The Big Short Review

The Big Short is one of eight films nominated for the accolade of Best Picture at the upcoming Oscars. It is also probably the most star-studded cast of the nominees with Hollywood A listers Christian Bale, Brad Pitt and Ryan Gosling taking up main roles in the film. But does the film really deserve to be nominated especially for such a huge honour that the Best Picture category is?

The Big Short is based on the economic collapse in America during 2008. It features Christian Bale as Michael Burry, a anti social oddity who comes across a large of number of subprime home loans that are in great danger of defaulting. By realising this he decides to bank against many of the banks that the housing scheme will crumble with many taking him on as the offer seemed too good to pass by. This attracts the attention of Jeremy Vennett (Ryan Gosling), Mark Baum (Steve Carrell) and other greedy opportunists who are looking to become rich if this situation comes true. They all have the same aim, to get rich off of this economic disaster. 

The Big Short tries to make the banking and what ever else is going on seem interesting. I say tries because not at all times does it succeed. I guess you kind of have to have a knowledge of certain terms to fully appreciate what is going on but I don't even know if that would make it more interesting to be honest. The film does try and use some celebrity cameos, such as Margot Robbie in a bath to explain........erm...... ugh I'm not perfectly sure. I think many people would be focusing on something else rather than the explanation of the certain terms being used in the films. The film used this style a few times to try and explain what was going on which I do think was a good idea and could've worked well. I just don't think that the source material is particularly interesting enough to draw you in and failed to do so with me. Overall the film really isn't that interesting but the effort to try and make it so is admirable but unfortunately I didn't feel worked. 

I would most definitely say that this films success is mainly down to the talent portraying these characters. Christian Bale was excellent in his role as this oddball genius who under covers this many years before it happens. He is great as he works out these equations and numbers whilst simultaneously rocking out in his office whilst his employees sit in shock as they look at this genius. My only complaint is that I wanted to see more of his character. I don't feel he was in it enough and the film would've been more enjoyable if he had been in it for longer.

Christian Bale as Michael Burry

Ryan Gosling was also great in this film as Jeremy Vennett who goes around bringing this possibility to many investors and trying to get people to back the idea of the housing situation crumbling. Gosling's charisma in this role worked perfectly and was also used a lot of the time for comedic effect. His smart arse ways were great to watch as well as his breaking of the fourth wall to narrate what was going on in certain scenes. He certainly brought some life and humour to the film which at times it really needed. Steve Carrell continues to prove that he is an incredible dramatic actor in this film as he is great once again. He may very well of been nominated had it not been for Christian Bale beating him to it. Who would've thought that the guy who loved lamp in Anchorman and 'The 40 Year Old Virgin' would become one of the top serious actors? Brad Pitt was also very good as Ben Rickert, a former banker who has came back to help two up and comers try and make some money. Although his character dislikes what banking does, he has no qualms participating and helping being a part of the greediness involved. This does not take anything away from Pitt as he produced a strong performance. 

Carrell and Gosling were both great.

The Big Short is directed by Adam McKay, director of films such as both Anchormans, Step Brothers and The Other Guys. As you can see these are mainly comedy films which makes it surprising to see him go for quite a serious movie with quite a little opportunity to make quips and jokes. He does bring a unique style to this film with his use of camera work throughout the film, some working better than others. You can see him bringing traits from previous films over with him such as breaking away from reality to allow a character to speak directly to the audience. This I feel worked well and did actually work well. However there was something that McKay continued to do that I didn't feel added anything to the product. At times, the camera would be focussing on characters talking and the camera would not stay still and would continue to move around whilst the dialogue was still going on. This often made the camera blurred and take time to refocus and I don't really see what this did to add to the film. I definitely feel that this is something it could've done without. The film as well used a lot of what seemed like slides and many cuts to either explain or show a passing in time which I do feel worked fairly well. 

I don't feel this film really should of been up for Best Picture. Maybe that's due to eight nominees being far too many when every other category has just the five. I really don't feel that the film is that great especially with who it is up against, I feel that it is easily dwarfed by many of the other contenders. I was fairly disappointed with this film in all honesty. I had looked forward to this film for a long time and I don't feel it lived up to my expectations. Maybe that was due to the Oscar nomination which may have built it up a whole lot more for me. The film isn't bad, I just don't feel it is quite at the level it has been put at.

The Big Short at times made the audience feel like this

Final verdict: The Big Short = C

The performances in this film is most certainly the best part of this film which struggles to create much interest. This isn't entirely the films fault as the concept isn't really that intriguing as a whole. I wouldn't rush to go out and see this one and personally don't see myself re-watching this any time soon.

So there are my thoughts about 'The Big Short', if you have seen it what did you think of it? Do you feel that it was rightfully nominated in the Oscars? Once again thank you for reading, it means a lot!

By Angus McGregor

Oscar 2016 Predictions!

February 28th marks the day of the Oscars presented by Chris Rock. It is always surrounded with much publicity as it is probably the biggest event in the world of entertainment. There is also much debate to who will pick up the illustrious awards this year with the categories being filled with fierce competition. Instead of just giving my own predictions, I thought I would turn it into a bit of fun and invite a couple of my friends and fellow film enthusiasts to give their predictions as well. We haven't seen every film that has been nominated or has someone nominated in it but we'll still try our best with our predictions. Due to this we won't be doing every award as if none of us have seen any of the candidates there isn't much of a point in going over it. So lets get started!

So there will be four of us doing predictions. Obviously one will be myself. The three others are my friends and fellow college students Michael, Drew and Billy. This is all just a bit of fun for four movie fans at the biggest event of the year. I will be giving a slight insight to what has made me decide on my picks. I will only be doing the main categories as it would end up being far too long to put reasoning for each of us on each category. The other categories that we will be predicting will be in a table at the bottom for a quick summary of our picks.

Best Picture: Nominees: The Big Short, Brooklyn, Bridge of Spies, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, The Revenant, Room, Spotlight

There's no better place to start than with Best Picture. This is considered the biggest of them all as it represents all the directing, acting, music composing, writing etc put forth into a film.

Angus: Spotlight: For me, I feel that Spotlight should win this award. This came down to The Revenant and Spotlight for this accolade. It was a tough one but I decided to go for the one that I felt was a better movie and had a bigger impact on me . And that was Spotlight. In my heart I really wanted to go with Mad Max and I would absolutely love it if it were to win.

Michael: Spotlight

Drew: The Revenant

Billy: Room

Best Actor: Nominees: Bryan Cranston, Leonardo Di Caprio, Matt Damon, Michael Fassbender, Eddie Redmayne

Second is the Best Actor award currently held by Eddie Redmayne. He is up for it again but did any of us think he had what it takes to retain his crown? Or would a certain Leonardo Di Caprio finally scoop up the award?

Angus: Leonardo Di Caprio (The Revenant): My pick for this award is Leonardo Di Caprio. However I don't feel that he should. I feel that there were better performances in this category. But I am going with my head here and I think that this will finally be Leo's time.

Michael: Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)

Drew: Leonardo Di Caprio (The Revenant)

Billy: Leonardo Di Caprio (The Revenant)

Best Actress: Nominees: Cate Blanchett, Charlotte Rampling, Brie Larson, Saorise Ronan, Jennifer Lawrence

Best Actress is next which is currently being held by Julianne Moore. There is no possibility of that happening two years in a row but there is a chance for both Cate Blanchett and Jennifer Lawrence to pick up a second Best Actress award.

Angus: Saorise Ronan (Brooklyn): I am not entirely sure about this category due to unfortunately not being able to catch many of the movies. This is just me really going out on a limb here for my pick. I have heard many good things about Ronan's performance and look forward to seeing this in the future.

Michael: Jennifer Lawrence (Joy)

Drew: Jennifer Lawerence (Joy)

Billy: Jennifer Lawrence (Joy)

Best Supporting Actor: Nominees: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Rylance, Sylvester Stallone

Christian Bale is the only one to have lifted this award before and looks to do so again this year. He faces a lot of tough competition in what is one of the most competitive categories this year.

Angus: Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight): I think that Mark Ruffalo deserves this award. I loved his performance in Spotlight and thought he was really great. And if he doesn't win, lets just hope he doesn't get angry....

Michael: Christian Bale (The Big Short)

Drew: Tom Hardy (The Revenant)

Billy: Christian Bale (The Big Short)

Best Supporting Actress: Nominees: Rachel McAdams, Kate Winslet, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Alicia Vikander, Rooney Mara

Angus: Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl): This was one of the toughest categories for me to decide. It was between Vikander, McAdams and Winslet all the way as I loved all three of their performances and could hardly separate them. Alicia Vikander is my favourite actress right now and due to that, it gave her the edge over very tough competition.

Michael: Rachel McAdams (Spotlight)

Drew: Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

Billy: Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)

Best Director: Nominees: George Miller, Lenny Abrahamson, Tom McCarthy, Adam McKay, Alejandro G Inarritu

Angus: Alejandro G Inarritu (The Revenant): I really really want to go with George Miller here for Mad Max but I do think that Inaritu will pick up his second Oscar in a row in this category.

Michael: Alejandro G Inarritu (The Revenant)

Drew: Alejandro G Inarritu (The Revenant)

Billy: Alejandro G Inarritu (The Revenant)

Category	Angus	Michael	Drew	Billy
Best Picture	Spotlight	Spotlight	The Revenant	Room
Best Actor	Leonardo Di Caprio (The Revenant)	Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)	Leonardo Di Caprio (The Revenant)	Leonardo Di Caprio (The Revenant)
Best Actress	Saorise Ronan (Brooklyn)	Jennifer Lawrence (Joy)	Jennifer Lawrence (Joy)	Jennifer Lawrence (Joy)
Best Supporting Actor	Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)	Christian Bale (The Big Short)	Tom Hardy (The Revenant)	Christian Bale (The Big Short)
Best Supporting Actress	Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)	Rachel McAdams (Spotlight)	Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)	Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)
Cinematography	Emmanuel Lubezki (The Revenant)	John Seale (Mad Max: Fury Road)	Emmanuel Lubezki (The Revenant)	Emmanuel Lubezki (The Revenant)
Best Director	Alejandro G Inarritu (The Revenant)	Alejandro G Inarritu (The Revenant)	Alejandro G Inarritu (The Revenant)	Alejandro G Inarritu (The Revenant)
Costume Design	Jacqueline West (The Revenant)	Jenny Beaven (Mad Max: Fury Road)	Jenny Beaven (Mad Max: Fury Road)	Jenny Beaven (Mad Max: Fury Road)
Make-up and Hairstyling	Siân Grigg, Duncan Jarman and Robert Pandini (The Revenant)	Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega and Damian Martin (Mad Max: Fury Road)	Siân Grigg, Duncan Jarman and Robert Pandini (The Revenant)	Siân Grigg, Duncan Jarman and Robert Pandini (The Revenant)
Music Original Score	John Williams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)	John Williams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)	Ennio Morricone (The Hateful Eight)	Ennio Morricone (The Hateful Eight)
Production Design	Arthur Max and Celia Bobak (The Martian)	Jack Fisk and Hamish Purdy (The Revenant)	Arthur Max and Celia Bobak (The Martian)	Arthur Max and Celia Bobak (The Martian)
Visual Effects	Andrew Jackson, Tom Wood, Dan Oliver and Andy Williams (Mad Max: Fury Road)	Andrew Jackson, Tom Wood, Dan Oliver and Andy Williams (Mad Max: Fury Road)	Andrew Jackson, Tom Wood, Dan Oliver and Andy Williams (Mad Max: Fury Road)	Andrew Whitehurst, Paul Norris, Mark Ardington and Sara Bennett (Ex_Machina)
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)	Emma Donoghue (Room)	Charles Randolph and Adam McKay (The Big Short)	Drew Goddard (The Martian)	Drew Goddard (The Martian)
Writing (Original Screenplay)	Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)	Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)	Matt Charman, Joel Coen, Ethan Coen (Bridge Of Spies)	Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley; Ronnie del Carmen (Inside Out)

Some very different picks and not a lot of the same in most categories. It will certainly be interesting to see what is picked to win the illustrious awards. This has just added a little extra spice to the whole event. Only one category was unanimously picked and that was Best Director. It shall be interesting to see how this all pans out.

So those are our picks. Please feel free to leave your picks for the categories in the comments and also if you agree or disagree with anything please say. Thanks for taking the time to read our picks for the 2016 Oscars, it means a lot. I'd also like to thank Michael, Drew and Billy for giving their time to predict the winners for this blog post. Please check out my reviews for some of the films nominated such as 'Spotlight', 'The Revenant' and 'The Danish Girl' Once again thanks for reading!

By Angus McGregor

Spotlight Review

Spotlight was one of the films I was most looking forward to this Oscar season. A great cast telling the story of a true and very serious event. Nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars alongside Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams being nominated for their supporting roles. But would the film be worthy of being in the spotlight as it is right now?

Spotlight stars Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber and Stanley Tucci. It is the telling of a Boston newspaper team investigating allegations about priest John Geoghan who had been accused of molesting more than 80 children. The investigation leads them to discover more stories to this and unveil a truly horrific story. They soon discover that there is decades worth of hidden crimes all similar to Geoghans as they work to expose the abusers and the Catholic church. To do so they face many obstacles such as lawyers, getting the stories from victims and also hidden documents showing proof of the disgusting acts done by these members of the Catholic church. 

The Spotlight team

This film is 100% worth seeing. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Being from Scotland, I had small knowledge of these events but never to these extents. People need to see this film to know the full extent of what happened by these horrible people. Although it takes place in one city it gives a massive impact on what happened. A very serious subject matter and the film does an absolutely fantastic job at showing this. But not to the extent that it becomes tedious, the film keeps you very interested at all moments. This film deserves all the praise that it is getting and it's Best Picture nomination is so well deserved. In fact it is my pick to scoop up the award, I feel it is that good. It is a very well put together film and is definitely worth seeing as soon as possible.

The performances in Spotlight are great. Mark Ruffalo has won my pick for Best Supporting Actor in the Oscars due to the performance. He was truly magnificent in this role and I'm not just talking about his great talent of holding a phone between his shoulder and ear. He produced a fantastic performance which I feel is Oscar worthy. The scene when it has all been discovered and he loses his cool is just amazing. Rachel McAdams was the only other performance nominated for an Oscar which was also well deserved. Her character was much more comforting and focussed on the victims to get them to open up about these attacks.  She played her role fantastically and in my book, was worthy of the nomination she received.

Mark Ruffalo with an Oscar worthy performance

Michael Keaton once again was very good. It looks as if we're going to get fantastic movies from him each year now which is great following up from Birdman. Liev Schrieber also produced a solid performance although he didn't appear in the film as much as the other characters did or as much as I hoped he would. Performances from the likes of Stanley Tucci, Brian D'Arcy and John Slattery were also very good. I also feel a credit to Neal Huff who played Phil Saviano who did a great job at playing a victim who seemed slightly unhinged and unsure whether to be trusted as a legitimate source. Overall the performances in Spotlight work incredibly well and are very good all around.

This movie is indeed quite frightening due to the subject matter. Over 80 accounts of molestation happening in one city is so incredibly scaring. You might think that it's only just the one city but the film then goes to prove that it is a worldwide thing and not just specifically Boston. I don't think I've ever felt a film hit me harder than at the end of the film where a list of all of the cities affected by these crimes were put on screen. Once I seen the city that I was watching the film in, it really hit me and set me back. As Mark Ruffalo's character says it in the film, it could've been anyone. That to me is terrifying as it really could of happened to anyone in dozens of countries. There is also a very haunting part in this film where we see the complete innocence of children in a church singing Christmas carols unaware to the danger that they may of possibly been in whilst being overlooked by these priests.

McAdams, Keaton and Ruffalo were all great.

I do feel that at the start of the film it was a bit slow, it did seem to take a bit of time for it to finally kick in and get rolling. I also feel that Liev Schreiber was missing for quite a bit of the film considering it was his character who pushed for this case to be put forward. I found this strange as I thought he'd have taken more of an interest and given a bit more help in this case. Overall I don't have many complaints!

Final verdict: Spotlight = A
A phenomenal film telling a very scary, true event, I highly recommend seeing this film as it is spectacular. I really hope this film does well at the Oscars as it thoroughly deserves to do so.
A must see!

So have you seen Spotlight? If so what did you think of it? If you haven't I hope this review has encouraged you to now go and see it. Once again thank you very much for reading, it is much appreciated!

By Angus McGregor