watch. In terms of the Oscars I doubt this film will bring any awards, the competition is stiff and the film is worth watching but fails to meet the standards of the rest of the nominations.
5/10
Carol
Carol was also beautifully filmed, designed and executed. The story is full of ups and downs and highlights the ridiculous perceptions about homosexuality in 1950s New York. I was encapsulated by the beauty of the filming, the outfits and the faultless acting; again this is another film that is likely to be overlooked by the Oscars and deserves more recognition than it will probably receive. Whilst the film is enjoyable, I think that Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara will miss out on awards for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. The film could potentially win for costume design, but again I would not be surprised if this film goes away with nothing.
7/10
Joy
I enjoyed Joy, and there was a distinct lack of violence and revenge in this film, but it managed to make what is essentially a story about a mop emotional and interesting. This film inspires you to work hard and persist in order to succeed. It takes you on a rollercoaster of emotion with funny, witty and tragic relationships being explored. The film could quite easily have failed if it had not been for the acting. Once again Jennifer Lawrence excels and perfectly encapsulates the role of a strong, inspiring woman. The final scenes show her completely owning the guys that rip off her ideas and leaves you with a strong, ‘yeah-you-tell-him feel’. This film is unlikely to be a winner for Lawrence, the likelihood is that Brie Lawson in Room will win the Oscar for Best Leading Actress this year, but with three golden globes and an Oscar under her belt, I think she’ll be okay with this.
6.5/10
The Hateful Eight
This is definitely one of my favourite films of the year; so I am absolutely gutted that it has been criticised by so many viewers! I’ve seen many reviews about the violence (it’s a Tarantino! What do you expect?) The title ‘Hateful Eight’ suggest it’s about characters that, surprise, surprise, are hateful. It does not promote violence, it just happens to contain it. There’s also been mentions of lack of representation which is odd, the main character is a badass female gang leader so personally I don’t understand how it excludes women. The film is contained in a hut for the majority of the film so there are very few characters in the film anyway.
This film was well executed, my only criticism would be that it was very long. The suggestions that the film ‘lacks action’, is one I assume is down to a lack of appreciation about witty dialogue, strong character voices and sophisticated reveals and plot twists. This film has us gasping in shock at one moment, and in stitches of laughter the next. The acting is also to be commended, Samuel L Jackson dominates and is beyond hilarious throughout. There is also some amazing facial hair in this film, what more could you want?!
The film has been nominated for very little and has been overshadowed by The Revenant by many viewers, so unfortunately I cannot see the film winning any Oscars.
8.5/10
The Danish Girl
Before I start talking about the actual details of the film, I’m going to provide some background on my personal cinema experience seeing this film. So we arrived and we were the only three people under the age of sixty-five. Honestly, I thought we were in the wrong screening and double checked the tickets! The film is the real life story of Lili Elbe, the first transgender woman to have surgery to transition, with this in mind it was quite frustrating to have individuals in the cinema sniggering like it was a comedy. Although I suppose this highlights the progress that we need to make in the understanding of trans issues, the film is set in 1926 and the fact that a large proportion of cinemagoers in 2016 still don’t understand it shows how much further we have to come.
Rant aside. Eddie Redmayne played the role well and at times it was easy to forget that it was Eddie Redmayne playing Lili. Personally, I think Alicia Vikander’s acting was actually the strongest in the film and she should be a strong contender as Supporting Actress for her role. There was the placement of minor characters which seemed irrelevant to the story and whose importance was questionable, taking away from the story a bit but overall the film was good.
7.5/10
The Revenant
A film that has been nominated for five Oscars, you expect a lot and The Revenant does not disappoint. The filming is beautiful, and without a doubt should win an Oscar for cinematography. However, the film is two and a half hours long and the middle was dragged out a bit too much for me and some scenes were far too dramatic and made me snigger (I understand Hugh Glass survived a bear attack but Leonardo is seemingly invincible).
Leonardo’s acting was good as usual but again he has definitely been in better films in which he deserved an Oscar. There is no doubt he went the extra mile, taking a bite out of raw bison liver despite being vegetarian and even had to learn two Native American languages. Despite it not being my favourite performance by DiCaprio, I predict he will win the Oscar for best actor this year.
8.5/10
There have been some really great films out this year and I highly recommend watching any of those on this list if you haven’t already watched them! Happy watching!
Edited by Katie Randall
Sources:
corporate.comcast.com
blogs.indiewire.com
http://www.idigitaltimes.com/oscars-2016-predictions-13-must-see-movies-…