Oscars Collab Post: Best Actor

The Oscars are taking place tonight and all of the stars are glamouring up to celebrate a great year of film! One of the biggest awards that will take place on the night is the coveted Best Actor award currently held by Casey Affleck. The award has been a mainstay and highlight of the show for years with recent triumphs like Leonardo Di Caprio's eventual win to Tom Hanks historic double win in 1994 and 1995. 

2018 brings another 5 lucky nominees in what is a fairly diverse range of actors with a couple of newcomers appearing amongst some regular faces. In this post, I am going to look at each individual and evaluating their performance, looking at the buzz surrounding them and also how likely they are to win the award. As this is a post that is part of a collaborative effort, I will leave links to other members posts on the different categories of tonight, enjoy!

Denzel Washington - Roman J. Israel Esq

Previous nominations: 8x Academy Award nominee and 2x Winner

Now I have to make a confession for this performance... I actually haven't seen it. What on earth happened with the distribution of this film? This only showed in a handful of theatres in Scotland, none really in City Centres meaning I wasn't able to catch this film. To add to that, nobody seems to be talking about this performance in the lead up to the Oscars at all. Due to that alone, I feel we can basically rule Denzel out of having any chance of winning at all. Denzel had a lot better chance last year with Fences but this time around, he's got no chance.

Daniel Day-Lewis - Phantom Thread

Previous nominations: 6x nominee and 3x Winner

As expected, Daniel Day-Lewis proved why he is one of the world's best actors with his performance in Phantom Thread. Day-Lewis commits to his role remarkably in what is yet another high point of his career.  His charm and quirks are highly entertaining throughout as his chemistry with co-stars Vicky Krieps and Lesly Manville. Unfortunately, due to some stern competition, he is actually an outsider to win. Day-Lewis, in my opinion, has the second-best performance of the nominees and unfortunately won't be walking away with his fourth Academy Award. 

Daniel Kaluuya - Get Out

Previous nominations: First-time nominee

Kaluuya being nominated came as quite the surprise for me, I hadn't even taken it into consideration that he was a possible candidate. I have come around to an extent on Kaluuya on the second watch of Get Out where I realised Kaluuya genuinely was great. It's a fairly quiet performance but Kaluuya's is excellent reacting to the madness that is surrounding him. I also have a soft spot for this film and performance simply due to the fact that it's incredibly cool that a horror film is getting this attention from the Academy. That alone amazes me but it isn't for me to actively root for Kaluuya and I don't think he'll be walking away with the gold. Nonetheless, it is one hell of a breakout performance.

Timothee Chalamet - Call Me By Your Name

Previous nominations - First-time nominee

In an ideal world, by Monday we would all be calling Timothee Chalamet an Academy Award winner. He is the youngest Best Actor nominee in around the last 80 years but his performance is nothing but remarkable. Chalamet is charming and cool but showcases an impressive range that will stick with you for a long time. The ending of Call Me By Your Name is incredibly beautiful and packed with emotion and a lot if it is down to Chalamet. It's heartbreaking to watch him at the end of this film and due to the impact it left on me, I have to support Chalamet this year. Sadly and unjustly, I think he will miss out. 

Gary Oldman - Darkest Hour

Previous nominations: 1x Best Actor Nominee

I'm not going to use this as a chance to rant against Oldman winning the Oscar. He definitely isn't my pick to win but I cannot deny that he was really good in this role. Oldman has completely transformed into Churchill with the help of makeup to the point where he is completely unrecognisable. Oldman's performance is the loudest performance but fantastically well with the dialogue where he gets the chance to rant in parliament. It's not my pick but I think he is a shoe-in to win this award and gain his first Oscar in what has been an incredible career.

Who will win? Gary Oldman

Who should win? Timothee Chalamet

Thank you for checking out my blog post on the Best Actor category! Please make sure to check out the rest of the posts down below and have a great time with the Oscars!

@QF_Reviews video on the Best Picture nominees: https://t.co/CrYMTyyzXv

@ThrSilverScreen post on the Original Screenplay nominees: https://t.co/FIJ7fpDGfl

@ThrSilverScreen post on the Cinematography nominees https://t.co/EPlj1g7cEK

@TheMarckoguy post on the Best Music nominees: https://t.co/fPyTIhU85A

@PlainSimpleTom post on the Best Supporting Actor nominees: https://t.co/ea7D0ooowd

@__Nathan post on Best Animated Feature and Adapted Screenplay nominees: https://t.co/f3sYldxmw0
@madelexne post on the Best Actress categories: https://t.co/JgPnVRGfYg

3rd Annual Oscar Predictions!

The 90th edition of the annual Academy Awards is happening this Sunday and with that, everyone is making their predictions before the big night! It's always a bit of good fun and brings good discussion, whether you agree with the nominees or not. So for the third year running, my friends and I will be making our predictions and who will be the 2018 winner. Returning are Billy, Drew and last years winner Michael, as well as newcomer Conor.

 Like last year, there will be a brief look at some of the major categories with a table down below listing our entire predictions. Unfortunately again, we have not managed to see the documentaries or short films so these will be excluded. Now that's out of the way, lets take a look at some of the predictions. 

Best Supporting Actor

The nominees:

Willem Dafoe - The Florida Project, 

    Woody Harrelson - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,     

Richard Jenkins - The Shape of Water,     

Christopher Plummer - All The Money In The World,    

 Sam Rockwell - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

My Pick (Angus): Sam Rockwell
Sam Rockwell seems to be the frontrunner for this award, beating out co-star Woody Harrelson in what would be a deserving Academy Award win. Although I am not the biggest fan of Three Billboards, I can't deny that Rockwell's performance was one of the best of the year and was helped by strong writing.

Billy's Pick: Sam Rockwell
Sam's character has a really interesting arc in Three Billboards and he approaches it with great care and subtlety, very funny performance.

Conor's Pick: Sam Rockwell

I haven't seen many of the films and Rockwell is simply the favourite to win.

Drew's Pick: Sam Rockwell
Rockwell just stunned me. I had no idea of his acting capabilities beforehand, to be honest.

Michael's Pick: Sam Rockwell

I chose Sam Rockwell because he seems to be the critics favourite at this point and has already won a Golden Globe, BAFTA and a SAG award so I expect him to add this to his trophy case which considering his redeeming character arc in Three Billboards, it is deserving of one.

Best Supporting Actress

The nominees:

Mary J Blige - Mudbound

Allison Janney - I, Tonya

Laurie Metcalf - Lady Bird

Octavia Spencer - The Shape of Water

Lesley Manville - Phantom Thread

My Pick (Angus): Allison Janney
Janney seems to steal every scene that she appears in giving an incredibly humourous performance amongst the craziness of I, Tonya.

Billy's Pick: Allison Janney
Similar with Rockwell, Allison gives a fiery, punchy performance and while it's an archetype character, she brings it to life.

Conor's Pick: Allison Janney
Same as before, I'm not too familiar but Janney is the favourite.

Drew's Pick: Allison Janney
She provided an interesting "anti" antagonist role into I, Tonya that added depth to Tonya's struggle.

Michael's Pick: Allison Janney
Allison Janney should pick up this award easily as she plays the unlikeable detestable mother to Tonya and both presents a barrier to her social life and tey pushes Tonya's skaing success and drive to win. Mixed with the fact that there's no outstanding candidates to win this award this should seem a certainty.

Best Director

The nominees:

Christopher Nolan - Dunkirk

Jordan Peele - Get Out

Greta Gerwig - Lady Bird

Paul Thomas Anderson - Phantom Thread

Guillermo Del Toro - The Shape of Water

My Pick (Angus): Guillermo Del Toro
In an ideal world, Christopher Nolan would be picking up this award for Dunkirk which I believe is the best-directed film up for contention. But I'm going with my head and choosing Del Toro for The Shape of Water who has been doing very well on the awards circuit and who I do believe is the second best director in the category.

Billy's Pick: Guillermo Del Toro
Loved The Shape of Water and each scene really has a dynamic and rich dressing. I think the overall aesthetic and style of the film makes it what it is, it really feels like Del Toro loved crafting it and it is unique to his flavour of film.

Conor's Pick: Guillermo Del Toro
Del Toro expertly crafted his story world in The Shape of Water. The way in which the story is told in addition to the aesthetics of the film were really interesting and enjoyable and I feel he should be recognised for his work.

Drew's Pick: Guillermo Del Toro
Del Toro always spends years developing the world he wants to showcase to the world, within his head and it shows with The Shape of Water. It was close between him and Nolan, but the pure originality of the world crafted helped nudge it on top.

Michael's Pick: Guillermo Del Toro
GDT really creates a magnificent looking world here and places a beautiful love story in the middle of it. This combination along with this world coming directly from GDT crafts my favourite film of the year so far as the passion for this masterpiece is clearly seen and should pick up the award.

Best Actor

The nominees:

Daniel Day Lewis - Phantom Thread

Timothee Chalamet - Call Me By Your Name

Daniel Kaluuya - Get Out

Denzel Washington - Roman J. Israel Esq

Gary Oldman - Darkest Hour

My Pick (Angus): Timothee Chalamet
I'm going to afford myself a gamble and thinking with my heart on this one. Chalamet is by far the best performance and it'll be an atrocity if he misses out. He showcases more range in his role than the rest of the nominees combined in what is a powerful and emotional masterclass. No gimmick is needed, just pure raw emotion.

Billy's Pick: Gary Oldman
I chose Gary Oldman because I feel there is a romanticism with biopic old-timey representation and added with his transformative prosthetic appearance, he'll be a shoe-in.

Conor's Pick: Gary Oldman
Again, I haven't seen them all but Oldman is once again the favourite by popular vote.

Drew's Pick: Gary Oldman
Oldman always seems to provide a strong commitment to his roles, which in this case execute a powerful showcase of Britain's greatest leader in modern times.

Michael's Pick: Gary Oldman
I chose Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill because the academy values a huge commitment in a leading role which is clear here which helps that he portrays such an iconic figure. His performance is also helped by the excellent hair and makeup work on the film to the point that we don't even recognise Gary Oldman.

Best Actress

The nominees:

Meryl Streep - The Post

Margot Robbie - I, Tonya

Frances McDormand - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Saorise Ronan - Lady Bird

Sally Hawkins - The Shape of Water

My Pick (Angus): Frances McDormand
It pains me to write this but no matter how much I think Sally Hawkins had the best performance of the year, everything is pointing at a win for McDormand. McDormand does display a strong performance nonetheless but far from the best for me.

Billy's Pick: Frances McDormand
Frances is really great in Three Billboards, she demonstrates a great range and attitude to the unique character.

Conor's Pick: Sally Hawkins
Going with who I know and performance I feel was extremely well executed given that Hawkins had no dialogue.

Drew's Pick: Sally Hawkins
Despite McDormand providing a stellar performance in Three Billboards, I felt like Hawkins provided an experience that I enjoyed more as a viewer, and I somehow connected more with her portrayal of the character.

Michael's Pick: Frances McDormand
Frances McDormand's performance was quite excellent although she wouldn't be my personal pick. Despite this McDormand plays the perfect anti-hero in this, managing to gather sympathy from the audience whilst playing a bitter foul-mouthed violent woman which can be a challenge but is one that she excels in.

Best Picture

The nominees:

The Darkest Hour, Call Me By Your Name, Dunkirk, Get Out, Lady Bird, Phantom Thread, The Post, The Shape of Water, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

My Pick (Angus): The Shape of Water
Overall, when taking everything into consideration, I think The Shape of Water is the best film in contention. When you take everything into consideration, from directing and performances to set design and costume and the beautiful story, TSOW stands out from the rest for me.

Billy's Pick: The Shape of Water
The Shape of Water was right up my alley. I decided to go with this film not because I think it'll win but because it was my favourite film of the bunch.

Conor's Pick: Get Out
From the nominees I have seen, Get Out was my favourite and I feel it has a solid chance to win thanks to its cultural commentary as well as the way in which the film borders between genres being a thriller with a very humorous script to alleviate tension and keep us engaged.

Drew's Pick: The Shape of Water
Similar to the Best Director category, it's yet again between Dunkirk and The Shape of Water and once again I've gone with the latter. Again, the originality not only in the visual storytelling but the screenplay (both developed by Del Toro) helped put it ahead yet again.

Michael's Pick: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
As mentioned with Sam Rockwell this seems to be picking up the majority of the awards which includes the BAFTA for Best Film. Considering this is a well-structured film which mostly is a joy to watch barring the first act of the film and deserves it's nomination although it wouldn't be my pick, I wouldn't be disappointed with this winning.

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