Oscar Nods Reactions

It's my favorite time of year! The time where everybody (me included!) manically pisses on and praises the Academy Award nominations! To make life simpler, I'm going to split my thoughts up by category and I'm only going to do the BIG categories-- otherwise we'd be here all day (and this blog IS called Movie MINUTES after all)- then I'll summarize with my overall impressions.

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

Thoughts: My first reaction is that this is a more accessible list for audiences. Most of these movies were at one point or another big blockbusters that a lot of people came out to see. If the Academy wants to justify their relevancy, these are the types of nods we need to see year in, year out.

Secondly, if you read my 'Favorite Films of 2015' then you know that about half of these films are at least mentioned in my list. Now I'm not trying to brag (OK, maybe a little), but I am trying to say that I am genuinely pleased with most of these picks. Typically since the Academy went to (at most) 10 Best Picture nominees, it's easy to dismiss at least half of them and narrow down the serious contenders. This year, most of the picks are deserving.

That being said, only eight of the ten slots are filled. The Academy missed a serious opportunity to include more minority stories into the available two slots, such as Creed, Beasts of No Nation, Carol, or the overly deserving Straight Outta Compton.

The absence of Inside Out from this bunch is also frustrating. Would it stand a chance to win in this bracket? Who knows. Animated pics never do well here; but it's an emotional roller coaster of a ride and also one of the most beautifully animated and original works this past year. It's tough to take the Academy voters seriously as admirers of art when they seem uninterested in promoting the most original story of 2015.

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

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

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

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

Thoughts: I love that Mad Max: Fury Road was recognized for the second most awards. It speaks the language of cinema in a way that no other Best Picture nominee this year does. However, for all its success, it failed to reel in the nod for Charlize Theron and that's a shame. I know she already has her Oscar, but so does Jennifer Lawrence. It's a mystery how the Academy will recognize this great feminist flick, yet fail to recognize its face.

This was not a great year for women in the movies. I'm hesitant to say it was even a good year. Women are one of the minorities that the Academy has failed to appreciate in previous years. To be fair, there are more female-centric stories this year than last, but that's only because last year we had a grand total of zero. There are so many wonderful stories in the world that don't revolve around white men. It's about time the Academy got with the times and started honoring them.

Samuel L. Jackson, who gave two terrific performances this year, is oddly nowhere to be found.

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

Thoughts: Like all of the categories, there is a lack of diversity here. Yes it's nice to have a Mexican director nominated, but Inarritu won last year. Plus, The Revenant and his Best Picture winner from last year, Birdman, both tell stories of white men.

Another thing: When Paul Walker passed away, Furious 7 took the shape of a tenderhearted farewell. Wiz Khalifa's beautiful "See You Again" not only became synonymous with the car sequel, but with Walker as well.  The film became (at the time) the fourth highest grossing movie of all time as seemingly everyone came to pay their respects and sing along. Though Walker will no doubt appear in the Academy's "In Memoriam" segment, they're still stubborn to endorse the adored as they skipped out on the song completely.

Overall Impressions:

The Academy once again failed to recognize the latest trends in their own industry, such as instant streaming, by skipping Beasts of No Nations entirely.

There are 20 actors nominated each year. This year, only four out of the entire lot are 46 years old or older. That's not even a fourth. Sure, the Academy wants to recognize the younger generation of upcoming actors and that's great, but plenty of older actors gave terrific performances and were all suspiciously overlooked.

There is unbelievable talent among this year's nominees and I in no way want to diminish what they've all accomplished; however, this is the second year in a row where the public has unabashedly bashed the Academy for failing to recognize any non-white storytelling and this year the only thing they've done to reconcile that was hire Chris Rock to host. The Academy is socially responsible for honoring filmmaking as an art and art is for everyone, not just one group of people. The Academy still has a long way to go if they want to be appreciated by the public the way they appreciate themselves.

Hopefully Host Christ Rock decides to bite the hand that feeds him and puts the Academy in their place. It's about time someone did.