Oscars Live Coverage

Folks, we’ll be doing live coverage of the Oscars right here, so hang in and refresh often!

Offbeat Commentary: Congratulations to Fan Contributor Brandon Marcus for devastating us in our staff Oscar predictions. And I am out of here! Public Enemy during the credits? Amazing.

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR

“The Big Short” – Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Producers
“Bridge of Spies” Steven Spielberg, Marc Platt and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers
“Brooklyn” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
“Mad Max: Fury Road” Doug Mitchell and George Miller, Producers
“The Martian” Simon Kinberg, Ridley Scott, Michael Schaefer and Mark Huffam, Producers
“The Revenant” Arnon Milchan, Steve Golin, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Mary Parent and Keith Redmon, Producers
“Room” Ed Guiney, Producer
“Spotlight” Michael Sugar, Steve Golin, Nicole Rocklin and Blye Pagon Faust, Producers

Nick says: My favorite film of the year actually won. This is a big blow against the momentum that The Revenant was accumulating and it’s a wonderful thing. Spotlight is a great, measured movie. Congrats to the voters.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Bryan Cranston in “Trumbo”
Matt Damon in “The Martian”
Leonardo DiCaprio in “The Revenant”
Michael Fassbender in “Steve Jobs”
Eddie Redmayne in “The Danish Girl”

Nick says: What did you expect, folks? Another bridesmaid situation? The stars aligned for Mr. DiCaprio. He’s amazing and a gold standard. I just wish Fassbender or Damon or even Cranston stole this one away.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Cate Blanchett in “Carol”
Brie Larson in “Room”
Jennifer Lawrence in “Joy”
Charlotte Rampling in “45 Years”
Saoirse Ronan in “Brooklyn”

Nick says: This is an actress who will be setting the standard for decades, and this win ensures it. She’s so darn good in Room that we know Room exists. It could have easily been a stiny little sleeper movie but her commanding work helped force it into our schedule. Good for her and good for the voters.

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING

“The Big Short” Adam McKay
“Mad Max: Fury Road” George Miller
“The Revenant” Alejandro G. Iñárritu
“Room” Lenny Abrahamson
“Spotlight” Tom McCarthy

Nick says: This one stings. I can’t lie. The Revenant is fine. It’s fine. It just seemed like the stars had aligned for George Miller. Alejandro G. Iñárritu is a great artist. This is more of an emotional category.

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SONG)

“Earned It” from “Fifty Shades of Grey” Music and Lyric by Abel Tesfaye, Ahmad Balshe, Jason Daheala Quenneville and Stephan Moccio
“Manta Ray” from “Racing Extinction” Music by J. Ralph and Lyric by Antony Hegarty
“Simple Song #3” from “Youth” Music and Lyric by David Lang
“Til It Happens To You” from “The Hunting Ground” Music and Lyric by Diane Warren and Lady Gaga
“Writing’s On The Wall” from “Spectre” Music and Lyric by Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith

Nick says: They say just being nominated is an honor. The fact that Fifty Shades of Grey has a nomination almost nullifies the entire idea of the Oscars existing. Of course Sam Smith and his high-pitched begging won. There’s a long history of James Bond and the Oscars. But I don’t know if this really deserves a place alongside some of the masterpieces the series has allowed.

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SCORE)

“Bridge of Spies” Thomas Newman
“Carol” Carter Burwell
“The Hateful Eight” Ennio Morricone
“Sicario” Jóhann Jóhannsson
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” John Williams

Nick says: Morricone is great. Top three composer of all time. Is this really all that great a score? I don’t think so. Not by a long stretch. But it’s hard not to be thrilled to see a Master finally get his prize.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR

“Embrace of the Serpent” Colombia
“Mustang” France
“Son of Saul” Hungary
“Theeb” Jordan
“A War” Denmark

Nick says: Son of Saul was astonishing. So glad it won.

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

“Ave Maria” Basil Khalil and Eric Dupont
“Day One” Henry Hughes
“Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut)” Patrick Vollrath
“Shok” Jamie Donoughue
“Stutterer” Benjamin Cleary and Serena Armitage

Nick says: Well I won my Stutterer Oscar Pool.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

“Amy” Asif Kapadia and James Gay-Rees
“Cartel Land” Matthew Heineman and Tom Yellin
“The Look of Silence” Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen
“What Happened, Miss Simone?” Liz Garbus, Amy Hobby and Justin Wilkes
“Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom” Evgeny Afineevsky and Den Tolmor

Nick says: Amy was great. Truly great. But Cartel Land was a once in a decade documentary.

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

“Body Team 12” David Darg and Bryn Mooser
“Chau, beyond the Lines” Courtney Marsh and Jerry Franck
“Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah” Adam Benzine
“A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness” Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
“Last Day of Freedom” Dee Hibbert-Jones and Nomi Talisman

Nick says: What Louis said was pretty spot-on. These films only exist because someone was emotionally moved to the point of getting a story out that needed to be told. Oftentimes this is a thankless gig so it’s nice to see love given.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Christian Bale in “The Big Short”
Tom Hardy in “The Revenant”
Mark Ruffalo in “Spotlight”
Mark Rylance in “Bridge of Spies”
Sylvester Stallone in “Creed”

Nick says: This is a big surprise. Rylance is the best thing in a rather middle of the road picture, but it’s really surprising to see the people’s champion Rocky Balboa not pulling in a statue. Good for Rylance. He’s a terrific performer. But this is an upset when it comes to perception.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR

“Anomalisa” Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson and Rosa Tran
“Boy and the World” Alê Abreu
“Inside Out” Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera
“Shaun the Sheep Movie” Mark Burton and Richard Starzak
“When Marnie Was There” Hiromasa Yonebayashi and Yoshiaki Nishimura

Nick says: This was a no-brainer, right? Considering there might have been a riot had Inside Out not won.

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

“Bear Story” Gabriel Osorio and Pato Escala
“Prologue” Richard Williams and Imogen Sutton
“Sanjay’s Super Team” Sanjay Patel and Nicole Grindle
“We Can’t Live without Cosmos” Konstantin Bronzit
“World of Tomorrow” Don Hertzfeldt

Nick says: Bear Story should have been the title of The Revenant.

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS

“Ex Machina” Andrew Whitehurst, Paul Norris, Mark Ardington and Sara Bennett
“Mad Max: Fury Road” Andrew Jackson, Tom Wood, Dan Oliver and Andy Williams
“The Martian” Richard Stammers, Anders Langlands, Chris Lawrence and Steven Warner
“The Revenant” Rich McBride, Matthew Shumway, Jason Smith and Cameron Waldbauer
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan and Chris Corbould

Nick says: I am flabbergasted. This is a big surprise and a great one. This is a movie that people will understand as a classic in twenty years. Great foresight.

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING

“Bridge of Spies” Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Drew Kunin
“Mad Max: Fury Road” Chris Jenkins, Gregg Rudloff and Ben Osmo
“The Martian” Paul Massey, Mark Taylor and Mac Ruth
“The Revenant” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Randy Thom and Chris Duesterdiek
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson

Nick says: Seriously? I think what we have here is a case of voters with a conscience.

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING

“Mad Max: Fury Road” Mark Mangini and David White
“The Martian” Oliver Tarney
“The Revenant” Martin Hernandez and Lon Bender
“Sicario” Alan Robert Murray
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” Matthew Wood and David Acord

Nick says: I thought the Jedi might pull this one out but it’s hard to deny the momentum being generated by Mr. Rockatansky and pals.

ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING

“The Big Short” Hank Corwin
“Mad Max: Fury Road” Margaret Sixel
“The Revenant” Stephen Mirrione
“Spotlight” Tom McArdle
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey

Nick says: This is a delightful win. A lot of people felt this was Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘ to lose but that film was too heavily edited. Not enough breathing room. Max Mad: Fury Road succeeds because there’s air between the scenes of absolute pinpoint action.

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY

“Carol” Ed Lachman
“The Hateful Eight” Robert Richardson
“Mad Max: Fury Road” John Seale
“The Revenant” Emmanuel Lubezki
“Sicario” Roger Deakins

Nick says: It’s not surprising and it is a beautiful film, but there were some real heavy hitters on the visual side here.

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

“Mad Max: Fury Road” Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega and Damian Martin
“The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared” Love Larson and Eva von Bahr
“The Revenant” Siân Grigg, Duncan Jarman and Robert Pandini

Nick says: Well I guess The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared will have to wait for all of its other nominations to pay off.

ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION DESIGN

“Bridge of Spies” Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Rena DeAngelo and Bernhard Henrich
“The Danish Girl” Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Michael Standish
“Mad Max: Fury Road” Production Design: Colin Gibson; Set Decoration: Lisa Thompson
“The Martian” Production Design: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Celia Bobak
“The Revenant” Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Hamish Purdy

Nick says: Mad Max: Fury Road is sort of a miracle. Everything about its life has been one of an underdog and a labor of love. Here’s hoping this trend continues.

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN

“Carol” Sandy Powell
“Cinderella” Sandy Powell
“The Danish Girl” Paco Delgado
“Mad Max: Fury Road” Jenny Beavan
“The Revenant” Jacqueline West

Nick says: It’s delightful to see this movie win an award. Here’s hoping there’s more to come. In all actuality, the movie built everything from the ground up based on no real existing fashion. PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Jennifer Jason Leigh in “The Hateful Eight”
Rooney Mara in “Carol”
Rachel McAdams in “Spotlight”
Alicia Vikander in “The Danish Girl”
Kate Winslet in “Steve Jobs”

Nick says: Wow, that is a surprise. Vikander wins for her second-best performance of the year. I think this was one a lot of people were not expecting. Vikander’s a big talent and it’s nice to see some new blood in there.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

“The Big Short” Screenplay by Charles Randolph and Adam McKay
“Brooklyn” Screenplay by Nick Hornby
“Carol” Screenplay by Phyllis Nagy
“The Martian” Screenplay by Drew Goddard
“Room” Screenplay by Emma Donoghue

Nick says: Good for them. Not a bad win for these guys. This could have gone a wide variety of ways but this could either spell the beginning of a big year for The Big Short, or it could be the film’s lone courtesy win. It’s nice to see a rather important movie getting some love.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

“Bridge of Spies” Written by Matt Charman and Ethan Coen & Joel Coen
“Ex Machina” Written by Alex Garland
“Inside Out” Screenplay by Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley; Original story by Pete Docter, Ronnie del Carmen
“Spotlight” Written by Josh Singer & Tom McCarthy
“Straight Outta Compton” Screenplay by Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff; Story by S. Leigh Savidge & Alan Wenkus and Andrea Berloff

Nick says: A great movie that wins the award it (or Ex Machina) truly deserves. I feel this will be the film’s only award but it’s apt. A drama with no sensationalism managed to be as compelling as anything. Good for the Academy.

Previous Stream-of-Consciousness Commentary: Chris Rock’s monologue was fantastic. True. Bold. And funny as can be. You have to love his lack of concern about people’s feelings. The Stacey Dash bit fell on its face, which is probably a good thing. That Sam Smith song hurts me in more ways than I can eloquently portray. They are breezing through this ceremony and it’s always nice when it’s not a song and dance-centric show. That’s the problem, when Hollywood gets so into itself that it forgets that the bulk of their audience isn’t interested in anything other than awards and speeches. Jenny Beavan dressed exactly how the costumer from Fury Road ought to. Such a charming story and a deserving film. Do you think Jared Leto is glad he didn’t retire from acting right now? Even if it doesn’t win any more awards, this has been a big win for Mad Max: Fury Road. Three big technical awards? That’s deserved and enriching. We need more Chris Rock in this broadcast. It’s hard to be too critical of these Oscars. They’re moving fast, people aren’t trying too hard to be funny, and no one film is dominating (other than that George Miller flick). I don’t know if you guys are paying attention, but the geeks are winning. How did Anthony Daniels find the time in his busy schedule of only working in Star Wars movies? They have a serious clock on the acceptance speeches tonight. These folks get one chance to get their chance in the sun to talk to the world about the things that are really important to them. Give them time. Cut back on the frivolous minutiae and let the people enjoy their win. Speaking of ways to cut time. Eliminating the Minions. Makes you sort of wonder if a lot of voters sleepwalked through this award. I cannot imagine some of the old-timers making the effort to watch not one but five films with little cartoons on them. Well there goes my next hairstyle. I’ve been doing a great job of avoiding the commercials. Until now. I had officially wiped the St. Elmo’s Fire song from my mind. Until that commercial. By the way, first ever mention of St. Elmo’s Fire on Fandom! Wow, someone finally used the Van Halen Runnin’ with the Devil soundboard for good use! What folks don’t realize is that Chris Rock is showcasing just how trivial so much of our angst on the subject of Hollywood and its politics is. Real people in the real world have much different agendas. They want to get away from real life for a couple of hours and whether the answer to that is Gods of Egypt or 12 Years a Slave, it has nothing to do with who is getting a shiny statue. Patricia Arquette must have left her personality in the taxi cab she rode over on. Guess that means there’ll be an Expendables 4 post-haste. Louis CK for the win. Chris Rock just delivered a Tiger Uppercut with his mobile phone joke. I love Chris Rock but this Girl Scout bit was a colossal waste of time. This is the part of the show where people start looking at their watches and the whole affair begins to sink under its own weight. In the future they should frontload the show with the stuff which frankly, is boring. Christopher Lee. Robert Chartoff. Jerry Weintraub. Robert Loggia. Maureen O’Hara. Omar Sharif. Dean Jones. Alan Rickman. Haskell Wexler. Alex Rocco. Douglas Slocombe. James Horner. Albert Maylses. Melissa Matheson. David Bowie. Leonard Nimoy. Heartbreaking. Dave Grohl did a great job with a Beatles standard. It could have easily been a little too manipulative, but they did a nice job of remembering the way too many great folks who left the world in the past twelve months and change. Those kids are adorable. I love my readers but I’m not typing that dude’s name. Who knew that Louis Gossett, Jr. was the one and only member of the Joe Biden Fan Club in the auditorium? It’s 11:15pm on the East Coast. Let’s get some darn awards handed out so we can all return to our normal lives that have no awards shows devoted to them. If you haven’t yet, buy any five Ennio Morricone scores on iTunes or whatever service you use. They will enrich you, make the day more vibrant, and provide the soundtrack for your dreams. Sadly this is the only way Cohen can play Ali G. It’s a shame that all of his great characters become too popular for him to use them as a weapon against ignorance and stupidity. Nerd alert! For the major awards the band needs to lay off. These are the speeches that make the Oscars the biggest game in the business. Every time I see Charlotte Rampling I think of AntiChrist. And then I cringe because the scene with the wood and… ouch. That’s one small step for Leo, and one giant step for bearkind. So, did Chris Rock have more than seven minutes of actual screen time this whole show? Not really striking a blow for diversity, were they? Congratulations to Fan Contributor Brandon Marcus for devastating us in our staff Oscar predictions. And I am out of here! Public Enemy during the credits? Amazing.

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