Oscar catch up post-INSIDE OUT, REVENANT, SPOTLIGHT and THE MARTIAN

Playing catch up with the Oscar noms thanks to some home video releases and trips around the homestead when the trains and weather kept me from going to work.

INSIDE OUT- Believed to be the one absolute lock at this years Oscars disappointed me greatly. Pixar's look into the mind and emotions of a young girl didn't really work for me on almost any level. Watching the DVD I found myself talking back to the film almost from the instant it started and all the way through it. Much of my commentary had to do with the feeling that they were doing it all wrong. I had the feeling that the film was made in story conferences instead organically "and all of the memories are in these balls"  suggested one person and then the others chimed in. I never believed in it for one instant and had I not been desperate to find something to like or even understand why people were raving, I would have turned it off 15 minutes in.

SPOTLIGHT is a truly great film. Put it on my best of 2016 list (because I saw it this year) As great as MAD MAX FURY ROAD is this fim gets my vote for Best Picture as far as the nominees are concerned because MAD MAX doesn't work as well on a small screen. SPOTLIGHT works well on any size screen. The story of what happened when the Boston Globe decided to reveal the scope of the pedophile priest scandal in Boston is gripping moving cinema.  It is a quiet little powerhouse that kicks your ass as it reveals why people have to stand up and do the right thing and why investigative journalism matters.

REVENANT is a cinematic masterpiece that I need to revisit. The film is not what I expected and it kind of confounded me the first time through. I do know several things:
1- the film really needs to be seen on a big screen. Its epic scope is jaw dropping.
2- for the most part this is probably Leonardo DiCaprio's best role and for the first time since GILBERT GRAPE he deserves a nomination
3- The dialog is awful and the vocal acting is terrible. If all the dialog was removed  or of the sort of thing we couldn't understand it would be a better thing.

THE MARTIAN is great science fiction adventure film That weirdly is lacking in tension. Yes it's a great yarn, and yes I had a great time watching it, but I never really felt any danger. Yes I knew how it was going to end. I enjoyed the hell out of it and I cheered at the end, but one of the best films of the year? I think not.