Academy Awards Recap

So how did I do with the predictions? I got Documentary (Amy), Original Song (Spectre), Cinematography (The Revenant), Foreign Film (Son of Saul), Animated Feature (Inside Out), Original Screenplay (Spotlight), Director (Innaritu), and 3 of the 4 actors (Dicaprio, Larson, Rylance). 10 out of the 20 that I tried.

I missed Visual Effects (Ex Machina), Score (The Hateful 8), Adapted Screenplay (The Big Short), Picture (Spotlight) and then all the Mad Max juggernaut categories (Costume, Makeup, Production Design, Editing, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing). 10 out of the 20 that I tried.

Obviously the ones I called correctly are because I'm brilliant, but what about the ones I missed? I almost got Score, suggesting that while the Academy would love to reward Morricone, they're getting tired of rewarding Tarantino; the Academy did the right thing. I missed Adapted Screenplay because I thought Big Short would take the top prize, thus leaving Room to get a bonus prize; no dice, in fact, when Big Short won that was probably an indication that it wouldn't win anything else. Visual Effects was a surprise to me, I just assumed Star Wars (or possibly Mad Max) would win that; though I really liked Ex Machina, its effects were minimal and subtle, not sure it actually deserved this award but, oh well. Best Supporting Actress was also a surprise to me though Vikander was the easy pick; to reward her so quickly, so young, might end up cursing her, I hope that doesn't come to pass. Mad Max taking Costume and Makeup is actually pretty impressive, I was surprised at the nominations much less the wins, but Mad Max was a unique visual experience and the Academy was right to reward it. As for the other Mad Max wins, I just assumed the Academy would choose Star Wars but I guess they figure there'll be plenty more Star Wars flicks coming to reward (or snub all over again).

As for Best Picture, I knew The Revenant would not win. Prizes for Dicaprio, Innaritu and Lubezki were predictable and well deserved, but the film itself was not necessarily one for the ages. I cynically thought the Academy would choose the smug, overrated (downright delusional) Big Short. But I'm really quite pleased they went with Spotlight, though as a film it has its problems because while the screenplay was magnificent, the direction was lackluster to say the least. I wondered if the movie understood itself. For example, the crusading reporters are defending the little guy from the big bad church but over and over again they bully potential interviewees by suggesting they need to talk to the Globe and forgot those insignificant little papers chasing the same story. Does the movie get the irony? I'm not sure. I know the screenwriter put it in there but the director (same guy, incidentally) doesn't bring it out well enough. Another example (MAJOR SPOILER): part of the plot revolves around the church suppressing court documents, but when the Globe is able to bring them to the public, they're not yet ready to write their big expose....so the Globe suppresses the court documents! Again, this is a subtlety in the overall story but it doesn't really play that way in the movie. The screenwriter did brilliant work (McCarthy earned his Oscar), but the direction is pretty soft (McCarthy will earn more Oscars if he finds someone else to direct his scripts). Spotlight is a compelling, engaging, intelligent piece of work that tells a complex story in a way that is easy to follow. Good for the Academy for picking the best choice for Best Picture. (That said, I thought The Revenant was a better film but that's not what the Oscars are all about. Did that sound weird? Maybe I'll write that out one o' these days)