Best Picture
Winner: When Marnie Was There
Other Nominees:
- Creed
- Ex Machina
- Sicario
- Spotlight
Best Popcorn Flick
Winner:
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Other Nominees:
- Kingsman: The Secret Service
- Mad Max: Fury Road
- The Martian
- Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
It's easy enough to
say this one if it gets better with every viewing, as well as going back to the
movie theater to watch it three more times (on different days). It's also a
really good movie, and the best revival to any franchise that I've ever seen.
- Anomalisa
- The Good Dinosaur
- Inside Out
- The Peanuts Movie
Best Animated Feature
Winner: When Marnie Was There
Winner: When Marnie Was There
Other Nominees:
- Probably the best year this decade so far for animated features. I thought nothing could beat Inside Out when I first saw it, and then came THIS movie. It is full of everything that I've wanted in an animated movie for a LONG time. I already have reservations to have this win the best of the decade award in this same category, because it will be VERY hard to top this masterpiece.
- Lenny Abrahamson (Room)
- Alex Garland (Ex-Machina)
- George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)
- Matthew Vaughn (Kingsman)
- Bryan Cranston (Trumbo)
- Johnny Depp (Black Mass)
- Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)
- Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)
Best Director
Winner: Denis Villenueve (Sicario)
Other Nominees:
This was a difficult choice, but I went with the guy who directed the movie Prisoners because he's gotten better with every movie he's done since then. Sicario also happens to be a very well crafted movie that turns a decent script into something that looks and feels phenomenal. The movie itself also had me on the edge of my seat for literally around 90% of the movie.
Best Actor
Winner: Jacob Tremblay (Room)
Other Nominees:
Dang! When I thought the kid from Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close gave possibly the best youth performance of the decade, here comes SERIOUS competition. The amount that he was given to work with I can be sure was no easy task. His portayal of a character discovering the REAL world for the first time with such fear and intensity just blew my mind, that I honestly forgot I was watching a movie. I think it's a real shame that the studio campaigned him in the Supporting Actor category for awards season when he was CLEARLY the lead of the movie. He was in EVERY scene. Just FYI, people.
Best Actress
Winner: Brie Larson (Room)
- Emily Blunt (Sicario)
- Jennifer Lawrence (Joy)
- Rooney Mara (Carol)
- Brooklyn (Saoirse Ronan)
So now Brie Larson has hit it out of the park TWICE. First, the movie Short Term 12; now THIS. The question is which performance is better? Nevertheless, check out at least ONE of her performances, if you want to see true acting chops.
Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Sylvester Stallone (Creed)
Other Nominees:
- Samuel L. Jackson (Kingsman)
- Jeremy Piven (Entourage)
- Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)
- Michael Shannon (99 Homes)
It was a tough decision between Stallone and Shannon, but I had to go with the actor that can STILL play the character as great today as he could 40 years ago. I know he's had practice with all the sequels he did with that character, but some of them did not have the same Rocky Balboa that we all saw in the first movie. This one did.
Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Alicia Vikander
(Ex Machina)
(Ex Machina)
Other Nominees:
- Olivia Cooke (Me, Earl & the Dying Girl)
- Oona Laurence (Southpaw)
- Rachel McAdams (Spotlight)
- Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)
Probably the best performance by any actor playing a robot. Keeps the most perfect poker face throughout the whole movie. If HAL 9000 from 2001 decided to become a female human form, this would be the closest resemblance.
Best Original Screenplay
Winner: Spotlight
Other Nominees:
- Ex Machina
- The Hateful Eight
- Inside Out
- 99 Homes
Probably the best and most intense movie about writing for a newspaper since 'All the President's Men'. All the characters are put to great use, and the dialogue is so snappy that it gives Aaron Sorkin a run for his money.
Best Adapted Screenplay
Winner: When Marnie Was There
Other Nominees:
- Creed
- Me, Earl & the Dying Girl
- Room
- Steve Jobs
Another very easy pick. Writer/director, Hiromasa Yonebayashi knew exactly what he was doing when he decided to make his feature only about people. Usually most Studio Ghibli movies give mystical elements or other fantasy plot points to give the main characters a challenge to succeed for what they lack in the beginning. I can only assume that if Yonebayashi knew that if this would be the last film ever produced by Studio Ghibli, he would end it on a more mature level. It is also probably the greatest movie about family and friendship that I have ever seen.
Best Cinematography (a tie!)
Winners: The Revenant
Other Nominees:
Winners: The Revenant
Winners: Sicario
- The Hateful Eight
- Lost River
- Mad Max: Fury Road
I had to give this achievement to both. Sicario and The Revenant managed to get such shots that looked so challenging that I still have no idea how they did them.
Best Production Design
Winner: Ex Machina
Other Nominees:
- Carol
- Lost River
- Mad Max: Fury Road
- Tomorrowland
The whole production design of Ex Machina is probably the most accurate when it comes to echoing a Apple or Google type of research facility. It also makes for a great Sci-Fi setting because the movie technically takes place around at least 10 minutes into the future.
Best Costume Design
Winner: Carol
Other Nominees:
- Brooklyn
- Cinderella
- Kingsman: The Secret Service
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens
It was between this and Brooklyn. I went with Carol just because it was a Todd Haynes film, and he likes to show off his costumes more. Other than that, they just look fantastic.
Best Film Editing
Winner: Sicario
Other Nominees:
- Creed
- Kingsman: The Secret Service
- Mad Max: Fury Road
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Even though I thought Star Wars had the best pacing, which plays a very pivotal part when it comes to great editing, I ended up going with Sicario because of scenes in the movie like the Border Raid. That kept me on the edge of my seat for the WHOLE scene, which is another pivotal part of editing. It also comes off like a great work of art, and not just that scene but the whole movie.
Best Sound
Winner:
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Other Nominees:
- Ex Machina
- Mad Max: Fury Road
- Sicario
- Straight Outta Compton
It was a great breath of fresh air to hear the classic sound effects of Stormtrooper blasters, lightsabers, but also some great new ones as well. It never came off as too loud either.
Best Visual Effects
Winner: Mad Max: Fury Road
Other Nominees:
- Ex Machina
- The Revenant
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens
- The Walk
Simple reason: practical effects. I do think CGI is still breaking new ground which I find impressive, but it's nothing compared to what George Miller and his team accomplished with this newest version of Mad Max. The only other movie that went practical was Star Wars, which makes a great runner-up in this category.
Best Makeup
Winner: Ex Machina
Other Nominees:
- Brooklyn
- Carol
- Mad Max: Fury Road
- Trumbo
I think it's great filmmaking when you honestly can't tell which is makeup or visual effects. Nevertheless, the research I did tells me that a lot of makeup was used on creating the robot of Ava. That's good enough for me.
Best Score (a tie!)
Winners: The Good Dinosaur
Best part starts at 1:04
Winners: When Marnie Was There
I couldn't find any actual score track that was featured in the movie; so here's a clip featuring the music I found breathtaking. It's only one of many parts to come by in this great piece of animation.
Other Nominees:
- Inside Out
- Mad Max: Fury Road
- Sicario
I could not pick one! I tried! I think this does prove though that when it comes to animated movies, that the movie can only be as great as the music. A good score can really help move a film, especially one that only has a story and whatever is drawn to back it up. You can argue that most animated films are done on computers now and have sound effects and what not, but are there really any great animated films that have no music at all in them?
P.S: It was almost a three-way tie, as Inside Out (another animated feature) almost made it as well. I didn't choose it though because it was easier to live without compared to the two winners above.
Other Nominees:
P.S: It was almost a three-way tie, as Inside Out (another animated feature) almost made it as well. I didn't choose it though because it was easier to live without compared to the two winners above.
Best Song
Winner: Creed [Fighting Stronger]
Other Nominees:
- Dope [It's My Turn Now]
- Kingsman [Get Ready For It]
- Southpaw [Phenomenal]
- When Marnie Was There [Fine on the Outside]
Finally, another song in the Rocky franchise that is as good as 'Gonna Fly Now'. I could work out to this song for hours. It's also great because it tells a story at the end of it, stating the struggles that Creed's son is going through in order to prepare for his fight. Still very motivational nonetheless.
Best Ensemble
Winner: Spotlight
Other Nominees:
- The Hateful Eight
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens
- Steve Jobs
- Straight Outta Compton
I love movies where the whole ensemble works together as a team. No one is arrogant towards the other. The chemistry between each character works. It was an easy pick.
Best Film Debut
Winner: Ex Machina (Alex Garland)
Winner: Ex Machina (Alex Garland)
Other Nominees:
- The Gift (Joel Edgerton)
- Lost River (Ryan Gosling)
- Pitch Perfect 2 (Elizabeth Banks)
This guy could be the next Stanley Kubrick if he continues with the same unique melancholy style that Kubrick had. A well deserved winner for this category.
Most Overrated
The Danish Girl
Why is Eddie Redmayne in EVERYTHING I hate? Why does he have that face I just want to punch so dearly? I don't hate him personally, but the films he chooses to be in just makes me wish the worst for his career. The movie itself is terrible because it's about a selfish character that just wants what he/she wants and is willing to sacrifice everyone in his social life just to be happier than he/she already is in the beginning of the first act. The only good thing to come out of this movie is the performance of Alicia Vikander, who is good, but no where near as great of a performance as Ava in Ex Machina. Everything else about the movie I either hate or find extremely boring. Every other actor is average. The sets are boring. The movie feels VERY long. Tom Hooper just seems to get worse with every film he makes now, which makes his Oscar-director win for The King's Speech seem very wasted at this point. This is easily his worst film if I choose to watch Les Miserables over this. Sadly, I do.
Most Underrated
When Marnie Was There
I cannot stress enough on wishing more people saw this movie. It's what I consider a milestone in animation films in general, and people just shrug their shoulders all because they haven't heard enough about it. I mean for god's sake, it's Studio Ghibli! They are the same geniuses behind Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Kiki's Delivery Service and MANY other pieces of work. Sadly, people still have to get out their phones to look up even those titles. Either way, I think this is their best work since Spirited Away. If this really is the last film by Studio Ghibli, I will be very sad, but also happy because it's the best way to go out. I will forever cherish this masterpiece, and I hope many others will in the years to come.
My Most Guilty Pleasure
The Night Before
It's the perfect Christmas comedy I wanted. The same team behind 50/50 team up again and throw other great actors like Anthony Mackie, Lizzy Caplan and Michael Shannon into the mix to make it even more epic. It's nothing but a stoner comedy set at Christmas time in New York City. There's nothing highly unique about this movie. It's just pure fun if you enjoy seeing Seth Rogen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anthony Mackie go on wacky Christmas adventures while stoned.
Best Hero
Rey (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)
Among all female characters in movies of 2015 (yes, there were A LOT of them), she was my most favorite. I know people are calling her character a "Mary Sue" just because she happens to "know" how to work everything when it comes to any ship or droid, but we don't know everything about her character either. It will be explained in the sequels to come, so just be glad us fans were rewarded with a great Star Wars character who wasn't like any character in the prequels. She was wise, brave, and very entertaining to watch when it came to any action or dialectic scene.
Best Villain
Valentine (Kingsman)
He is probably the most hilarious villain I've seen in quite some time. He is insane, but also entertaining as hell. He's just some rich guy who wants to kill off most of mankind, so he can control the population among who he chooses to keep alive. Any other movie would've failed at that concept had they gone for something darker, but if you have Matthew Vaughn as writer/director and Samuel L. Jackson giving a brilliant performance with a lisp that isn't distracting, then you have one hell of a great villain.
Best Scene
Winner: Kingsman [Church Violence]
Other Nominees:
- Inside Out [Rebuilding the Core Memories]
- Me, Earl & the Dying Girl [Watching the Video]
- Sicario [Border Raid]
- When Marnie Was There [Marnie's Real Story]
It's still no rotating hallway fight from Inception, but it is still a great runner-up in the best action scenes of the decade. Matthew Vaughn brilliantly directed this scene by shooting Colin Firth doing his own stunts in what's made to look like one single take. He also picked a great classic rock song which goes so well with what happens in the scene. It is one of those scenes I could watch over and over again and never get bored.
Special Category
(Best One Long Take)
Winner: Creed (First Fight)
Other Nominees:
- Kingsman [Church Massacre]
- 99 Homes [Rick Carver's Intro]
- The Revenant [Bear Attack]
- Spectre [Opening Sequence]
This one is an easy win simply because because of HOW long it goes on for and how much happens throughout the scene. I still don't know how they managed to make each characters face look more damaged after the first and second round. The way it is filmed, I still don't know how the camera crew managed to hide. The actors of course do great, but I especially love that Stallone was able to pull off a challenge like that. Even though he's not the one fighting in this scene, with all the past work he's done recently, it seems like he would need to rest after less than a minute of shooting. Glad the scene came off as perfect as director Ryan Coogler planned.
Best Quote
Nux: "Oh, what a day! What a lovely day!"
(Mad Max: Fury Road)
It's one of those quotes that perfectly defines the whole meaning of a world that we do not want to live in. It captures the insanity of Nux, among many other characters as well. It's also fun to say in real life too. :)
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