2015 Cinema & Stadium Film Awards

2015 Cinema & Stadium Film Awards

Last year was an exceptional one for film overall, and so unsurprisingly there were many outstanding performances among the diverse films that I got to see.  To highlight the ones I thought were best, here is my third annual Oscar-style awards post.  Feel free to comment on where you agree or disagree with my selections.  I've pointed out, as well, the "real" Oscar nominees and why I didn't nominate some of them for my awards.  Only films that were released widely in 2015 were eligible.


I hope you enjoy, and please also check out my film year-in-review post here, where I pick my top 10 movies of the year, give out other miscellaneous awards, and more.


Acting Awards

Best Actor:
Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)
Harrison Ford (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)
Ian McKellen (Mr. Holmes)
David Oyelowo (Selma)
Jason Segel (The End of the Tour)

Oscar nominees not named here:  Bryan Cranston (Trumbo) - haven't seen the film; Matt Damon (The Martian) - I don't think he merits a nomination above the others; Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl) - didn't qualify due to wide release in 2016.

First of all, I want to give very honorable mentions to two different co-leads in top films from 2015:  Christian Bale and Steve Carell in The Big Short, and Michael Keaton and Mark Ruffalo in Spotlight.  Due to sharing the spotlight (pun intended), none of them had quite substantial enough roles for my nomination, but all of them were outstanding and worthy of recognition.

I had my (serious) doubts about the old Star Wars coming back for The Force Awakens, but Harrison Ford completely obliterated them in easily resuming his iconic role.  Ian McKellen was fantastic as Sherlock in Mr. Holmes, both frail old man and genius sleuth in other parts.  Jason Segel blew me away with his acting chops in inhabiting a simultaneously eccentric and normal David Foster Wallace in The End of the Tour.  Michael Fassbender continues to up the ante with his astonishing performances in playing the title role in Steve Jobs.  He easily snaps out Sorkin's smart, rapidfire script in conveying both the technical genius and frequent social failings of his character.

But the best was David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King, Jr., in Selma.  "Overwhelming" would be understating the pressure on Oyelowo in playing the civil rights hero.  Still, I felt like I was watching a living, breathing legend on the screen; his King had that presence at all times, yet he also shows  vulnerability when he (King) allowed himself to.  Selma must be seen, for many reasons but Oyelowo's performance is among the top.  It is one of the very best that I've ever seen.  The Academy's failure to even nominate him is likely the worst Oscar snub of all time.


Best Actress:
Emily Blunt (Sicario)
Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)
Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road)
Alicia Vikander (Testament of Youth)
Kristen Wiig (Welcome to Me)

Oscar nominees not named here:  ummm... all of them - I have not seen any of the films (Carol, Room - neither of which would have qualified for me, anyway, due to wide releases in 2016 - Brooklyn, Joy, and 45 Years)

I want to start, once again, by naming an honorable mention; here, it is to Jennifer Lawrence for her role in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2.  I made it plain that I didn't think much of her in the first three films, but it finally clicked to terrific effect for the last one.  Alicia Vikander, seen all over the place in film in 2015, did especially well in carrying the WWI memoir-based Testament of Youth, with building heartbreak.  Charlize Theron proved her toughness again as the true hero of the great Mad Max reboot this summer, equaling her male action counterparts.  Emily Blunt provides a piece of humanity to cling to in the chilling Sicario, as she swims against a current of darkness.  Daisy Ridley was a true wonder, a previous unknown within the galactic-sized Star Wars franchise.  Making her predecessor Luke look pathetic in comparison, she not only gave an excellent performance but her character stands as a great model for a generation of strong female leads and heroes.

Among a strong assembly of performances, Kristen Wiig stands out for her work in Welcome to Me.  Known of course for her comedic brilliance, I don't think any other actress could have pulled off her borderline personality disorder-affected character as well.  She's frequently hilarious, though always deadly serious in her respect to the character and her condition.  I didn't predict the Academy to recognize her, but it's their loss; do yourself a big favor and check out this funny, poignant, and excellent film led by Wiig's performance.


Best Supporting Actor:
Colin Firth (Kingsman: The Secret Service)
Ryan Gosling (The Big Short)
Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)
Liev Shreiber (Spotlight)
Benicio del Toro (Sicario)

Oscar nominees not named here:  Christian Bale (The Big Short) and Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight) - I didn't think they fit in this category (but are definitely awards-worthy); Tom Hardy (The Revenant) - didn't qualify due to wide release in 2016; and Sylvester Stallone (Creed) - haven't seen the film.


Ryan Gosling's part in The Big Short is minimal, but he really digs into it with an almost sick gusto, stepping up to his co-stars' level.  On the opposite end is Colin Firth in Kingsman, who gets close to a lead role but was so effective as a deadly yet gentlemanly agent that he deserves mention as well.  Liev Schreiber's character in Spotlight plays a pivotal role in the plot - but he extends the part well beyond just a device to a give it true depth.  Benicio del Toro is literally scary good in Sicario; early on he is superbly restrained yet highly menacing.  Never losing control, he joins the ranks of Anton Chigurh as film villains go.

All those roles make way for the best of the year, Mark Rylance in Spielberg's Bridge of Spies.  He shines most effectively in the opening sequence - which not coincidentally is by far the best in the whole film.  Both his character and his performance play tricks on the audience:  he is a frail old man whose spying does far more damage than Red Army divisions; and his almost unbelievable quiet is made up for by unbelievably expressive body language.  A great performance.


Best Supporting Actress:
Rose Byrne (Spy)
Raffey Cassidy (Tomorrowland)
Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight)
Rachel McAdams (Spotlight)
Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

Oscar nominees not mentioned here:  Rooney Mara (Carol), Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl) - didn't qualify due to wide release in 2016.

Rose Byrne continues her development as a scene-stealing comic actress in Melissa McCarthy's Spy, with an effortless, clever take on a femme fatale.  Rachel McAdams may be overshadowed in some ways by her male co-stars, but she also shows the most heart in a genuine, poignant performance.  Kate Winslet's character gets the thankless job of trying to keep up with the grind, exhausting Steve Jobs, but audiences thank her for her steadying and much-needed empathy.  Jennifer Jason Leigh plays the Joker of Westerns in The Hateful Eight, with nearly as much glee and skill as Heath Ledger.  In a film filled with dangerous men with hair-trigger paranoia, her character is chillingly - madly - calm.

This may be my oddest acting award selection in three years.  But to me, young Raffey Cassidy's performance in Tomorrowland is the strongest in the category.  And not because she had no competition; I was transfixed by her work.  Younger actors have a tendency to over do it, whatever the role, but Cassidy harnessed an incredible energy and magic into a restrained, professional performance.  The film is one of my favorites of the year, and she is its heart and soul.  Bravo.



Other Awards

Best Director:
J.J. Abrams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)
Pete Docter, Ronnie del Carmen (Inside Out)
Ava DuVernay (Selma)
Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)
Adam McKay (The Big Short)

2016 Oscar nominees not named here:  

My honorable mention for this category goes to Denis Villeneuve for Sicario; though not quite as good as Prisoners, he is clearly one of today's best filmmakers with a distinct style both artistic and entertaining.  And now I'm going to cheat here, and say that I have no winner in this category - they all did such fantastic yet diverse work that I can't choose just one - or two.

J.J. Abrams brought the biggest film franchise of all time - and if you couldn't tell by all the box office records The Force Awakens has obliterated, yes, he was very successful.  The pressure was beyond any other anticipated blockbuster, yet he navigated the famed galaxy far away by keeping just the right amount of the old feel and adding in a great new core of characters.  Ava DuVernay rallied a bravura solo performance (Oyelowo) together with a broader tension-building plot - and great care and patience for historical detail with relevance to contemporary society - for the outstanding Selma.  Tom McCarthy and Adam McKay, in Spotlight and The Big Short, respectively, fostered stellar ensemble casts in stories seemingly too boring and/or technical for great drama but resulted in great entertainment and impact.  And Docter and del Carmen directed the animated efforts of Inside Out, the greatest film by of a gold-standard studio (Pixar), harnessing the creative but insane idea of emotions as characters in a classic story full of heart.


Best Screenplay:
Donald Margulies (The End of the Tour)*
   *based on Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself by David Lipsky
Tom McCarthy, Josh Singer (Spotlight)
Adam McKay, Charles Randolph (The Big Short)*
   *based on The Big Short by Michael Lewis
Aaron Sorkin (Steve Jobs)*
   *based on Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
Paul Webb (Selma)

Best Visual Effects:
Ant-Man
Avengers 2: Age of Ultron
Jurassic World
Mad Max: Fury Road
Star Wars: The Force Awakens





"Academy Award trophy" by Source (WP:NFCC#4). Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Academy_Award_trophy.jpg#/media/File:Academy_Award_trophy.jpg