Oscars 2016 Re-cap

Okay, so the 88th Academy Awards came and left and I am now a broken man after staying awake till 5am in the morning to basically reaffirm my predictions and see the elite class pat themselves on the back as winners and losers both retreat to their big mansions and beautiful wives to wait again till next year where they might be lucky to take home a little golden statue. Maybe I'm being cynical but I'm tired. Have mercy. The reason I stayed up this late, or maybe its early, is because I love the oscars and without further ado here is my Oscars 2016 Re-Cap.

Hosting the oscars is a special problem. Be to risqué like Ricky Gervais and you get frowned upon that you can make such rude cynicisms on such a public stage as the Academy Awards, but be too safe and its seen as pointless pandering to the elite 1% without pulling any punches. Chris Rock, thankfully, found the line well - he was pushing it on some of the jokes, but he found the balance between funny and offensive very well and delivered a very well mannered hosting job which may of exceeded my expectations that I was expecting from Rock when he was first announced. But now lets get onto the winners and losers.

Best writing rightfully went to Spotlight, which means so far I got off on a good start with my predictions. In my opinion it was the obvious choice and a well deserved win for a well deserved script. This may of been the first clear showing that it will be favourite to win best picture. Best adapted went to the Big Short, another correct prediction, and in my opinion another correct choice. A well written script adapt superbly from a great source material.

Best supporting actress was a pleasant surprise, I wanted Alicia Vikander to win ever since she was nominated, but thought that Kate Winslet would win simply of how much of a hollywood darling she is. Happily I was proven wrong, and a well deserved Vikander meant although I got my prediction wrong for the first time so far, it was a rightful win and well deserved for the talented actress.

Best costume design was the first of many wins for the excellent Mad Max: Fury Road, and although I predicted wrong, I cannot complain as Fury Road was easily my favourite film of 2015, and seeing any awards go its way is a pleasant feeling for such a great film. Production design and Hair and Makeup also both went, in my opinion rightfully, to Fury Road with the film now sweeping many of the technical categories, and again, rightfully so.

Best cinematography was no surprise, making it Lubezki's third year in a row being nominated - and third win in a row, each film more contrasting than the last again showing how diverse he is and why he's the best cinematographer working in the world today.

Best editing, sound mixing and sound editing again went to, you guessed it, Mad Max: Fury Road - again I predicted all 3 of these, and again - they were both deserved. No film really matched this film on its technical ability and it was a pleasant feeling seeing it get the recognition it deserves.

Best visual effects was a conundrum for me. I though Ex Machina or Fury Road could win this, but I wanted Force Awakens to win simply cause, in two words - Star Wars (what can I say,  I have a deep soft spot for Star Wars). However I was so pleasantry surprised when Ex Machina became the little film that could and win its first, and only oscar, for a well deserved technical win.

Best performance by a supporting actor, in my opinion, was Stallone's to lose. I at first thought Mark Rylance could win it, but after the Globes I was deadset that this would Sly's year. Sadly my prediction was wrong, and although Rylance carried the movie with his stand out performance, it would of been nice to see Sly win an award for his contribution to the Rocky films and film in general.

Best documentary and foreign film, with Amy and Son of Saul, were the favourites and films I predicted to win and so I wasn't too surprised when they both walked away the victor. Inside out, winning best animated film, again was not a surprise and a prediction I, like a lot of others, called as soon as the film came out.

Best score and original song I again predicted correct, Morricone deserving his win far greater than Sam Smith's, however I think this year proves that the Academy cannot resist a Bond song, and that if you get the opportunity to write one - you're a lock for at least a nomination (providing its half decent).

Best director was another deserved win for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, making it 4 in two years for him, and again was pretty pretty predictable. I was glad he won not only as I predicted it and for my own pride, but for the fact what he achieved for The Revenant was boarding on incredible. 

Best performance by an actress in a leading role was the only award (including best actor) where I actually shouted out in joy at my computer screen. I wanted Brie Larson to win ever since seeing The Room and after predicting her to win, was so relived when she brought home gold to add an oscar to an already impressive resume. 

The last one (you might notice I missed one) of the night was Best picture,  I called this wrong but with Spotlight being the best film of the year and deserving all the praise it gets from the academy, I'm not surprised it won. It was an incredibly good film, and although I thought The Revenant was an incredible film and more favourable to the academy, I can't deny that Spotlight deserved to win. 

So you might recall I said I missed one out. I wonder who that might be. Maybe it's because this Oscar's was the first Academy Awards that Leonardo DiCaprio won his bleeding Oscar! It was always coming and I predicted it a mile off, well deserved and incredible performance meant he walked away with gold after many years of waiting. Lets hope the wait was worth it, because although it wasn't his greatest performance, the oscar was the most deserved. 

So that was basically it. Like I said on my predictions post, I'm not including the short form categories as I did not watch them beforehand, but as soon as I get around to it I'm sure I'll make a post as I'm sure all of those films are incredible in their own right. The Academy Awards was once again an ok event, held together by everyones desire for film, rather than some hit or miss present humour (note: the Star Wars, Minions and Toy Story segments - N. O.). I can moan as much as I want, but I know I'll be back next year. 

So until next time Oscars, Au Revoir!