2015 Summer Movie Oscars!

Hello gang, and welcome to the 2015 Summer Movie Oscars! Today, I'll be breaking down the best and the brightest highlights of this summer movie season. Much like the Academy Awards, I'll be discussing my favorite movies of the summer through the lens of an awards ceremony. The movies included on the list were released between May 1st-August 28th. And before you get too angry, these aren't nearly my predictions or desires to win real Oscars, just who and what I felt deserved the most recognition for leaving an impact on me this summer; as a result, these are all very mainstream picks in between some good artsy pieces. So, without further adieu, let's get on with the show!

Special Mentions:

Amy (Asif Kapadia)- Two movies really affected me this summer, but because they don't easily fit into any of the Oscar categories I've chosen to use here, I thought they deserved special mention. The first of these is Amy, a documentary that profiles the life of this Grammy-winning cultural phenomenon Amy Whinehouse. Through home-video footage of her, and testimonies from those who (for better or  worse) surrounded her on a daily basis, the documentary shines light on a life that many misunderstood and a everyone adored. The most affecting part of the documentary is the way Kapadia plays Amy's songs after certain events in her life, and viewers realize how personal and disturbing some of her most famous songs remain ("Rehab" in particular is much more dangerous than most people realize).

Shaun the Sheep Movie (Mark Burton, Richard Starzak)- For a good time, look no further than this frickin' hilarious British claymation feature from the people behind Wallace and Gromit. With zero dialogue and more puns than any single person can count, this family-friendly tale of survival in the big city is much better than you think it is. I was crying laughing so hard, and though it didn't make a whole lot of money in the US box office, I can say from personal experience that everyone who I saw it with absolutely adored it.




Best Music- Dope

A love letter to '90's hip-hop as much as it is a poignant portrait of contemporary African-American culture, the music of Dope really cements the film's key messages. It has you tapping your feet to the beat throughout the film, and the sheer epic-ness of the final song "It's My Turn Now" perfectly illustrates how timely and important this film remains. Bonus winner for Best Original Song goes to "Who Can You Turst" by Ivy Levan from Spy, for effectively capturing the essence of the Bond themes with this brassy, loud, wonderful song. 
(Other Nominees: Mad Max: Fury Road, Ricki and the Flash, Southpaw, Spy)


Best Visual Effects- Ant-Man

I'm including this award because the Academy loves to recognize summer movies here, so it felt natural to include it in a rundown of the summer movie Oscars. Out of all the movies to be released this summer, none felt visually as impressive as Ant-Man, for seamlessly blending the shrinking technology into the Marvel Universe without ever looking schlocky. It's probably not as impressive as the realness of Mad Max: Fury Road (more on that later, I promise), and wasn't as flashy as Jurassic World (which would have won Best IMAX Presentation if such a thing existed). But for a movie that I loved as much Ant-Man, I needed to recognize it somewhere. It visually impressed me the much, which only aided to how fun and escapist this movie was for me in the dog days of July.
(Other Nominees: Avengers: Age of Ultron, Jurassic World, Mad Max: Fury Road, Spy)

Best Supporting Actor- James Spader, Avengers: Age of Ultron

As problematic as this movie was at times, and for how disappointed I was in it's overall place in the Marvel Universe, one aspect of Age of Ultron I sincerely loved was the titular villain. James Spader captures Ultron with terrifyingly easy malevolence, and his delivery of some of the movie's best lines stuck with me more than anything else about this film. He is able to do a lot with a 7-foot tall baddie that destroys the Avengers from the inside, and his loose moral compass will affect the team for several movies to come. I found myself imitating Spader's performance for month's after the film's release, and in my book, that was enough to merit this win.
(Other Nominees: Michael Douglas, Ant-Man; Nicholas Hoult, Mad Max: Fury Road; Tye Sheridan, The Stanford Prison Experiment; Jason Statham, Spy)

Best Supporting Actress- Jada Pinkett Smith, Magic Mike XXL

For anyone who watched the magnificent Gotham this past year, they know how much of a scene-stealing powerhouse Jada Pinkett Smith is. And so it was with Magic Mike XXL that the best part of the movie was this female ringleader of the strippers in this deliberately more fun sequel. She dominates the film in every scene, and seems to be having the time of her life controlling the men to perform for the "Queens" of the audience. I beamed every time she showed up on the screen, and I never wanted her to leave Mike's side.
(Other Nominees: Kiercey Clemons, Dope; Julia Garner, Grandma; Evangeline Lily, Ant-Man; Kirsten Wiig, The Diary of a Teenage Girl)




Best Screenplay- Inside Out

Pixar's back! My second-favorite movie of the year so far was this timeless, vastly intelligent original work from the minds behind Up. The screenplay prides itself on traversing the real-world intricacies of the human brain, told from the perspective on the five basic emotions. Parts of this film blew my mind completely open, such as how Fear, Anger, and Disgust have to function alone when Joy and Sadness disappear. It's trippy stuff even for adults, and like the best Pixar features, older generations will love this film even more than kids. It should become mandatory viewing for all psychology classes; but, more importantly, it should be shown to all kids to show that it's ok to be sad sometimes. I loved this movie a lot in case you haven't been able to tell, and I really do recommend it to every and anyone who wants to be swept up in everything movies can do.
(Other Nominees: Dope, Mad Max: Fury Road, Spy, Trainwreck)



Best Actor in a Leading Role- Ian McKellen, Mr. Holmes

Few actors are as universally underrated in terms of awards as much as Ian McKellen, whose silent magnificence in heavy-hitters like X-Men and The Lord of the Rings hasn't earned him any Oscars because of the genre of the work. He's never really given a bad performance (even amidst some of the snoozier work he's done), and that streak continues with this summer's Mr. Holmes. The story of an aging Sherlock Holmes who's trying to remember his last case, McKellen plays the famous detective at various points in his later life, with different nuances in his facial expression showing the character's frustration and thoughts to brilliant effect. It's a tough argument to convince someone to see yet another incarnation of the British detective, but McKellen makes that argument null and void. The movie is charming enough, and the other actors are all fine, but it's McKellen that makes you want to see Mr. Holmes until the end.
(Other Nominees: Jason Bateman, The Gift; Tom Hardy, Mad Max: Fury Road; Jake Gyllenhaal, Southpaw; Shameik Moore, Dope)

Best Actress in a Leading Role- Charlize Theron, Mad Max: Fury Road

Anyone who knows me knows of my obsession with this critical darling of an action film, so get ready to hear me rant about my love. Let's start off by saying how indescribably AMAZING Charlize Theron is in Mad Max: Fury Road. Her character is infinitely more complex and better developed than even the title character, and was able to sneak in as the feminist action hero of the summer. She's stronger, faster, and delibaretly more exciting than her counterpart (and it's a wonder of the world what her and Tom Hardy were able to do together, literally sharing the action scenes and relying on each other without even the smallest morsel of romance or any of the other thousands of cliches usually reserved for male-female leads). Is a Signorney Weaver-type-action-heroine Oscar nomination too hard to ask for? Not if anyone actually journeyed the Fury Road. Theron is the woman to beat so far, and rightfully so; she's more progressive than any of the other female leads this summer, and deserves all the praise that's (hopefully) coming to her.
(Other Nominees: Nina Hoss, Phoenix; Melissa McCarthy, Spy; Mya Taylor, Tangerine; Charlize Theron, Mad Max: Fury Road; Lily Tomlin, Grandma)

Best Director- George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road

But beyond sheer acting awesomeness from the lead character, Mad Max: Fury Road's sheer insanity and cinematic excess comes from the warped mind of George Miller. Returning to the franchise he originally worked on with Mel Gibson, the director spent considerable time making sure Fury Road looked as realistic and hardcore as possible. This is the what happens when you give a true artist a couple million dollar budget. Without Miller, this wouldn't have been the action spectacle it became. He was able to turn a literal two-hour car chase into a gorgeous piece of art that reminds viewers why they go to the movies in the first place. From that breathtaking sandstorm sequence, to the unbelievable craziness of the car battles, Miller should be thanked for generations to come for creating one of the best action movies of all time.
(Other Nominees: Pete Docter, Inside Out; Joel Edgerton, The Gift; Paul Feig, Spy; Marielle Heller, The Diary of a Teenage Girl)

Best Picture- Mad Max: Fury Road

I could keep ranting about the mesmerizing acting of the masterful directing of Mad Max: Fury Road. I could say it's the best action movie from the decade. I could also say that likely no other movie will top it for me this year. But that would be robbing it of it's importance as a summer blockbuster, one that seriously breaks the boundaries put forth by most blockbusters. It turns a woman into a character rightfully equal to the mad counterpart (as illustrated from the opening credits, which places her to the right, but ultimately higher-up than Tom Hardy on the same card), which is so depressingly rare that it's refreshing to say the least. It's a feminist action flick that ultimately tells viewers to rip down the patriarchy and install a new system of tranquility with Imperator Furiosa in charge. In all seriousness, as gleefullly gory and over-the-top action-packed it is, Mad Max: Fury Road is one of best feminist films in recent years, and one that will have both men and women equally cheering in their seats. This movie is why I love movies, and goes to show that despite all odds and everything I was saying negatively about it leading up to its release, films can still take my breath away.
(Other Nominees: Ant-Man, Dope, Inside Out, Spy)

Thanks for reading! This year, I hope to write on this blog some more... with some Top 10's I've been working on coming your way soon! To whet your appetite, I'm going to rank a certain film studio's greatest films, and (finally) discuss with you all my favorite installments of my cinematic hero...