My 2015 Oscar Predictions

Here are my Oscar predictions for the 2015 calendar year. 

Oscar Challenge Ballot  

Best Picture: The Revenant

Runner-Up: Spotlight
Rooting For: The Martian

Actor in a Leading Role: Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant

Runner-Up: Michael Fassbender - Steve Jobs
Rooting For: Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant

Actress in a Leading Role: Brie Larson - Room

Runner-Up: Saoirse Ronan - Brooklyn
Rooting For: Cate Blanchett - Carol

Actor in a Supporting Role: Sylvester Stallone - Creed

Runner-Up: Mark Rylance - Bridge of Spies
Rooting For: Sylvester Stallone - Creed

Actress in a Supporting Role: Alicia Vikander - The Danish Girl 

Runner-Up: Kate Winslet - Steve Jobs
Rooting For: Alicia Vikander - The Danish Girl

Directing: Alejandro G. Iñárritu - The Revenant

Runner-Up: George Miller - Mad Max: Fury Road
Rooting For: George Miller - Mad Max: Fury Road 

Writing: Adapted Screenplay: The Big Short 

Runner-Up: Room
Rooting For: The Martian

Writing: Original Screenplay: Spotlight

Runner-Up: Inside Out
Rooting For: Ex Machina 

Cinematography: The Revenant

Runner-Up: Mad Max: Fury Road
Rooting For: The Revenant  

Film Editing: Mad Max: Fury Road

Runner-Up: The Big Short
Rooting For: Star Wars The Force Awakens

Visual Effects: Star Wars The Force Awakens

Runner-Up: Mad Max: Fury Road
Rooting For: Star Wars The Force Awakens

Production Design: Mad Max: Fury Road

Runner-Up: The Revenant
Rooting For: The Martian

Costume Design: Mad Max: Fury Road

Runner-Up: Cinderella
Rooting For: The Revenant

Makeup and Hairstyling: Mad Max: Fury Road

Runner-Up: The Revenant
Rooting For: The Revenant

Sound Editing: The Revenant

Runner-Up: Mad Max: Fury Road
Rooting For: Star Wars The Force Awakens

Sound Mixing: The Revenant

Runner-Up: Mad Max: Fury Road
Rooting For: Star Wars The Force Awakens

Music: Original Score: The Hateful Eight

Runner-Up: Star Wars The Force Awakens
Rooting For: Star Wars The Force Awakens

Music: Original Song: “Til It Happens To You,” - The Hunting Ground

Runner-Up: Writings on the Wall - Spectre
Rooting For: Writings on the Wall - Spectre

Animated Feature Film: Inside Out

Runner-Up: Anomalisa
Rooting For: Inside Out

Animated Short Film: Sanjay’s Super Team

Runner-Up: World of Tomorrow
Rooting For: Sanjay’s Super Team

Documentary Feature: Amy

Runner-Up: Cartel Land
Rooting For: Amy

Documentary Short: Body Team 12

Runner-Up: Chau Beyond the Lines
Rooting For: Chau Beyond the Lines

Foreign Language Film: Son of Saul

Runner-Up: Mustang
Rooting For: Son of Saul

Short Film: Ave Maria

Runner-Up: Shok
Rooting For: Shok

Review: Deadpool

IMDb

Title: Deadpool
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Director: Tim Miller
Writer(s): Rob Liefeld (character), Fabian Nicieza (character), Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick  
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, T.J. Miller,  Ed Skrein
MPAA Rating: Rated R for strong violence and language throughout, sexual content and graphic nudity.
Running Time: 108 min
Synopsis: A former Special Forces operative turned mercenary is subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers, adopting the alter-ego Deadpool.

What Others Are Saying? 

Rotten Tomatoes: 84% "Fresh", Top Critics: 76% "Fresh", Audience: 96% "Liked It"
Metacritic: Critics: 65 out of 100, Users: 8.4 out of 10
MRQE: 69 out of 100

My Review

Source Material: Based on the comic book character of the same name.

Entertaining Value:

• Action Elements: For being a "superhero" film this one doesn't have non-stop action like all the other one out there. It was nice to watch a film in this genre and not be exhausted from all the action. This film had nice bookend action sequences.

• Comedy Elements: This film was one of the funniest films I have seen in awhile. You know you are in for a good time during the opening credits.

• Dramatic Elements: There are a few heartfelt moments, there, not the best but you shouldn't be watching Deadpool for it's dramatic moments.

• Sci-Fi / Fantasy Elements: Deadpool lives in the same universe as the X-men, so expect those types of fantasy elements.

Cinematic Value:

• Acting and Dialogue: 8: Ryan Reynolds was born to play Deadpool. If you know the character of Deadpool you would agree. T.J Miller as Weasel was great. Some of the better scenes are the interactions between Reynolds and Miller. Them riffing off one another was hilarious. I always laugh when a film cast a "martial artist" (I'm including pro-wrestlers in that general term) and basically edits around their less than stellar acting. The filmmakers know what they are doing. If you need a built chick to throw some heavy punch you hire Gina Carano. For me, Ed Skrein did a decent job as Ajax, but that might not be 100% his fault because I though Ajax was a weak bad guy.

• Cinematography: 8: What I liked the most about the cinematography was how fluid it was during the action scenes. Sometimes it's better to allow the action to happen without bringing in the shaky cam. The open sequence highlights exactly what I'm talking about.

• Direction: 7: For his first major film as a director, Tim Miller did a great job. When you watch the film you can tell Tim understands the strengths and weakness of VFX.

• Editing: 7: I liked the juxtaposed between the past and the present.

• Screenplay: 7: The screenwriters captured the character of Deadpool to a "t". The breaking the 4th wall knack that Deadpool has could have been cheesy and quite dumb after a while, but it wasn't. It was one of the funniest parts of this film. The comic timing in this film was perfect. As far as the story goes, well, in my opinion, it was an origin story, but funnier. For me, the weakest part of the story was the villain, but that a problem with Marvel Comics in general. (DC Comics has better villains.)

• Sound and Music: 8: A fun soundtrack that fits perfectly with what happens on screen. There are even a few jokes surrounding the music.

• VFX: 8: Very well done, and I would hope so with Tim Miller as the director. I'm not saying he is a well established visual effect artist, but based on this film and a few video games he helped on, I would say he knows enough to make it look good.

Overall: 7.5: I can't say, "Deadpool was the best comic book movies ever made." Yes, it's very entertaining movies. It's a very funny movie, with that being said, its humor is only going to work for certain types of people. (The people who get and like Deadpool as a character.) Also, the R rating is going to turn some people off (The filmmakers fully take advantage of their R rating) Overall, it was a very good movie, but it's not for everybody, and definitely not for children.