Oscars 2016 Predictions: Guesses & Wishes

With the Academy Awards Ceremony around the corner, I guess it's time to come up with some predictions, root for some movies, actors, technicians - end up being happy for some, being sad for some and all that but what goes on paper before, stays on it. So,.....

Here are my predictions (and wishes) for some prominent categories.

Best Editing:
Nominees: Mad Max Fury Road, The Big Short, The Revenant, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Spotlight

My Guess & My Wish: Mad Max is the overwhelming favourite in this race, beating some other films with its unconventional and flashy edits but I somehow have this feeling that Hank Corwin edited The Big Short is going to surprise itself and others for its scintillating work in maintaining the cohesion amidts the chaos surrounding the 4 parallel tracks

Best Cinematography:
Nominees: The Hateful Eight, The Revenant, Carol, Sicario, Mad Max Fury Road

My Guess & My Wish: Even though the efforts of the other nominees are there to be clearly seen in the films they have worked on and have been nominated for, nothing comes as clear and as close to doing the unthinkable as Emmanuel Lubezki's work with his variety in The Revenant. The camera travels with Hugh Glass in many of his ridiculous escapes, stays with the characters in the Bear fight & climax duels, shoots up the heroism with natural lighting when the troops get to see Glass to their utter surprise and evokes nostalgic memories of the 60s spaghetti westerns in its long range wide shots (which the work in The Hateful Eight also manages to do)

Best Supporting Actress:
Nominees: Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl), Rooney Mara (Carol), Rachel McAdams (Spotlight), Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight), Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

My Guess: I am bemused at Alicia Vikander being in receipt of a 'supporting actress' nomination given the significance of her role in the film but that's going to tip the balance in her favour as she goes past Kate Winslet's meticulous portrayal of Joanna Hoffman in Steve Jobs. McAdams and JJL didn't have the sort of impact in their roles to get to the winner's circle but the same cannot be said of Rooney Mara.

My Wish: I fervently wish and hope that the Jury gets bowled over by Rooney Mara's representation of the meek, passionate and confused Therese Belivet in Carol and give her the award.

Best Supporting Actor:
Nominees: Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight), Sylvester Stallone (Creed), Tom Hardy (The Revenant), Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies), Christian Bale (The Big Short)

My Guess & My Wish: I am a big Rocky fan and I know I would be delighted to see the Italian Stallion get decorated with an Oscar; I liked the seasoned performance of Mark Rylance as the spy in Bridge of Spies & the devotion and confidence that Bale shows on his skills in The Big Short; I thought Tom Hardy was a revelation in The Revenant with his villainy and scary idealogies BUT the mind stays with my heart on this one in predicting that the ambitious 'go-getter' in Mike Rezendes of Spotlight is going to help Mark Ruffalo go get his much deserved Oscar in his third such attempt at Oscar glory.

Best Screenplay (Original):
Nominees: Bridge of Spies, Spotlight, Ex Machina, Inside Out, Straight Outta Compton

My Guess & My Wish: To be fair, I haven't seen 3 out of the 5 films nominated here. So, all I can guess is to just go by instincts and I just feel it would be a mighty task for any of these films to have something on them to power over the magic that the simplicity in Spotlight's screenplay commands. Coens' work in Bridge of Spies was simple and charming but Spotlight beats it by a considerable margin

Best Screenplay (Adapted):
Nominees: The Martian, The Big Short, Room, Carol, Brooklyn

My Guess & My Wish: It is very difficult to recreate the magic that a great page-turning book offers but if McKay and Randolph are getting praised for doing just that in The Big Short, I can see why! The film is totally devoted to its unconventional 'Scorsese-Thelma'ish treatment of a technical subject and it works incredibly well! Who wouldn’t like Selena Gomez explain synthetic Collaterized Debt Obligations from a casino table or Margot Robbie in a bathtub explaining sub-prime mortgages comparing it with shit?!

Best Actor:
Nominees: Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl), Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs), Bryan Cranston (Trumbo), Matt Damon (The Martian), Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

My Guess & My Wish: By virtue of the nominations, it could be a three way battle with Redmayne's bid to defend his Award from last year in a role tailor-made for Oscar glory and the nonchalance associated with the Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston for his role in Trumbo but the weight of his previous nominations, his winning spree this year and his display of LITERALLY 'getting-into-the-skin', I am quite bullish on the prospects of the man who fought with the Bear. The Oscar is going to decorate Leonardo DiCaprio's accomplishments come Sunday, with Roger Federer cheering him on from the gallery. Well, that's going to be 'some moment' and hopefully, it happens!

Best Actress:
Nominees: Brie Larson (Room), Charlotte Rampling (45 Years), Cate Blanchett (Carol), Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn), Jennifer Lawrence (Joy)

My Guess: I join the bandwagon in calling Brie Larson the overwhelming favourite to win this one, just like Patricia was last year for her Boyhood role. Being cast as a mother has its benefits, I see! Cate didn't do anything exceedingly special to warrant an additional Oscar and Saoirse has years and talent to take her to the finish line in the years to come but Jennifer Lawrence can spring a surprise if the Jury saw what I saw with her show in Joy

My Wish: Jennifer Lawrence getting it just for expressing herself so convincingly that I came out of the perception of JLaw's suave image and mediocre talent and instead, started seeing the struggles of Joy, empathises and rooted for her success in her business and enjoyed every bit of her swag at the end.

Best Director:
Nominees: George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road), Adam McKay (The Big Short), Lenny Abrahamson (Room), Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (The Revenant), Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)

My Guess & My Wish: McKay, McCarthy and Abrahamson have been impressive coming to the limelight displaying immense promise and potential but Miller and Inarritu have still not given them an easy path to glory ruling their chances out with their own glorious outings. As a Steven Spielberg fan, I sincerely admonish his snubbing in this category but I don't see anything that can stop the genius and vision that Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu has translated to a vivid viewing experience handling his troop mighty well in the tumultous experience of shooting in the wilderness in The Revenant.

Best Picture:
Nominees: The Revenant, The Big Short, Bridge of Spies, Spotlight, The Martian, Brooklyn, Room, Mad Max: Fury Road

My Guess: After guessing The Best Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Director for the same film and knowing how the patterns work, it is tough to not guess that the same film would win the Best Picture award as well but that's exactly what I am going to do in placing this risky bet. With due respect to all the nominees, I feel it is going to be a two-way shootout between Spotlight that charms with its magic & simplicity and The Revenant that manifests magnificence with its painstaking brilliance; Only this time, the charm might go on to outwit the grandeur!

Spotlight is going to be in the spotlight as the curtains are drawn on the Academy Awards ceremony, for an 88th time!

Predictions for some of the other categories:
Best Animated Film - Inside Out
Best Costume Design - Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Foreign Film - Son of Saul
Best Make up & Hair Styling - Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Music - Ennio Morricone, for The Hateful Eight
Best Production Design - Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Sound Editing - The Revenant
Best Sound Mixing - The Revenant
Best Visual Effects - Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Who are you placing your bets on?

Two Line Reviews - #416

Movie: The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Plot: Eight years after Harvey Dent's death, search is On for the Batman. Bruce Wayne comes out of his self-imposed exile to take on Bane, a forceful opponent who operates from underground who has an eye on the Nuclear energy project of the Wayne Enterprise and a hand on the 'truth' behind Batman.

What Works?

• After the superhero films that came this year, Christopher Nolan's efforts to idolise the Batman for a third time comes as a relief and offers what superhero films are expected to offer - sensible and intense entertainment!
• Tom Hardy, as Bane, has a brilliant role and his rugged portrayal with his one-liners and ruthless vengeance is terrific! He comes quite close to Joker and that is a big enough compliment!
• Christian Bale carries off the Wayne and Batman parts as expected, Gordon Levitt promises to keep the saga going, and both the lead ladies in the film have neatly fitting roles.
• Bringing in Ra's Al Ghul from part I and tying it up with a gripping portion in this part has worked superbly.
• Hans Zimmer's prolific background score is pulsating!

What Doesn't?

• A particular casting decision makes a thing or two predictable.
• The police going into the dungeon are made to look like fools!

Entertainment Guaranteed; Honestly, not any less & not much more!

Two Line Reviews - #247

Movie: The Machinist (2004)

Plot: A worker in a machine company suffers from Insomnia for an year,loses his weight and looks apalling. With some mysterious events around him, he feels his life is in danger because of a stranger he keeps meeting. Finally, when he chases down the stranger and grabs him for questioning, the shrouding mystery is unlocked and how!


Highlights:

• CHRISTIAN BALE; What a transformation! He looks absolutely pathetic and puny to an unbelievable extent and his performance is terrific
• The film's suspense element is its vital and it has been guarded well by a twisty little screenplay
• The music and camera work are neat aiding this eerie thriller

'Nolan'ish movie with Bale in a bewildering get-up!!

My Academy Awards Wishlist

My Oscar 2011 wishlist!*

Best Movie: Black Swan
127 Hours was inspiring; so was The Fighter; True Grit was good too. But the real contenders are Black Swan & Inception for the sheer fascination they provide. Black Swan beats Inception by a small margin & I ve picked it over Inception just based on an instinct.

Best Director: Christopher Nolan for Inception
Here again the contenders are Chris Nolan, Darren Aronofsky & for his brilliant tweaking & interesting presentation of a true story Danny Boyle joins the list. Considering Boyle already got his due in 2009 and for all the splendid works of the other two in their past, the toss-up is between Aronofsky & Nolan and I would like to see Nolan win it here.

Best Actor: Colin Firth for The King's Speech
Everybody around says Eisenberg did awesomely in The Social Network but to me, it wasn't an extraordinary work that deserves an Oscar. It is the stammering & complex-ridden King-to-be who deserves the statuette for his awesome & subtle portrayal in The King's Speech. James Franco's essayal of Aron Ralston in 127 Hours isn't far behind though.

Best Actress: Natalie Portman for Black Swan
No second thoughts. One must watch the film to understand why. Period.

Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale for The Fighter
His was a lovable role in the film & he made it extremely lovable with his silly pranks, hyperactive reactions & a shocking makeover from his usual brawny self. The other contenders who he has pipped are Andrew Garfield of The Social Network & Geoffrey Rush of The King's Speech. They were good in their own rights but when I ve got to choose one, I would choose Bale.

Best Supporting Actress: Hailee Steinfeld for True Grit
Even though Helena Carter's pillar-like support for her husband in The King's Speech was pleasing, it is Hailee Steinfeld's resolve in bringing the killer of her father down in True Grit that tilts the table in her favour & the young talent gets some brownie points for her age too!

Best Cinematography: Guy from 127 Hours
The weird shots of the grand canyon; sudden tranisition to handycams & a single-tone employed for the entire film make the work stand unique. Alas, it hasn't even been nominated. Who cares! This is my wishlist!

Best Artwork: Guys from Inception
Structures turned 90 degrees; Stairs ended mid-air; Trains sped through speedways & there was a snow-clad building in a skiing mountain. If these weren't enough to fetch this for Inception, think about the huge building projections by the sea in the limbo!

Best Original Score: A.R.Rahman for 127 Hours
If there is one film among the ones in contention where the music creates the desired effect, provides an apt canopy for the canvas on screen it is 127 Hours. I am not sure if I am saying this for Rahman but I am saying this. Liberation, Acid Darbari, Touch of the Sun & Festival all express the exact feelings that the trapped man would have wanted to express. The cherry on the cake is If I Rise accompanied by the hallucinations.

Best Original Song: A.R. Rahman & Dido for If I Rise , 127 Hours
I haven't listened to songs from other nominations but 'If I Rise' deserves the Oscar as a triumph of the relatively unknown but mesmerising instrument that Harpejji is. I know it is nearly impossible but it would be great if Rahman can do the 'double whammy' for a second time!

* - I have prepared the wishlist only for categories I feel I can assess & choose the winner from.

Two Line Reviews - #160

Movie: The Fighter (2010)

Plot: The elder brother loses his opportunity at becoming big in boxing thanks to his cracking. He trains his younger bro who always idolises his big bro. The duo get off track due to the unruly ways of big bro but just as the opportunity of a title shot knocks the door of the younger one, they regroup and knock things out.

Highlights:

• The way the film gains tempo is terrific. A solid setup is established followed by a resurgence - Perfect recipe for an inspiring boxing film.
• A film on Brother bondage and that makes this so very special. Christian Bale with his antics & Wahlberg with his laconic performance steal the show. Bale's work is oscar-worthy.
• The climax boxing encounter & the regrouping scene (of the three main characters ) that precedes the climax.

Verdict: A Brilliant 'Boxing-Brothers' film,Warrants a watch.