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The 2016 Oscars are almost here! Will it finally be the year of Leonardo DiCaprio? Can 70-year-old George Miller win for Mad Max: Fury Road? Does Alejandro G. Iñárritu deserve two Oscars in a row? Here's your chance to celebrate the best movies of the year like you're in charge! Vote for your favourites in the Hindustan Times Oscars and show your love for the movies.
Ladies and gentlemen, we give you the big four – Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Director. And the Oscar goes to...
The Big Short
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The Big Short may not have made an impossibly difficult subject easy to understand, but its great cast made up of Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell, Brad Pitt and Christian Bale made it a thoroughly entertaining film, uniquely directed by the man who will now forever be known as Academy Award nominee Adam McKay.
CAST
Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling
Brooklyn
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Director John Crowley and star Saoirse Ronan created one of the most affectionate immigrant tales of recent years. Brooklyn was an old-fashioned romance film with detailed costumes and grand sets. It transports you to the different, more cinematic world that we all dream of inhabiting.
CAST
Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen, Domhnall Gleeson
Bridge of Spies
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With Bridge of Spies, director Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks proved themselves once again. With a great script by the Coens, spectacular direction by the master Spielberg and a magnetic leading performance by Tom Hanks it was a rare adult spy drama that managed to stand out in a year of Bonds, Hunts and Eggsys.
CAST
Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Alan Alda
- Spielberg, Tom Hanks keep you spellbound
- Watch Tom Hanks in Spielberg's Cold War chiller Bridge of Spies
The Martian
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If The Martian proved one thing it was this: Matt Damon is a true movie star. And Ridley Scott is a legend. Together, they created a funny, action-packed survival film that goes down as one of the best of its kind.
CAST
Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig
Mad Max: Fury Road
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Same time last year could anyone have predicted that Mad Max: Fury Road would be a best picture nominee? Honestly, how could a movie that’s really one long chase scene about a lizard-eating madman, a modern day Ripley and future Saddam be one of the best movies of the year? We live in funny times.
CAST
Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult
The Revenant
IN SHORT
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The story behind The Revenant would actually make for a more interesting movie than The Revenant itself. That’s not to say The Revenant is not a good movie, it is. It’s actually pretty great. And it will always be remembered as the movie that won Leonardo DiCaprio his long-due Oscar.
CAST
Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter
- Is Leonardo DiCaprio’s The Revenant copied? Video offers 17 clues
- The Revenant leaked: Will it still be a hit?
- The Revenant trailer is breathtaking, all hail Leonardo DiCaprio
- Watch Leonardo DiCaprio fight a bear in The Revenant trailer
Room
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Room is an instant classic, a film so staggeringly good that it deserves more than just a measly Oscar. It made Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay stars and propelled director Lenny Abrahamson to the big leagues. Credit to the Academy for recognising Abrahamson’s towering film about the little things in life.
CAST
Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Sean Bridgers
Spotlight
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Spotlight is a measured and respectful treatment of a very difficult subject, a great showcase for the talents of its fine cast (Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Michael Keaton, Liev Schreiber) and a celebration of fine journalism.
CAST
Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams
- At Venice, sex abuse by priests back in focus with Spotlight
- In the Spotlight: US critics name their best movies of the year
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Bryan Cranston
IN SHORT
HT ON BRYAN CRANSTON
Just one look at Bryan Cranston’s career graph after Breaking Bad is enough to convince us that there is justice in this world. Cranston delivers yet another fantastic performance in a movie that simply can’t attain the same highs.
NOTABLE WORKS
Breaking Bad, Argo, Malcolm in the Middle, Drive
Leonardo DiCaprio
IN SHORT
HT ON LEONARDO
He bled for this role, ate raw bison liver for it, he slept in a stinky animal carcass and was even thrashed around by a CG bear that may or may not have raped him. We’ve all heard the stories. If he doesn’t win this time he’ll never win. This really is Leonardo DiCaprio’s year. Just give it to him already.
NOTABLE WORKS
Inception, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Departed, Titanic
Matt Damon
IN SHORT
HT ON MATT DAMON
Let’s be honest people: Matt Damon carried this movie solely on his two shoulders and reminded us what a great onscreen presence he really has. He balanced drama, comedy and action in a performance that would usually be ignored by the Academy. Not this time though.
NOTABLE WORKS
The Bourne Identity , Saving Private Ryan,Good Will Hunting, The Departed
Michael Fassbender
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HT ON FASSBENDER
While the Academy oddly ignored Danny Boyle’s brilliant Steve Jobs biopic, thankfully they remembered just how great Fassbender was in a role that was an amalgamation of everything the world thinks/admires/believes/hopes about one of the greatest personalities of this age, the titular Steve Jobs.
NOTABLE WORKS
Inglourious Basterds, Prometheus, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: First Class
Eddie Redmayne
IN SHORT
HT ON EDDIE REDMAYNE
Just one year after his Oscar-winning role as Stephen Hawking, Redmayne returns for another go at the Golden Statue. This time he transformed himself even more. He played Lili Elbe, one of the first people to ever undergo a sex reassignment surgery. Another example of a movie that failed to attain the same level of greatness as the performance of its lead.
NOTABLE WORKS
The Theory of Everything, Les Misérables, The Danish Girl, My Week with Marilyn
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Brie Larson
IN SHORT
HT ON BRIE LARSON
The range of depth and emotion Brie Larson displayed in Room is simply legendary. In terms of pure performance, the Oscar should be given to her without any further delay. But since we’re supposed to assume that it’s a level playing field, let’s just pretend the others stand a chance, when really they don’t.
NOTABLE WORKS
21 Jump Street, Short Term 12, The Spectacular Now
Cate Blanchett
IN SHORT
HT ON CATE BLANCHETT
By now, it is pretty safe to assume that Blanchett will always deliver an awards-worthy performance. It helps if that performance comes in a prestige period picture tackling themes of homosexuality and directed by Todd Haynes, an awards favourite himself.
NOTABLE WORKS
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Lord of the Rings trilogy
Charlotte Rampling
IN SHORT
Just the fact that the Academy paid attention to the legendary Charlotte Rampling for her stunning performance in such a small film should be enough. In a perfect world, she would get more than just a nomination, but unfortunately, this was the year Brie Larson decided to break out.
NOTABLE WORKS
Swimming Pool, Melancholia, Melancholia, The Duchess
Jennifer Lawrence
IN SHORT
HT ON JENNIFER LAWRENCE
Another year, another Jennifer Lawrence Oscar-nominated performance in a David O Russell film. But this time, sadly, the film wasn’t as good as the last two times, thereby dashing any hopes Lawrence has of winning.
NOTABLE WORKS
The Hunger Games triology, Silver Linings Playbook
Saoirse Ronan
IN SHORT
HT ON SAOIRSE RONAN
Do you remember Ronan became one of the youngest actors ever to score an Oscar nomination when she was recognised for her role in Atonement? This time as well, the chances of her winning seem slim, but what we can be sure of is a great future.
NOTABLE WORKS
Atonement, Hanna, Brooklyn, The Grand Budapest Hotel
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Tom McCarthy
IN SHORT
HT ON TOM McCARTHY
Not only did McCarthy juggle a hugely talented ensemble cast, a delicate subject matter with great precision, he also cemented his name as one of the most talented independent American directors working right now. The only downside to this is that he wasn’t nominated for a Razzie for The Cobbler as well. That would’ve made for a fun story.
NOTABLE WORKS
- At Venice, sex abuse by priests back in focus with Spotlight
- In the Spotlight: US critics name their best movies of the year
2012, Meet the Parents, Up, Michael Clayton
George Miller
IN SHORT
HT ON GEORGE MILLER
George Miller is 70 years old. Once again, let that sink in. George Miller is 70 years old. And anyone who has seen Mad Max: Fury Road can attest to the fact that it was not a film one rationally expects from a 70-year-old. But through some genius bonkers bravery, he cranked it out, and made a classic action movie.
NOTABLE WORKS
Happy Feet, Mad Max, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
IN SHORT
HT ON INARRITU
Inarritu displayed once again that he is a director with a singular vision. The Revenant is his brainchild. No other director could have made a similar film. His decisions to shoot in remote wilderness, in magic hour, with long takes, and a near-wordless DiCaprio are those only he could have come up with. Can he make it two years in a row?
NOTABLE WORKS
Birdman, Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Babel, Biutiful
- Is The Revenant copied? Video offers 17 clues
- The Revenant leaked: Will it still be a hit?
Lenny Abrahamson
IN SHORT
HT ON ABRAHAMSON
In one of the biggest surprises of this year’s awards, the Academy nominated Irish director Lenny Abrahamson’s role in creating one of the finest films of the last twenty years. And what a wise decision it was, because Abrahamson is a director who continues to push himself with every new film and deserves all the recognition in the world.
NOTABLE WORKS
Frank, What Richard Did, Garage
Adam McKay
IN SHORT
HT ON ADAM McKAY
Let’s take a look at Adam McKay’s filmography. Talladega Nights, Anchorman, Step Brothers and The Other Guys. Not something that would suggest that he would go on to direct a tongue-in-cheek dramedy about the stock market crash and the housing bubble. But he did. And he knocked it out of the park.
NOTABLE WORKS
Talladega Nights, Anchorman, Step Brothers, The Other Guys
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