Me and Wifey are over halfway through watching all of the movies nominated for Best Picture. While her list would differ, we both agree that no movies so far have stood out as anything special. So far, my rankings would go like this:
- The Big Short (it was okay, but didn't care the hyper-kinetic style, and yeah, have a little bit of a problem rooting for rich dudes becoming even richer betting on predicted misery.)
- Bridge of Spies (also okay, but slow, and the score was incredibly cheesy. Surprised to find it was written by the Coen Brothers.)
- Spotlight (again, okay, but kinda of a generic procedural with cardboard cutout characters.)
- Brooklyn (meh...I guess it was okay, but there was no real drama in it. Kinda hokey.)
- Mad Max: Fury Road (a decent action movie aside from the ridiculous guitar dude, but has no business being nominated for best picture).
We have not yet seen The Revenant, The Martian, or Room. Hopefully at least one of them is the real deal, because so far none we've seen has come close to being Best Picture worthy. For real, Inside Out was better than anyof these movies.
Which brings me to the #OscarsSoWhite controversy. My opinion is that it is 100% undeniable that Oscar voters are completely out of touch. Whether out of touch = racist, I can't really say, but I'm not gonna argue with those who say it is. I have not seen Creed or Straight Outta Compton, but from what I've heard both were just as worthy as those that were nominated. They surely couldn't be worse than Mad Max for Best Picture consideration.
But you know what I did see? Beasts of No Nation. How in the hell did this not have multiple nominations? This is where I start having some serious doubts with the selection process. There are at least four major categories for which it should have received nominations:
- Best Picture. It's far better than anything on the list I've seen so far.
- Best Actor. You probably think I'm going to say Idris Elba, who was amazing, but I'm not, because Abraham Attah was even better. Both could have and probably shoudl have been nominated.
- Best Supporting Actor. Idris Elba. I'll admit I have no idea where the line between lead and supporting actor/actress is.
- Best Director. Cary Fukunaga. This is a no-brainer. You will not see a more beautifully shot movie this year. Insane that he was not nominated.
With a movie this good, with performances this strong, it makes you really wonder what the hell is going on. Did Charlotte "perhaps the black actors did not deserve to make the final list" Rampling see it? Did Michael "You can't vote for an actor because he's black" Caine (actually, I know he did)? You would think that it would get some nominations for minor categories, but nope. Nothing. Zilch. It's on Netflix. Go watch it. Tell me I'm wrong.
