Here’s a quick look at the songs nominated for Best Song at the 89th Academy Awards.
My money’s on either of the La La Land songs, but could there be an upset on the cards? Surely Sting is out of the running before he discussions have even started.
What do you think?
La La Land – “City of Stars”
La La Land – “Audition”
Moana – “How Far I’ll Go”
Jim – “The Empty Chair”
Trolls – “Can’t Stop The Feeling”
The critical enthusiasm for La La Land has been matched, for good reason, by the audience’s outpouring of affection. The music is now firmly stuck in the heads of everyone who has seen it, with many of its devotees wondering what the odds are for it to clean up at the Oscars.
Here I’ll explain why this probably won’t be the case.
What’s the current record?
Three films have won 11 Oscars: Ben Hur, (1959), Titanic (1997) and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). Titanic managed these with 14 nominations, whilst the final Lord of the Rings film achieved a clean sweep, winning 11 out of 11 awards. Elsewhere, All About Eve (1950) received 14 nominations, though it only won 6 of these.
For La La Land to get close to this, it’s therefore going to need 11 or more nominations, and win almost all of them.
Which awards does it have a good chance of winning?
La La Land has a great chance at winning in many or all of the categories available to it: Best Picture; Best Director; Leading Actor and Actress; Original Song; Original Score; Best Writing (Original Screenplay) will certainly be places it will be nominated, so assuming the swell of enthusiasm continues it will probably do well in what are considered to be the major categories.
So where will it fall down?
There are 24 categories that the Academy awards prizes in, but that doesn’t mean that a film can win in 24 categories. There are two awards for animated films, two for documentary films, one for a film in a foreign language and one for a live action short film. So that’s six prizes that can’t be won.
There are two prizes for Best Writing: one is for an original screenplay and one is for an adapted screenplay. Since La La Land is an original script, it is excluded from the adapted screenplay category. That’s another one down.
Perhaps the most glaringly-obvious problem it faces is that there are only two characters in the film: Mia and Sebastian. So whilst they will probably get the nominations for leading actress and actor, there isn’t anyone of note in the film that could be classed as a supporting actor or actress. The closest would be John Legend’s portrayal of Keith, the frontman for the jazz band Seb joins halfway through the story, followed by Rosemarie DeWitt as Laura (Sebastian’s sister). It seems unlikely to pick up nods in these categories. Two more down.
Finally, a few categories have already been announced and La La Land doesn’t feature in any of them. The long-lists Best Makeup and Hairstyling and Best Visual Effects excluded La La Land from their lists. Two more down.
So where does that leave it?
It only has access to 13 awards and will need a nomination in each of the categories if it is going to break records. It’s not unrealistic for it to achieve this, but it will require nods in the likes of Best Production Design (awarded for interior design for the sets) and Best Costume Design to get there.
However, with a weak field to compete against, it is quite possible that it will do. this anyway! Here’s hoping!!
Best picture
Winner: Spotlight
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Best actress
Winner: Brie Larson in Room
Cate Blanchett in Carol
Jennifer Lawrence in Joy
Charlotte Rampling in 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan in Brooklyn
Best supporting actress
Winner: Alicia Vikander in The Danish Girl
Jennifer Jason Leigh in The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara in Carol
Rachel McAdams in Spotlight
Kate Winslet in Steve Jobs
Best actor
Winner: Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant
Bryan Cranston in Trumbo
Matt Damon in The Martian
Michael Fassbender in Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl
Best supporting actor
Winner: Mark Rylance in Bridge of Spies
Christian Bale in The Big Short
Tom Hardy in The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo in Spotlight
Sylvester Stallone in Creed
Best Director
Winner: The Revenant – Alejandro G. Iñárritu
The Big Short – Adam McKay
Mad Max: Fury Road – George Miller
Room – Lenny Abrahamson
Spotlight – Tom McCarthy
Adapted screenplay
Winner: The Big Short – Charles Randolph and Adam McKay
Brooklyn – Nick Hornby
Carol – Phyllis Nagy
The Martian – Drew Goddard
Room – Emma Donoghue
Original screenplay
Winner: Spotlight – Josh Singer & Tom McCarthy
Bridge of Spies – Matt Charman,Ethan Coen and Joel Coen
Ex Machina – Alex Garland
Inside Out – Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley; Original story by Pete Docter, Ronnie del Carmen
Straight Outta Compton – Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff; Story by S. Leigh Savidge, Alan Wenkus and Andrea Berloff
Cinematography
Winner: The Revenant – Emmanuel Lubezki
Carol – Ed Lachman
The Hateful Eight – Robert Richardson
Mad Max: Fury Road – John Seale
Sicario – Roger Deakins
Best Costume Design
Winner: Mad Max: Fury Road – Jenny Beavan
Carol – Sandy Powell
Cinderella – Sandy Powell
The Danish Girl – Paco Delgado
The Revenant – Jacqueline West
Best Animated Feature
Winner: Inside Out – Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera
Anomalisa – Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson and Rosa Tran
Boy and the World – Alê Abreu
Shaun the Sheep Movie – Mark Burton and Richard Starzak
When Marnie Was There – Hiromasa Yonebayashi and Yoshiaki Nishimura
Best Documentary Feature
Winner: Amy – Asif Kapadia and James Gay-Rees
Cartel Land – Matthew Heineman and Tom Yellin
The Look of Silence – Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen
What Happened, Miss Simone? – Liz Garbus, Amy Hobby and Justin Wilkes
Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom – Evgeny Afineevsky and Den Tolmor
Best Documentary Short
Winner: A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness – Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
Body Team 12 – David Darg and Bryn Mooser
Chau, beyond the Lines – Courtney Marsh and Jerry Franck
Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah – Adam Benzine
Last Day of Freedom – Dee Hibbert-Jones and Nomi Talisman
Editing
Winner: Mad Max: Fury Road – Margaret Sixel
The Big Short – Hank Corwin
The Revenant – Stephen Mirrione
Spotlight – Tom McArdle
Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey
Foreign language film
Winner: Son of Saul (Hungary)
Embrace of the Serpent (Colombia)
Mustang (France)
Theeb (Jordan)
A War (Denmark)
Production design
Winner: Mad Max: Fury Road – Production Design: Colin Gibson; Set Decoration: Lisa Thompson
Bridge of Spies – Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Rena DeAngelo and Bernhard Henrich
The Danish Girl – Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Michael Standish
The Martian – Production Design: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Celia Bobak
The Revenant – Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Hamish Purdy
Make-up/hairstyling
Winner: Mad Max: Fury Road – Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega and Damian Martin
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared – Love Larson and Eva von Bahr
The Revenant – Siân Grigg, Duncan Jarman and Robert Pandini
Best Original Score
Winner: The Hateful Eight – Ennio Morricone
Bridge of Spies – Thomas Newman
Carol – Carter Burwell
Sicario – Jóhann Jóhannsson
Star Wars: The Force Awakens – John Williams
Best Original song
Winner: Writing’s On The Wall from Spectre (Music and Lyric by Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith)
Earned It from Fifty Shades of Grey (Music and Lyric by Abel Tesfaye, Ahmad Balshe, Jason Daheala Quenneville and Stephan Moccio)
Manta Ray from Racing Extinction (Music by J. Ralph and Lyric by Antony Hegarty)
Simple Song #3 from Youth (Music and Lyric by David Lang)
Til It Happens To You from The Hunting Ground (Music and Lyric by Diane Warren and Lady Gaga)
Sound editing
Winner: Mad Max: Fury Road – Mark Mangini and David White
The Martian – Oliver Tarney
The Revenant – Martin Hernandez and Lon Bender
Sicario – Alan Robert Murray
Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Matthew Wood and David Acord
Sound mixing
Winner: Mad Max: Fury Road – Chris Jenkins, Gregg Rudloff and Ben Osmo
Bridge of Spies – Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Drew Kunin
The Martian – Paul Massey, Mark Taylor and Mac Ruth
The Revenant – Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Randy Thom and Chris Duesterdiek
Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson
Visual effects
Winner: Ex Machina – Andrew Whitehurst, Paul Norris, Mark Ardington and Sara Bennett
Mad Max: Fury Road A- ndrew Jackson, Tom Wood, Dan Oliver and Andy Williams
The Martian – Richard Stammers, Anders Langlands, Chris Lawrence and Steven Warner
The Revenant – Rich McBride, Matthew Shumway, Jason Smith and Cameron Waldbauer
Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan and Chris Corbould
Animated short film
Winner: Bear Story – Gabriel Osorio and Pato Escala
Prologue – Richard Williams and Imogen Sutton
Sanjay’s Super Team – Sanjay Patel and Nicole Grindle
We Can’t Live without Cosmos – Konstantin Bronzit
World of Tomorrow – Don Hertzfeldt
Live action short film
Winner: Stutterer – Benjamin Cleary and Serena Armitage
Ave Maria – Basil Khalil and Eric Dupont
Day One – Henry Hughes
Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut) – Patrick Vollrath
Shok – Jamie Donoughue
There are obvious paths to go down to tell a story about victims of child abuse. This film eschews the story of the individuals who have suffered the abuse, instead concentrating on the journalistic team that fought hard to uncovered the abuse. It deliberately attempts to portray just how difficult it was to reveal the truth about something when nobody wants to listen and everybody involved is trying to cover up what has happened. It is an effective but devastating success.
The title of the film is taken from an investigative journalistic unit that tackles stories it deems of necessary interest to the readers of The Boston Globe. In 2002 it published an exposé on Roman Catholic priests in the Boston area, offering evidence of not only child molestation and rape, but also of the systemic cover-up of the evidence by the church. The truths they found were horrific in both nature and magnitude.
Whilst the movie is truly an ensemble piece, there are three wonderfully nuanced performances that help make this film so effective.
The first comes from Stanley Tucci as the attorney Mitchell Garabedian. Tucci is a really special actor and he’s in fine form here. Garabedian has represented innumerable victims of the abuse and each time has been unable to affect change, with critical documents being suppressed by the church. Reminiscent of his role in Margin Call as Eric Dale, he is a man with knowledge of the wider secret dying for those around him to find out what’s truly going on.
A smaller but memorable turn comes from Neal Huff as Phil Saviano, head of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. Based on a real person going by the same name, he makes the most of his limited screen time when he provides a harrowing monologue the first time he meets the Spotlight team. A frustrated picture of a man that likely represents the emotions felt by each and every survivor.
The finest performance, however, is from Michael Keaton as the Chief Editor of Spotlight, Walter “Bobby” Robinson. Throughout the story Bobby is a man wrestling with his conscience. He knows that to make the story as effective as possible he needs to wait for all the facts to be in place and make a thorough, damning article that cannot be ignored. However, doing this means sitting on the information whilst the abuse continues in the city. Late in the picture when he finds out he was actually tipped off about the scandal twenty years previously, he must conclude that he is finally bringing justice to the city despite potentially having the power to prevent generations of systemic abuse. Keaton nails it, reminding us all once again how great it is to have him back on the big screen in a role of substance.
I’m surprised Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams have been selected for an Oscar nomination ahead of those they share the screen with. Fine actors though they are, it must have been a tough call to select two from a long list of solid performances. Ruffalo seemed to be holding back slightly, though that was perhaps a deliberate choice I didn’t pick up on fully.
It is rare that a whole audience is left in absolute silence at the end of a screening, but even on a busy Saturday afternoon there didn’t seem to be anyone that felt anything other than stunned. The reason for this was a devastating list of all the locations they have uncovered scandals in since the publishing of the initial article in 2002, firstly in the USA, then globally.
For this reason the film is now serving the same purpose as the original article: to shine a spotlight on a diabolical scandal that should have been eradicated decades ago. It is possibly the most important film you will see this year.
Of all the stories of all the people that have ever existed on this planet, perhaps one of the last you’d think to turn into a film would be that of Joy Mangano, inventor and telesales presenter. It’s not that she’s unremarkable or boring, but she is far from a controversial character. What she does encompass, however, is both a traditional tale of the American dream and a figurehead for strong-minded women that have ever felt oppressed in work or at home.
If you’re wondering what Joy Mangano looks like in real life, there’s a popular video below of her selling her first major breakthrough invention: The Miracle Mop. From then on she became a self-made millionaire, invented many more successful products and created a business empire.
It has to be said that whilst she may be a household name across the USA, the rest of the world remains unaware of her background. Or at least they did. That was until the film Joy came along. Starring Jennifer Lawrence in the title role alongside the likes of Robert De Niro, Isabella Rossellini and Bradley Cooper, the film reveals the journey she went on to get to where she is today – from divorced mother-of-two working for Eastern Airlines right up to her first business successes.
The first forty-ish minutes of the film try really hard to give us a potted history of the causes of Joy’s personality traits, actions and outlook. It usually works on a scene-by-scene basis but the pacing causes issues and seems to lack direction until Joy herself finds a focus in her life.
From this point on the film has hit its stride and she breaks free from the oppression and the doubters. There are moments of humour (which surely explains the Comedy Golden Globe nomination, no?), edge-of-the-seat excitement (her first sell on QVC springs to mind) and fist-pumping success (I recall here a scene near the end set in a California hotel room). This is all driven by a remarkable performance by Jennifer Lawrence, reminding the world again that she isn’t just the girl from The Hunger Games but rather a girl with acting talent far beyond her years.
So whilst this film has its merits, the scatter-gunned first act and lack of consistency mean it won’t go down as one of the great films of the year, though Lawrence’s performance is worth the ticket money.
Joy is on general release globally now.
Much more understated in its promotional campaign than its awards season rivals – and a much harder film to describe with any vigor and make it sound interesting – Room is a film that simply needs to be seen. It may not seem it but it’s a wonderful hidden gem, the quality of which will only become apparent once you’ve seen it.
It is a film set in two distinct acts. The first act is based entirely in the room in which a woman known as Joy (Brie Larson) and her five-year-old son Jack (Jacob Tremblay) have been held captive by the mysterious Old Nick (Sean Bridgers). Following their release, they are reunited with Joy’s family and the outside world – a world that has left Ma behind and that Jack has never even experienced. Overwhelmed by their new freedom and affected by their psychological damage, we follow Joy and Jack as they try to find any kind of normality in their new life.
Jacob Tremblay and Brie Larson in Room.
The tiny room is suffocating in its lack of space and the feeling of being trapped is never more convincingly portrayed than when Jack is hiding in his cupboard. Looking primarily from his point of view in this first act, the room comparatively seems quite large – to him it is the whole world as he knows nothing else.
Through the unavoidable depressing nature of the situation, there are moments included that are truly uplifting. Seeing Jack finally open up to a family member is a beautiful moment. Indeed, it is surprising that Jacob Tremblay hasn’t been singled out for his stunning performance as Jack, a child who has gone through an impossible first five years of life. He has either been coached really well or is a true natural.
That said, Brie Larson can rightfully take the praise for her leading performance. Her character has taken the journey from childhood to motherhood within the confines of one small room and has remained strong for the sake of her child. The emotional turmoil is all there to be seen. It is deliberately difficult but equally rewarding to witness.
An early contender for one of my top films of the year.
Room is on general release globally now.
Tarantino and controversy seem to go hand in hand these days. Django Unchained, his last release, was shrouded in negative press. Firstly there was criticism for over-use of racial slurs in the film. This led to a range of action figures being pulled from shelves (now worth a small fortune if you have any). Then he “shut down” an interview with Krishnan Guru-Murthy on Channel 4 News when he was questioned about overuse of violence in his films (see below).
The Hateful Eight has been just as rocky in the run up to release. Firstly, he pulled the film because the script was leaked, an act that Tarantino described as a “personal betrayal”, publicly naming either Bruce Dern, Tim Roth or Michael Masden as the perpetrators. There was some “brouhaha” (his word not mine) involving the American police forces that have led several states’ police forces to boycott the film. More recently, several UK-based cinema chains – Cineworld, Picturehouse and Curzon – have announced they won’t carry Tarantino’s eighth film due to the distributors Entertainment opting for Odeon as the exclusive screener of the 70mm extended roadshow version of the film.
Now, whether this is the definitive version of the film will remain open for debate. Tarantino is saying this is the case, so as such the hardcore fans of his films are keen to see this hard-to-find version. Indeed it’s so hard to find that if you’re in the UK you can only see it at one screen for four weeks. That screen is Odeon’s Leicester Square screen, which is where I journeyed to for my screening.
The Film
The film opens around a decade after the American Civil War with a powerful Ennio Morricone score coupled with a mysterious wagon stuck in a snow storm. Inside is bounty hunter John Ruth (Kurt Russell), on his way to Red Rock, Wyoming with a bounty in tow: gang member Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason-Leigh). With a $10,000 reward on her head, he is suspicious when they happen upon second bounty hunter Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson) and later Red Rock Sheriff Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins) before arriving at the isolated outpost Minnie’s Haberdashery. It is there we come across the final four main characters in the film: hangman Oswaldo Mobray (Tim Roth), Bob The Mexican (Demián Bichir Nájera), former Confederate General Sanford Smithers (Bruce Dern) and cowboy Joe Gage (Michael Masden) waiting out the storm. Set for the likelihood of two days holed up in this outpost, tensions rise as the characters’ personalities and history slowly reveal themselves and friendliness gives way to suspicion.
It is easy to see why this film is being considered for an adaptation to the stage. It is mainly set inside the interior of the Haberdashery, giving the focus back onto actors and actress. True, it is a violent and bloody film, but it is also extremely enthralling because of some wonderfully colourful performances across the whole cast. Jennifer Jason Leigh is almost unrecognizable as she snarls and spits her way through her lines, spending most of the film bloodied and beaten.
It is also important not to take for granted two other roles around which the film is built. Jackson’s Warren is a man with a layered past and the portrayal is very well balanced – somehow making him an almost likable character despite his many flaws. He has been doing this for years now, often with Tarantino, and it would be easy to forget how much quality he puts into each performance. Elsewhere, Goggins is pitifully dislikable in his role as Mannix, though offers enough to ensure his character enjoys equal status with some of the films more prominent stars as he takes his character on a tangible personal journey. It’s a shame he was overlooked at the Academy Awards, but it has been a year of tough competition for supporting actors.
This is a psychological mystery that isn’t afraid to maintain the whole story in complete isolation. It intertwines some laugh-out-loud moments with shocking gore in a way that only Tarantino knows how. It may not be his greatest achievement but it certainly doesn’t disappoint.
70mm Ultra Panavision Presentation – is it worth it?
Seeing the roadshow version added a huge amount to the experience. The inclusion of an overture meant that the audience was truly settled by the time the film started in earnest – most of the much-needed extra large popcorn was all but finished by the start of the film. The intermission was quite unique as it meant the group I went with had fifteen minutes to reflect on the first half and a pretty crucial cliffhanger we’d just been served up.
There are apparently an additional four minutes of footage somewhere along the lines, but it wasn’t obvious where they came in. Certainly nothing felt expendable.
The traditional feel of the screening served the content really well. This is, after all, a Western at heart and the theatre and screening method both hark back to the late 1940s and early 1950s when Westerns ruled the silver screen. It added an authenticity to the experience, though the additional cost may have the studio executives wondering if it was all worth it.
It is a great way to remind the audience of the beauty of the experience of going to the cinema. In a time when 200,000 people think it’s okay to illegally download a film when it has been leaked online, it takes something like this to prove that films are not just a commodity.
I’m just about to watch the standard version at a nearby screening, so that gives a fair indication of how much I enjoyed it.
There are five songs nominated in the shortlist for the Academy Award for Best Original Song Academy Award. Here’s a complete list with the videos.
“Earned It” from the film Fifty Shades of Grey
Music and lyric by Abel Tesfaye, Ahmad Balshe, Jason Daheala Quenneville and Stephan Moccio; performed by The Weeknd
“Manta Ray” from the film Racing Extinction
Music by J. Ralph; lyric by Antony Hegarty; performed by J. Ralph and Antony
“Simple Song #3” from the film Youth
Music and lyrics by David Lang; performed by Sumi Jo
“Til It Happens to You” from the film The Hunting Ground
Music and lyric by Diane Warren and Lady Gaga; performed by Lady Gaga
“Writing’s on the Wall” from the film Spectre
Music and lyric by Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith; performed by Sam Smith
BEST PICTURE
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Spotlight
BEST ACTOR
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Matt Damon, The Martian
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl
BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room
Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christian Bale, The Big Short
Tom Hardy, The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
Sylvester Stallone, Creed
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara, Carol
Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
DIRECTING
Adam McKay – The Big Short
George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road
Alejandro G. Iñárritu – The Revenant
Lenny Abrahamson – Room
Tom McCarthy – Spotlight
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Big Short
Brooklyn
Carol
The Martian
Room
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Bridge of Spies
Ex Machina
Inside Out
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compton
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Anomalisa
Boy and the World
Inside Out
Shaun the Sheep Movie
When Marnie Was There
ANIMATED SHORT
Bear Story
Prologue
Sanjay’s Super Team
We Can’t Live Without Cosmos
World of Tomorrow
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Amy
Cartel Land
The Look of Silence
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Winter on Fire
DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Body Team
Chau, Beyond the Lines
Claude Lanzmann
A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness
Last Day of Freedom
MAKEUP AND HAIR STYLING
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
The Revenant
ORIGINAL SONG
The Weeknd’s “Earned It” (from the film Fifty Shades of Grey)
J. Ralph and Antony’s “Manta Ray” (from the film Racing Extinction)
David Lang’s “Simple Song #3” (from the film Youth)
Lady Gaga’s “Til It Happens to You” (from the film The Hunting Ground)
Sam Smith’s “Writing’s on the Wall” (from the film Spectre)
SOUND EDITING
Mad Max: Fury Road
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
The Martian
The Revenant
FILM EDITING
The Big Short
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Spotlight
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Embrace of the Serpent
Mustang
Son of Saul
Theeb
A War
ORIGINAL SCORE
Bridge of Spies
Carol
The Hateful Eight
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Bridge of Spies
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
VISUAL EFFECTS
Ex Machina
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
COSTUME DESIGN
Carol
Cinderella
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
If Inside Llewyn Davis is the poisonous view of the hardest and most demoralising sides of the music industry, with all its rejection, squalor and misery, then Begin Again is the antidote. They are from different sides of the tracks and share nothing but a basic premise and the same city (New York) in common.
Begin Again tells the intertwining stories of two people whose lives have been ruined by the music industry. Dan Mulligan (Mark Ruffalo) has been sacked from his own record company by co-founder Saul (Mos Def) and has taken to the bottle to avoid finding focus in his life, much to the detriment of his relationship with daughter Violet (Hailee Steinfeld). He has a chance meeting in a bar with Gretta James (Keira Knightley), who has plenty of talent but no stage presence or confidence. He decides she has enough potential to turn into something more than just a singer at an open mic night, though her reluctance is powered by the recent breakdown of her relationship with Dave Kohl (Adam Levine), now seemingly destined for stardom.
Everything falls into place perfectly easily. Hurray.
Begin Again falls down where films like Inside Llewyn Davis or Carney’s last film Once succeeded for the simple reason that the songs and performances simply aren’t as good. Keira Knightley has found herself in an awkward situation. Her fame ultimately puts her as an a-lister actress and celebrity, with the ability to elevate an average film to blockbuster status due to her past successes. As a viewer, subconsciously there is an expectation that her ability as a musical performer should match that. Sadly, the studio has had this well in mind and ensured, through post-production, that her voice and entire backing track is polished to perfection, removing the intimacy seen in Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová’s raw but powerful performances in Once. It’s an inevitable source of frustration as it is evident she has some talent, though what that is feels hard to decipher.
Ruffalo’s performance lacks conviction and the feeling that he has been really scorned by the music industry never fully materialises. Adam Levine plays his part coolly, almost as an exaggeration of his real-life personality (or what it is perceived to be). Steinfeld provides another assured performance in her supporting role, even though she doesn’t look like she’s ever picked up a guitar before. James Corden makes the most of his limited screen time.
It’s disappointing that overall this film fails to deliver on so many levels. The one thing it will be remembered for is the track “Lost Stars”, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song in 2015. It is the one song here that stands up to those around which Once was built. However, one song does not a musical make; it is very unlikely this will follow its predecessor onto the West End and thus it is destined to be forgotten.
Begin Again is available for purchase now, or can be streamed on Netflix.
Cinema, etc. 