By Marcos Duran Posted March 2, 2016
2015, A year that graced the world with contraptions racing across a parched desert, determination on a quest across the snowbound forest facing all sorts of deadly obstacles, a girl finding her true calling as a Jedi after fighting the Dark Side, and the courage of journalists willing to expose one of the biggest organizations in the world for the sake of integrity. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded its prestigious Oscar awards on Sunday, February 28, with many delights and upsets. Self-proclaimed film connoisseur and “The Brand” editor Gavin Swanson and myself agree and disagree with the Academy’s selections, and have joined to voice our opinions on which movies either rightfully deserved, or else should’ve taken home the Oscar.
Best Picture:
Nominees- “The Big Short”, “Bridge of Spies”, “Brooklyn”, “Mad Max: Fury Road”, “The Martian”, “The Revenant”, “Room”, “Spotlight”
Winner: “Spotlight”
Duran: “The Revenant” was, I believe, the best of all of the nominees, with its grand scenes and stellar acting and directing. I don’t agree with the Academy at all on this one.
Swanson: “The Revenant” was robbed on this one. It was one of the two categories that “The Revenant” deserved to win. All of the other films just come across as weak in comparison to “The Revenant”. “Spotlight” is just Oscar bait, and I guess the Academy took the bait.
Best Actor in a Leading Role:
Nominees- Bryan Cranston as Trumbo in “Trumbo”, Matt Damon as Mark Watney in “The Martian”, Leo DiCaprio as Hugh Glass in “The Revenant”, Michael Fassbender as Steve Jobs in “Steve Jobs”, and Eddie Redmayne as Lili Elbe in “The Danish Girl”.
Winner: Leonardo DiCaprio
Duran: What can I say? I agree with the Academy, who finally decided to award Leo’s exemplary talents.
Swanson: Might as well give it to DiCaprio, I’m pretty sure if he didn’t get it this year he would’ve fought an actual bear in his next film.
Best Actress in a Leading Role:
Nominees- Cate Blanchett as Carol Aird in “Carol”, Brie Larson as Ma in “Room”, Jennifer Lawrence as Joy Mangano in “Joy”, Charlotte Rampling as Kate Mercer in “45 Years”, and Saoirse Ronan as Ellis Lacey in “Brooklyn”
Winner: Brie Larson
Duran: The Academy was mistaken in picking Larson, I thought Cate Blanchett was the definite winner for her emotional acting.
Swanson: This was a very mediocre category. I have no qualms with Larson taking the Oscar home for her role in “Room”.
Best Actor in a Supporting Role:
Nominees- Christian Bale as Michael Burry in “The Big Short”, Tom Hardy as John Fitzgerald in “The Revenant”, Mark Ruffalo as Michael Rezendes in “Spotlight”, Mark Rylance as Rudolf Abel in “Bridge of Spies”, and Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa in “Creed”.
Winner: Mark Rylance
Duran: Another mistake from the Academy. Tom Hardy’s sadistic and barbarous portrayal of his character should have won him an Oscar.
Swanson: Unlike the actress categories, this category was an incredibly strong one. I would’ve had little protest with any of the nominees being selected as the winner. Rylance was the highlight of what was a very mediocre film.
Best Actress in a Supporting Role:
Nominees- Jennifer Jason Leigh as Daisy Domergue in “The Hateful Eight”, Rooney Mara as Therese Belivet in “Carol”, Rachel McAdams as Sacha Pfeiffer in “Spotlight”, Alicia Vikander as Gerda Wegener in “The Danish Girl”, and Kate Winslet as Joanna Hoffman in “Steve Jobs”.
Winner: Alicia Vikander
Duran: Vikander’s amazing portrayal of her character makes this Oscar well deserved.
Swanson: Vikander did an acceptable job in a very bland year for this category, I wouldn’t give this Oscar to anybody else.
Best Directing:
Nominees- Adam McKay for “The Big Short”, George Miller for “Mad Max: Fury Road”, Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu for “The Revenant”, Lenny Abrahamson for “Room”, and Tom McCarthy for “Spotlight”.
Winner: Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu
Duran: Spot-on directing combined with a real passion makes Iñarritu the obvious choice. Well done Mr. Iñarritu.
Swanson: This is the category I was most invested in this year and I’m incredibly pleased to see Iñarritu take the Oscar for Best Directing. In a cinema scene where the passion for film as an art form seems to be taking a back seat, it’s always refreshing to see directors like Iñarritu getting the recognition they deserve.
Best Original Score:
Nominees- Thomas Newman for “Bridge of Spies”, Carter Burwell for “Carol”, Ennio Morricone for “The Hateful Eight”, Johann Johannson for “Sicario”, and John Williams for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”
Winner: Ennio Morricone
Duran: The musical genius of John Williams was robbed of a surely deserved Oscar, losing to a mediocre score. This was a complete hit-and-miss from the Academy.
Swanson: I’m surprised that this automatically didn’t go to Williams for the new Star Wars film. Williams’ score could’ve easily won and many will be upset over him not taking the Oscar. I have heard that the score for The Hateful Eight was good though.
Best Visual Effects:
Nominees- “Ex Machina”, “Mad Max: Fury Road”, “The Martian”, “The Revenant”, and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”.
Winner: “Ex Machina”
Duran: This was a tough category. Everyone knew either “Ex Machina” or “Star Wars” was going to take it, but it eventually went to the former. Props to “Ex Machina” for its riveting effects, although I am upset that “Star Wars” did not win.
Swanson: This is a good category. “Ex Machina” and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” were very competent with their visual effects. I’m upset that the return to practical effects for the “Star Wars” franchise wasn’t acknowledged by the Academy but I have no problem with “Ex Machina” winning either.
Best Sound Editing:
Nominees- “Mad Max: Fury Road”, “The Martian”, “The Revenant”, “Sicario”, and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”.
Winner: “Mad Max: Fury Road”
Duran: “Sicario” had excellent sound editing. “Mad Max” on the other hand…
Swanson: I think this was the worst category of the night. Not only was the Sound Editing for “Mad Max: Fury Road” nothing special, but it was flawed and counteracts scenes in the movie. This category was stolen from “Sicario”.
Best Original Screenplay:
Nominees- “Bridge of Spies”, “Ex Machina”, “Inside Out”, “Spotlight”, and “Straight Outta Compton”.
Winner: “Spotlight”
Duran: “Spotlight’s” excellent and captivating dialogue makes this a spot-on hit by the Academy.
Swanson: I think it would’ve been nice to see “Straight Outta Compton” win this category, but everybody knew that “Spotlight” was taking this one. Both were very competent screenplays though.
Best Adapted Screenplay:
Nominees- “The Big Short”, “Brooklyn”, “Carol”, “The Martian”, “Room”
Winner: “The Big Short”
Duran: I would’ve preferred to see “Room” emerge as the winner, for its captivating adaptation, but “The Big Short” does deserve this win.
Swanson: I’m glad that “The Big Short” won this category. It was a very fun and enjoyable movie and it owes a lot of that to its script. So bravo to “The Big Short”.
Best Original Song:
Nominees- “Earned It” by The Weeknd from “Fifty Shades of Grey”, “Manta Ray” by J. Ralph from “Racing Extinction”, “Simple Song #3” by Sumi Jo from “Youth”, “Til It Happens to You” by Lady Gaga from “The Hunting Ground”, and “Writing’s on the Wall” by Sam Smith from “Spectre”.
Winner: “Writing’s on the Wall” from “Spectre”
Duran: I know “Bond” songs normally win the award, but considering that “Writing’s on the Wall” was very lackluster, I believe “Til It Happens to You”’s beautiful melody and thought-provoking lyrics were gonna take it, but oh well.
Swanson: I don’t think there could be a winner for this category. All of the songs were either terrible or unrecognizable. People were going to get mad because a bad song won, or they were going to get mad because a song they never heard of won.
