And the Oscar goes to...

The 2015 film awards are over! Yes, after last night's Academy Awards, the year's celebrations have reached an end to large applause. With surprises here and there and plenty of things to be happy about, let's jump right into it. Starting with...

Best Supporting Actor

And the winner is...

Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)

Bridge of Spies was something which deserved some form of credibility for its performances and direction, but less for the overall film nor its quality, so it's great to see the Spielberg entry succeeding in this, it's most-worthy category. Yes, Sylvester Stallone may have been robbed for his great work in Creed, but Rylance was just all the more engaging in his little screentime. It was always a match between the two of them, but in my eyes the right man won. Sorry Rocky fans.

Best Costume Design

And the winner is...

Jenny Beavan (Mad Max: Fury Road)

When the nominations were announced last month, I was surprised by Mad Max's inclusion to the list. Granted, the make up and hairstyling was certainly extravagant, but the majority of costumes were a bit, well, "mediocre". Not to say it's terrible - just a tad unnoteworthy; especially when up against the likes of Carol or Cinderella. But here we are - a great blockbuster with its first win of the night. 

Best Make Up and Hairstyling

And the winner is...

Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega & Damian Martin (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Now for the not-so-surprising! With a slim selection to choose from, Mad Max easily took the victory from The Revenant and The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out a Window and Disappeared (which I kinda want to see for that title alone) solely for its extreme style and designs. Little else to say but YAY!

Best Sound Mixing

And the winner is...

Chris Jenkins, Gregg Rudloff & Ben Osmo (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Well, there's a hell of a lot going on in this film. Why shouldn't it win this and Sound Editing?

Best Sound Editing

And the winner is...

Mark Mangini & David White (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Likewise, this is a super easy win here. The closest competitor it had was Star Wars, and that just borrows a lot from the past 6 movies, so...

Best Supporting Actress

And the winner is...

Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)

In my eyes, this is the most questionable decision made by the Academy. Certainly, she gives off a great performance in this film and is well worthy of a nomination (although as a Lead Actress and not a Supporting one), but not only does she give off the better acting in Ex Machina but some of her competition is a little more deserving. Kate Winslet for Steve Jobs, Rooney Mara for Carol, and Jennifer Jason Leigh for The Hateful Eight might have been just a tad more suitable.

Best Visual Effects

And the winner is...

Andrew Whitehurst, Paul Norris, Mark Ardington & Sara Bennett Read (Ex Machina)

Okay, this is where I get drawn and quartered: I think this was the right choice for the prize. For a film with a much smaller budget, it looks absolutely fantastic, and unlike the likes of Star Wars, Mad Max and even The Martian it stayed consistently strong. I'm sorry Force Awakens fans, but I can believe that Ava exists - I can't see Maz Kanata in the same way.

Best Animated Feature

And the winner is...

Inside Out

Yeah, this was a no-brainer. Inside Out was definitely going to take this prize home. Nothing more to add other than "GO PIXAR WOOO!"

Best Production Design

And the winner is...

Colin Gibson & Lisa Thompson (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Hello again, Mad Max! Yes, another successful win for the most exciting film of the year. The attention to detail is something to marvel at, so its no surprise that a win was given. I mean, just look at all!

Best Cinematography

And the winner is...

Emmanuel Lubezki (The Revenant)

And here comes The Revenant riding in on a bear! Yes, this is by far the best technical award the film cold go for - it's beautifully made and Lubezki can really do no wrong.

Best Film Editing

And the winner is...

Margaret Sixel (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Action scenes which last an entire movie with dozens of stunt work and explosions? Why of course it means it'll win Best Editing. Although The Revenant might have come close for its long shots...

Best Original Song

And the winner is...

Writing's on the Wall - Sam Smith (Spectre)

I knew very little about the nominees this year, so it's nice to see the one I've actually heard win. Although reportedly Lady GaGa's performance of her song from The Hunting Ground was incredible, so perhaps this was the wrong move.

Best Original Score

And the winner is...

Ennio Morricone (The Hateful Eight)

The Hateful Eight's sole win, it's been sweeping the awards circuit and allows for western staple Morricone to finally have an Oscar which isn't for a simple honour.

Best Original Screenplay

And the winner is...

Tom McCarthy & Josh Singer (Spotlight)

Wait, isn't this based on a true story? I mean, it's a great movie and well-deserving of this screenplay accolade, but surely it's based on the writings of the actual Spotlight team? Call me biased all you want but Inside Out was a bit more original.

Best Adapted Screenplay

And the winner is...

Adam McKay & Charles Randolph (The Big Short)

At last, a win for The Big Short! While the likes of The Martian may be more entertaining visually, The Big Short was witty enough and incredibly well-done that the win here is an acceptable notion. As the film's biggest strength, it's good to see it here.

Best Director

And the winner is...

Alejandro González Iñárritu (The Revenant)

And this surprises no one. As with cinematography, the overall style of The Revenant is one to be amazed by. It works so well, and only Iñárritu could succeed with this. Although George Miller did put up a strong fight...

Best Actor

And the winner is...

Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

It finally happened. After this time, it's finally happened...

The meme can end now.

But all kidding aside, this was one of DiCaprio's best performances, with very few of his competitors even coming close to beating him. Take a bow, Leo.

Best Actress

And the winner is...

Brie Larson (Room)

Like Leonardo DiCaprio, Brie Larson's win was a-given (although Saoirse Ronan was tough competition for Brooklyn) for her stunning performance as Joy. It's a pity that co-star Jacob Tremblay wasn't nominated or anything because these two actors were absolutely phenomenal in this movie. A well-chosen decision.

Best Picture

And the winner is...

Spotlight

It's weird to think that this was a potential underdog, because in all honesty it's the most deserving of the big win. Sure, The Revenant was brutal and Mad Max: Fury Road was exciting, but Spotlight is a true and ongoing affair - it's a scary thought, and it delivers the initial findings from the Boston newspaper chain almost perfectly. Before the Oscars, I put up this list:

#Oscars Best to Worst:
1. Spotlight
2. Room
3. Mad Max Fury Road
4. Big Short
5. The Martian
6. Brooklyn
7. The Revenant
8. Bridge of Spies

— Charlie Willis (@WhovianAvenger) February 27, 2016

And while I'm glad that The Revenant, Bridge of Spies and others won big awards, Spotlight was the most deserving of the big one because it was the very best. So this makes Michael Keaton two-for-two then?

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) Revisited

Upon its release last year, Mad Max: Fury Road was met with an extraordinary response from critics and audiences alike, so it was expected that upon viewing it would be the marvel it was. And alas, on that first viewing those expectations were scuppered by a film which seemed to be all action and little dialogue; describing it as "the epitome of a popcorn film". But with nearly a year passing since that first faithful viewing where, admittedly, I was rather harsh on it, the time (and all those award nominations) has come to go back on the Fury Road and see whether that second viewing will take me to the Gates of Valhalla where everyone else resides, deserves to be left in the remains of the desolate world that appears or if it remains the fine but overly flawed picture that just wasn't for me the first time around. 
Due to the decline in water, the world has turned into a gas-guzzling selection of societies living in a desolate sandy dystopia. Max (Tom Hardy), still in a state of emotional turmoil following many of the loses in his life in this other world. Captured and used as a live blood bank for one of Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) War Boy followers (Nicolas Hoult), he gets thrown into a road battle when the tyrannical leader's Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) takes away his five "breeders" for their protection. Once Max is free from his chains and the War Boys, he reluctantly helps out Furiosa and the five wives of Immortan Joe as they look for 'the Green Place' – a land of which was one of the few to still be filled with greenery as opposed to the sand dune state the world currently lies in – in one of the biggest and most bombastic summer blockbusters ever made. 
While light on dialogue and opting for the 'explosions everywhere' approach unlike many modern blockbusters, it does give the feel of the entire film a mixture of a standard open world racing game or a classic Looney Tunes cartoon – giving an easy-to-follow feeling towards it as you switch your brain off and enjoy the plentiful explosions and the very idea behind the Coma-Doof Warrior (a.k.a that guy with the flamethrower guitar). Whilst initially viewed as a criticism, the factor that it takes the full-blown action route and does it right compared to its contemporaries does add a sense of gusto to the whole thing – it gives the audience what it wants in the form of car chases and fighting, but provides them in an elegant and beautiful fashion with a story that is easily translatable across the globe. And as far as a dystopian-based story in the current age of cinema goes, it's a well-decided one, albeit one that could do with just a bit more dialogue to it. 

The real star of the whole film is the direction and cinematography, and George Miller (previously Oscar-nominated for Babe and Happy Feet, believe it or not) does an outstanding job. Teamed up with John Seale, the duo create some beautiful shots which could easily take up an art museum solely through screengrabs, whilst each action beat shows off the full effect that Miller has been desiring throughout this fourth instalment's rocky production cycle. Add a rocking score to the mix by Junkie XL and you have the full effect that makes this film gorgeous – steampunk production design, extreme music, and stunning visuals. 
With Tom Hardy taking over the titular role from Mel Gibson, his constant work with gruff voices continues to strive in a role which doesn't leave him with much to do. Not to say that what he does isn't great – it's Tom Hardy, he usually is – but rather his role as a lone traveller thrown into a mammoth battle with reluctance leaves with him with not much to do outside of react to everything and join in with the fight. Instead, the one carrying all the weight is Charlize Theron's Furiosa: a feminist role of sorts in which she fights for the freedom of sex slaves and once resided in a singular form of utopia in the desolate world which was run by plant-growing women. With her single arm, bad-ass make-up and superb skills against the enemy,  many have commented on her being the best female heroine since Ellen Ripley...and they aren’t wrong. Theron gives an award-worthy performance throughout the film, and made the character her own and instantly recognisable. Meanwhile, Nicholas Hoult as War Boy Nut does a great job as he grows from single-minded server to a caring ally; Hugh Keays-Byrne makes for an interesting antagonist ("Mediocre!" he cries, although he's far from that); Rosie Huntington-Whiteley proves that there's more to her than modelling and being in a Transformers movie (practically the anti-Fury Road in the sense that the action is mindless and dull); Zoë Kravitz proves herself as a good actress against the bad choice she made casting-wise that was the Divergent series; and fellow sex slaves/wives Abbey Lee, Courtney Eaton and Riley Keough make for memorable if not entirely interesting side characters. There's also a whole array of other characters ranging from the aforementioned Doof Warrior to weird people with nipple piercings and misshaped bodies, but there's so many to count that it would be impossible to go through them all. 

When I first saw Mad Max: Fury Road, I was baffled by all the hype behind it and wondered what I was missing that so many seemed to love. Nearly a year later, and I finally get it – it's a fun blockbuster which isn't mindless nor convoluted in its nature, and basks in its full glory while having a story which makes complete sense. It's not the perfect masterpiece everyone sees it to be, but it's a great one to discover and if you weren't taken by it originally, I urge to give it another chance. I know I did, and now it's earned a higher rating. 8/10.