The Academy of Imads Presents: The ImAdscars 2017

ITS TIME FOR THE IMADSCAR AWARDS! (Get it!?)

Whoa is right, Keanu!

CHOSEN BY THE ACADEMY OF IMADS and Sciences AND MADE BECAUSE SOMETIMES THE OSCARS ARENT SATISFYING IN WHO THEY NOMINATE. WE HAVE DONE GONE AND MADE OUR OWN NOMINATIONS FROM AMONG THE 68 FILMS THAT WERE SUBMITTED (READ: WATCHED IN THEATRES). (THE CATEGORIES HAVE BEEN TRIMMED because who has time for best live action short? Also ONE HAS BEEN MADE UP.) WINNERS ARE IN BOLD. MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON YOUR SOUL. 

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

NOMINEES

CASEY AFFLECK

Manchester by the Sea

James Mcavoy

Split

CHRIS PINE

Hell or High Water

VIGGO MORTENSEN

Captain Fantastic

NEEL SETHI

The Jungle Book

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

NOMINEES

MAHERSHALA ALI

Moonlight

MATT SMITH

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

SUNNY PAWAR

Lion

HUGO WEAVING

Hacksaw Ridge

BEN FOSTER

Hell or High Water

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

NOMINEES

LILY JAMES

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

HAILEE STEINFELD

The Edge of Seventeen

MARY ELIZABETH WINSTEAD

10 Cloverfield Lane

EMMA STONE

La La Land

TARAJI P. HENSON

Hidden Figures

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

NOMINEES

ANGOURIE RICE

The Nice Guys

MARGARET BOWMAN

Hell or High Water

OCTAVIA SPENCER

Hidden Figures

MICHELLE WILLIAMS

Manchester by the Sea

NAOMIE HARRIS

Moonlight

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

NOMINEES

MOANA

John Musker, Ron Clements and Osnat Shurer

Kung Fu Panda
Alessandro Carloni, Jennifer Yuh Nelson

FINDING DORY

Andrew Stanton

ZOOTOPIA

Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Clark Spencer

KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS

Travis Knight and Arianne Sutner

CINEMATOGRAPHY

NOMINEES

ARRIVAL

Bradford Young

LA LA LAND

Linus Sandgren

MOONLIGHT

James Laxton

HELL OR HIGH WATER

Rodrigo Prieto

GREEN ROOM

Sean Porter

DIRECTING

NOMINEES

GREEN ROOM

Jeremy Saulnier

LA LA LAND

Damien Chazelle

MANCHESTER BY THE SEA

Kenneth Lonergan

MOONLIGHT

Barry Jenkins

HELL OR HIGH WATER

David Mackenzie

FILM EDITING

NOMINEES

ARRIVAL

Joe Walker

A MONSTERS CALL

Jaume Marti and Bernat Vilaplana

HELL OR HIGH WATER

Jake Roberts

LA LA LAND

Tom Cross

MOONLIGHT

Nat Sanders and Joi McMillon

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

NOMINEES

FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM

HIDDEN FIGURES

Pride and Prejudice and zombies

Green Room

Star Trek Beyond

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

NOMINEES

HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE

Lukasz Pawel Buda, Samuel Scott, and Conrad Wedde

STAR TREK

Michael Giacchino

MOONLIGHT

Nicholas Britell

FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM

James Newton Howard

SWISS ARMY MAN

Andy Hull and Robert McDowell

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

NOMINEES

SOMEONE IN THE CROWD

from La La Land; Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

Drive it like you stole it

from Sing Street; Music and Lyric by Sing Street

CITY OF STARS

from La La Land; Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

SOMETHING WILD

from Pete’s Dragon; Music and Lyric by Lindsey Stirling and Andrew McMahon

HOW FAR I'LL GO

from Moana; Music and Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda

COSTUME DESIGN

NOMINEES

THE NICE GUYS

FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES

Captain Fantastic

ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY

PRODUCTION DESIGN

NOMINEES

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES

Production Design: David Warren; Set Decoration: Naomi Moore

FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM

Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock

HAIL, CAESAR!

Production Design: Jess Gonchor; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh

LA LA LAND

Production Design: David Wasco; Set Decoration: Sandy Reynolds-Wasco

ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY

Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas; Set Decoration: Gene Serdena

VISUAL EFFECTS

NOMINEES

STAR TREK BEYOND

971 people. IMDB wasn't very clear. 

DOCTOR STRANGE

Stephane Ceretti, Richard Bluff, Vincent Cirelli and Paul Corbould

THE JUNGLE BOOK

Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Dan Lemmon

ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY

John Knoll, Mohen Leo, Hal Hickel and Neil Corbould

FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WEAR TO FIND THEM
Whomever was responsible. Again, IMDb is a maze here.

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)

NOMINEES

ARRIVAL

Screenplay by Eric Heisserer

A MONSTERS CALL

Screenplay by Patrick Ness; Story by Patrick Ness and Siobhan Dowd

HIDDEN FIGURES

Screenplay by Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi

LION

Screenplay by Luke Davies

MOONLIGHT

Screenplay by Barry Jenkins; Story by Tarell Alvin McCraney

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)

NOMINEES

LA LA LAND

Written by Damien Chazelle

THE LOBSTER

Written by Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthimis Filippou

MANCHESTER BY THE SEA

Written by Kenneth Lonergan

GREEN ROOM

Written by Jeremy Saulnier

HELL OR HIGH WATER

Written by Taylor Sheridan

VOICE ACTING (NON-OSCAR CATEGORY)

NOMINEES

Kate Hudson
Kung Fu Panda 3

ART PARKINSON

Kubo and the Two Strings

Idris elba
The Jungle Book

AULI

Moana

ALAN TUDYK

Moana

Ensemble

NOMINEES

Hidden Figures

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

STAR TREK BEYOND

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Captain Fantastic

BEST PICTURE (Ranked!)

NOMINEES

10. LA LA LAND

9. MANCHESTER BY THE SEA

8. MOONLIGHT

7. STAR TREK BEYOND

6. HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE

5. HIDDEN FIGURES

4. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES

3. ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY

2. GREEN ROOM

1. HELL OR HIGH WATER

Pride + Prejudice + Zombies (2016): Mash-up Heaven

Written and Directed by Burr Steers (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days)

Story by Seth Grahame-Smith (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) and Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice)

Starring:

Lily James (Cinderella)

Sam Riley (Maleficent)

Bella Heathcote (Dark Shadows)

Douglas Booth (Noah)

Matt Smith (Doctor Who)

Charles Dance (Game of Thrones)

Lena Headey (Dredd)

Jack Huston (American Hustle)

Suki Waterhouse

Sally Phillips (Galavant)

Ellie Bamber

Millie Brady

The novel, based on an idea by Quirk Books editor Jason Rekulak that yielded similar titles such as Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, was begging to be adapted the moment Seth Grahame-Smith released it in 2009. Since then, the process has been nothing short of tumultuous. Not only shuffling between multiple directors and stars (Natalie Portman was cast as Elizabeth Bennett but left, staying on as producer), it also suffered through the release of the much-maligned, mishandled adaptation of Grahame-Smith's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012). PPZ, however, does not meet the same fate.

L to R: Bamber, Heathcote, James, Brady, and Waterhouse. (via BBC)

The book’s charm is largely intact and at the center of it all is PPZ’s stellar cast. Steers directs a collection of talent that would fit perfectly into any straightforward adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. By mixing modestly well-knowns with relative unknowns, the characters manage to hold their own in a film that understands just how odd a concept it is. Zombies and fight choreography are interwoven into the story through the characters, which are, in turn, capably brought to life by the cast. The lives felt lived even if each character wasn't afforded the time they may have deserved.

On that last point, it’s more a testament to how well the cast performed than any knock on the film itself and the underselling of the characters shows an understanding on the filmmaker’s part on how their joke has a runtime shelf life. Any longer and it plays with the idea of overstaying its welcome. The commitment to standing alone as a single film is also commendable. The ending is reminiscent of The Cabin in the Woods (2012) whereas a sequel is not the primary focus, telling the joke is.

The leads, Lily James’ Elizabeth Bennett and Sam Riley’s Mr. Darcy, display wonderful adversarial chemistry despite James' dripping saliva and Riley’s gnarly rasp. They bring a grounded sense of emotion to such a fictional setting to life. But the real champion here should be no surprise. Matt Smith as Mr. Collins reigns supreme. He may not be front and center but he can’t help himself to being the center of attention when he’s on screen.

Burr Steers accomplishes something truly remarkable. He makes a better Gothic horror-romance than Guillermo Del Toro could with last year's disappointingly stale Crimson Peak (2015).  The violence here is laced with creativity by anchoring itself in the world. Instead of being misplaced it proves to be as captivating as the story is timeless. We get an array of exciting camera angles and gleeful brutality while mixing in the properness of Austen's original foundation. Steers never overplays any one tactic and in doing so, lets them all stand out in their own little way. The opening features a rather exceptional beheading while the finale boasts an excellent sword fight. And again, all of the violence is in service of that basic joke. 

The tone throughout is carefully controlled, blending horror with romance and just the right amount of humor that tells us the idea is being sold wholeheartedly. You'll barely notice the mid-conversational sparring. The set design aptly mixes the expected period piece aesthetics with an apocalyptic grit to make for a world that feels natural despite ungodly circumstances. The costumes look rather comfortable, too. 

However, the oddness of it all would certainly be easy to find unappealing. This is a movie made for those with a particular blend of tastes. It’s a wheelhouse movie. (I've found that my wheelhouse films tend to score around 40% on the tomatometer.) The romance is nothing new (obviously) and the zombies are more in line with Warm Bodies (2013) than The Walking Dead so a hardcore zombie fan may be disappointed as well. 

This movie delivered everything you should be expecting from a mashup of this nature. Great performances, decent frights, and bloody violence that makes you forget that it’s not even rated R. 

  

Imad for Movies' Year End Blitz

Welcome to Imad's Vague Opinion! 

Have a seat, preferably like so-

Jurassic World, amarite?

Let us begin with the thespians who dominated the year...

Actor of the Year 2015  .

Domhnall Gleeson

The Revanant, Ex Machina, Star Wars, and Brooklyn

2014 - Liam Neeson

Actress of the Year 2015  .

Alicia Vikander

The Man from UNCLE, Ex Machina, The Danish Girl, Burnt

2014 - Keira Knightley

The cast of Ex Machina is 2015 in a nutshell. 

Gleeson (Left), Vikander (Center). 

If there were a second place award for Actor of the Year, it might go to Oscar Issac (Right) but I'm not here to talk about losers. 

Across the Finish Line  .

The following is a ranking of films that were released (either limited or wide) during 2015. The final count as of 12.31.15, the natural deadline for such lists, stood at 46 film watched and will be added to as more films are watched. 

Please note that this ranking is relative and doesn’t necessarily represent how great a film is. 2015 had such a high volume of quality films, garnering more 10's on my IMDb ratings than any year prior. Filmmakers truly delivered on their promises and showcased the growing diversity of talent Hollywood has to offer. Even the franchise juggernauts were experimenting with timeless stories to fantastic results. They also still refused to let Matt Damon be abandoned. Even just the action in films this year might be the most thrilling in the history of cinema! 

Relativity in mind, the top ten is truly my top ten and the bottom four are, no doubt about it, the garbest of garbage. Here, now, is the…

2015 Rankdown  .

1.             Star Wars Episode VII – The Force Awakens****

2.             Mad Max: Fury Road****

3.             Spotlight***

4.            Kingsman: The Secret Service****

5.             Creed***

6.            The Martian***

7.            Me and Earl and the Dying Girl**

8.            The Hateful Eight***

9.            The Big Short***

10.          Bridge of Spies**

11.           The Man from UNCLE****

12.           The Revenant**

13.           Ant-Man***

14.          Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation****

15.           Jurassic World***

16.          Shaun the Sheep*

17.          Predestination**

18.          Furious 7****

19.          Inside Out**

20.          Spy***

21.           Avengers: Age of Ultron****

22.          Pitch Perfect 2*

23.          Experimenter*

24.          Run All Night*

25.          Straight Outta Compton

26.          The Walk

27.          Bone Tomahawk

28.          Sicario*

29.          Room

30.          Beasts of No Nation

31.           The Good Dinosaur

32.          Trainwreck

33.          Dope

34.          What We Do In the Shadows

35.          The Final Girls*

36.          Paddington*

37.          The Water Diviner

38.          Goosebumps

39.          Ex Machina

40.         Brooklyn

41.          Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials

42.          Jupiter Ascending

43.          Terminator: Genisys*

44.         Black Mass

45.          Spectre

46.         Slow West

47.         The Night Before

48.         American Ultra

49.         Crimson Peak

50.          Chappie

51.           Everest

52.          The Gift

53.          Fantastic Four

54.          Pixels*

55.          Inherent Vice

56.          Mortdecai

(*denoted rewatchability)

2015 Yet-To-Sees  .

1.        The Lobster 

2.       Sisters 

3.       It Follows

4.       The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay 

5.       Steve Jobs 

6.       Carol

7.       Southpaw 

8.       The Last Witchhunter 

9.       Masterminds 

10.    Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser

11.     Victor Frankenstein

12.    Pan

13.    Cooties