Best in Film of 2015: Our Choices

It was a pretty wide open race this year at the Oscars; aside from Leonardo DiCaprio being a runaway victor for Best Actor. Best Picture was wide open, with “The Revenant”, “Spotlight”, “The Big Short” and “Mad Max: Fury Road” all as legitimate contenders.

Although there were many winners we would have picked differently, there was one category that was a supreme disappointment and an utter disgrace in our books: Best Supporting Actor.

Sylvester Stallone being shafted for the Oscar will go down as one of the biggest oversights of all-time, along with “Citizen Kate” and “Reds” for Best Picture (1941, 1981). Here are our thoughts on his performance:

“It shows the beauty of human nature; the depth of our hearts and our soul, and our willingness help others, and in the end, survive.” – Charlotte Zang  

“It was the most genuine, heartfelt and natural performance of this year. It moved me more than any other performance in the past five years.” – Alex Knudsen

“Stallone’s performance is the most heartfelt of 2015. No showboating, no upstaging and no gimmicks; just painfully honest and impossible to forget.” – Kyle Kenyon 

Without further ado, here are OUR nominations and winners for the Best in Film in 2015!

Kyle’s Nominations and Winners

*Winners

Best Picture

• *Creed
• Room
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• 45 Years
• Victoria
• Bone Tomahawk
• Inside Out
• Bridge of Spies
• Straight Outta Compton
• Steve Jobs

Best Actor

• Michael Fassbender – Steve Jobs
• Bryan Cranston – Trumbo
• *Jason Segel – The End of the Tour
• Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant
• Michael B. Jordan – Creed

Best Actress

• *Brie Larson – Room
• Cate Blanchett – Carol
• Charlotte Rampling – 45 Years
• Saoirse Ronan – Brooklyn
• Laia Costa – Victoria

Best Director

• Ryan Coogler – Creed
• *Lenny Abrahamson – Room
• George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road
• Adam McKay – The Big Short
• Kyle Patrick Alvarez – The Stanford Prison Experiment

Best Supporting Actor

• *Sylvester Stallone – Creed
• Jason Mitchell – Straight Outta Compton
• Abraham Attah – Beasts of No Nation
• Tom Hardy – The Revenant
• Richard Jenkins – Bone Tomahawk

Best Supporting Actress

• Helen Mirren – Trumbo
• *Kate Winslet – Steve Jobs
• Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight
• Alicia Vikander – Ex Machina
• Olivia Cooke – Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Best Cinematography

• The Hateful Eight
• *Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Revenant
• Beasts of No Nation
• Bridge of Spies

Best Screenplay

• *Steve Jobs
• Inside Out
• What We Do In The Shadows
• The End of the Tour
• Room

Best Original Score

• The Hateful Eight
• *Mad Max: Fury Road
• Bridge of Spies
• It Follows
• Inside Out

Best Production Design

• Carol
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Hateful Eight
• *Anomalisa
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Best Editing

• The Big Short
• Spotlight
• *Mad Max: Fury Road
• Creed
• Straight Outta Compton

Best Documentary

• Twinsters
• *Cartel Land
• Best of Enemies
• Finders Keepers
• Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief

Best Visual Effects

• *The Walk
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Revenant
• Ex Machina

Best Costume Design

• *Carol
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens
• Brooklyn
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Hateful Eight

Best Hair and Makeup

• *The Revenant
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens
• Mad Max: Fury Road

Alex’s Nominations and Winners

*Winners

Best Picture

• Bone Tomahawk
• Brooklyn
• Carol
• Creed
• Creep
• Love & Mercy
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• * The Revenant
• Room
• Steve Jobs

Best Actor

• Bryan Cranston – Trumbo
• John Cusack – Love & Mercy
• Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant
• * Michael Fassbender – Steve Jobs
• Jason Segel – The End of the Tour

Best Actress

• Cate Blanchett – Carol
• *Brie Larson – Room
• Rooney Mara – Carol
• Saoirse Ronan – Brooklyn
• Charlize Theron – Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Director

• Lenny Abrahamson – Room
• Danny Boyle – Steve Jobs
• * Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu – The Revenant
• Todd Haynes – Carol
• George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Supporting Actor

• Christian Bale – The Big Short
• Tom Hardy – The Revenant
• Jason Mitchell – Straight Outta Compton
• * Sylvester Stallone – Creed
• Jason Statham – Spy

Best Supporting Actress

• Elizabeth Banks – Love & Mercy
• Olivia Cooke – Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
• * Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight
• Kristen Stewert – Clouds of Sila Maria
• Kate Winslet – Steve Jobs

Best Cinematography

• Beasts of No Nation
• Carol
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• * The Revenant
• Room

Best Screenplay

• The Big Short
• Bone Tomahawk
• Carol
• Room
• * Steve Jobs

Best Original Score

• * Carol
• The Revenant
• Room
• Sicario
• Steve Jobs

Best Production Design

• Carol
• Brooklyn
• * Crimson Peak
• Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
• Ex Machina

Best Editing

• The Big Short
• *Mad Max: Fury Road
• Room
• Spotlight
• Steve Jobs

Best Visual Effects

• Crimson Peak
• Ex Machina
• The Martian
• * The Revenant
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Best Costume Design

• Carol
• Bone Tomahawk
• Crimson Peak
• * Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Revenant

Charlotte’s Nominations and Winners

Best Picture

• Brooklyn
• Crimson Peak
• Ex Machina
• Goodnight Mommy
• The Hateful 8
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Martian
• Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
• * The Revenant
• Room

Best Actor

• * Matt Damon – The Martian
• Jacob Tremblay – Room
• Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant
• Tom Hiddleston – Crimson Peak
• Michael B. Jordan – Creed

Best Actress

• Cate Blanchett – Carol
• Brie Larson – Room
• Alicia Vikander – Ex Machina
• * Saoirse Ronan – Brooklyn
• Charlize Theron – Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Director

• Lenny Abrahamson – Room
• John Crowley – Brooklyn
• * Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu – The Revenant
• Quentin Tarantino – The Hateful 8
• George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Supporting Actor

• Christian Bale – The Big Short
• Walton Goggins – The Hateful 8
• Jason Mitchell – Straight Outta Compton
• * Sylvester Stallone – Creed
• Benecio Del Toro – Sicario

Best Supporting Actress

• Elizabeth Banks – Love & Mercy
• Jessica Chastain – Crimson Peak
• * Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight
• Kristen Stewert – Clouds of Sila Maria
• Kate Winslet – Steve Jobs

Best Cinematography

• Crimson Peak
• * The Hateful 8
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Revenant
• Slow West

Best Screenplay

• The Martian
• Creed
• The Hateful 8
• * Room
• The Revenant

Best Original Score

• Crimson Peak
• * The Hateful 8
• It Follows
• Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter
• The Martian

Best Production Design

• Carol
• * Crimson Peak
• Ex Machina
• The Hateful 8
• Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Best Editing

• The Big Short
• * Mad Max: Fury Road
• Sicario
• The Revenant
• Spotlight

Best Visual Effects

• Jurassic World
• * Ex Machina
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Revenant
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Best Costume Design

• Carol
• * Crimson Peak
• The Hateful 8
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Martian

 

 

 

 

The Full Circle of Sylvester Stallone

Sometimes an iconic role can be a blessing or a curse. In the case of the role of ‘Rocky Balboa’ and Sylvester Stallone, it proved to be some of both over the last 40 years. Stallone burst on the scene in 1976 writing one of the greatest American films of all-time in “Rocky”, earning an Oscar Nomination for the script and a Best Actor Nomination for his subtle and heartwarming performance. The film went on to win multiple Oscars, including Best Picture and catapulted Stallone to the top of Hollywood’s A List.

Stallone tackled a few dramatic roles (“F.I.S.T.”, “Nighthawks”) and started his directorial career with “Paradise Alley” from his own script. Then…..came the 80’s, by far and away the worst decade in the history of American film. The decade when the American ‘Action film’ and sequels came into prominence. After the underrated and forgotten greatness of “First Blood”; the first in the ‘Rambo’ franchise, Stallone’s career curtailed into sequels, action films and his characters started to become caricatures of his previous roles.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love me some “Cobra” and can’t be the only one dying for a “Tango and Cash Pt.2”, but it’s always been sad for me to see Stallone the ‘artist’ so quickly forgotten, to become known solely as Stallone the ‘action hero’. I can’t tell you how many times over the years people have laughed at me when I remark about how great of an actor Stallone is/was. Each time I would ask, “when is the last team you’ve seen “Rocky”? And, not “Rocky III or IV”, the 1976 Best Picture winner “Rocky”?”

The responses I would get would range from:

• “Rocky won Best Picture?” to…
• “I’ve never seen that one.” Or….
• “When I was a kid.”

If any of those are remotely close to your answer, just slow your roll and do yourself a huge favor and revisit that brilliant film.

THEN – go see “Creed”!!! Fresh off his brilliant, celebrated and award winning feature “Fruitvale Station”, director Ryan Coogler and star Michael B. Jordan took on the risky and challenging task of rebooting the ‘Rocky’ franchise. Coogler fashioned a script that focuses on the life of Adonis Creed (Jordan), the son of the late Apollo (Carl Weathers), former champion and best friend of Rocky Balboa. Coogler made the brave and incredibly smart decision of having the character of Rocky take the supporting role as Adonis’s mentor.

The biggest task of course was to convince Stallone to come back for a seventh installment from a script he didn’t write (the only one), take a back seat to Jordan’s ‘Adonis’ and allow Rocky to become an older, passive and sorrowful man. Coogler sold Stallone on the film by conveying how personal the “Rocky” franchise was to him and his family, and how the concept of the story was bore out of a very serious scenario with his father.

I’m thankful that Coogler sold Stallone on the script, because “Creed” is a brilliantly crafted film that, at once lives on it’s own, while still paying homage to “Rocky” and the heart of the franchise as a whole. Despite the brilliantly filmed boxing sequences, like it’s predecessor, “Creed” is not a boxing movie; it is a drama. The reason “Rocky” won Best Picture and has endured the test of time; still remaining one of the greatest of all American film ever made, is because it is a human story; a truthful story of love, friendship, family and overcoming one’s fear, insecurities and anger to face them head on, regardless of the outcome. Coogler’s “Creed” encompasses all of these traits, while making them relevant to today.

“Creed” has received unanimous praise from critics and moviegoer’s alike, bringing Ryan Coogler’s talents even more into the spotlight, while reinforcing the growing star of Michael B. Jordan. However, the true standout here is Sylvester Stallone as the aging ex-champion Rocky Balboa.

Stallone has reminded (or introduced to) everyone of just how great of an actor he can be. He delivers a poignant, heart-wrenching performance of a man with so little left in his life, confronting his own mortality, while finding what it is that keeps us going when so much has been lost in our lives. What’s so impressive about Stallone’s performance is just how subtle and nuanced it is. Nothing is overplayed here and no moment is (sorry for this) “Over the Top” (had to!).

I’ve never forgotten or taken for granted Stallone as a talented actor, but even I was surprised that it was he who reminded me of what a truly remarkable performance is made of; the truth. Without giving anything away, there are moments in “Creed” that are tailor made situations for an actor to delivery the classic ‘Oscar Scene’, filled with heightened emotions, animated physicality and verbose speeches. Stallone faces these moments and situations head on as a real human being; a real aging man who has dealt with his own personal loss. Watching these moments hit a spot of truthful reflection inside myself that I rarely get to experience during a film. Not that I don’t feel emotions while watching other films/performances; as this is the reason I love film so much, but ones that feel like a mirror to my life and what I’ve actually felt in similar situations.

The circle of the iconic role has now come full circle. The role of ‘Rocky Balboa’ brought Sylvester Stallone praise, fame, respect and an Oscar Nomination. In the 80’s/90’s it brought him parody and threw him into a cycle of ‘Action’ roles that were far from challenging, which in turn took him out of the public’s eye as a ‘real’ actor. Now, 40 years later, the role of ‘Rocky Balboa’ has returned him to universal critical acclaim, reminded everyone that he is a great actor and may very well bring him another Oscar Nomination for playing the same role he did back in 1976.

Don’t believe me? Maybe you’ll believe some more ‘reputable’ film critics:

2015 Best Supporting Actor – National Board of Reviews

2015 Best Supporting Actor – Boston Online Film Critics Association 

• “Sylvester Stallone didn’t write or direct “Creed,” and he’s not even the star of it, but he’s the one people will be talking about for days afterward. His portrayal of Rocky Balboa as an old, tired man, who has been beaten into some true wisdom, is heartfelt but in no way corny. The performance is the apotheosis of everything Stallone has meant to people in almost 40 years onscreen.” – Mike LaSalle “San Francisco Chronicle”
• “It’s been so long since “Rocky” first hit the screen—almost 40 years—and the franchise went on for so long, unto self-parody, that it’s easy to forget what a phenomenon Rocky Balboa once was, and what a formidable actor and writer Sylvester Stallone proved to be. For those who remember, “Creed” will be a special treat. – Joe Morgenstern, “The Wall Street Journal”
• “What’s really remarkable about the performance by Stallone is how quiet it is. Here, the script is very subtle, and Stallone is more than up to the task. He never overplays the emotional material, and age has made him fascinating. His eyes do all the work now, and there is real sorrow in there. There’s one scene in particular that Stallone plays where it feels like, no matter what the actual words are, he’s talking about his own relationship with his son Sage, who passed away in 2012, and there’s a vulnerability to this version of Rocky that I don’t think we’ve ever seen from Stallone before. I’m not sure I would have used the word “beautiful” to describe him before, but the way he opens himself up here is perhaps the best onscreen work he’s ever done. And, yeah… it’s beautiful.” – Drew McWeeny, “Hitflix”
• “…the film reminds us that, employed by the right director, Sylvester Stallone can be a wonderful actor. Stallone brings us back to his first, Oscar-nominated turn as Rocky, and his intimate knowledge of his character shines through in every frame. He is really, really good here. – Odie Henderson, “com”
• “Jordan and Stallone (looser and more vulnerable than he’s been in 30 years) give the film an undeniable, lump-in-the-throat poignancy. In the end it’s a movie about legacy, and it more than preserves the Rocky franchise’s. It reminds you why it was great in the first place.” – Chris Nashawaty – “Entertainment Weekly”
• “Despite his professional accomplishments, Rocky is a tragic figure — he has been pummeled by loss and tragedy in his personal life — but he finds a way to keep going, refusing to succumb to self-pity and depression. Stallone captures all those facets of his character in Creed, keeping Rocky’s charisma and charm front and center — he’s a genuinely funny, pleasant guy — while reminding you of the pain he harbors inside.” – Rene Rodriguez, “Miami Herald”
• “Stallone will always be best known as Rocky. And for the first time in decades, he’s amazing in the role, giving heartfelt speeches and adding a pathos not seen since the early films. It’s a reminder that Stallone at his core is much more than the macho action hero Millennial moviegoers grew up watching.” – Brian Truitt, “USA Today”
• “But his truest comrade is Stallone, who’s wonderful here. Rocky Balboa is the most vivid character of Stallone’s lifetime, and he slips right into it like a pair of sweats that have permanently taken the shape of their owner. Stallone’s face doesn’t have the loose softness that it should, considering he’s 69. He’s worked too hard at preserving the firmness of youth, when what made his mug so beautiful in the first place was its shy, revealing malleability. Even so, it’s a kisser with some character: It looks stylized, like a 1976 artist’s rendering of what Rocky Balboa might look like in 2015. Sometimes you need an old dude to create a context for beautiful young people. Stallone does that, and more, in Creed. Looks like another love TKO.” – Stephanie Zacharek, “Time”
• “Stallone feels more like a star than he has in years” – Jake Cole, “Slant Magazine”

 

 

Top 10 Films of 1991 – The Ladies List

We will often bring you guest bloggers to our site. Charlotte Zang and Leslie Knudsen are our first guests. After seeing me and Kyle’s Top 10 lists for 1991, they both felt compelled to share theirs. Here they are:

Leslie’s Top 10 – 1991

1.Thelma & Louise
2. The Prince of Tides
3. The Silence of the Lambs
4. Boyz n the Hood
5. What About Bob?
6. Only the Lonely
7. Rush
8. Cape Fear
9. Mortal Thoughts
10. Jungle Fever

Charlotte’s Top 10 – 1991

    1. The Silence of the Lambs

    2. Barton Fink

    3. The Doors

    4. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

    5. The Double Life of Veronique

    6. Fried Green Tomatoes

    7. Naked Lunch

    8. Cape Fear

    9. Thelma & Louise

    10. The Man in the Moon

Top 10 Films of 1991 – Retrospective List

Alex’s Top 10 – 1991

1. The Silence of the Lambs
2. Barton Fink
3. Grand Canyon
4. The Doors
5. Defending Your Life
6. Backdraft
7. What About Bob?
8. Prince of Tides
9. Shadows and Fog
10. Thelma & Louise

Kyle’s Top 10 – 1991

1. The Silence of the Lambs
2. My Girl
3. Terminator 2: Judgment Day
4. Naked Gun 2 1/2
5. Hook
6. Backdraft
7. Beauty & the Beast
8. Dutch
9. Barton Fink
10. Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken

Top 10 Films of 1990 – Retrospective List

I firmly believe the 80’s were by far and away, the worst decade in the history of film. After the surge of independent artistry of the last 60’s and 70’s, with studios backing creative and brilliant writers and directors, the 80’s decided to take a huge dump on American filmmaking and individual expression. So, it comes as no surprise to me that 1990 was a pretty rough year. As with any year, there are always going to be great and standout films, but as a collective whole, this year was shit! There’s no reason I should have to include “Flatliners” on my Top 10 list, but after surveying every release from this year, I had no choice. Now, I love The Bac’s and Jack Bauer as much as anyone, but this film should be at the tail end of a Top 50, not a Top 10.

Anyhow, without further ado….here is your first Top 10 Lists for the ‘The New History of Film’.

– Alex Knudsen

Alex’s Top 10 – 1990

1. Dances with Wolves
2. Reversal of Fortune
3. The Godfather Part III
4. La Femme Nikita
5. Wild at Heart
6. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
7. Darkman
8. Flatliners
9. I Love You to Death
10. Back to the Future Part III

Kyle’s Top 10 – 1990

1. Edward Scissorhands
2. Miller’s Crossing
3. Misery
4. Dances With Wolves
5. Hamlet
6. Back to the Future Part III
7. The Rescuers Down Under
8. Ghost
9. Days of Thunder
10. The Godfather Part III

Welcome to Best Film Lists!

Alex, Matt, Kyle