BEST PICTURE
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Spotlight
Should have won: Mad Max: Fury Road
Not even nominated: Inside Out
Along with 2017 and 2023’s batches, this is the strongest slate of the Academy’s expanded era, with not a dud in the bunch. While I certainly prefer some of these movies to others, this is a fantastic group that includes mega-blockbusters, tiny indies, and the kinds of adult dramas Hollywood shows no interest in making anymore. The latter ended up taking the top prize, and only one other Oscar, making it the winner with the fewest overall awards in modern times. And Spotlight is an exceptional film about the real journalists who help expose the network of abuse and corruption in the Catholic Church. But there are stronger choices here, and none of them are as awe-inspiring as Mad Max: Fury Road. It’s an absolutely insane action film that shouldn’t work, but provides non-stop thrills and themes that remain relevant.
But with two extra slots, I’m surprised Inside Out didn’t make it in when Up and Toy Story 3 had made it previously. It’s just as good as those Pixar films, if not better, dealing with complex emotions in ways kids can grasp but only adults can truly understand. It remains my favorite film of 2015.
BEST DIRECTING
Adam McKay, The Big Short
George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, The Revenant
Lenny Abrahamson, Room
Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
Should have won: George Miller
Not even nominated: László Nemes, Son of Saul
Giving this to Iñárritu one year after Birdman is crazy, even if The Revenant is a stronger feat of filmmaking. It’s especially baffling given that George Miller, an idiosyncratic Aussie whose films are one of a kind, was right there. The Revenant certainly has a grand scope worth of awards. But it doesn’t hold a candle to even a jaw-dropping frame of Fury Road.
And speaking of jaw-dropping, the Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the most harrowing things I’ve ever seen. That’s because Nemes – in his feature debut! – immerses us in the everyday horrors of Auschwitz and the ways its prisoners attempt to remain human even as they’re degraded and slaughtered.
BEST ACTOR
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Matt Damon, The Martian
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl
Should have won: Michael Fassbender
Not even nominated: Paul Dano and/or John Cusack, Love & Mercy
DiCaprio got his first, long-overdue award. But since I’ve already given him two, I’ll take his trophy and give it to Fassbender, who churned out several incredible performances in the eight years between this and his debut in 300. While he should have been nominated and probably won for both Hunger and Shame, he’s magnificent as the Apple founder despite looking nothing like him. Part of the film’s success is Aaron Sorkin’s terrific script (more on that later), but Fassbender makes him a distinctly brilliant asshole.
Love & Mercy is arguably the only post-Walk Hard music biopic that’s worth a damn. Splitting the duties between Paul Dano and John Cusack, the film is much more interested in exploring Brian Wilson’s mental illness and exploitation than in celebrating his genius. They’re both terrific – with Cusack locked in for the first time in years – and create a portrait of one of the greatest popular musicians that’s neither hagiography nor takedown.
BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room
Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
Should have won: No complaints here
Not even nominated: Nina Hoss, Phoenix
It’s pretty baffling why Larson, a terrific actress and (at least seemingly) a very nice person has gotten so much online hate over the years. Sure, y’know, misogyny, but she’s been a very specific target for some of the most vile shit you’ll ever read. This is another case where a performer should have won for a movie that went completely overlooked (Short Term 12), but she’s just as good here as the imprisoned mom who has trouble readjusting to life on the outside.
And while I am a huge J-Law fan, we can forget Joy ever happened and replace her with Nina Hoss, whose multi-layered performance in Phoenix left me spellbound.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christian Bale, The Big Short
Tom Hardy, The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
Sylvester Stallone, Creed
Should have won: No complaints here
Not even nominated: Benicio Del Toro, Sicario
Look, I get it. After nearly 20 years of forgettable performances, Stallone returning for one last ride in the Rocky franchise is pretty moving. (He’d eventually return to DTV garbage and reprise the role in Creed II.) But I thought this at the time and still think so now: Rylance gives the platonic ideal of a supporting performance in Bridge of Spies. So many studios try to shoehorn in their co-leads into these categories to try to rack up more nominations (and possible wins), but Rudolf Abel has the exact right amount of screen time to create a lasting impression without overtaking the movie. The Academy got this one right.
But I’d swap out any of the other three for Benicio Del Toro in Sicario, who comes close to violating that co-lead rule, as he does overtake the movie in its final 20 minutes. (If you think he should have been up for Best Actor, can I interest you in Josh Brolin or Daniel Kaluuya instead?)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara, Carol
Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
Should have won: Jennifer Jason Leigh
Not even nominated: Rebecca Ferguson, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
This is a really tough one. Had Vikander simply won for Ex Machina, I’d be thrilled. She’s absolutely fantastic as the sentient robot Ava, and far better than the dreadful The Danish Girl, where she’s reduced to playing The Wife of the Suffering Genius. The second-best performance in this category is probably Mara, but that would be the most egregious case of category fraud of all time. She’s in Carol more than Cate Blanchett! So that leaves JJL, the foul-mouthed prisoner in Quentin Tarantino’s claustrophobic dark comedy Western. A consistently great actress, she’s spent most of her career in tiny indies, and rarely got her due. An award for this (and an idiosyncratic career) would have been justly deserved.
So if Vikander had been up for the better movie, this would be a pretty great lineup. The only one I can think to add is Rebecca Ferguson, who makes one of the all-time great film entrances in Rogue Nation, wearing a yellow dress and armed with a flute gun.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Bridge of Spies
Ex Machina
Inside Out
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compton
Should have won: Inside Out
Not even nominated: Predestination
The Spotlight script is excellent procedural and character work. Absolutely nothing wrong with that win. But when it’s up against my favorite movie of 2015, it’s not the best choice. Inside Out has arguably the best script of any Pixar movie, taking complex ideas, silly jokes, and deeply moving character arcs and delivering an emotional wallop. An animated movie still has never won in this category, unfortunately.
And while Straight Outta Compton was a big hit, and better than your average music biopic, its script is clearly the odd man out here. So I’d boot it straight outta the lineup and bring in Predestination, a brilliant time travel mind-bender from the Spierig Brothers. If you’ve never seen it, don’t look up anything about it. Just find it and watch it.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Big Short
Brooklyn
Carol
The Martian
Room
Should have won: Carol
Not even nominated: Steve Jobs
An absolutely stellar collection of nominees except once again, the Academy left out the clear winner! Aaron Sorkin’s Steve Jobs screenplay is on par with his Social Network script, but somehow didn’t make it in. Baffling. While Charles Randolph and Adam McKay did a great job explaining the 2008 financial crisis in a very funny film, I think Phyllis Nagy’s adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s The Price of Salt is pretty much perfect.
What else did they get wrong?
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Earned It” from Fifty Shades of Grey
“Manta Ray” from Racing Extinction
“Simple Song #3” from Youth
“Til It Happens to You” from The Hunting Ground
“Writing’s on the Wall” from Spectre
Should have won: “Til It Happens to You”
Not even nominated: “One Kind of Love” from Love & Mercy
They probably should just junk this entire category, seeing as they get this award wrong quite often. “Writing’s on the Wall” might be the worst Bond theme song of the entire Daniel Craig era. Its win is even more insulting when you remember Radiohead wrote a much better theme song that was discarded. Had the voters waited until the performances took place, they’d have instantly given it to Lady Gaga, who brought the house down. You’d be forgiven if you don’t remember any of the other nominees aside from “Earned It.”
While it’s still shocking “See You Again” from Furious 7 didn’t earn a nod, that song is pretty lousy. I think any of these slots should have gone to Brian Wilson’s “One Kind of Love” from Love & Mercy, which was roundly ignored by the Academy.