This year’s awards season race seems to be gathering some unbelievable momentum compared to previous years. We’ve already seen a wide variety of award worthy films and the season has only just begun!
Pictures like INSIDE OUT, SICARIO, 45 YEARS and MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, has proven that this year’s award season is shaping up to be one of the most diverse selection to date with science fiction, drama, bio-pics and indie releases all delivering on their promised goods. But hold on! There’s still more to come! Here’s another round up of films that are looking to bring home a statuette this awards season.
Click here if you haven’t read my previous entries into this feature where I discuss some films not featured on this list.
STEVE JOBS
Directed by Danny Boyle
Written By Aaron Sorkin
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Seth Rogan, Jeff Daniels.
The Story:
With public anticipation running high, Apple Inc. co-founders Steve Jobs (Michael Fassbender) and Steve “Woz” Wozniak get ready to unveil the first Macintosh in 1984. Jobs must also deal with personal issues related to ex-girlfriend Chrisann Brennan and their young daughter Lisa. Eventually fired, Jobs launches NeXT Inc. and prepares to release a new computer model in 1988. Ten years later, Jobs is back at Apple Inc. and about to revolutionise the industry once again with the iMac.
Awards Likelihood:
When you have talent of this scale in one place it’s hard to see a film like Steve Jobs not get nominated for the majority of awards across the board. Boyle and Sorkin have already won Oscars for their individual work on Slumdog Millionaire and The Social Network respectively and the two are looking to recapture their awards glory with this high concept and gritty retelling of one of the 21st century’s most controversial tech figure. At this point it seems as if Sorkins nomination for screenplay is already locked in.
Likely Nominations:
Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress,best supporting actor, Best Hair and Make-up.
BEASTS OF NO NATION
Directed by Cary Fukunaga
Written By Cary Fukunaga
Starring: Idris Elba, Kurt Egyiawan, Abraham Attah
The Story:
As civil war rages in Africa, a fierce warlord (Idris Elba) trains a young orphan (Abraham Attah) to join his group of guerrilla soldiers, putting the young orphan into a destructive path as he does what he needs to in order to survive in a dangerous world.
Awards Likelihood:
Can Netflix make history and get a nomination for a film made by a online streaming service? A powerfully bleak film that its equal part epic as it is an indie film, with two startling emotionally central performances if Beasts Of No Nation doesn’t get nominated surely theres something iffy a foot in Hollywood.
Likely Nominations:
Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography.
CAROL
Directed by Todd Haynes
Written By Phyllis Nagy
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Sarah Paulson And Kyle Chandler.
The Story:
Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara) spots the beautiful, elegant Carol (Cate Blanchett) perusing the doll displays in a 1950s Manhattan department store. The two women develop a fast bond that becomes a love with complicated consequences, that takes its toll on not only themselves but on everyone they know.
Awards Likelihood:
Carol may on the surface look like another period drama that comes out this time of year, but when you put the two talents of Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara together and then combine it with director Todd Haynes, who’s previous filmography is a versatile and lavish collection of films, then Carol should be top of many people best of the year lists.
Likely Nominations:
Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Hair and Make-up, Best Costume Design.
THE REVENANT
Directed by Alejandro Gonzàlez Iñàrritu
Written By Mark L Smith, Alejandro Gonzàlez Iñàrritu
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter, Domhnall Gleeson.
The Story:
While exploring the uncharted wilderness in the 1800s, legendary frontiersman Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) sustains injuries from a brutal bear attack. When his own hunting team leaves him for dead, Glass must utilize his will and survival skills to find a way back home to his beloved family. Grief-stricken and fueled by vengeance, Glass treks through the wintry terrain to track down former confidant John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), the man who betrayed and abandoned him.
Awards Likelihood:
Hot of his win last year for the surreal comedy Birdman: Or The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance, Iñàrritu is looking to repeat his win with the much talked about The Revenant. Filmed is sequence using only natural light for lighting with a budget that skyrocketed from $60 million to close to $100 million, gruelling working conditions for actors and crew alike, this may all sound like its heading towards a disaster of epic proportions however when the trailer dropped earlier this year audiences were stunned by the results. Even if by some miracle this film doesn’t end up nominated The Revenant has already landed its place in film history for being such an ambitious project.
Likely Nominations:
Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Hair and Make-up, Best Costume Design.
ROOM
Directed by Lenny Abrahamson
Written By Emma Donoghue
Starring: Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, William H. Macy
The Story:
Held captive for years in an enclosed space, a woman (Brie Larson) and her 5-year-old son (Jacob Tremblay) finally gain their freedom, allowing the boy to experience the outside world for the first time.
Awards Likelihood:
This years little indie film that came out of nowhere, Room was met with rapturous applause and praise when it debuted at Telluride earlier this year. Directed by Lenny Abrahamson, who’s previous films includes the largely unseen teen drama What Richard Did and last years fantastically weird Frank, Room sees the director tackle a critically praised novel making a far more conventional independent American production, but in a film where the premise is all about discovering the outside world expect plenty of heartbreaking and beautiful artistic choices from the acclaimed director.
Likely Nominations:
Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor.
Remember to keep checking back to Film and TV Now as we continue to explore the films that will be lighting up the awards calendar come the end of the year.
