Every Tuesday there will be an Oscar Primer going over the chances that nominated films have of winning their respective categories. Best Picture nominated films will be dissected on Contra Zoom, while the remaining ones will be discussed here. Last week I talked about Florence Foster Jenkins, Kubo and the Two Strings and The Lobster. This week I will go over Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Captain Fantastic, Hail, Caesar! and Suicide Squad.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was directed by Gareth Edwards and was released on December 16th 2016. The film has two nominations.
- Best Sound Mixing- David Parker, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson
- Best Visual Effects- Mohen Leo, Hal T. Hickel and Neil Corbould
It looks like after the absolute massive success of The Force Awakens we will be getting a new Star Wars movie every year forever and with the first “spin off” (it couldn’t have been more integral to the overall story and should have been called Episode 3.5) just showed that the world loves Jedi’s and Sith’s. Some people may think this film is the best of all the lot (those people are wrong) and TFA managed to get five nominations shows even critically it doesn’t stack up. Only getting a nom in Sound Mixing and not in Sound Editing, isn’t a good sign and probably means it won’t win that award especially since it basically used the template of all the previous Star Wars films for sound effects, not being cutting edge.
As far as Visual Effects goes, this year is a stacked year once again. Looking back we remember that TFA didn’t win last year despite being nominated as well. The odds on favourites this year look to be The Jungle Book, Doctor Strange or Rogue One. Marvel hasn’t fared too well and personally making Rudyard Kipling’s classic story come to life was most impressive and I think they are the one to beat, but it really is a three horse race.
Captain Fantastic was directed by Matt Ross and was released on July 29th 2016. The film has one nomination.
- Best Actor- Viggo Mortensen
Viggo was last nominated for an Oscar in 2008 when he lost to the juggernaut Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood. After his stint in Middle Earth, Viggo has kept a low profile and acting in passion projects amassing a great quality of films. Captain Fantastic is a quiet film about what happens when you start being real with your kids and don’t hide anything and how that can make things more complicated along the way. Mortensen is a newly widowed father of six and him dealing with his loss while trying to be a rock is heartbreaking to watch. It is a shame that this film was so under seen as he might have been a real threat to Casey Affleck and Denzel Washington but this just isn’t his time. Do yourself a favour and check it out though.
Hail, Caesar! was directed by Joel and Ethan Coen and was released on February 5th 2016. The film has one nomination.
- Best Production Design- Jess Gonchor and Nancy Haigh
I am so disappointed this film didn’t get any other nominations, as it was one of my favourites of the year. It also seemed like the Coen’s are indifferent to the award circuit pony show now and didn’t want to campaign. I wish they got a screenplay nom, but I will settle for Production Design, as it was pitch perfect. The film takes place at Capitol Studios (the same studio from Barton Fink) and shows the process of four very different films being made (epic biblical adventure film, Busby Berkley style synchronized dance film, Gene Kelly song and dance film and a Vincente Minnelli high class drama among other shorter clips). The Coen’s show up close the actual working sets, then pull back to show how it is all a Hollywood dream. It is fantastically shot and each set has its own unique flair. La La Land is probably the top dog in this category, but I wish it stood a chance. Arrival is basically the only underdog candidate.
Suicide Squad was directed by David Ayer and was released on August 5th 2016. The film has one nomination.
- Best Makeup and Hairstyling- Alessandro Bertolazzi, Giorgio Gregorini and Christopher Allen Nelson
This category is basically what film has the most makeup and hairstyling; it also for some stupid reason only ever nominates three films. Just looking at other nominated films that could have also been here could include Hacksaw Ridge, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Florence Foster Jenkins, Silence and others. This film was pretty damn terrible, possibly one of the worst of the year, but its makeup and hair was pretty great technically speaking. Sure everyone and their mother hated Jared Leto’s performance, his tattoos looked real and his hair was perfectly coifed (and green). Margot Robbie, Cara Delevingne, Adam Beach and more all have impressive work done to them too. This film will probably win the award, which will suck having to say Oscar winning film Suicide Squad for ever but Star Trek Beyond didn’t separate itself from its previous films and foreign films like A Man Called Ove never win.