Oscar Best Picture Nominees
That’s right! This coming Monday is the 88th Academy Awards 2016.
It’s that time of the year again, when actors strut on the red carpet and bask in Hollywood glory. It’s that time of the year when fashion designers earn a yea or a nay from the critics and the public for the outfit and the pieces that they created for our favourite personalities. It’s that time of the year when the famous people earn an A+ for their suits and gowns, or even thumbs down for their wardrobe disaster.
But most importantly, the Academy Awards is the time of the year when the films get to bag home that coveted Academy Award of Merit (popularly known as the Oscar statuette). People from across the globe look forward to this prestigious awarding ceremony year after year.
This year, who’s going to win the Oscar Best Picture? Let’s check out the following films nominated for Best Picture.
The Big Short
This comedy-drama, directed by Adam McKay, is one of the strongest contenders this year. This movie, which is regarding the 2007-2008 financial crisis and the mortgage market problems in the US, is based on a 2010 non-fiction book of the same title, which is authored by Michael Lewis. It’s about four people who took advantage of the declining economic situation in the housing market to make a fortune.
This might not seem like a typical moviegoer’s cup of tea because of finance. Aside from people adept in the technical world of money, who else likes casually talking about banks, loans, mortgages, and credit? But because of the genius of this written gem, moviegoers are entertained and, at the same time, educated. What happened during that time? What caused the economic crisis? Despite the complexity of the plot, the world of finance is made accessible and understandable. Go watch it if you want to know what we mean.
This movie has Christian Bale, Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling, and Steve Carell. This film is relevant to almost everyone who had seen that decade. Five nominations are garnered by this film, including Best Picture. Will “The Big Short” win this year?
Bridge Of Spies
This drama-thriller, which is based on a 1960 Cold War incident involving a U-20 spy plane, is directed by esteemed director Steven Spielberg. Tom Hanks, Alan Alda, Amy Ryan, and Mark Rylance are the stellar cast in this movie.
The Bridge Of Spies DVD is a heavy drama which will keep you at the edge of your seat, and keep you guessing until the end. Tom Hanks is impressive in his role as insurance lawyer, James B. Donovan, who is hired by the CIA to be lawyer for an arrested Soviet Union spy, brought to life by Mark Rylance. Will the negotiation go as planned? Will each country release its detained spy in exchange for the other country’s detained spy?
This movie is based on real events with real personalities. With an impressive direction, powerful storytelling, and realistic acting, you will be drawn to this movie. With 6 Oscar nominations including Best Picture, will this win?
Brooklyn
Another historical drama is in the list, and yes, it’s “Brooklyn,” starring Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, and Domhnall Gleeson. Love abounds in this movie. Love knows no bound, even distance between countries. Or does it?
We are given the life story of Eilis, a youthful Irish woman who travelled to America from Ireland for greener pastures. It does get getting used to another place, but by time, Eilis was able to adjust to Brooklyn and even found love. But when things go back in her birthland, will she leave her love behind? Or will she travel back home to look into the matter of things?
If you want to see how love blossoms in the 1950s, we tell you, you better check this movie out. This is not your usual historical romance movie. And oh, do you know this movie garners three Oscar nominations, including Best Picture? We hope the judges love this one.
Mad Max: Fury Road
Dystopian movies everywhere! But make “Mad Max: Fury Road” as an exception. Unlike most dystopian movies that rely on special effects to cover up for the lack of a solid plot, “Mad Max: Fury Road” boasts of a convincing plot, an excellent storyline, and effects that can take your breath away.
If the dystopian world in “Mad Max: Fury Road” is real in real-time, we can be sure that Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron will save the day because they know exactly what they are doing. Thank goodness for real actors like them! Even if Hardy’s character has less spoken lines, his actions deliver. The most part of the movie grips you into action, and the cinematography makes you feel like you are a character in the movie itself. Super cool, right?
Thanks to director George Miller, we get to see a real live-action film instead of a computer-animated production. This is a dream come true for him, considering the many times that the production of this movie had been delayed.
Would you believe that this action-packed movie is nominated for ten different categories, including Best Picture? We will never wonder if this movie gains that golden Oscar for said category.
The Martian
Another movie based on a novel is nominated for Best Picture in the Oscars this year, and yes, this is “The Martian.” Matt Damon really convinced us that surviving on a planet without the same atmosphere as ours can be feasible, but that is only if you have your smarts and limited equipment to get by.
This movie, which is based on the 2011 sci-fi novel by Andy Weir, and directed by Ridley Scott, is a riveting tale of Mark Watney who was left for dead in an out-of-Earth mission after an unforgiving dust storm, only to find himself alive and doing all he can to provide for himself and contact home (aka Earth) lightyears away. Adding to the excitement of this movie is the arduous rescue mission while racing against time to bring Watney home safely.
Seven nominations including Best Picture, we are sure that this movie deserves the accolades.
Room
This movie, based on Emma Donoghue’s novel of the same title, is sure to tug your heartstrings. “Room” is directed by Lenny Abrahamson, and stars Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, William H. Macy, Joan Allen, and Sean Bridgers.
One will probably think that nothing significant happens in an enclosed space, or that no story ever happens, but Ma (Larson) and her five-year-old son, Jack, create their own universe. Ma gives love and affection to her son, even going as far as to make the young boy believe that the Room is the world to him, that Room is the only thing real, unlike the fake outside. But when Mother and Child are able to escape the Room, Jack sees the world for the first time. Their discoveries of the world (an outside world revisited for Ma, and a new world for Jack) will give them a new perspective in their life.
Four nominations including Best Picture for this movie. Be sure to watch this.
Spotlight
Another story based on real-life events, “Spotlight” is a film that discloses all that is hidden.
When abuses inside the Church had been allegedly hidden, a team of journalists from The Boston Globe investigates and found out cover-up that had been around for decades.
This movie is directed by Tom McCarthy, and stars Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, and Michael Keaton. It has six nominations in the Oscars, including Best Picture.
The Revenant
If you think Leonardo diCaprio is just all about playing dashing characters, drop that image of him. What you are going to see is a different Leo, a Leo that takes on a difficult role that can make you applaud and say that he is, indeed, a well-rounded actor.
diCaprio stars as fur trapper Hugh Glass in The Revenant DVD, which is directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu. This film is based on a novel by Michael Punke, which was inspired by Glass’ hardships in 1823. The story is about a man from the frontier who is involved in the fur trade, but who fights for his life to survive after a bear mauling, all alone in a snowy hell. With a life as brutal as he had experienced after being left behind by his comrades and being mauled, you can never imagine how survival would be. It’s intense enough even for the viewers.
“The Revenant” has garnered an amazing feat of having 12 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor. Hopefully, diCaprio will win the Oscars this time, and hopefully, this movie will bring home the trophy.
So, what movie do you think will win the desired-for Oscars for Best Picture? All of them are good, and it’s hard to choose!
