88th Academy Awards: Best Actor

Best Actor

Could this finally be the year. Howard Hughes in The Aviator. Sorry, Jamie Foxx deserves that this year. How about Billy Costigan in The Departed? I'm afraid not. But how about my roles in either Django Unchained or The Wolf of Wall Street? Once again, I'm afraid not Leonardo, you just aren't good enough to deserve an Oscar. Fine. I'll find a director who will put me through sheer hell and force me to cut open a horse and sleep inside it, proper Luke Skywalker style from The Empire Strikes Back. Of course, I'm sure this isn't how the life of Leonard DiCaprio actually played out after countless times of Oscar betrayal but it does seem that his dedication to his role in The Revenant was that of a man giving all he possibly can in order to claim what has bypassed his clutches in the past. Everyone and their mum's believes it is time for Leo to win his Oscar and if somehow such did fail to occur this year, I fully believe the Leo supporting masses would violently and swiftly burn the Dolby Theatre down to the ground with Leo being the sole survivor of such a terrible tragedy. 

Extreme I know, but without even looking at the betting for this years' Best Actor category, it is obvious that Leo is the firm favourite. In fact, it is such a safe bet I would recommend putting your life savings on it. Trust me, I know these things. If however you are not privy to the odd bet or two and believe that the Oscars will continue to starve DiCaprio of his glory, the other contenders for the award include Bryan Cranston for Trumbo, Matt Damon for The Martian, Michael Fassbender for the brilliant Steve Jobs and Eddie Redmayne for the not-so-brilliant The Danish Girl.  As for those who may have been overlooked, Fassbender, if not for Steve Jobs, would have been nominated for his role as Macbeth in Justin Kurzel's cold-blooded adaptation of the Shakespearean classic, whilst it was a shame Samuel L. Jackson wasn't recognised for his eye-locking performance in The Hateful Eight, one which kept the film intriguing and captivating for its' ridiculously over-long runtime. Also, what about Jacob Tremblay's simply stunning performance in Room? Sure he's only nine but Tatum O'Neal won an Oscar at the age of ten. One to ponder upon anyhow. Here are the nominations: 

Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant

Michael Fassbender - Steve Jobs

Bryan Cranston - Trumbo

Matt Damon - The Martian

Eddie Redmayne - The Danish Girl

Next Time: Best Actress!

88th Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actress

Best Supporting Actress

Following on from the nominations for Best Supporting Actor at this years' Oscar ceremony is the esteemed category of Best Supporting Actress, a category developed in order to not only distinguish the difference in gender, but to adhere to the notion that maybe the dated nature of the ceremony itself has failed to catch up with the times in a society where distinction is a much more delicate and diverse subject matter and can not only be distributed between one or the other. Maybe it's time to scrap the Actor/Actress thing overall and instead focus on just a leading/supporting role as well as perhaps an award for Best Cast? This would definitely suit a film like this years' Spotlight, a film which although has many nominations in the acting categories, depends mainly on the ensemble of a cast rather than certain individuals. An argument for another time maybe, but for now we have nominations for Alicia Vikander in The Danish Girl, Rachel McAdams for Spotlight, Rooney Mara for Carol, Kate Winslet for Steve Jobs and of course Jennifer Jason Leigh for her blood-spattered performance in Tarantino's western thriller The Hateful Eight. 

As for the bookies and their infinite wisdom, favourite to win the award is Alicia Vikander for her role in Tom Hooper's The Danish Girl, contradicting Kate Winslet's win most recently at the BAFTA's whilst being fundamentally strange with Vikander's role in The Danish Girl no doubt being much more than one that is just supporting. You are a strange bunch you Oscar voters you. As for those who have been overlooked over the course of the past year or so, Vikander herself should have been recognised for her portrayal of Ava in the brilliant Ex Machina as either leading or supporting actress depending on your POV, whilst Marion Cotillard and Rebecca Hall both gave rip-roaring performances in Macbeth and The Gift respectively and could have easily been noted by this years' ceremony. But hey, they can't always be right can they? The nominations this year are: 

Rachel McAdams - Spotlight

Rooney Mara - Carol

Kate Winslet - Steve Jobs

Jennifer Jason Leigh - The Hateful Eight

Alicia Vikander - The Danish Girl

Next Time: Best Actor!

Film Review: The Danish Girl

"I Think Lily's Thoughts, I Dream Her Dreams. She Was Always There..."

Beginning with The King's Speech and continuing with Les Miserables, director Tom Hooper has now gained the rather envious typecast of being a filmmaker who is infatuated with the award season and the ultimate array of glory and praise that follows it at every turn. Add into the mix last year's Oscar winner for Best Actor, Eddie Redmayne, and a story focusing on the tragedy of love, desire and ultimately, human identity, it would be easy to assume that The Danish Girl would be another success story for Hooper at this year's incoming award season yet the reality is, superb acting aside, Hooper's latest is unfortunately a rather plodding, shallow and cold adaptation of David Ebershoff's 2000 novel of the same name which focuses upon the life of Danish painters Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener and the struggle of the former's attempt at gender reassignment surgery, one of the first recorded persons to have done so back in the mid-1920's.

It's hard to examine The Danish Girl as anything other than a rather disappointing experience, with the hype of a emotional, compelling drama led by the brilliance of both Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander being completely overshadowed by the lack of distinct emotion within the plot resulting in there neither being a sense of sympathy or empathy for the character of Lili/Einar even when played flawlessly by Eddie Redmayne. It is certainly strange for the pedigree of an actor such as Redmayne to convey a character so well on-screen yet still failing at any attempt to convert similar emotions onto the viewer, showing that perhaps the weak script is the central problem is failing to resonate any true feelings towards the film. Furthermore, the film's central performance arguably is not from Redmayne himself and instead, is that of Vikander, the ambiguous, titular Danish Girl perhaps, who seems to be the easier of the two to fully embrace and understand resulting in a conflicting battle between a love for the acting and disappointment at the script.

In a roundabout sort of way, The Danish Girl is a fine example of a movie that is solely saved by the pedigree of its' cast rather than that of it's script and emotional impact, showing that for all its' weaknesses, Tom Hooper's latest will indeed carry on his proud awards success but for it's acting alone, with The Danish Girl saved from being a forgettable, drab biographical, built only on the reputation of Hooper thanks to both Vikander and Redmayne. Oscar wins? Maybe not, but nominations is a sure thing, evident by their recognition by the Golden Globes, yet if wins were secured by either actor, it would only be remembered as a win for "that film about gender reassignment", not the legacy I'm sure Hooper intended.

Overall Score: 5/10