by Heath Lynch, Contributing Writer
Oscar season is (finally) over! One Battle After Another stands triumphant as our newest Best Picture winner, while films like Sinners, Frankenstein, and K-Pop Demon Hunters got their moments in the sun. But, enough of this year’s awards season. It’s been 84 years; we’re all sick of it. Let’s discuss another year from the rearview. As a reminder, with our Oscars: What If… series we look at categories the Academy Awards should be honoring, but, for one reason or another, they aren’t. So, we’re going to imagine what could’ve been regarding past Oscar seasons. Hopefully someday the Academy will do right by these creative talents, but until then we must do the Academy’s job for them. Let’s look back at the year the Supreme Court ruled on Obergefell v. Hodges, making same-sex marriage legal nationwide, the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack took place in Paris, the Broadway smash-hit Hamilton premiered, David Letterman retired from hosting Late Show with David Letterman after 33 years, and the European Union announced a bailout of Greece, in the midst of a mass migrant crisis, in the wake of a Syrian Civil War. It is time to examine the films of 2015, celebrated at the Oscars in 2016. Let’s see what could have been!
Best Stunts and Choreography
Given to the best achievement in dance, stunts, related performances, and overall choreography for film.
And the nominees are… Creed, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Mad Max: Fury Road, Magic Mike XXL, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
And the winner is… Mad Max: Fury Road!
In other news, the sky is blue, and water is wet.
Of course it’s Mad Max: Fury Road. No duh. This was an obvious decision. Why? Because George Miller is a mad man who refuses to stop making some of the most challenging, adrenaline-fueled, action flicks even though he was 70 years old when he made this movie. The living legend shot a reported 480 hours’ worth of footage, which took his editors three whole months to watch. This means that this final feature film consists of nothing but the best of the best in action stunt work. Over 90% of the effects in the picture were accomplished practically, from the Doof Warrior’s guitar and amps on the Doof Wagon being fully functional, including its functionality as massive flamethrower, to all of car crashes and people willingly putting their lives on the line as they jump between moving vehicles or suspend themselves through the air on a weighted pulley system. Over 150 stunt performers, many of whom were from Cirque du Soleil, combined their physical prowess and daredevil aggression to perform some of the riskiest and most jaw-dropping stunts, fights, crashes, and explosions we have ever had the privilege of feasting our eyes on, in a movie theater. Mad Max: Fury Road will go down as one of, if not the very greatest, action films ever made, and it’s due in large part to the categorically insane stunt work and pitch perfect choreography to make sure dozens of people didn’t die on set. I couldn’t be happier about gilding this flick with yet another well-deserved Oscar.
Best Performance by Voiceover or Motion Capture
Given to the best of screen voice performance, or on-screen motion captured performance, for film.
And the nominees are… Jack Black as Slappy the Dummy in Goosebumps, Richard Kind as Bing Bong in Inside Out, Jennifer Jason Leigh as Lisa Hesselman in Anomalisa, Amy Poehler as Joy in Inside Out, Phyllis Smith as Sadness in Inside Out
And the winner is… Richard Kind as Bing Bong in Inside Out!
If I say the words, “Take her to the moon for me…” in a sorrowful but hopeful tone, do you cry? Of course you do. That’s because Richard Kind embedded a core memory in your soul that, all in one sweeping emotional moment, reminds us of what it’s like to be a child, to let go of childish things, and embrace tomorrow, while still reminding us of the beauty, wonder, and entertainment that comes from Inside Out. Honestly, the heartbreak in that line delivery alone might be enough to secure the win, but on top of that soulful cake we get the delicious frosting that is Kind’s eccentricities and humor. Whether it’s his descriptions of Riley’s innermost thoughts, the exposition used to explain the oddball world building, or the cheesy, self-aware jokes that he delivers with a true pureness of heart behind them, Kind is knocking it out of the park. The character of Bing Bong, Riley’s imaginary friend from her toddler years, is not in the movie for very long, but he leaves a lasting imprint on the audience due to a his nuanced complexities as a character that’s at once silly and nonsensical while also being deeply empathetic and supportive, and this distinction is impossible to achieve without the joy and compassion expressed by Kind. So thrilled to be giving him this Oscar.
Best Performance by an Ensemble Cast
Given to the best overall ensemble cast performance for film.
And the nominees are… The Big Short, The Hateful Eight, Spotlight, Straight Outta Compton, Steve Jobs
And the winner is… Spotlight!
The closest category of the year by a country mile. The competition for Best Ensemble Performance was incredibly tight back in 2015. On any given day I might give you a different winner. Hell, on any given day I might give you three to five different nominees! That’s the sign of a stacked year; you love to see it! But, today, the award is going to Spotlight. Following in the wake of greatness like All the President’s Men, Spotlight is not just an investigative journalist movie, it’s a process movie. It’s competence, portrayed at the highest level. Not just in narrative and character, but in performances throughout the entire film. You already have two of these actors nominated for individual acting Oscars in Rachel McAdams and Mark Ruffalo, but you also have Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci, Billy Crudup, Jamey Sheridan, Paul Guilfoyle, and Michael Cyril Creighton all doing tremendous work. More than that, you have Michael Keaton, fresh off his career revival with Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) getting unforgivably snubbed of an Oscar nom for his towering performance where he commands every scene that includes him. It’s the restrained anger that people display when having frustrating conversations, the palpable fear exuded when people are being vulnerable and speaking to real horrors, and the anguish at trying to affect change while being stuck butting your head up against a corrupt system. It’s all on display as these performances bounce off one another and utilize their tremendous chemistry to produce something that feels authentic and relatable, which was so crucial to such a very delicate and important topic. Spotlight, and all these amazing actors, you deserve this Oscar gold.
Best Directorial Debut
Given to the best achievement in direction by a debut directing talent for film.
And the nominees are… Joel Edgerton for The Gift, Robert Eggers for The Witch, Alex Garland for Ex Machina, László Nemes for Son of Saul, Chloé Zhao for Songs My Brothers Taught Me
And the winner is… Alex Garland for Ex Machina!
There’s a lot of solid feature length directorial debut options to choose from this year. Many of today’s premiere auteurs got their start this year, and many of them released bangers with their very first outing. So, although I could go in several different directions, we are going to crown Alex Garland the winner for his tremendous debut, Ex Machina. Not saying that Garland hasn’t made good movies since this debut, because he certainly has, but damn it feels like, over a decade and many films later, this is still the best film he’s ever made. This was a fully formed picture right out of the gate. Composed of near-future sci-fi genre horrors that allowed for precise and pointed character studies and performances that amplified robust themes around toxic masculinity, female empowerment, self-actualization, the evils of tech oligarchy, and the foreseeable terror surrounding artificial intelligence. From beginning to end, Garland grabs you by the wrist and forcibly pulls you out of your comfort zone as he makes you confront a bleak, inevitable reality. The performances he garners from his cast, Oscar Isaac in particular, the confidence he has in his camera with his framing and editing, and the craft he’s able to fit on the screen by managing a talented team of production and visual effects designers, is nothing short of impressive. Garland, the gold statue is yours.
Best Popular Film
Given to the best audience supported motion picture that earned a spot as one of the top 25 box office films of the year.
And the nominees are… Inside Out, Jurassic World, The Martian, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Star Wars: The Force Awakens
And the winner is… The Martian!
Ooo, this should get interesting… Because, while this award has always been for the Best Popular Film, I’m not sure we’ve ever tested that adjective as much as we’re going to this year as I award The Martian the winner. Because I know what you’re thinking, “Was The Martian really even that popular? How is this nominated in the first place?” Why, thank you for asking, purely fictional reader that I just invented for the sake of writing this witty banter. Yes, there were far more popular films released in the year 2015. Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens was the dawn of the Disney era of Lucasfilm and we truly didn’t know the hell that would become us at the time so we threw dump trucks worth of money at the movie to the tune of $936.6 million domestically and $2.068 billion worldwide; easily clearing this as the number one box office film of the year by every metric. Other smash hits like Jurassic World (the one that revitalized the franchise), Avengers: Age of Ultron (the one that we like to forget exists), and Furious 7 (the one where we lost Paul Walker and we all cried) all released this year as well. The Hunger Games original franchise run concluded with Mockingjay – Part 2, Pixar released Inside Out, and arguably the two biggest action espionage franchises ever created had new entries with James Bond’s Spectre and Ethan Hunt’s Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation. This was an era when even seemingly crappy movies that were spinoffs of bigger movies were making hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office. Here’s lookin’ at you, Minions.
So, how in the hell could I make the claim that The Martian was a popular film in a year with so many franchise heavy hitters and so few original films making bank at the theater? Well, because The Martian actually was one of those non-franchise flicks that succeeded. It brought home $228.4 million domestically and $630.1 million worldwide. That was good enough to land at the numbers eight and ten spots on each of those lists, respectively. That’s right, The Martian was a smash hit, earning more money than even some of these heavy hitters I already mentioned. It spent a total of four weeks as the number one weekend earner at the box office through October and early November of 2015. Yes, that means in 2015’s spooky season everyone was rushing to the theater not to see the latest horror movie, but instead to see Matt Damon crack dad jokes in outer space. While it might not have been the money-earning behemoth of The Force Awakens or several others, The Martian was still an undeniable success and very popular with audiences.
Now, let’s talk ‘best,’ yeah? If we’re being blunt, I could just ask… “Do you truly feel that any of those box office hits are better than The Martian?” Then, if you’re being honest, you’d answer ‘No” and the case would be closed. That’s just the reality of the situation. The Martian sits with a 91% certified fresh critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 91% popcorn-meter audience score. It has an 8.0 on IMDb, a 3.8 on Letterboxd, and an 80 critic score on Metacritic with a 7.9 user score. By every single indicator, The Martian is a beloved and exalted film. Don’t even bother comparing the critic and audience scores of these other films to this one… it’s embarrassing. If that wasn’t enough, The Martian was also nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Actor and Best Picture, it received six BAFTA nominations, nine Critics’ Choice nominations, and three Golden Globe nominations alongside two wins. In total, across all awards ceremonies, it garnered 25 wins off 132 nominations. A tremendous achievement. The Force Awakens wishes.
In the end, “best” is carrying a lot of weight, but that is the point of the category. This isn’t just about the most popular film, otherwise we’d just award the number one performer at the box office every year. It’s about what people feel is the best popular film. Because of that, The Martian is easily our Oscar winner.
That’s gonna do it! Thanks for joining me on another trip down memory lane to see what could’ve been! We got to talk about one of the greatest action films ever made, say goodbye to our childhood imaginary friend, and cherish a beloved sci-fi, space epic. Be sure to come back next time when we look at films like La La Land, The Nice Guys, and Arrival as we’ll examine the Oscars of 2017, celebrating the films of 2016!
You can read more from Heath Lynch, and follow him on Letterboxd