And the award goes to…

Suprabhatam tomorrow will be slightly different. At 6:30 am, I will switch on my TV and be glued to the Oscar ceremony. For the past six years, I try my best to watch at least a handful of nominees before they go on to claim the shining knight. The last two years got a little bit more interesting. This avid award ceremony watcher two years back kicked me awake in the early morning so that we could watch it in the TV room at the hostel. I caught on the bug, I guess. I remember one year later, sitting in my college’s canteen ,watching it in the tiny CRT tv. Cheering, mourning and jumping around, the usually conscious me did not give a hoot about the presence of professors around me. So this year too, I have watched a few of them. Some on TV channels, some in theatres and a very few in… The Big Short, Room, Spotlight, Joy, Trumbo and Carol are the big ones I missed. I will have to wait till the channels buy the broadcasting rights. The Martian, The Danish Girl, Bridge of Spies, Mad Max: Fury Road and The Revenant have successfully been checked off the list. So, from what I have seen, here goes a list of little reviews plus a tiny round-up what I think deserves the award.

The Martian:

Director: Ridley Scott

Actors: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig

Storyline: An astronaut is mistakenly left behind by his crew. He tries to keep himself alive till he hopes someone figures out that he is alive and comes back for him.

Review: Gravity a couple of years back, and now this. Space drama is definitely gaining some momentum. I loved several scenes where instead of turning it schmaltzy, the scriptwriters have infused humour.  Matt Damon keeps it simple, so does the rest of the cast. And of course, VFX is really good.

3.5/5

The Danish Girl:

Director: Tom Hooper

Actors: Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander

Storyline: This would be a partly fictionalised account of the Danish painter Einar Wegener, who was among the early few to undergo sex-change operation. It focuses mostly on the relationship between the painter and his wife.

Review: The soft hues of pastel shades mostly fill each frame of the movie. I love the cinematography and the dialogues. But what trumps (beyond the technicalities) is Eddie. Without him, Einar would have remained just Einar. With Eddie, you almost crawl inside his skin, and experience him becoming Lili.  What a powerful performance! The scenes where he tries to make his reflection more feminine or the ones where he pays to watch a sex-worker only to mirror her sensuous postures – words will not do justice to his performance. And the movie is sprinkled with beautiful dialogues. One of my favourites would be, when he is asked how he is, post the operation, a frail Lili (Eddie) answers slowly, “I am… entirely myself.” I am so glad I got to watch this movie.

4/5

Bridge of Spies

Director: Steven Spielberg

Actors: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance

Storyline: It is the Cold War era. There is no dearth of spies on either of the sides. One such is caught in America and is accused of being a Russian spy. He is appointed the customary lawyer for the sake of having one. However, the lawyer takes up the case and tries to reduce the severity of his punishment, keeping in mind that he can be traded for American soldiers caught in Russian terrain.

Review: Every year, there is definitely a movie that will mostly try to nudge those patriotic feelings and may even provoke a tear or two. This movie would fit under that category. Needless to say, great performances by both the actors (Hanks and Rylance) and some very good dialogues to remember (“standing man” would be mine). Thankfully, not a gore porn or a tear jerker, which unfortunately most of the Oscar movies these days are about.

3.5/5

Mad Max: Fury Road

Director: George Miller

Actors: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron

Storyline: In a dystopian world, there are very little resources, or for that matter very little hope left for people who are ruled by the ruthless and powerful Immortan Joe. One of his commanders crosses the line, in order to save the five wives of Joe, who are nothing but imprisoned breeders back home.

Note: This is my first movie of the franchise.

Review: I think it may fall under the post-modernist bunch of movies. I do not know about Max or his past. I do not know where he belongs to, or where he is heading to (in the end). Bullet Farm and Gas Town and Green Place are the names of the places. The props and costumes are borderline bizarre. Adding more to the bizarre are ideas like that of a human blood bag, a man tasting or washing his blood-stained face with mother’s milk and a man playing metal music on the hood of a huge van that is loaded with some bloodthirsty revenge seekers. And that is why I feel it fits under the category. That detail aside, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, though some bits were difficult for me to stomach.  I think the movie wins when it comes to costumes and cinematography. The performances of the lead actors were decent.

3.6/5

The Revenant

Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu

Actors: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy

Storyline: Set in the 19^th century America, it depicts the story of Hugh Glass. After fleeing an attack by the Native Americans, he is mauled by a huge bear. But that is not the end of his troubles. One among his crew (of trappers) who is against his decisions, is not too enthusiastic about carrying a scratched, scathed Glass all the way back to their abode. He goes on to kill Glass’ half-native son in front of him and leave him too to die as he continues to only think of his way out of the mess. Glass nurses him back to avenge himself.

Review: The visuals are brilliant! The angles, the camera movement and every single frame accentuates the average performances. Although, I have been one of the many who have repeatedly been disappointed with the Academy’s cold shoulder treatment towards Leo, I am certain he does not deserve it this year. Revenant (which literally mean coming back from the dead) sees almost an hour of immobile Leo. He grunts, groans, pants and grunts some more. The steely looks perhaps are mildly effective, thanks to zoom-ins and slow BGMs. If anything, I would say Tom Hardy (as John Fitzgerald) deserves it for this movie (as a supporting actor) than anyone else. As a conniving, cold-hearted man who does nothing to help others, Tom Hardy ingrains in us a deep sense of hatred against him. Otherwise, for all the praises that were heaped on this, the movie stumbled and fell short of my expectations.

3/5

So, this year’s favourites would be:

Best movie: Revenant (more for its visuals and screenplay than anything else)

Best director: George Miller (Barely 1:50 minutes to gets to the point in that time)

Best Actor: Eddie Redmayne (This man’s resume can be half a page and yet he will bag the best of opportunities. Why? Because the few ones he chooses are the best!)

Best actor in a supporting role: Haha… Definitely Tom Hardy for me!