That completely AND utterly shocked me. Loved Mary but Amy REALLY should've won that, especailly considering how much Arrival is winning elsewhere

 

 

#JusticeForAmyAgain

also I am currently listening to Not Today from Me Before You and I really wish that got a nomination in the song category! such a stunning beauty <3

 

also I am currently writing prep for this next category and trying to not go crazy at having a second HORRENDOUS winner in a row after that soundtrack horror

I still absolutely adore Till the End by Jessie Ware from the Me Before You soundtrack, it's gorgeous but never gets any appreciation :(

 

Josh should we start posting the commentaries for the best picture nominated films? If so pm or fb me!!

I WARNED YOU ALL.

http://data.whicdn.com/images/75104192/large.gif

DIDN'T I WARN YOU??!?!!!

if you guys want the best picture commentaries then start commenting now!

if you guys want the results also then you need to be commenting constantly over the next half an hour or so!!

also Josh plz can you send me back the PM's I sent you as I now have no copy of the commentaries!!!!

BEST PICTURE: NOMINEE #1
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JJ Abrams ‘blood relative’ to the original Cloverfield was announced via a trailer in January. Less than 3 months later the film was in cinemas. Whilst it has thematic similarities with Cloverfield the film is a stand-alone that doesn’t require viewing the original. Instead of a monster on the rampage film this time we get a claustrophobic psychological thriller which centres on a young girls who survives a car crash only to awaken in the bunker of a survivalist who claims it is unsafe for her to leave.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays the lead role of Michelle and turns in a great performance of strength, ingenuity and vulnerability but the stand out here is John Goodman as Howard. The film plays out from Michelle’s perspective and like her we don’t know whether or not we can trust him. Howard appears decent and honourable but is just creepy and odd enough that we can’t tell quite how things will play out later. Director Dan Trachtenburg keeps things taut and claustrophobic but still allows the occasional moment of humour before ramping up the tension again, until finally the big revelation come and we think we know where this is going before the film throws one final curveball at us.
10 Cloverfield lane showed us that you don’t need huge stars, budgets or special effects to make a success as it went on to make over 7 times its budget at the box office and become a critical hit too.

Thanks to Severin for that commentary on our first Best Picture nominee!

BEST PICTURE NOMINEE #2
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Captain America: Civil War
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Okay, so compared to the actual comic, there was a lot missing from this movie, namely most of the marvel universe and the “death” of Steve Rogers (he doesn’t actually die, just sent into the past) but that didn’t stop this being one of the best superhero movies ever and one of 2016’s best movies in general.
Basically, after some missions go back, the government wants to step in and monitor the Avengers more closely. Cap doesn’t want this, Iron man does. War ensures. We also have the added issue of Winter Solider and him being framed for murder. Not good.
Even though there’s a lot to sort out and explain in the plot, the addition of Daniel Brühl as Zemo was a nice nod to the comics even though he was totally remade. Maybe more form him in future?
The Winter Solider story had its slightly iffy moments for me, the Iron Man connection was a major bummer, but having an insight to how he was controlled was so cool.
Sebastian, as ever, was amazing. He has a knack for showing real emotion in his face and body language without saying anything. Despite being painted as a villain you feel for him, it’s obvious he feels regret and wants to be separated from his past but it keeps haunting him.
Seeing Crossbones back was a nice way to tie off loose ends from the second Cap movie too.
Said it before and will say it again, Chris Evans IS Cap. Every fibre of his being is totally selling it and I couldn’t ask for a better casting. This was also the first time I found myself liking Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man. Although I am mainly Team Cap, I could see the merits in what Iron Man wanted to do.
Scarlett as ever was perfect as Black Widow and it was nice to see her do a bit more compared to Age of Ultron.
I still hate Anthony Mackie and Falcon, so let’s move on. We need more Sharon Carter too.
Elizabeth was the best part of AoU other than Aaron, and despite the f***ed up power set, she is really selling it as Scarlet Witch and I can’t wait for more. Ant Man being back was nice, Paul Rudd is a surprisingly believable superhero.
Vision remains a tool, Spider-man annoyed the shit out of me, but Tom Holland might be good in his own movie setting. Black Panther was actually good, I’m more used to seeing him as Storm’s hubby and not clued up on his story so looking forward to more.
The ending makes it seem like all hope is lost and even though Cap breaks everyone out, there’s so much loss; Bucky loses his arm and any freedom he had since he goes back to being frozen, Ant Man loses the freedom he had earned, Hawkeye can’t go back to his family, Black Widow has lost the trust of her teammates and Iron Man and Cap lose a close friend. It makes the wait for Infinity War even more painful, we all need to know what happens.

Thanks to Regina for that commentary!

Well, this is the 13th installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the 3rd under the 'Captain America' name and this time the Russo Brothers were back (they had previously worked on the hugely successful 2nd Captain America movie 'The Winter Soldier'). When it was announced that they were going to be doing the "Civil War" arc, it was met with a mixed response from comic book fans! Many thinking that they could (and would) not be able to pull off such a huge story in movie form, without it being a stone cold mess and how would they be able to do this without having so many of the key characters?

It was then announced that Marvel were going to introduce us to Black Panther in this movie and we'd see more prominent roles for Falcon, War Machine & the winter soldier himself, Bucky. But people still weren't sure how it'd work without Wolverine and Spiderman. Then it was announced that Marvel managed to score a deal with Sony and were able to get the rights to use and cast a BRAND NEW Spiderman.

Fast forward to the release. The reviews from critics were surprisingly solid and good. Was it possible that Marvel had managed to successfully silence their haters? YES THEY DID. The Russo Brothers are seriously something special. They managed to make everything work, from having a limited amount of superheroes to work with, but at the same time managed to do such a cohesive job with so many important and central characters. The best thing about it though? Yes, majority of The Avengers were a part of this movie and yes we got to see them a good amount, but it was the fact they managed to keep Captain America as the heart of the story and extremely successfully too and all with great story development!

SO many characters stood out and for the better. They started and sold Black Panther really well! Continued with Captain America and Bucky's relationship troubles. Gave Black Widow a kick ass gimmick, which didn't involve her "falling in love" once again! Then, of course. The long awaited cameos from both Ant-Man and Spider-Man, FINALLY he's 100% the character he should've been in the movies. Both of whom, fans would argue stole the show.

The Russo Brothers were announced for 'Avengers: Infinity War (Part 1)' and after their excellent 2 for 2 smashes with the Captain America movies, we should all have faith and have trust in them to potentially pull off the most magnificent superhero movie of our generation!

Thanks to Jonjo for that commentary!

Loved 10 Cloverfield Lane and that's a fab commentary Severin!

 

We're going in a bit of a random order so Josh will be revealing nominees #1, #2, I'll be doing #3, Josh #4/#5, me #6, josh #7/#8 and I will do the last 3 as this more interesting and not because someone hasn't written their commentaries yet x

BEST PICTURE: NOMINEE #3
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Hi Sam,

here's my Deadpool rave :D

"Deadpool is the best film of 2016 for me, it has everything I look for in a movie: Witty dialogue, great pace, cool pop culture references, terrific characterisation, beautifully placed classic pop music in stylishly-designed sequences. Everything about it is original and refreshing, a mickey-take of a genre I love (super-heroes) and a spin-off of one in particular I love (X-Men), a top-notch cast headed by the always-charming and self-deprecating, and witty, Ryan Reynolds. What he missed out on with the wrongly unloved Green Lantern (spot the references in the movie) he came through in spades with as Deadpool, the good-looking sorta-bad-guy who is reborn as a scarred, bitter, vengeful and funny anti-hero. The love interest is almost as good - Morena Baccarin was wonderful, every bit as good as an exotic dancer as she was a high-class space-hooker in the sublime Josh Whedon series Firefly. Throw in 70's Roots-miniseries TV class of Leslie Uggams, as a cynical blind old woman (Deadpool's landlady), tastelessly and tastefully hilarious, and Galaxy Quest's Jed Rees as a baddy and I'm already sold. The X-Men supporting cast, the funny sidekick, and the British baddy are all merely intentionally cliched plusses.

Tautly-paced, no padding, perfect dialogue, and an opening sequence to die for to the tune of Juice Newton's "Angel Of The Morning", collectively beautiful and funny and violent and cliche-killing...

I'm a fan!!"

cheers
john

Thanks to PopChartFreak for that commentary on our third Best Picture nominee!

BEST PICTURE NOMINEE #4
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Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
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After TOO many year without anymore life-changing Harry Potter instalments, we finally got another one in the form of kind-of prequel Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. None of the characters or settings are familiar aside from the nostalgic sense of J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World. After the mess that was the Cursed Child released in the Summer, I think Potterheads were longing for something from the Queen of Harry Potter and J.K. showed off how she knows her characters best with some great new additions to the movie universe. Muggle (or no-maj), Jacob, proved to be very popular with audiences and Eddie Redmayne's Newt Scamander provided some A-list celebrity names to the cast list. Colin Farrell proved to be a great villain (still sad at the twist at the end with a certain someone revealed to be Grindelwald :() and the idea of an Obscurus was an interesting idea to bring something new to the magical universe. It seems we'll be getting some Young Dumbledore in future sequels which is incredibly exciting and hopefully they will be just as good :D

I wrote that commentary :lol: f***, you guys are really good at these things :')

BEST PICTURE NOMINEE #5
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Finding Dory
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Releasing a great sequel is never an easy task, what is even harder is releasing a Pixar sequel of a much loved original movie, aka Finding Nemo. However, Pixar delivered with the sequel Finding Dory as it struck a perfect balance between funny and emotional much like the first movie, it never was too sad or too humorous that you could not connect with the characters. Ill talk about the new characters later but one thing that I loved about this movie is that it made me fall in love with Ellen Degeneres’s Dory all over again from seeing her loveable adult self to seeing her adorable younger self which adds more to her backstory of how she got the point of the first film.

Now moving onto the new characters there was some great well-rounded and memorable characters such as Destiny a White Shark who was revealed to be a childhood friend of Dory and Bailey a Beluga Whale who both live in the aquarium where the movie takes place in. The characters bounce well of Ellen and they come across really well especially Destiny who is an utter queen. They also provide some of the comical highlights. Not only these two shone but Diane Keaton and Eugene Levy‘s portrayal of Dory’s mother and father is so lovely as they really do come across as great loving parents who just love their daughter and will do everything to make sure she does get her memory back.

All Round great acting, Great animation, classic characters (Dory, Marlin & Nemo) go well with new characters and the ending is so lovely and heartwarming.

Thanks to HarryEzra for this commentary on Finding Dory!

April 2nd. 2013. Movie forums, social media and the like all went into meltdown at the news that Pixar were going to be doing a sequel to one of the biggest grossing animation films of all time. 'Finding Dory' was the title.

As excited as everyone was and as much as we were all deciding whether we wanted this or not, what was the story going to be? Just another retread of 'Finding Nemo'? and was it going to go the same way as the 'Toy Story' franchise or more 'Cars'? Thankfully, it went the way of the former. The story wasn't completely original, but it wasn't a retread of 'Finding Nemo'. It had a lot of references to the original movie, but also plenty of new story and characters to keep us entertained.

As well as having Dory, Nemo, Marlin and Mr. Ray back, we were introduced to more ICONIC Pixar characters. Destiny and Bailey are the two that immediately come to mind. We also have the extremely funny sea-lions, Fluke & Rudder, (who were excellently voiced by Idris Elba & Dominic West). Then of course we have a surprise guest voice appearance from Sigourney Weaver and how can I forget Dory's parents, as well as flashbacks to one of the most ADORABLE and cutest Pixar movie characters, Baby Dory. Sure to make any heart melt!

'Finding Dory' had a LOT of expectations to live up to, due to how beloved the original movie is (it's one of my absolute fave movies of all time - I can never decide between it and 'Se7en'!) and although it doesn't QUITE hit the mark or come close to touching the original, it has so much story, heart and warmth and it is more than enough and is acceptable of being a sequel.

Once again, thanks to Jonjo for another wonderful commentary!

Great write-ups Regina and Severin! Sold the films REALLY well! :wub:

 

'Captain America: Civil War' really is incredible. I still can't get over it! As Regina said in his review, Chris Evans IS Cap and it really helps that you become so emotionally involved with his character!

BEST PICTURE: NOMINEE #6
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When Disney announced Rogue One as the first ‘anthology’ film in 2014 reaction was rather more muted than it had been for the Skywalker saga films. Then when director Gareth Edwards suggested it was to be more of a gritty war film in tone, there was disbelief. Disney was considered to family friendly and light hearted to release anything that dark. But early trailers and the huge success of Episode VII steadily built a growing interest in the film. Upon release the film exceeded all expectations both is ticket sales and quality. Disney had given Edwards free reign to make the film he wanted and with Edwards being a self proclaimed Star Wars fanboy he understood what the fans wanted. Consequently the film is littered with easter eggs and references to delight long term fans. Inspired by a single line of text from Episode IV’s opening crawl which mentions the Rebellion’s first victory and how they stole the plans to the Death Star, Rogue One tells that story. The cast is a strong ensemble with no actor too recognisable or too dominant over the rest but all the characters are distinctive in their own right. But it is in the films pacing where its greatest strength lies. It builds slowly, establishing the narrative and its place in the universe and adding one character after the other until the team is complete. However, it is the final 30 mins where Rogue One earns its place among fans as a rival to The Empire Strikes Back in terms of popularity, as our heroes begin their mission and Edwards’ produces not only what may well be the best action sequence from any Star Wars film, but an emotionally charged ending that is by turns melancholy, exasperating and ultimately exhilarating. In a year of disappointing blockbuster action films it took until December until 2016 finally delivered in full.

Thanks to Severin for that commentary on our sixth Best Picture nominee!

Disney's first Star Wars spin off, taking place in the interim between episodes 3 and 4 leading to the formation of the rebellion, tells the classic heroes journey of a doubted rebellion fighter who manages to set in motion a rather familiar set of events. Sound familiar? Of course it does, but when it's this much fun, it really doesn't matter. Felicity Jones whilst not quite up to Daisy Ridley is a great lead as Jyn although a wonderful supporting cast with masterstrokes from Alan Tudyk as K-2SO and Donnie Yen as Chirrut Îmwe steal the show, and while there may be a lack of lightsabers and even no opening crawl, there's no shortage of classic Star Wars shootouts and space battles as well as some quite groundbreaking surprises from familiar characters, no spoilers ofc.~ but Rogue One is another great outing to a galaxy far far away and a more than satisfactory distraction from the wait until Episode 8. (RIP Carrie </3)

Thanks to Chez Wombat for that commentary on our sixth Best Picture nominee!

BEST PICTURE NOMINEE - #7
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THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN
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The Girl On the Train is a movie adaption of the best-selling novel of the same name written by Paula Hawkins, also the author of Gone Girl. The book didn't receive as good reviews the latter and unfortunately, the same must be said for the film although it had its fans here on the site as it manages to score a Best Picture nomination. I think the majority of people can agree that Emily Blunt was a real standout in the role of heavy drinker Rachel and was definitely deserving of some more hype around this year's awards season! The film is full of twists and turns and slow reveals leading to an utterly thrilling climax which made everyone in the audience during my screening squirm in my seat. When first reading the book, I didn't put it down all day until I finished it and I was similarly enthralled in the movie too, the characters grip you from the beginning and the hints being dropped about the missing Megan only make it more interesting as you try to piece them together as the film progresses. All the cast do a great job and you are left feeling thrilled at the end like all good thrillers should do. I'm glad it's got recognition here after such bad (and undeservingly so, in my opinion) reviews from critics.

Me again :')

BEST PICTURE NOMINEE #8
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X-men: Apocalypse
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For the 7th(?) movie in this comic franchise we are finally dealing with one of the most iconic villains the X-men has faced. Although in his first appearance, he fought X-factor, a spin off featuring the 5 original X-men. It was always gonna be tough to beat Days of Future Past and while this movie falls short, it’s not by much,
Basically, Apocalypse wakes up in the present (the 80’s) and decides to take over the world. He assembles his 4 Horsemen; Magneto, Psylocke, Storm and Angel. Only the last of whom has ever been one in the comics, although Polaris, Magneto’s daughter, was one once.
The X-men decide to stop him. The team now consisting of Beast, Xavier, Cyclops, Jena Grey, Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor Johnson still better) and oddly, Mystique, who is no longer the badass bitch Rebecca Romijn once made her.
The plot flows well despite there being a lot to fit in, you never feel like there’s bits missing. The end battle scenes were really well made and up there with some of the best parts of the older films.
Magneto’s storyline was really emotional and Michael Fassbender proved why he was a perfect choice to play him, Irish accent and all.
Despite James McAvoy and Jennifer Lawrence being totally shit as Xavier and Mystique, the cast in general now is pretty strong. GOD WILLING, we have more of Olivia Munn as Psylocke. She nailed that role so well, I wish she had more to do and was more than a glorified bodyguard. Sophie Turner and Alexandra Shipp had really hard jobs to do since their predecessors were amazing, but both show real promise as Jean Grey and Storm. Mohawk Storm was amazing to see, always loved that look in the comics. I felt bad for Oscar, the character of Apocalypse was pretty spot on, but the look? No No. NOOO. Awful. The creature playing Angel was shit too and I hated the direction his character took.
Nightcrawler and Jubilee were fodder, too many new characters added and not enough fleshing out. Cyclops was good, better than James Marsden even though he’s ugly AF.

Thanks again to Regina for another lovely commentary !

ALL THESE COMMENTARIES!!! Brilliant stuff. :wub: Getting in the mood to rewatch all of them all over again! :wub:

BEST PICTURE: NOMINEE #9
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Arrival- Grant

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For the past couple of years, we’ve seen one BIG sci-fi movie get a ton of praise and Oscar buzz. This year, it is Arrival, starring Queen of the World Amy Adams, with support from Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker. In a nutshell, a series of strange alien crafts land in different parts of the world and Lois Lane and Hawkeye are tasked with finding out what they want and to decipher their language.
Unlike with many other alien movies, the aliens play a smaller and very nonviolent role. They are teachers with special gifts that they bestow upon the Oscar snubbed Amy. Louise (Amy), a master linguist is not your typical female character. She is not sexualised, she does not rely on anyone else to do what needs to be done, especially not a man. She relies on her brain and herself, a true role model for young women and frankly for anyone.
Despite there being no real conflict with aliens, the movie never falters or gets boring. Think of it more as an examination of the world today and how we all work together with one another. It’s refreshing to not only see a woman in charge and not being forced into a little box but to also have a movie that deals with humanity in a way that isn’t judgmental or preachy.
Amy Adams has two big movies out, and while she delivers a stronger one in Nocturnal Animals, there’s no denying that she totally owns this movie in every scene, even if she does nothing more than show emotion while sitting down. Jeremy and Forest get overlooked in most of the reviews I’ve seen, but both deliver solid supporting roles. The chemistry and connection between Amy and Jeremy is obvious from the first meeting and as a fan of Amy, I’ve yet to see her have so much of a connection with a male co-star than she did with Jeremy. Forest plays the tough but not unreasonable military man. So nice to see him not be bothered by getting help from a woman and trusting her no matter what.

Thanks to Regina for that commentary on our ninth Best Picture nominee!

This was really quite something else, an absolutely and superb movie anchored by strong performances and the best plot twist of the year and possibly one of the best ever film twists I have ever seen. Amy Adams was absolutely spectacular in this, really hope it can garner her 6th Oscar nomination and Jeremy Renner was also really good in this! I hope this can receive a lot of Oscar nominations, especially Picture, Actress, Screenplay and the tech categories! The direction of Denis Vilenvenue was also excellent and he is really one of the promising directors around at the moment with this, the great Sicario and absolutely excellent and so underrated Prisoners under his belt (shame about Enemy being crap)! The story was fantastic and the script was great and I agree with Josh that it didn't drag in the middle for me either, I was utterly hooked throughout the entire film! Though I was hoping there would be some big moment like there is in most sci-fi movies to top the film off, but even though that never happened, the twist literally made all of that irrelevant as the twist really made the film and set it apart from others films of a similar ilk!

I'm still thinking about that twist constantly, I never saw it coming one bit and I gasped when it was revealed that the daughter was actually Renner's daughter and the 'flashbacks' were actually flashforwards

. The twist was done so cleverly and really is incredible! The score and the non-linear usage throughout the film was fabulous and this really is a modern masterpiece! Glad to all see this is heavily outperforming box office expectations!

In short: a way better Interstellar that made sense (and I adored Interstellar as well apart from not being able to understand anything that happened!)

10/10

Thanks to Ultraviolence1989 for that commentary on our ninth Best Picture nominee!

BEST PICTURE: NOMINEE #10
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Ok here goes the worst commentary as I am literally giving myself 2 minutes to write this!!!!! Yasss at Trolls getting nominated, this really took me by surprise when I saw it. The animation is fab and I loved the story, it reminded me a lot of Dreamworks' Home which is also underrated as f***. The songs in this were incredible, from the mash-up at the start of the film to the infectious Can't Stop The Feeling AND of course the wonderful bubbly fun pop anthem 'Get Back Up Again', these songs sure do get stuck in your head and will make you want to listen to the soundtrack again and again! The voice acting was also great, especially Anna Kendrick who brought so much life to Poppy *.* A fun enjoyable experience and a joy to watch! <3

Thanks to Ultraviolence1989 for that commentary on our tenth Best Picture nominee!

'Trolls' is really cute, but it's not one I would've had down as a "Best Picture" contender on here! :o Especially as it got in over 'Moana'!