It’s the Oscars this Sunday – and there are eight contenders for this year’s Best Picture award. Don’t have time to watch them all before then? You can still blag it at the pub with our Oscars cheat sheet…
1 THE REVENANT
The true tale of 19th-century fur trapper Hugh Glass who crawled and swam across 200 miles of frozen wilderness wearing a onesie made from the bear who attacked him… and there you were congratulating yourself on your last spin class. A huge glass of champagne for star Leonardo DiCaprio who’s set to win an Oscar after five misses.
2 THE MARTIAN
Matt Damon is Mark Watney – a botanist who’s left for dead on Mars. Now he has to work out how to survive until at rescue attempt from Earth is sorted out. Packed with humour, emotion and scientific detail – who knew that watching an astronaut grow potatoes in their own poo would be so exciting? Damon’s also battling it out with Leo for the Best Actor gong.
undefined3 BROOKLYN
A bright young woman (Saoirse Ronan) leaves her small town in 1950s Ireland for a new life in Brooklyn. She soon finds herself buffeted by a storm of nostalgia, homesickness and divided loyalties. It’s a ripe, heaving, romantic story – and did we mention we love the costumes – beautifully acted by Ronan, who may just convert her Best Actress nomination.
undefined4 THE BIG SHORT
Morally murky, macho story of a handful of traders who saw the financial crash of 2007 coming, and worked out a way of making millions from it (the swines). The cast is an A-list extravaganza with Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt, Steve Carell and Christian Bale. A shame the only women are strippers or Margot Robbie in a bubble bath. Bale has a slim chance of winning Best Supporting Actor.
5 BRIDGE OF SPIES
Classic Cold War spy thriller with Steven Spielberg on top form. Tom Hanks plays the real-life insurance lawyer who brokered a deal to exchange a downed US pilot for a KGB agent. Big-screen newcomer Mark Rylance looks likely to grab a supporting Oscar… if he can fight off Sylvester Stallone for Creed. Yes, it’s Rocky vs Rookie.
undefined6 MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
It might be called Mad Max – but this is Charlize Theron’s film, as the consummate badass Furiosa (and arguably the film’s actual protagonist). A feminist action film, the fourth in the apocalyptic Aussie road movie series might just be the best. Given Mel Gibson’s recent driving record, he’s been replaced by Tom Hardy as Max Rockatansky (Hardy, incidentally, is up for Best Supporting Actor for The Revenant). This time the Outback outcast goes on the run with a tribal leader’s five wives. Will win many of its surprise ten nominations, which are mostly for the stunning effects and bonkers style.
undefined7 ROOM
A mother and young son are kept prisoner in a garden shed by a creepy man called Old Nick. Based on the best-selling novel by Emma Donoghue, it’s a well-acted, but bleak thriller that also puts Brie Larson (who plays the broken-but-not-beaten mum) as the frontrunner for Best Actress. Finally, Jennifer Lawrence has some competition.
8 SPOTLIGHT
Dazzling, detailed account of The Boston Globe’s exposure of widespread child abuse by local Catholic priests. A brilliant recruitment film for old-fashioned investigative journalism. A less positive advert for the Catholic church. Frontrunner for Best Picture, and an outside bet for supporting gongs for Rachel McAdams and Mark Ruffalo as dogged journos.
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