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88th Academy Awards: My Analysis and Predictions for Best Feature Film Nominees (Part 2)

Second part of previous post.....

d) Spotlight - Watched it yesterday and I wouldn't be surprised if it bags the top honors. It reminded me of an era when Hollywood was used to churn out thought-provoking movies in tonnes. A crafty, stylish and surprisingly moving film about a much publicized child sexual abuse case involving 297 priests of Boston Archdiocese that was covered by a team of investigative journalists of Boston Globe who goes by the name of 'Spotlight', it has got a powerful cast at its core and all the other ingredients at the right place to win the Oscars. Very strongly recommended.

e) Mad Max:The Fury Road - An out and out action film that is based in a dystopian world and has Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy as our action heroine and hero. Very surprisingly, it has managed to touch the right chords with both audience and critics who have bestowed 'universal acclaim' status upon it. I absolutely loved it but knowing that Academy has rarely awarded an action film with whatever intellectual and emotional depth an Oscars, I am sure it shall not win it. But you must watch it.

f) Bridge of Spies - A Steven Spielberg film set up in 60s world of Cold War that has got Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance (a British Actor of high pedigree) as its top stars. The most eloquent film of Spielberg with a fast paced plot involving Russia (which Americans love to hate) and great acting from Hanks, it would be hard for Academy to avoid its charm considering the Golden touch and grasp of both Hanks and Spielberg over Academy for last many years. I wouldn't pick it though. It is certainly not 'Schindler's List'.

g) Room - Every once in a while in English-speaking world, a courageous director comes up with an audacious project that blows your mind away and you just couldn't fathom what you really experienced. These words might sound hollow if I am going to describe the authenticity of Room (2015). Whatever I shall be writing hereafter shall in no way do justice to the brilliance of this movie and I cannot possibly come up with any more adjectives to ornament it for they all would fall short. So let me narrate you the experiences of my fellow colleagues who are more popular, widely read and certainly more accomplished than me:

Rotten Tomatoes: Led by incredible work from Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay, Room makes for an unforgettably harrowing – and undeniably rewarding – experience.

Richard Roeper (Chicago Sun-Times) : The most impressive piece of filmmaking I've seen in 2015, and one of the best movies of the decade.

Wall-Street Journal - This drama is as big as all outdoors in scope; poetic and profound in its exploration of the senses; blessed with two transcendent performances, by Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay; and as elegantly wrought as any film that has come our way in a very long while.

Peter Travers (Rolling Stone) - All you need to know is that the performances of Larson and Tremblay will blow you away. Tremblay is a child actor incapable of a false move.

Room is a one-of-a-kind, must-see experience and it's nothing sort of astonishing to watch. It is an ode to the bond between mother and child. After watching Room, you shall feel that this world of ours has become a bit bigger and brighter. Just like Boyhood (2014) of Richard Linklater who held its audience and critics in a state of trance, Room (2015) too shall never let you go away. It will only grow on you and keep growing on until you feel a pain in your chest and tears in your eyes. And since these movies seldom get made, It's a plea from me that you must stand witness to it. All else has already been said above and believe me, they still tell too little.

My Pick - The Big Short for it touches upon a crisis that's left millions of Americans ruined for good and Greece, Spain, Ireland, Portugal and many others are still reeling under its pressure (read Subprime and Debt Crisis). Room might come across as a too-painful a movie to watch for some in Academy

Thank You.

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