Academy has been consistently rewarding the best picture awards to the right movies for some time now. I like Academy because it is impartial, it is objective and has always embraced movies of varying concepts . Though there have been some controversies about the predispositions Academy posses, but in my view they are trivial and Academy is right on most of the times. This is a good article on tasteofcinema on how Academy got right on some of the occasions.
I am also doing my bit by providing my ranking and a brief review of this year's Oscars best picture nominees. Rank 9 to 5 have been already decided and you can find the review here.
Also please participate in the poll created right to the post and cast vote for your choice
The 5 films i am going to review now are brilliant on their own and they deserve a dazzling standing ovation for their achievements.
5. Lion
Lion is a story adapted from the autobiographical book of Saroo Brierely's "A Long way home". Its a simple plain story of an Indian boy who gets lost in Kolkata , gets adopted by an Australian couple in Hobart and then his journey to trace back his roots.
This movie is as flawless as it could be, it has scenes directed in multiple languages and set in different geographies but all are nicely tied together with a same thread. Dev Patel plays the role of Saroo who gets lost in Kolkata and then gets fostered by the Australian couple of Nicole Kidman and David Wenham. After 25 years he starts tracing back his roots in India from Australia using Google earth and visits his village. Dev Patel has shone through the movie and shows why he is considered one of the best actors of this generation. As a result of his emotional and brilliant portrayal of Saroo he wins an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor.
Dev Patel is aptly supported by the supporting cast of Nicole Kidman , Rooney Mara and Priyanka Bose. Special mention for Nicole Kidman for coming out of her usual grand glamorous roles and for providing her subtle touches in the movie .Her performance has earned a Best supporting actress nomination this time.
4. La La Land
Damien Chazelle's ambitious musical La La Land comes next and it has already swept everyone off their feet. Its a love story of a Jazz musician (Ryan Gosling) and an aspiring actress (Emma Stone). Its a story about their ambitions, their principles and all about music. La La Land has already got 14 Oscar nominations this year and i am sure its going to sweep all the technical categories like sound effects, editing etc.
Music by Justin Hurwitz is catchy and heart warming. "City of Stars" is still ringing bells in my mind. Damien Chazelle has already proved his mettle in "Whiplash" which i felt was a better movie than La La Land. His subject matter expertise in Music is well proven and i am excited for his future projects.
Special mention must go to Emma Stone who i felt made the movie of her own. She is turning into one of the finest actresses of this generation. Her expressions and body language depicted the perfect blend of fragility and excitement of a person passionate about movies. She is a definite Oscar winner for Best Actress for me this year. Story is nothing new, its a kind of boy meets girl story but the treatment of this story deserves a standing ovation.
3. Manchester By the Sea
Unassuming, Unassertive, Stoic and deeply melancholic is "Manchester by the Sea". It starts slowly and continues to unravel the story by going flash backs. Its a story about how a stoic person Casey Affleck comes to terms when he is given the responsibility of looking after his teenager nephew as his brother dies from a chronic disease. Affleck who has his own set of demons to deal with has to now confront his nephew and deal with his childish ways.
This is a very slow and strong movie with a stupendous performance by Casey Affleck. It was not an easy role to portray and he has performed it with aplomb. I was really amazed and moved after watching this movie. For me Casey Affleck should get his first Oscar for best actor this year. Michelle Williams in one scene has acted marvelously and has moved audiences with her acting. This has earned her best supporting actress nomination. Special mention must go to director and art director who has captured the cold and somber Manchester to further add to the melancholy of the main protagonists.
2. Hacksaw Ridge
Mel Gibson is back and how has he come back i.e sitting in the director's chair. Hacksaw ridge is a real life story of war medic Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield of Social Network fame) who was the first conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor. This tells the story of how Desmond Doss a saves lot of life in the battle of Okinawa. He was initially ridiculed for not picking up the gun as he wanted to save people not to kill them . Eventually at the end by saving numerous life he becomes a war hero.
Commendably supported by the the star cast of Vince Vaughn, Sam Worthington and Huge Weaving (in a very small but powerful ) role. What sets this movie into a different plane is how Mel Gibson has shot some of the war scenes. He has given a fresh treatment to depiction of war situations and how people react at that time. At times gory and visceral some scenes were quite shocking at first to see, i felt no body has captured war scenes like that before. The initial training scene i thought was inspired from Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket and was shot well.This story was a long time pending one to be shot and was given to Gibson specially for his ability to shot combat scenes (Apocalypto , Braveheart )
Andrew Garfield already has a very good year with Scorsese's silence in his back and has rightfully bagged the best actor nomination. He may end up winning it this time.
1. Arrival
Arrival is a science fiction movie based on Ted Chiang's story "Story of your life". Probably the best science fiction after Stanley Kubrick's 2001 Space Odyssey. We have seen usual stories of aliens invading earth and retaliation back by people in earth, but this movie offers a fresh perspective on alien- human relationship. This movie has scientific, emotional and political notion to it. The political undercurrent flowing through the movies makes it more exciting to
watch.
Acted by ever versatile Amy Adams who already has a very good year with Nocturnal Animals on her back. Arrival for me is the best movie to come out this year and deserves the best picture.
Director Denis Villenueve had already made crucial impact in past in both French movies as well as in Hollywood. (Prisoners, Sicario). He was surely on the verge of a masterpiece in Hollywood and he has achieved it with Arrival. I am excited to see what comes from in future.
I have to say movies in this list are all very good and have their unique flavor to them. A person inclined towards science fiction may gorge on Arrival as the best movie or a person deep buried into music might want to root for La La Land as the best one. So it was a quite arduous thing to come up with a ranked list but be sure i that have considered all aspects and realms of movie making. Hope you enjoyed reading the both the blog posts.
I am also doing my bit by providing my ranking and a brief review of this year's Oscars best picture nominees. Rank 9 to 5 have been already decided and you can find the review here.
Also please participate in the poll created right to the post and cast vote for your choice
The 5 films i am going to review now are brilliant on their own and they deserve a dazzling standing ovation for their achievements.
5. Lion
This movie is as flawless as it could be, it has scenes directed in multiple languages and set in different geographies but all are nicely tied together with a same thread. Dev Patel plays the role of Saroo who gets lost in Kolkata and then gets fostered by the Australian couple of Nicole Kidman and David Wenham. After 25 years he starts tracing back his roots in India from Australia using Google earth and visits his village. Dev Patel has shone through the movie and shows why he is considered one of the best actors of this generation. As a result of his emotional and brilliant portrayal of Saroo he wins an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor.
Dev Patel is aptly supported by the supporting cast of Nicole Kidman , Rooney Mara and Priyanka Bose. Special mention for Nicole Kidman for coming out of her usual grand glamorous roles and for providing her subtle touches in the movie .Her performance has earned a Best supporting actress nomination this time.
4. La La Land
Music by Justin Hurwitz is catchy and heart warming. "City of Stars" is still ringing bells in my mind. Damien Chazelle has already proved his mettle in "Whiplash" which i felt was a better movie than La La Land. His subject matter expertise in Music is well proven and i am excited for his future projects.
Special mention must go to Emma Stone who i felt made the movie of her own. She is turning into one of the finest actresses of this generation. Her expressions and body language depicted the perfect blend of fragility and excitement of a person passionate about movies. She is a definite Oscar winner for Best Actress for me this year. Story is nothing new, its a kind of boy meets girl story but the treatment of this story deserves a standing ovation.
3. Manchester By the Sea
This is a very slow and strong movie with a stupendous performance by Casey Affleck. It was not an easy role to portray and he has performed it with aplomb. I was really amazed and moved after watching this movie. For me Casey Affleck should get his first Oscar for best actor this year. Michelle Williams in one scene has acted marvelously and has moved audiences with her acting. This has earned her best supporting actress nomination. Special mention must go to director and art director who has captured the cold and somber Manchester to further add to the melancholy of the main protagonists.
2. Hacksaw Ridge
Commendably supported by the the star cast of Vince Vaughn, Sam Worthington and Huge Weaving (in a very small but powerful ) role. What sets this movie into a different plane is how Mel Gibson has shot some of the war scenes. He has given a fresh treatment to depiction of war situations and how people react at that time. At times gory and visceral some scenes were quite shocking at first to see, i felt no body has captured war scenes like that before. The initial training scene i thought was inspired from Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket and was shot well.This story was a long time pending one to be shot and was given to Gibson specially for his ability to shot combat scenes (Apocalypto , Braveheart )
Andrew Garfield already has a very good year with Scorsese's silence in his back and has rightfully bagged the best actor nomination. He may end up winning it this time.
1. Arrival
watch.
Acted by ever versatile Amy Adams who already has a very good year with Nocturnal Animals on her back. Arrival for me is the best movie to come out this year and deserves the best picture.
Director Denis Villenueve had already made crucial impact in past in both French movies as well as in Hollywood. (Prisoners, Sicario). He was surely on the verge of a masterpiece in Hollywood and he has achieved it with Arrival. I am excited to see what comes from in future.
I have to say movies in this list are all very good and have their unique flavor to them. A person inclined towards science fiction may gorge on Arrival as the best movie or a person deep buried into music might want to root for La La Land as the best one. So it was a quite arduous thing to come up with a ranked list but be sure i that have considered all aspects and realms of movie making. Hope you enjoyed reading the both the blog posts.
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