Well, the academy released the Oscar nominations for this year’s Academy Awards. Again, some surprises, some not so surprising. I usually like to take a look at the most popular categories and give you some of my thoughts on the decisions. Looking back, I see I’ve done this recap since 2007 (for the 2006 movie year). If you want to see those previous articles just click the Oscar’s Wild banner above to go to my Oscar’s Wild archive page.
I already posted my favorite movies of 2015 and usually by now I’ve posted my least favorite of 2015. However I don’t think I’m going to do a least favorite this year because there was really only one, maybe two, movies that I could put on that list and I don’t think I’m strong enough against those movies to even put them on the list. So, don’t expect a least favorite list this year.
Anyway, back to the Oscar nominees for this year. You can find the full list of nominees at Oscars.org. Now, let’s take a look at the “money” categories and judge how the Academy did this year.
BEST PICTURE
The Big Short – I really want to see this. What a great cast. I tried to explain to my wife what this was about and as soon as I got out “…the mortgage crisis…” she said, “I’m out.”
Bridge of Spies – Speilberg and Hanks. 100% the reason to see this. Otherwise, I’d probably say, “No thanks.” But I guess I’m saying, “Yes…Hanks.”
Brooklyn – There is nothing about this movie’s synopsis that in any way makes me want to watch it.
Mad Max: Fury Road – I never thought the Academy would put this on the list. WOW. I think it’s no hyperbole to say that this is probably the best movie ever nominated that will NEVER win the Best Picture. I can’t conceive of a situation where the Academy would vote this movie the winner unless every other movie in this category (and a few other categories as well) immediately forfeit.
The Martian – This is on my must see list. I can’t believe I haven’t seen it yet, but I will. SOON. I would have seen it before now, but as Jeeg would say, #RealLifeProblems.
The Revenant – This has great actors, but it looks like one of those movies where it is trying to make the viewer uncomfortable for nearly 2 hours.
Room – I have no desire to watch a horrific re-enactment of a horrific real life ordeal. If I want that I can watch the news. It’s not why I see movies.
Spotlight – Another movie about child abuse?
Notable Snubs: Only eight this year? Not 10? Where’s Hateful 8? Or Creed? Or even, Heaven forbid, Star Wars The Force Awakens?
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ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo – This looks pretty good. I hadn’t heard about it. It’s got a great cast besides Cranston, whom I love; John Goodman, Hellen Mirren, Diane Lane, etc, etc. I’m in. I’ll watch.
Matt Damon, The Martian – It looks like Damon crushed this one. More often than not, I’m in on Damon’s movies unless he’s doing a “message” movie like Green Zone or Promised Land. But even then I think he’s a pretty great actor.
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant – I’m a fan of Leo. I have no doubt he deserves this. But I don’t have a desire to watch the movie which looks like a punishing way to spend 2 hours.
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs – I love Fassbender and I think this movie looks great. I’m a little surprised that no one has said anything about an Irish-German actor playing such an iconic American personality. People love to argue about that on the Internet. But…nothing. Ditto goes for Tom Hiddleston as Hank Williams. How is there no one on the Internet getting righteously indignant about this? Remember the sh*t storm that brewed when a the traditionally white comic book character Johnny Storm was played by a black guy? In a movie just last year?! It was crazy. And that character was fictional! Regardless, I think Fassbender AND Hiddleston are going to be great.
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl – I really like Redmayne in Theory of Everything and I’m really excited to see him in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. However, I don’t really care about this movie. I’m sure he’s great in it, but I just don’t care.
Notable snubs: Michael B Jordan should be here for Creed. At the very least he should be in Supporting Actor, but I really think he deserves to be here.
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ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Cate Blanchett, Carol – I haven’t seen this yet but I love Cate Blanchett and I’ll see nearly everything she’s in. No, I don’t really want to see this movie, but I probably will. I felt the same about Blue Jasmine and she’s great in that.
Brie Larson, Room – I really like Brie Larson. I mainly know her from the first 21 Jump Street movie. I bet she’s great in this but I’ll never know. I just don’t think I could stomach watching this movie.
Jennifer Lawrence, Joy – I love JLaw, I really do, but this feels like Silver Linings Playbook Part II.
Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years – Wow, this is so cool. Charlotte Rampling was on the last season of Dexter as Dr Vogel. And she was pretty awesome. But she was also a big deal back in the 70s starring in Zardoz, Woody Allen’s Stardust Memories and Orca: The Killer Whale. She was quite the looker too. I’m so glad she’s here.
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn – Oh man, I love all these actresses but I don’t want to see any of their movies. Saoirse is great. I really like her in things like Hanna, Lovely Bones and Atonement, regardless of whether I liked those movies as a whole. I think she’s a great actress.
Notable Snubs: Charlize Theron in Mad Max Fury Road? Or how about Daisy Ridley in Star Wars The Force Awakens?
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, however, I found the first three books of the Landover series in 
for super cheap so I snapped it up and started reading without much thought. The basic premise is that a lawyer, disappointed with his life after his wife dies, finds an ad in a catalog to buy a magical fantasy land called Landover for $1 million. Spontaneously he decides to do it, but it doesn’t turn out to be exactly what he expects. Initially, that premise spoke “satire” to me. I fully expected a massively tongue-in-cheek parody of fantasy novels. What I got was surprising. The novel takes a while to really get started, but once it does, it’s really good. It takes the premise honestly and earnestly. It’s not a satire or a parody. It plays the entire plot straight and is a better novel for it. I liked it much more than I thought considering my expectations were completely wrong and the first 80 pages or so were kind of slow to get through. I’m definitely looking forward to the next book in the series.
– I love Peter David’s novels and for years I tried to read everything he’d written. I originally read this book back in 2005 when I randomly found it on eBay. I loved it. The story is a parody of fantasy books in general. It uses a lot of the tropes and has fun with them. Peter David is great at humorous dialogue and he doesn’t disappoint here. Essentially, it’s your traditional epic hero fantasy, except, instead of focusing on the hero, the story focuses on one of the side characters. And that side character is well aware he’s in a hero’s tale and that he’s not the hero. In fact, he prefers it. Lots of fun with the fantasy genre. Also, I’m surprised at how similar this book was to Moore’s Fool. I guess it’s sort of the same idea, except David’s idea goes a little more broad with the concept. And, honestly, I think it’s a better book.
Cavalcade of Awesome 
