Road to the Oscars. The Golden Globes - A Prelude.

The 73rd Golden Globe Awards took place on the 10 January 2016 in Los Angeles, the first ceremony of the Award season. The Hollywood Foreign Film Press honors Excellence in Film and TV and gives forecast of what is to come with the other Award shows lined up leading to the Oscars. I was thoroughly engaged and entertained. The last few years I have not really taken award season seriously, I didn’t really follow it nor bother watching the Films pre and post award season.

This time around though I am so eager. I researched all the dates for the Award ceremonies, I put them on my calendar. Watching the ceremony, I listened, I took notes and found the host Ricky Gervais quite funny and also a bit crude at times which is alright, he made watching a 2 hour ceremony easy, being asked four times to host the show tells that he is good at what he does. The reason of my attitude change has to do with my discovery of attending Film Festivals, there is a whole world to this, a film world. When I went to the Cannes Film Festival last May, my whole outlook of the industry was flipped the right way around. Now my Interest for the film Industry is palpable, I can’t miss a beat, I can’t afford to.

I was engaged because through the whole of last year I either watched or read up on the nominated films. Yes TV series are included as well but I struggle to latch onto a series and with all the series nominated, it would be hard for me to keep up, it’s just too much commitment. Maybe I am wrong for stating this or maybe there are people who agree with me. My attitude might change. Maybe this time next year I may write only about TV series.

Regarding ‘The Martian’. I watched the film and I don’t understand how it could be tagged a comedy. Yes it won Awards but really though should it have fallen under comedy? It could’ve been a light drama of a man trying to make light to a really bad situation. I don’t think Ridley Scott was trying to make a joke of the film. In his acceptance speech he showed slight displeasure that the film won in the category of Best Musical or Comedy Motion Picture.

My review will be broken into three categories.

Films & TV series that caught me.

Winners.

Oscar Predictions.

Films and TV seriess that caught me.

Beasts of No Nation- Director Cary Joji Fukunaga.

Starring Idris Elba. A West-African action drama, the film is about a young soldier boy who survives as his country goes through a terrible war. The film is based on a novel by the same name which also was named after one of Fela Kuti’s albums.

Son of Saul- Director Laszlo Nemes.

Set in 1944 Saul a Hungarian- Jewish prisoner burns the bodies of the dead at the Auschwitz concentration camp. He finds the body of a young boy who he recognizes as his son and so begins his plan of paying his last respects to a child he could not take care of in the midst of turmoil.

Room- Director Lenny Abrahamson

A Canadian-Irish drama thriller based on a novel by Emma Donoghue. A young mother and her son are held captive in a room for years, when they successfully escape the boy experiences freedom and the outside world for the first time.

                                                  Anomalisa- Director Charlie Kaufman.                                               A stop-motion American adult animation. Named as one of the finest films of 2015 it is about author Michael Stone who is bored of his life, he meets a woman who could be the love of his life or another human being he has an encounter with.

Mozart in the Jungle-Director Paul Weitz.

I suppose I instantly got attracted to Mozart in the jungle because of the actor Gael Garcia Bernal who won Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy. In film school we studied the film Amores Perros and had to do a presentation about it. I was personally touched, I could not forget the actors. He played Octavio. The film is by Alejandro G. Innaritu.

Winners

I am generally pleased with the winners. I have yet to watch The Revenant, it comes out later this month but I am thrilled that Alejandro G. Innaritu won Best Director and Leonardo DiCaprio won best Actor. Other than the reviews there is something about this film, maybe it is the golden cast or that Alejandro and Leonardo worked together, I don’t know what it is but this film I can say confidently is setting a blaze and it will be evident with upcoming Award ceremonies.

Denzel won the Cecil B. DeMille Award for his career in the film industry. I actually did not realize the amount of films he has under his belt. Sylvester Stallone's win in Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for Creed. He received a standing ovation, he was humbled and grateful to have been acknowledged. It was sweet that he thanked his imaginary best friend Rocky Balboa.   

Tarji P. Henson, this lady. She won Best Actress in a Drama TV Series for Empire. Handing out cookies? Classic. I was in stitches when she was made aware of time and she told them to wait. Is there any difference between Taraji and Cookie? I wonder. The only win I can’t understand is Lady Gaga. I can’t wrap my head around it. The question is more how than why. How was she able to beat the other actresses in her category? How was she able to win over Angela Basset, Sarah Paulson and Kathy Bates? I am confused and slightly concerned. I feel bad for the actresses who had to keep a straight face.   

Oscar Predictions

This is a short list among many films that will be announced as nominated films for the 2016 Oscar ceremony. These are films that stand a very good chance at winning. I could leave it as listed films or I could be bold and actually give my prediction of which category they will in. I will come back to this list and see how I fared after the Oscars.

Son of Saul- Best Foreign Film.

Anomalisa- Best Animation, even though Inside Out may be a strong contender.

Beasts of No Nation- Best Screenplay.

Room- Best Actress.

Creed- Sylvestor Stallone- Best Supporting Actor.

The Hateful Eight- Best Music Score.

The Revenant- Best Actor, Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay.

Amy- Best Documentary.

Let me close this post off with dates of the rest of the Award ceremonies till the Oscars:

17 January 2016- Critics Choice Awards

23 January 2016- Producers Guild of America Awards

30 January 2016- Screen Actors Guild Awards

13 February 2016- Writers Guild Awards

28 February 2016: The big O.