When the Academy Award nominations for Best Picture were announced in late January, I knew that I had my work cut out for me. At that time, I had not seen any of the nominees.   However, there was one movie that I did see in 2015 that I, upon viewing, assumed would be a sure fire nominee. This leads to the elephant in the room.  After now taking in all the participants for Best Picture,  I can safely say that Creed should have been part of this group.
A lot has been made of the overwhelming whiteness of all of the major categories this year and the exclusion of Creed from those categories, with the sole exception of Sylvester Stallone’s Best Supporting Actor nod, seems to be the clearest injustice. At the VERY least, the Ryan Coogler directed film starring Michael B. Jordan should have been a part of the Best Picture pool. I say this while freely admitting that I’m a first class sucker for Rocky movies. I’m such a mark for these films, I’m like this guy:

With all that said, Creed attempts to follow the older film’s formula and still manages to make everything that was old new again without it being an obvious, by the numbers, copy of the original. Anyone who saw Star Wars : The Force Awakens knows how hard that can be.

Now on to the Nominees:

The Big Short (5 outta 5)

This was one of the two nominated films that competed with Creed when I sized up each film. If Creed were part of this field, I probably would still go with The Big Short as the year’s best. This is a sharply accessible look into the fraudulent mortgage systems and bundled securities that triggered the 2008 financial collapse as well as those in the hedge fund industry that saw it coming. The lighthearted tact that the film took actually lends sanity to the viewer when watching the insane levels of corruption and stupidity that took place. As time passes, I believe The Big Short will be regarded as the go-to movie about the topic and time. Christian Bale earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination and Steve Carell did a fantastic job in his role. As an aside, in a desperate attempt at having a cool nickname, I urge all of you to begin referring to me as “The Big Short”. Use it in conversation when you mention me. “The Big Short is coming over.” “Have you talked to The Big Short?” “The Big Short still owes me $20.” If I’m a contact in your phone, change it so The Big Short comes up when I text or call. Sadly enough, I’m serious about this.

Spotlight (4.5 outta 5)

Based on real life events, this extremely well crafted story of a Boston Globe investigative team uncovering the atrocities of sexual abuse perpetrated by members of the city’s Catholic clergy upon children and the decades long cover-up is all you would want in a journalism procedural. The gravity of the material and the politics of the matter – the true villain being a rotten system with the sweeping power and influence to erase their misdeeds from public knowledge- along with great performances by the whole cast, makes the film gripping and unforgettable. The movie feels like a love letter to the “old” journalism that saw itself as the last protector of the public from large scale bureaucratic corruption. I thought Stallone was a shoe-in for Best Supporting Actor until seeing Mark Ruffalo’s performance. Of the BSA nominees that I saw, his performance was the best. For the record, his major scene near the end of movie definitely got me misty. They really need to do a better job of dusting these theaters. Liev Schrieber has a smaller role, but gives a great turn providing the tone for the movie as the even tempered, out of town new editor.

Brooklyn (4 outta 5)

“An Irish immigrant (Saoirse Ronan) in 1950s New York falls for a tough Italian plumber (Emory Cohen), but faces temptation from another man (Domhnall Gleeson) when she returns to her homeland for a visit.”

Be honest. Unless you’re a lady over the age of 58, that summary sounds dreadfully boring, doesn’t it? This movie stays in it’s lane, doesn’t try to be any more than what it is, and still manages to be an engaging and fun experience. With these sort of films, it’s all about exposition and character development. You have to care about the main character for things to work. Saoirse Ronan turns in a very good performance as the main character Eilis Lacey, trying to make her way as an Irish immigrant in early 50’s Brooklyn. The film deals with struggles of the new immigrant life as well as the struggles left behind with the right amount a comic relief tossed in. I’m surprised that there wasn’t a Costume or Production Design nomination for the work done in this film. The look of both 1950’s Ireland and Brooklyn were very believable.

The Martian (3.5 outta 5)

A well made, but unspectacular Gravity meets Castaway meets Apollo 13 with an awkward nod to China for foreign box office purposes. The Martian has the feeling of another nominated movie, in that it feels as if it was made in a lab and designed to get the best possible critical and award season acceptance. This kinda proves true as it was awarded the Golden Globe for Best Comedy when it wasn’t a comedy at all. It’s a well made film that you can’t really knock, but will not leave much of a mark beyond the Oscars ceremony on Sunday night.

Room (3.5 outta 5)

This was a very good movie that I never want to see again due to it’s subject matter. This is a story of a mother (Brie Larson) and her 5 yr old son (Jacob Tremblay) escaping after years of captivity in a backyard shed and their subsequent recovery. The story is told from the 5 yr old’s perspective and it is revealed within the story that the mother was abducted 7 years prior, having her son while in captivity. The film goes on to cover the lives destroyed in the wake of the abduction as well as Tremblay’s introduction to the “real world”. Director Lenny Abrahamson does a remarkable job in getting very good work out of a young actor in such a serious role. Honestly, I should rate this as a 4/5, but for me, the bleak content still overshadows the hopeful notes the film intends to leave with you. I always have trouble with stories of captivity and stories of children being victims, so this is a double whammy.

Bridge of Spies (2.5 outta 5)

BORING. So, so boring. All of the performances are fine in this historical drama starring Tom Hanks as an American attorney that gets pulled in by the government to negotiate a Cold War prisoner exchange. I just expected more from a film directed by Spielberg and written by the Coen brothers.

Mad Max: Fury Road (2 outta 5)

Seriously? Creed doesn’t get into the club, but this does? Hey, who doesn’t enjoy a good action movie chase scene? I don’t. More specifically, I don’t enjoy such a scene when it’s the entirety of the 2 hour run time of a movie. There is no character development, pathetic attempts at exposition, but hey there are explosions and guns and crazy costumes in a post apocalyptic desert setting. No thanks. I really don’t get the critical appeal of this movie. It holds a 97% fresh critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes while only getting 86% from the public. That kinda reminds me of last year’s Academy darling, Birdman that had a 91%/78% split. And Birdman reminds me of….

The Revenant (1 outta 5)

From the director of last year’s Best Picture winner, Birdman comes The Revenant. Apparently, I’m just not a fan of Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s work. I HATE HATE HATE HATED this movie. First things first- it’s painfully obvious that from the first phone conversation, to first keystroke on the screenplay adaptation, through the acquisition of financial backing, from pre production to post production and throughout the advertising campaign that the only reason for this movie existing is so Leonardo DiCaprio can get his Oscar. The irony is that DiCaprio turns in one of his more pedestrian efforts. This is NOT an exceptional performance. His work in The Aviator, Catch Me If You Can, The Departed, Gangs of New York and Django Unchained just to name a few films is FAR superior to that of The Revenant. This is a story of a man left for dead in the American frontier by a member of his hunting team that was supposed to tend to him after a savage bear attack. The person that abandons the DiCaprio character and kills his son is played by Tom Hardy who is saddled with portraying a defacto villain character with zero depth. He might as well have had a handlebar mustache to twirl. He might as well have been played by that dude who played the dickhead jock in all those 80’s movies. You know, this guy:

Anyways, The Revenant is a miserable watch as it follows the DiCaprio character as he attempts to move his mauled body through the wintery frontier, all in a quest to exact revenge. But, since Mr. Inarritu is an artsy guy and likes for you to know it, there is also a gross attempt to appropriate Native American culture to give the film a BS sense of mysticism. UNCLE!

Will The Revenant repeat Birdman in winning Best Picture while being my least favorite nominee? That’s what the odds makers say! It all goes down Sunday night February 28th.