If I Gave the Oscars: 2015 Edition

As usual, these are how I would give out awards to the movies of 2015, if that was a power that I had.  I'm not going to go through all the exact same categories as the Academy Awards, because some of them are just tiresome and others require inside knowledge that I do not possess.  This post is obviously meant to be complementary to my Best of 2015 post, where I listed all my favorites, so I have left out Best Picture nominees here; they would be the same as the top 10 from that post, so no need to list them twice.  

Each category is listed in order of preference, with the first director/actor/etc. being my choice for the winner.  Things should be fairly self-explanatory from there.

Best Director

1. George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)

2. Michael Mann (Blackhat)

3. Ryan Coogler (Creed)

4. Hou Hsiao-Hsien (The Assassin)

5. David Robert Mitchell (It Follows)

Best Screenplay (Adapted or Original, doesn't matter)

1. Nick Lathouris, George Miller, Brendan McCarthy (Mad Max: Fury Road)

2. Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Ronaldo Del Carmen, Josh Cooley (Inside Out)

3. Tom McCarthy, Josh Singer (Spotlight)

4. Alex Garland (Ex Machina)

5. David Robert Mitchell (It Follows)

Best Actor

1. Michael B. Jordan (Creed)

2. Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)

3. Tom Hanks (Bridge of Spies)

4. Tom Hardy (Mad Max: Fury Road)

5. Michael Keaton (Spotlight)

Best Actress

1. Jennifer Lawrence (Joy)

2. Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road)

3. Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)

4. Emily Blunt (Sicario)

5. Maika Monroe (It Follows)

Best Supporting Actor

1. Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina)

2. Sylvester Stallone (Creed)

3. Walton Goggins (The Hateful Eight)

4. Benicio Del Toro (Sicario)

5. Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)

Best Supporting Actress

1. Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina)

2. Tang Wei (Office)

3. Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight)

4. Viola Davis (Blackhat)

5. Tessa Thompson (Creed)

Best Cinematography

1. Mark Lee Ping-Bin (The Assassin)

2. Roger Deakins (Sicario)

3. Emmanuel Lubezki (The Revenant)

4. John Seale (Mad Max: Fury Road)

5. Stuart Dryburgh (Blackhat)

Best Editing

1. Margaret Sixel (Mad Max: Fury Road)

2. Mako Kamitsuna, Jeremiah O'Driscoll, Stephen E. Rivkin, Joe Walker (Blackhat)

3. Julio Perez IV (It Follows)

4. Joe Walker (Sicario)

5. Claudia Castello, Michael P. Shawver (Creed)

Best Musical Score

1. Ennio Morricone (The Hateful Eight)

2. Junkie XL (Mad Max: Fury Road)

3. Rich Vreeland (It Follows)

4. Michael Giacchino (Inside Out)
5. Johann Johannson (Sicario) 

Best Scene

1. Into the Sandstorm (Mad Max: Fury Road)

2. Putting on New Skin (Ex Machina)

3. Single-Shot Boxing Match (Creed)

4. Standoff on the Bridge of the Americas (Sicario)

5. Parking Garage--Learning the Rules (It Follows)
6. Chase Through the Skies of Chicago (Jupiter Ascending)
7. Pit of Forgotten Memories (Inside Out)
8. First Flight of the Millennium Falcon (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)
9. Sending a Message with the Pathfinder Probe (The Martian)
10. Car Bomb and Ambush in the Street (Blackhat)
11. Eavesdropping on the Governor and his Mistress (The Assassin)
12. Pet Sounds Sessions (Love & Mercy)
13. Playing Soccer With Restrictions (Timbuktu)
14. Shoot-Out in an Opera (Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation)
15. Abstract Thought (Inside Out)



(actually posted March 14, 2016)