As a new sidebar to Dr. Rob’s 8th Annual Simulated Oscar Ballot project, we initiated a new feature this season. With the help of hundreds of passionate voters, we decided this year to have Awards Daily readers complete an alternate ballot, honoring the films and filmmakers first selected by our readership last month — before the actual Oscar nominations were announced. The Daily Awards voters chose these 3 films as their number one, two and three favorites of 2015:
Mad Mad: Fury Road
The Big Short
Carol
Detailed preferential ballot breakdown and winners in 7 other categories, after the break.
(We will still be conducting Part 2 of the Simulated Ballot, using the actual Oscar nominees, because that’s the best way for us to get a handle on illustrating the way the preferential ballot works with real-world examples each year. The results we’re posting today are a way for readers to see “What Might Have Been” had the Academy not overlooked so many films that were favorites among those of us who are more comfortable with diversity than many Oscar voters seem to be.)
Directing:
- MAD MAX – 168 votes (55.6%)
- Carol – 59 – 19.5%
- The Revenant – 38 – 12.6%
- The Martian – 22 – 7.3%
- Spotlight – 15 – 5.0%
Actress:
- LARSON – 108 votes (35.5%)
- Ronan – 80 – 26.3%
- Blanchett – 47 – 15.5%
- Theron – 35 – 11.5%
- Rampling – 34 – 11.2%
Actor:
- DICAPRIO – 136 votes (45.3%)
- Fassbender – 92 – 30.7%
- Jordan – 43 – 14.3%
- Damon – 16 – 5.3%
- Redmayne – 13 – 4.3%
Supporting Actress:
- TIE! – MARA – 91 votes (30.0%)
- TIE! – VILKANDER (Ex Machina) – 91 votes (30.0%)
- Winslet – 44 – 14.5%
- Stewart – 42 – 13.9%
- Leigh – 35 – 11.6%
Supporting Actor:
- ELBA – 100 votes (33.3%)
- Stallone – 72 – 24.0%
- Dano – 62 – 20.7%
- Rylance – 42 – 14.0%
- Ruffalo – 24 – 8.0%
Original Screenplay:
- INSIDE OUT – 103 votes (34.1%)
- Spotlight – 98 – 32.5%
- Ex Machina – 56 – 18.5%
- Hateful Eight – 26 – 8.6%
- Sicario – 19 – 6.3%
Adapted Screenplay:
- THE BIG SHORT – 94 votes (31.2%)
- Carol – 76 – 25.2%
- Brooklyn – 47 – 15.6%
- Room – 43 – 14.3%
- Steve Jobs – 41 – 13.6%
Cinematography:
- THE REVENANT – 95 Votes (31.4%)
- Mad Max – 94 – 31.0%
- Carol – 64 – 21.1%
- Sicario – 39 – 12.9%
- Hateful Eight – 11 – 3.6%
Editing:
- MAD MAX – 200 Votes (66.0%)
- Big Short – 48 – 15.8%
- Spotlight – 21 – 6.9%
- Carol – 20 – 6.6%
- The Revenant – 14 – 4.6%
![2025 Oscars: Can a Late-Breaker Still Win Best Picture? [POLL]](https://www.awardsdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/gladiator-350x250.jpg)
Yea I do give readers credit I admit I misread the vote. Fact that fury rd was voted up there and I the one to be ashamed here, I still not seen it I will I catching up on all mad Max films in order. Never seen them before I do credit u all for voting with u heart what I said was misconstrued cis I expressed it poorly Ryan so sorry to everyone. I was meaning in general some people maybe not in this poll dont vote with true feelings. But no including myself most who voted here are not lemmings. Those who know me here know I vote with my true feelings. I did miss the poll. Regret that I make up for it next year obviously I vote the Martian given Mr. Scott was unjustly snubbed I got Miller for best director Leo for best actor of course, and similar to rest of things us all voted for in lesser categories. Missed it cos I unfortunately had more pressing issues than films at time poll was on undortibqt ly.
That’s the next round coming up.
Oh yeah, I love The Big Short, but I find its energy derives from its, for lack of a better word, sloppiness. There’s such a messiness about it that I love. I am, however, closer to the pure, raw drama of Steve Jobs.
The Big Short is, to me. But that’s about it, yeah.
“The film chooses to shut us out of her mind at this point, and it’s a deficit of the performance that we don’t know what she’s thinking about Gleeson’s character or the decision to stay in Ireland.”
I thought that was more a problem with the writing, but I’m no expert, so you may be right.
Awesome – thanks for that! Couldn’t agree more.
Spotlight is a valid statistical winner (though, admittedly, about as borderline as they get), in my opinion, because it has the SAG Ensemble and WGA wins, like Crash/SiL, and because it only has one snub that I consider “industry” to deal with (since I don’t consider BAFTA “industry”, because they’re not American, and sometimes emphatically so. The Revenant definitely isn’t valid, though (because it has more than one such snub to deal with – three, to be exact). Which isn’t to say I don’t think it can win. But it would be a problem for the stats (as I interpret them), for sure. A big one… Which is why I don’t think it WILL win.
“12 times in the past 35 years a director has won the DGA award and then his film fails to win Best Picture. That’s 1/3 of the time.”
Wow, it’s that often?! I hadn’t realized. Cool!…
Fair enough. One title seems fairest, though. Or at least add the explanation to the article, if you’re going to do the tiers thing. 🙂
Yeah, that does suck…
:)) Hadn’t even thought about the dead horse in The Revenant… Unintended pun. 🙂
I just realized we didn’t have to answer questions about our nationalities or that kind of stuff. Sorry!
Breakdown how?
I love these results. I ADORE that Original Screenplay win.
Dr. Rob, when will we have the breakdown of the categories?
I’ve been called worse. In the past couple of days, even.
🙂
I would call Ryan a sadistic hippophilic necrophile, but that would be beating a dead horse.
uow! the moderator is really active this post. Haha.
Having some fun. 🙂
Yesterday in another post was such a crime scene of brutal carnage.
uow! the moderator is really active this post. Haha.
All this really tells me is that we are still much smarter than the academy. I mean I’ve been away from this award nonsense since that ridiculous DGA, and I have already prepared myself to accept whatever result comes at the oscars, though accepting the best director is still a work in progress. Really, I’m just ready to not hear mad max and george miller, ready for a sad night where hypocracy rules. A night where the best theme, the best subject, not the best movie, wins Best Picture. I do honestly believe that most of these oscar voters thought that Mad Max was the best movie of 2015, but in the end they will vote for the “inteligent” movie, because amazingly It’s the easy choice. Finally, I have accepted that the oscars are never gonna change. I mean, who the fuck remembers CRASH or THE KING SPEECH or THE ARTIST!
(I hate to beat a dead horse, but I guess The Revenant isn’t, in fact, too big to overlook, after all.)
Go ahead, beat it. Beat that horse. Beat it till you knock a man-sized hole in it.
I might need a good horse corpse to crawl inside, after the BAFTAs on Sunday.
”I hate to beat a dead horse …”
Why stop now? Ha-ha-ha!
Sometimes the most human truth is the brokenness of human nature and that a unique brokenness composed of egoism, high expectations, hindsight, foresight, and even charisma existed in such a man as Steve Jobs. It’s a truth that all of those and even more existed in that man.
The manner in which you explain Sorkin’s writing as lazy is unfortunately a by-product of the proximity of Job’s passing. That may be out of the filmmakers’ control, but neither is the urge to tell a story, especially one that highlights a lesser known side of a man to the general public (with permission from the appropriate parties, of course).
Of course, you go into a film about an adult Steve Jobs with the impression that he’s a growing genius. It would be unreasonable to go into a biopic of, say, Albert Einstein and not see genius in bloom and on display. However, what is revealed of Steve Jobs to the audience is not his mere genius, but rather his foresight of the industry, of the progression of computer technology, and of the eventual actions of the company he built and that abandoned him. All of this, in spite of his lack of experience as an engineer.
Sorkin captures this with his lifelong desire to see people conversing and arguing well. Combine that with a bold, innovative structure, and the result is arguably one of the best screenplays of the decade. It’s not better than Social Network, for sure, but that’s like comparing Billy Wilder’s The Apartment with Some Like It Hot. They’re both screenwriting gold nonetheless. It’s either that or their screenplays just don’t fall under your cinematic tastes. Which is totally fine, as long as that is acknowledged.
braylon! So many questions. And not easy ones.
I haven’t forgotten to try to answer. Just haven’t had time yet.
Good to see you back. I was gonna email and let you know that I hoped you’d be back in time for the BAFTAs. To urge you to come back. Glad you found a way on your own.
I don’t see The Revanant has hijacked awards season. The Revenant has always had a First Class ticket on this year’s Oscar Ship. The Revenant won the Golden Globe weeks ago.
This DGA win does not shake me up. 12 times in the past 35 years a director has won the DGA award and then his film fails to win Best Picture. That’s 1/3 of the time.
Since 1980, 1 out of every 3 roles of the dice, the DGA does not predict BP.
Yes, as Sasha and Marshall point out, the match-up has been more in sync in recent years. But we all know that every years presents its own special set of exempting extenuating circumstances, and this year is rife with anomalies.
they clearly know that the moment oscar win happens these studios will ditch the movies and move on…
yes, sure, the voters know that. How can it be any other way? It’s always that way. After Oscar Night some of us don’t even want to look at that BP winner for months weeks or months (or years) (or ever).
But these special screenings for the Vatican and Congress do two things. PR things. 1) They keep the movies in the news. They keep them in the conversation. 2) They show that serious observers outside of Hollywood are taking notice. (After all. … it’s not like McKay TOLD Congress that he was gonna sit them down and make them watch his movie. It was the other way round. McKay was INVITED by Congress (a bi-partsan invitation, no less).
Nobody is really under any illusion that a movie can change the world or make a dent in society’s problems. But I feel bad for anyone who thinks movies make no difference to a country’s cultural evolution at all.
I sincerely believe movies and politics exert a mutual gravitational pull. That’s what the Moon does with tides. Tides are a series of small waves that can eventually change the coastline. (For better or worse).
Your Leo question is touchy and a little bit loaded. I’ll come back to that.
Good to have you back among us, Braylon.
I expect a movie to touch upon human truths in a biopic or any type of movie. If the author has a POV, I expect them to convince me. I resent movies where they expect you to come in with prepared knowledge of the characters. Like it’s a known “fact” that Steve Jobs is a genius and they don’t have to convince us of such aspect about him. That’s lazy writing. Without this exploration of how his genius needs to be protected from sentimentality, the movie is just a litany of unkind behavior from a man. It gets insufferably tedious if not downright sadistic.
And if things are stressful, I expect people to be economical in their conversations, not being so excessively verbose. Sorkin has this signature writing that he applies to all of his work, so when there’s a movie about Steve Jobs, I don’t really feel that it’s about Jobs at all but rather about Sorkin himself.
“is anyone who voted on the awards daily.com poll gonna admit their preference for who they think should win best picture was far from influenced by their own private thoughts but that the polling reflects your acceptance of what Oscar likes”
Big Shpiel
You could have voted on this ballot. It was promoted time after on the site for nearly two weeks.
So let me ask you. First, why didn’t you vote?
Second, if you had voted, would you have voted your honest preference? Or would you have acted like a lemming and let yourself be influenced by what you were being told?
I think you would have voted your true feelings.
Why can’t you give everyone else credit for doing the same?
This was a ballot based on the reader’s own choices for the ten categories.
The weird thing is that people expected a lesson from a biopic.
Do people watch Raging Bull and leave the screen believing that defining your life through violence is acceptable? No, absolutely not. But it’s so utterly fascinating and captivating and gripping to watch the story of a real-life man who did define his life as such.
As is with Steve Jobs, who defined his life by being an egotistical but charismatic leader.
It’s supposed to be an examination of a real-life man via three specific events, specific events which I honestly could see people working fast and talking fast to say cringe-worthy lines without realizing it. Kinda like what Winston Wolfe said in Pulp Fiction, “If I’m curt with you, it’s because time is a factor. I think fast, I talk fast, and I need you guys to act fast if you want to get out of this.” Cringe-worthy lines are only such out of context and/or when left to linger in the air like bad jokes. In a film such as Steve Jobs where the dialogue is so fast and so expertly exchanged, there’s no room for lines normally cringe-worthy in most other films to be so. I saw people talking as though time was against them for the entire runtime.
Perhaps I’m just wrong, but then again, I just don’t know it (thank you, Dr. Burry). Let’s see what happens in time. I just have this feeling that most, if not all, of Sorkin’s work will outlive all of these other scripts, even The Big Short (which I loved, just not as much as Steve Jobs). 🙂
Deal breaker, amirite?
Perhaps. Let’s see what happens in time. I just have this feeling that most, if not all, of Sorkin’s work will outlive all of these other scripts, even The Big Short (which I loved). 🙂
Of all the places to be, Bruges is the worst. F*ckin’ Bruges… 😉
Steve Jobs though? I don’t think any of those three are better than Aaron Sorkin’s script. At all.
Sorry to say but is anyone who voted on the awards daily.com poll gonna,admit their preference for who they think should win best picture was far from influenced by their own private thoughts but that the polling reflects your acceptance of what Oscar likes that it take into account that qwe all conceded through these polls of what Oscar likes influencing our decision our vote? And therefore like similar web polls on other sides there no longer such thing as a 100% public preference voting system anymore? That our decisions are influenced busy Oscar redundancy and more of the same mentality? And where the love for the Martian? Don’t any of you want to see the first ever science themed film win best picture? Will we forever be beholden that out vote is influenced in accepting Oscars shallow pretentious rule if thumb? That be sad if that we’re the case ey?
Fine. I didn’t like the film, nor did any of my friends, so I was responding to your notion that bigotry must be the reason for not liking the film. Sorry, those things happen in a public forum; people make statements and others respond to statements without any party knowing the other. And I don’t “need” you to be nice, that’s not what I meant.
And then he turns up and says, “Now, Birdman…THAT was a movie!”
All I’m saying is that if Ronan can’t win here (a readership that is aggressively pro-Ronan), then she can’t win the Oscars. So just stop.
I don’t think AMPAS voters care one bit about people “losing faith in Christianity”
No Christian is going to lose faith in Christianity over the individual crimes of child-abusers. The crimes have nothing to do with Christianity.
I loved the one vote difference between the two. It’s a very close race in that one, both are very deserving.
Allow it? I don’t disallow people to disagree with me. If you feel disallowed an opinion based on what I’ve written, that’s your problem. I just find it hard to comprehend on a personal level, given my personal opinions toward the film. And nice of me? You need me to be nice? My initial comment wasn’t even directed toward you! It seems to me that you’re making rather a big deal out of something that was intended with no offence, is highly unlikely to cause any significant offence and hadn’t even had anything to do with you.
For me, what makes me think Ronan is the most deserving one is that she really carries the movie. Not only does she do a fantastic job, but I think she is really the main reason Brooklyn is an awards player at all. With a lesser actress, Brooklyn would be a film that could easily be overlooked.
There’s a major critic who named Timbuktu #1 and Inside Out #2 on his Top 10 list.
Both brilliant movies. But since we know neither of those had any chance of being nominated for Best Picture, it’s maybe interesting to see what this major critic named #3.
He named The Big Short.
The critic is A.O. Scott. (The New York Times)
The Big Short is Scott’s favorite non-animated American movie of 2015.
Didn’t say it was, just pointing out there are more than “not a one”. In fact that site has Mad Max with a whopping 160 #1 spots. I wish it would show which critics placed it where, but that’d be a massive undertaking.
Fine. If you expand the range there’s some glory for Big Short too. But it’s not a critics’ darling like Carol, Mad Max, Spotlight.
Apparently 9 critics put it at the top of their lists. Which critics, I’m not sure. But it’s at criticstop10.com
Without Tremblay Larson is nothing. Saoirse carries the movie all by herself.
“The intrigue, nevertheless, is strong.”
Definitely. But that’s more due to the book… And I didn’t think it was that quotable, to be honest. I might be forgetting great lines, which would be on me
Anyway, my problems with it were definitely mostly post-escape too. But also before that – both attempts she makes at escaping seem so feeble to me, that any person that isn’t a moron (which I guess the kidnapper was, though he couldn’t be THAT stupid if he managed to keep two people completely locked away and hidden from the rest of the world for 7 years) would have seen through them in a second. I was 100% sure the first one, with the kid being taken to the hospital, wouldn’t work, and I honestly didn’t think the second one, with the rug, would either. Is the guy REALLY not going to check if he’s actually dead? I don’t know… it’s a bit much, to me.
These things are all probably defensible, and all that, but to me they’re way far-fetched. I have a problem with them the same way somebody here at AD has a problem with Ruffalo’s being the one sent back to retrieve the documents, even though he was in Florida (or wherever) at the time. It works, if you look at it the right way, and are willing to, based on the strength of the rest of the movie, but (for the Room things) it doesn’t for me, personally. I just don’t buy it.
And, of course, there are other problems (some cheesy lines, out of character moments, and I’ve mentioned before how her dad’s attitude toward the kid was a complete dead-end that, in my view, added nothing to the story and just felt tacked-on for shock value, or something.) So, yeah, I definitely wouldn’t nominate it. I agree Brooklyn’s screenplay is also problematic, and maybe Carol’s, too. But I’d take out Room before either of those two.
Who do they care about? Publicists and campaigners. Can’t you see how The Big Short is part of the Democratic Party Primary race? The movie had a special screening for members of Congress! Lots of big sponsors, it’s a political force to be reckoned with. That’s why it won PGA.
Not a film critic, not even one, considered it the best movie of the year. That’s why it didn’t top any top lists nor has it won any film critics’ awards.
Who do the PGA care about that championed TBS to them? You seem to be giving the PGA more credit than AD readers in making up their own minds about picking their favourite films. Sasha may champion TBS but it wont change what I think about in any way. You should give AD readers more credit. TBS has merit even your favourite TR has some merit and different people like different films, that’s all.
I loved Steve Jobs and the script, but it’s apples to oranges when comparing Sorkin’s talky script to that of Carol’s or anything else. Sorkin isn’t known for his subtly. I personally don’t even know which script I would pick, probably The Big Short because it’s a combination of all that makes a great script a great script (excellent dialogue, subtle, funny, tragic).
It’s funny. Over time my feelings towards those Oscar years have changed. At the time I loved the screenplay win for Milk but I would take away that Oscar and give it to either Wall-E or, maybe more, In Bruges. But then I’d give Milk best picture. I really loved that year with the tight original screenplay and best actor race. The Wrestler should’ve gotten more nominations.
PGA don’t care about Sasha, AD readers do.
Seriously, you give me some great laughs during my morning hour “working” with coffee in hand.
Ronan’s performance is not showy, it’s sublime. Her exceptional ability to communicate
complex feelings without dialogue, with her eyes, her face, small gestures or silences is what truly great acting is all about, and that’s what Rehm is saying.
I have to somewhat agree. I don’t always agree with the films she highly champions (The Butler) but with the words she put in for The Big Short I was feverishly trying to find a way to watch it. And I did. And it was excellent.
Your comment wasn’t clear so it would probably be nice of you to allow for people to dislike a film you love for reasons that you’re not aware of. To say, ‘I can’t comprehend why anyone would hate Carol unless I factor in bigotry’, is just too narrow-minded and deserves criticism, in my view.
Nah, I don’t agree with Tom on Gold Derby.
I don’t think AMPAS voters care one bit about people “losing faith in Christianity”. You really think the mass of Hollywood voters sits there thinking, “oh dear, what about Christianity??? oh, and the poor Catholic church”. I don’t think so. (150,000 SAG voters didn’t seem to think so either, and the AMPAS voters even less likely.)
And the story is a decade old and has been in the news a million times — it is hardly Spotlight that is having that effect.
To the contrary, I think Hollywood likes the movie because it makes them feel good about “caring” about the story, in the comfort of their homes: “Gee, aren’t I compassionate and evolved, watching this movie and feeling sorry for these boys, and voting for it to win a shiny award! Aren’t I brave myself for supporting this film!.”
And the movie is not really very icky — no lurid scenes of priests preparing to molest young men, no graphic descriptions of incidents. It’s actually as un-icky on the subject as it could be. I actually dreaded going to the film because I didn’t want to see scenes of priests leering in shadows, like Nosferatu, salivating at boys with their pants down, but the film is not like that in any way.
Don’t get me wrong — I’m not pushing for Spotlight. I would have gone for Carol, and after that, MMFR — I’m just suggesting what I think will happen.
But last night I listened to the podcast between Tom O’Neill and Pete Hammond, and Tom does make a persuasive case that people who vote for The Revenant for Director, Actor and Cinematography cannot really then put the film at #8 on their ballots, so it will get a lot more second place votes than perhaps I am estimating.
Somehow I just don’t feel it for TBS — admittedly, a terrible way to predict the winner. I doubt the BAFTA will go to the TBS — too American a story, told with too much American brashness.
I’ve found that it’s often useful to assume that there are plenty of people in the world who harbour bigoted views but never admit to them. And plenty of people who don’t even realise the extent of their bigotry. And I’ll gladly broadcast that assumption, but I’ll never assign it directly to someone unless I’ve found a good reason to do so.
And do I have to give another alternative for not loving Carol than bigotry? Why is that my responsibility? I specifically stated that there are other reasons for disliking the film, but can’t other people define their own opinions about it? Are you requiring me to propose an alternative or just misinterpreting my clear comments?
Hmm…You actually didn’t give any other alternative for not loving Carol, only that it must be bigotry. And then you conclude your comment above with more of the same…
I rather recommend Kyss Mig as a much more moving love story than Carol. I don’t know how the transference of emotion is really done in cinema–I guess that’s the “magic” part of film, but Carol didn’t convey the emotion needed to satisfy me. And unless someone writes or says that they personally have a problem with same sex love in film then I’m not going to assume that’s the reason for not appreciating Carol so much, Paddy;)
Speaking of Supporting Actress, Diane Ladd just got an AARP award in that category for her performance in ”Joy,” and she is ticked off by the ”category fraud” in her field at the Oscars: “I was really upset and chagrined by the studios’ greed and corruption. I mean Rooney Mara, she won best actress in Cannes. Three people are stars in leading roles. They are the female lead and the star. So why are they in the supporting category?”
For all the uproar about category fraud, AwardsDaily readers have put Mara in Supporting, too.
http://variety.com/2016/film/news/diane-ladd-slams-studios-greed-supporting-actress-category-1201703788/
I didn’t believe Larson so much. I think other actresses would have done it better.
i mean “they” = oscar voters and what do you think of this revenant hijacking the awards season ? i felt like it…i read someone commented here a while ago something similar….all the early buzz was for spotlight and to some extent the big short and the revenant came in and its gaining momentum.
And also what do you think of this awards voters obsession with leo and his oscar win ?
They didnt give it to tom cruise for magnolia saying that he is a huge action star….they snubbed ridley scott even though he is well respected.
How are the oscar voters keep nominating leo ? i mean after all ,they havent been giving oscars to leading men lately..depp,pitt and cruise has no oscars..
Sharon, perhaps my comment wasn’t directed at you. I never accused everyone who didn’t warm to Carol of being a bigot. I suggested that bigotry might be a reason for its unpopularity in some circles – A reason, not THE reason. There’s no need to belittle my entire argument just because it doesn’t directly apply to you.
Anyway, you’re the latest in a long line of people who claim to have found Carol ‘cold’. That’s something I hear and read fairly often, actually, in relation to same-sex romance films. I heard a lot of friends and acquaintances raise that exact same point about Brokeback Mountain. Something about that thrill, that pulse-quickening rush of empathetic excitement that I experience when I watch two people abandoning caution, relenting to temptation, testing the boundaries of what society determines acceptable – something about that just doesn’t seem to translate to a certain type of heterosexual, the type that neither registers the momentousness of what these actions mean to these people, nor cares to try to.
But maybe it just didn’t move you. Maybe you’re not that type of person. Maybe you have legitimate reasons for not warming to Carol. But concluding that my suspicion of homophobia among some voters must be inaccurate for all simply because it’s inaccurate for you raises another suspicion for me: either you’re plainly insensitive to the issue and would rather people stopped complaining about it, or it hits a little too close to home for your liking…
There’s that. And that could explain why Carol appears to have taken more extreme placements on people’s ballots. But it did well enough overall for that sudden shift in The Big Short’s favour – from a film like Inside Out, no less – to raise a red flag to me. You know me, Ryan. Somebody so much as blinks and them red flags shoot right up.
braylon, I’m not sure I understand the question.
“they clearly know that the moment oscar win happens”
who’s “they”? I’ll try to answer if you can help me know what you mean.
But that’s only your opinion. I preferred Carol’s script, Brooklyn’s script, Room’s script and The Big Short’s script all to Steve Jobs’. And that’s only my opinion. Add together the opinions of all those who voted, and Steve Jobs was the least popular choice out of the five. It was still among the top five adaptations of the year, though.
I will say that I saw TBS because of Sasha’s glowing initial review. I don’t always agree with her on what is the best film of the year (I preferred Gravity over 12YaS, Artist over Hugo). But I have NEVER been led astray with her assessment of excellence. I can trust her taste for films. TBS is one of those films, and yes, I consider it the best of the year.
I love that Ronan chooses to play her character in such an introverted manner without it being presented as a negative character trait, but in the second half of the film, we no longer hear her voiceover letters. Once this shift occurs, we no longer have clear insight into her character’s state of mind (which is the whole reason there’s suspense over which guy she will choose). The film chooses to shut us out of her mind at this point, and it’s a deficit of the performance that we don’t know what she’s thinking about Gleeson’s character or the decision to stay in Ireland. I feel like a stronger performance would have kept us on the same page during this section… or at least complicated the choice to be made further.
She’s completely fine, but much of what we understand about her character comes from that voiceover. I feel like she’s being propped up by good writing to a large extent, whereas I feel like Larson’s palpable chemistry with Tremblay couldn’t have been scripted.
looks like you are someone who might be closer to awards circle…these screenings for Vatican and congress are too obvious for oscar voters right ? they clearly know that the moment oscar win happens these studios will ditch the movies and move on…
nah…Spotlight has ick-factor as tom from goldderby pointed out….if the movie is rewarded nothing is gonna change…what can be done is done by catholic church..so now the only thing thats gonna happen is pointing out molestation and making people loose faith in Christianity…TBS is more effective and has huge impact if it wins
Rob is da Bomb!
The following are quotes from film critic Tim Rehm about ” Ronan’s masterfully elegant performance” in Brooklyn. ” Any good actor can take a character and make him/her choke up tears or explode with anger or give a convincingly joyous smile, but it takes real talent to craft a vulnerable, imperfect person with clouded intentions and masked emotions beyond the scope of the dialogue. There, we see the true essence of why Ronan’s portrayal of Eilis Lacey is convincing, moving, and most importantly, real. ” I agree with him.
But you could draw lines to designate groupings:
1st Tier: Mad Max — nothing was close
2nd Tier: Big Short and Carol
3rd Tier: The rest.
Between 2nd and 3rd tiers there was a huge gap. So it would make sense to group 1st and 2nd tiers together (if you are going to include more than one title).
I flip flop between Ronan and Larson. Ronan did a way more subtle performance, where Larson got to show off her skills. I love them both. But I would check off Larson on my ballot.
🙂
6) Rob spends a lot of hours on these ballots. It’s enormously instructive but we also want it to be fun for everyone. We want Rob’s efforts to make as many people happy as possible. If we have a chance to spread the love for movies we know AD readers love, why not pack a headline full of cinematic goodness
🙂
Yes, I’m very aware of Sorkin’s style. Not a fan, but this time it irks me (and my friends) to no end. Lines like “You can be decent and gifted at the same time. It’s not binary”, “I am tired of being Ringo when I know I was John,” to which Jobs shrugs, “Everyone loves Ringo” are just cringe worthy.
What I get from the movie is that it’s okay be a dick if that allows you to fulfill your genius potential. The big problem for me is that movie never succeeds in proving his genius, but succeeds fully showing him being a thorough asshole. A more fitting title would be Steve Jerk. And the whole daughter narrative scheme was also very awkward and unconvincing. I don’t care about her, I don’t care about him and yet I’m subjected to witness their up-and-down relationship ad nauseum.
I’m not trying to rain down on anybody’s positive opinion of the movie/screenplay. It’s okay that you think it’s great, but just want you to be aware of others’ POV on the movie so that perhaps you don’t find it to be so baffling that it ends up on fifth place.
Hmm, even the readers here preferred Larson.
I actually want her to win because I believe she gave the best female supporting performance of 2015, full stop. She was the backbone of Steve Jobs.
Of the other nominees, only Leigh and McAdams qualify for being supporting roles. I prefer Leigh over McAdams, who is more like a team player as opposed to a standout.
Mara and Vikander are lead roles and should’ve been campaigned as such. Mara even has more screen time than Blanchett!! I guess the Academy just loves their category fraud.
If Carol lost cinematography here it’s time for me to face the awful truth Ed Lachman is not gonna win his Oscar.
I’m slowly moving towards the conclusion that Spotlight is gonna with the BP Oscar.
— In view of the preferential ballot, the film that is generally liked, and not generally disliked, has an advantage. Too many people disliked The Revenant to balance out the people who loved it. A lot of people feel that The Big Short is good but overrated (I thought it was a mess, an entertaining and admirable mess.) I feel like Spotlight will figure in the top three of most voters’ ballots, whereas TR and TBS will not necessarily, or not to the same extent, and this will pull it through to the win.
— Since Inarritu won BP and BD last year, and now seems likely to win BD this year, I just can’t see people also giving The Revenant a top vote for BP, giving Inarritu BP and BD two years running.
— Of course, some people have said that voters marking their ballot for Director, Actor and Cinematography for The Revenant will also feel compelled to mark their ballots for Best Picture for The Rev, but I think people will want to spread the love more.
— I think people see Spotlight as an unexciting but nonetheless respectable and in no way embarrassing choice, the kind of film that people think is not necessarily earth-shattering but is nonetheless something that the Academy can proudly support as a worthy winner.
Okay, okay, I KNOW that TBS won PGA, and The Rev won DGA, which are better predictors of Best Picture than the SAG ensemble award. And I know that Spotlight would therefore win, at most, two Oscars in total. (And I doubt that BAFTA is going to Spotlight.) So, Claudiu, there’s no need to go all stats-y on me 🙂 🙂 :).
I may be wrong, but this is where I am leaning. I’ll change my mind six times before Feb. 28.
That’s cool!
I won’t mind if Kate win, but she already has one. People want her to win for crazy Jack and Rose pictures. Yawn.
Oh, I see. The ballot skipped the whole “these are your five nominees or whatever” phase. Still find it weird that Steve Jobs’ bold, unorthodox, and dialogue-heavy script was somehow less appreciated than Carol and Brooklyn, whose scripts (both of which I have read through) and stories were rather simple (hence my saying that their stylistic executions and acting were what made them pop), and that The Martian (a script that can switch fluidly between a one-man-drama and an ensemble without blinking) didn’t even make the top 5.
I think the 5th hottest guy in America was just cast to play Bill Gates in his unorthodox biopic. Kudos to him. We should keep him on an Oscar contention list two years in advance. 🙂
That’s pretty smart, Paddy. I thought Carol had all the ingredients; beautiful cinematography, great costumes, excellent art direction, and good actors, but for a love story it was cold and I wasn’t moved by it. But I guess I should have just thought that I was a bigot! That’s right, it must be it! Maybe you just don’t understand The Big Short, you know, it went over your head, or you’re just a scammer who sees nothing wrong with people committing fraud. And if you don’t like Creed, then you’re a racist. If you don’t like Spotlight, then you’re a pedaphile, etc., etc…..Sooo smart….
“I and my friends who saw Steve Jobs together thought the script was a P.O.S.! So maybe that could be the reasons why it’s in the last place?”
umm… the script for Steve Jobs is not in “last place”
It’s in 5th place. Out of 300+ eligible screenplays.
Please hook me up with the 5th hottest guy in America.
I’ll let you know if he’s a PoS. (He may well be, but I’ll enjoy the hell out of the 2 hrs I spend with him)
Or Kate Winslet.
Fans of a medium as opposed to a single franchise, ideally.
I think Room’s is cool, even though I’m a tad not as in love with the story once the characters are outside as opposed to when they were confined. The intrigue, nevertheless, is strong. Overall, it’s fresh, it has its quotable moments, and it has its emotional moments.
It’s with Brooklyn (a film I love) and Carol (a film I regard as fine), both films whose strengths lie way more in their style and acting than in their story substance, that I disagree, in relation to Steve Jobs. Good nominees, I guess, but they shouldn’t win over Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs rests pretty much on the strength of its screenplay, so much so that I daresay that it made for much more potent drama than even Spotlight.
I absolutely am amused by how, year after year, any traditional bread-and-butter biopic almost always get a pass (either money-wise or awards-wise), but the more unorthodox biopics (i.e. those that don’t get at the essence of a person’s life via just checking off events from their entire life story) are almost always get misunderstood and unappreciated upon release.
I’d love to know how the screenplay for Steve Jobs was a P.O.S. and whether or not you have the same opinion for all of Sorkin’s other scripts or any script with dense, rapid dialogue, such as the classic His Girl Friday.
I’m rooting for Rooney Mara to win. better yet, I would love to see a shocker win and have a real supporting actress win like Rachel McAdams.
You’re kidding, right?? We’re all fanboys of some sort
Here’s something else that’s “arbitrary”
The Oscar “rule” that an arbitrary X% of ballots has to be reached, or else we can’t have 10 Best Picture nominees.
Arbitrary threshold numbers pulled out of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ butthole are the basis of the current Oscar tabulation process.
True? 🙂
1) Because even in the first round of counting, 3 films were clearly on a top tier plateau. The 3 films in that top plateau were obvious redistribution ballot magnets.
2) Because the whole point of Dr Rob showing us the internal numbers is to do what no other group does: reveal to us which movies came close to winning.
3) Because we are proud to show the embrace of inclusion and broad tastes of AD voters.
4) Because I get bored of the 20 other headlines I’ve written this year that only tell us the winner. As if “winning” in a volatile contest is all that matters.
5) Because I wrote the headline to say what I wanted it to say. Get somebody to hire you to be Editor at a movie site. You’ll see how fun it can be to occasionally spin the news however you want.
Now that you mention it… it IS a bit arbitrary to name 3 (I know, medals and stuff, but, still), and stop short just before Spotlight…
(Just kidding. I don’t really care about stuff like that.)
Glad Fury Road won, even if my other favorites couldn’t come close! And not a surprising winner at all, of course. I’d have almost been shocked had anything else won (even Carol, perhaps.) A lot of love for The Big Short around here… and surprisingly little for The Revenant. I knew AD’ers hated Inarritu, but I didn’t think to this extent. (I hate to beat a dead horse, but I guess The Revenant isn’t, in fact, too big to overlook, after all.) Anyway, interestingly, here’s yet more evidence that The Big Short is benefiting greatly from the use of the preferential system (since it overtook Carol by the end, despite being third, originally.)
Love the tie… I had a tough time deciding between those two myself, actually, but went with Mara, in the end. That’s one of the three categories where my voted winner prevailed (along with director and adapted screenplay.) How many winners do you guys agree with? Anybody vote for these exact 10? (Either Mara or Vikander in the tied category.)
OT: I was thinking – if Straight Outta Compton, in a misguided damage control attempt by the Academy (not knowing that the nominated writers from that movie are all white), gets the screenplay award, and Spotlight ends up winning BP, nonetheless (which isn’t quite as ridiculous a scenario as it could seem – this is even more plausible, I would say, under the preferential system)… Spotlight could end up with just Best Picture. That’d be pretty funny… (This happened with 12 Years a Slave at some awards ceremonies two years ago, after all, and that was without the preferential system, even.)
Surprised to see no love for Beasts or Tremblay here 🙁 and Larson over Ronan? really people? come on!
Well done for Inside Out, my #1 movie of the year. And of course Mad Max (my #2).
Ahhh…. Opinions… I and my friends who saw Steve Jobs together thought the script was a P.O.S.! So maybe that could be the reasons why it’s in the last place? And didn’t make it to the Oscars nom?
Why does the article named 3 films when MM:FR is clearly the winner?
Yeah, definitely shouldn’t be last. For sure not below Room.
“the Big Short? Just because Sasha is championing it for the Oscars.”
yep. That’s why the PGA chose The Big Short. Just because Sasha told them to.
Sasha is rilly persuasive.
Predictable. Mad Max and Carol fine, it could be. But Big Short? Just because Sasha is championing it for the Oscars.
“As I was falling on my elbows… somehow I hit the floor… Since no one was home to help me and I twisted my ankle I had to stay there and watch it.”
That’s exactly how most of my romantic relationships begin.
#meetcute
That’s cool, but last place though? Carol isn’t a better script. Brooklyn, as much as I love that film, doesn’t have that memorable of a script. Room is cool, but I think that the performances make the script look better than it actually is (and the script is really strong). I’m actually also surprised that The Martian didn’t even make the top 5.
I’m totally cool with The Big Short winning, as I’ve said. But the reveal that Steve Jobs only made fifth place and that The Martian didn’t even make the top 5? Those two outcomes baffle me. Any list of great adaptation scripts from 2016 that does not include Steve Jobs, The Big Short, The Martian, and Room just doesn’t make any sense to me.
AND! we can look at who would have been next in our voting. MyaTaylor, Abraham Attah, and Benicio Del Toro were just under the cut off.
It didn’t play here. But.. I was walking past my computer one day and tripped. As I was falling my elbows somehow typed an address. When I hit the floor I realized that CAROL was playing on my computer. Since no one was home to help me and I twisted my ankle I had to stay there and watch it. TRUMBO, ROOM, and BROOKLYN haven’t played here either. So I’m thinking about leaving my shoes untied for the next two weeks in case they don’t show up at the theater before Oscar night.
It’s always baffling to try to divine what’s going on in the heads of other people.
But one factor we might consider: there are still people who haven’t been able to see Carol yet.
Oscar voters have no excuse. But far-flung civilians might not live near the rare theaters where Carol was playing.
Legitimately baffled at Inside Out’s ballots going so heavily in The Big Short’s favour over Carol. Disappointed too. It definitely appears that Carol is a love/hate type of film, which isn’t something I can comprehend unless I factor in that little thing that never occurs to some of us and yet never leaves others: bigotry!
I don’t think it was her. I think Matt Damon scienced it and cloned himself six times.
‘And whether you liked it or not, you can’t deny the work that Aaron Sorkin put into that script.’
That doesn’t mean we’re going to vote for it, though.
WALL-E should not have lost to Milk, which wasn’t exactly that special, screenplay-wise. Milk is a fair biopic that works because of Gus Van Sant’s direction and the acting, not its script. WALL-E should’ve won by a landslide because its script is pretty much the whole film.
You’re joking, Jacob. But it’s no joke.
We managed to nominate Michael B Jordan, right? and Idris Elba won..
It’s not hard to whip the Oscars’ ass on diversity. Just one actor of color is infinity more than the zero the Academy honored this year.
And diversity is about more than skin color. We have named Carol our #2 film and Todd Haynes as our #2 director — the Academy dropped the ball on both those important opportunities.
So, yeah: yeah. Our voters have always been much more sensitive to diversity issues than Oscars will ever be.
Fantastic surprising result in supporting actress! so happy for rooney mara getting the best prize of the season
I love these results!
No regrets about voting KStew.
EX-MACHINA is the reason why Vikander is going to win the Oscar. I don’t think she would have won with just THE DANISH GIRL.
Still unsure if similar logic pushes Hardy to a win. Will decide after BAFTA.
I think Wall-e came the closest due to the outrage over its BP snub.
“Comfortable with diversity”, yeeeeeaaahhh NO. Not with the snubs of Creed, Straight Outta Compton, and Beasts of No Nation!
However, I am very happy and pleasantly surprised The Big Short making it in 2nd behind Mad Max. Both are tied for my #1 favorite movie of 2015, amazingly! 🙂
Love, love, LOVE that Inside Out won for Original Screenplay! Can an animated screenplay finally the Oscar for once??
Steve Jobs getting last place in Best Adapted Screenplay? Almost as ridiculous as its snub in that category at the Oscars.
I mean, seriously?? It’s the best screenplay of 2015! And whether you liked it or not, you can’t deny the work that Aaron Sorkin put into that script. Too many people, from average moviegoers to even a good number of film buffs, haven’t considered Steve Jobs as fully as they could, especially since there’s always all this clamoring for unorthodox biopics these days and Steve Jobs is certainly a work of genius.
At the very least, I’m thankful that it lost to The Big Short, which is my 2nd favorite adapted screenplay of 2015. Room would’ve been cool as well, if somewhat weak. No to the scripts Carol and even Brooklyn, now that I think about them. They’re solid films, but not because of their screenplays.
I haven’t seen Carol yet, I will eventually. But I loved Mad Max and really enjoyed The Big Short, which is a movie everyone should see to have a better understanding of the mortgage financial collapse fuckery because it fucked 99% of us, me included.
“Fans”?
These films were chosen by Awards Daily’s core group of readers. We’re not fanboys, we’re not fans.
We’re movielovers who recognize and respect a fine film when we find one.
Big Short, really? i tought this isnt fans favourite film