Written by Sam Shannon
Allow me to (very belatedly) welcome you to the 2015 Seeds On Ground Film Awards! The Mid-Year Awards were obviously an unbelievable success so it gives me great pleasure to welcome you all back. This is an exciting occasion because it gives me the chance to celebrate the films, filmmakers, actors and actresses that made 2015 such an interesting year in film. Just like at the Mid-Years, I will not be focusing on the awards that don’t spark the interest of the average movie-watcher. Instead, I will be focusing on simply Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Screenplay, Best Director and Best Picture.
We will also be putting the final stamp on our hugely popular Rolling Top Ten. Since it’s inception in July, the Rolling Top Ten has gathered an enormous amount of rolling momentum but it will be coming to an abrupt stop at the end of this very piece. There have been some mainstays that have been in the mix since July, a few films that burst onto the scene in the second edition, and some absolute gems that came out later in the year that simply could not be ignored. For those uninitiated with the Rolling Top Ten or the format of a ranked list in general, here’s how it works: the list will start at number ten and that will be officially considered the tenth best film I saw in 2015. The list will then begin a slow, steady countdown and with each passing film my opinion of their quality will rise and rise until we reach the Emerald City at the end of our yellow brick road which is, of course, the number one film I saw in 2015. Also, to avoid spoilers the Best Picture category will not be listed before the Top Ten. Instead, the top five films of the Top Ten will be considered the nominees for Best Picture, with the number one film being crowned the winner.
Here’s a quick recap of the Mid-Year Awards –
Best Actor: Steve Carell – Foxcatcher
Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon – Wild
Best Supporting Actor: Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher
Best Supporting Actress: Emma Stone – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Best Screenplay: Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve and Josh Cooley – Inside Out
Best Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Best Picture: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Let’s start the show!
BEST ACTOR
Steve Carell – Foxcatcher
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
David Oyelowo – Selma
Michael B. Jordan – Creed
Winner: David Oyelowo. Just edges out Carell who unfortunately wasn’t able to retain his award from July. Oyelowo completely embodies the spirit, intelligence and bravery of MLK in this compelling film about the fight for civil rights in America in the 1960s. Astounding he wasn’t nominated for an Academy Award in 2015 for this role. Michael B. Jordan got himself into serious shape and gave one hell of a physical performance in Creed, and coupled that by bringing a huge amount of emotional depth to the character of Adonis. Keaton and Cumberbatch have been locks all year and both get nominated again for their stellar work. Unlucky not to be nominated here was Mark Ruffalo for his tireless performance in the hardly seen indie Infinitely Polar Bear and Matt Damon who carried The Martian, but essentially was playing Matt Damon.
BEST ACTRESS
Charlize Theron – Mad Max: Fury Road
Amy Schumer – Trainwreck
Reese Witherspoon – Wild
Daisy Ridley – Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Emily Blunt – Sicario
Winner: Daisy Ridley. I think there is so much more to this performance than meets the eye. This is a 23 year old woman who was handed the reigns to one of, if not the, biggest franchise in the history of cinema and she pulls it off with premium ease. In one fell swoop Ridley’s Rey becomes an instant classic character, the new hero of the Star Wars universe and a newly minted feminist icon. A quick look at her IMDb page shows that she has never done anything in her short career that comes close to resembling the grand scale of a Star Wars film and her physical performance in a complex shoot like this is commendable. However, the emotional touch that Ridley brings to Rey is what makes her performance special. It’s the kind of role that will probably never get the recognition it deserves, particularly from the Academy so I’m glad to give Daisy some props here. Schumer in Trainwreck is another performance that didn’t get the credit it deserved. She’s in almost every scene of that movie and manages to be laugh out loud funny at times, and genuinely vulnerable, open and honest in others. It’s a strong performance. Theron, and Witherspoon get nominated again while Emily Blunt gets a nod for her gritty role in Sicario. Amy Poehler was the unlucky one here, not able to retain a nomination for her voice work in Inside Out.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Sylvester Stallone – Creed
Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher
Edward Norton – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
John Boyega – Star Wars: The Force Awakens
RJ Cryler – Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Winner: Sylvester Stallone. Anybody who knows me well knows that I have loved the Rocky movies for as long as I can remember. However, this is more than a sentimental pick. Don’t get me wrong there is plenty of sentiment involved, but those who went and saw Creed will surely agree that Stallone’s performance is pretty staggering. Far and away the best acting performance of his career, Stallone plays his famous Rocky Balboa as an ageing, weary and lonely guy who knows the bright lights of his boxing career have long disappeared. He is completely vulnerable and every time he is on screen he demands your attention. It’s a perfect performance. Ruffalo was very unlucky that Stallone did what he did because he was in a strong position to go back to back. John Boyega is incredibly charismatic and likeable as Finn in Star Wars and provides a good amount of humour, particularly in his interactions with Harrison Ford, who was also strongly considered for a nomination. Norton gets nominated again and newcomer RJ Cryler is a scene stealer despite not having an awful lot of dialogue to work with in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. Jason Statham and Michael Peña are also unlucky not to be nominated for their scene stealing work in Spy and Ant-Man respectively.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Emma Stone – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game
Judy Davis – The Dressmaker
Rose Byrne – Spy
Oona Laurence – Southpaw
Winner: Oona Laurence. At only 13 years old, Laurence is just an incredible talent. She was one of the original girls cast as the lead in Tim Minchin’s play Matilda: The Musical and won a special Tony Award for her involvement. In Southpaw, the father/daughter relationship she shares with Jake Gyllenhaal’s Billy Hope is the emotional core of the movie. There is one scene in particular that completely blew me away, and for those who have seen the film you’ll know which one I’m talking about. She is definitely one to look out for. She edges out Stone who took out this award at the Mid-Years but easily retained a nomination. Knightley also gets nominated again for her super solid work in The Imitation Game, Byrne gets nominated again for Spy, and Judy Davis’ crazy performance was by far the best part of the unthinkably bad The Dressmaker.
BEST SCREENPLAY
Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve and Josh Cooley – Inside Out
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicholás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. and Armando Bo – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Graham Moore – The Imitation Game
Jesse Andrews – Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman – Foxcatcher
Winner: Inside Out. Here’s what I wrote back in July –
‘It’s funny, it’s sad, it’s up, it’s down. It is every emotion you would expect to find inside the mind of a twelve-year old girl. Exceedingly well-written, razor sharp and quick witted. There’s enough moments in Inside Out of characters getting hit in the head to keep the kids entertained, and more than enough jokes that will make even adults pat themselves on the back for understanding. Pixar well and truly does it again.’
I tend to agree.
BEST DIRECTOR
Alejandro González Iñárritu – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road
J.J Abrams – Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Ryan Coogler – Creed
Ava DuVernay – Selma
Winner: Iñárritu. The grandness of his vision and the execution required to pull it off is a remarkable effort. Abrams misses out by the tiniest margin imaginable for taking on the gargantuan task of reviving the Star Wars franchise and just absolutely knocking it out of the park.
SEEDS ON GROUND 2015 TOP TEN
Honourable Mentions
Southpaw
Gyllenhaal is gloomy, menacing force of nature in this excellent boxing flick. He stars as Billy Hope, a riches-to-rags boxing champion forced to fight in all aspects of his life. Loses a lot of points for giving away too much in the trailer. Personally, I only need to know that Rachel McAdams is in a film, I DO NOT need to know anything more than that.
Trainwreck
Schumer and Apatow combine for a really funny and at times heartfelt movie that, as with any Apatow joint, runs about 20 minutes too long. However, it is enjoyable to say the least and Schumer is a bonafide star in the making. Really looking forward to what she does next. The final, surprising dance sequence was probably my favourite film moment for 2015. Simple and pure comedy.
The Gift
Joel Edgerton wrote, directed and starred in this thriller alongside Jason Bateman. Expertly directed, it’s a film that knows all of the tropes of an old-school style thriller and uses that to subvert the audience’s expectations. Track it down if you like the idea of not feeling safe in your own home.
Sicario
Emily Blunt plays a FBI agent recruited to take part in the never-ending drug war in Mexico, although she finds it difficult to fully know which side she has been recruited by. It’s a gritty film, skilfully made and frighteningly real.
Straight Outta Compton
Chronicles the rise of West Coast hip-hop group N.W.A from nobodies to music superstars. Great performances abound in this compelling film.
10. The Martian
Matt Damon carries a film about an astronaut stranded on Mars. There’s a lot to like here. Damon’s natural charm coupled with the clever strategies his Mark Watney implements to survive make this enjoyable all the way through. There are a lot of good actors in this film such as Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kristen Wiig, Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara, Michael Peña and Donald Glover. The only problem is that there just isn’t enough for each of them to do and a lot of them feel miscast or at the very least, unnecessarily cast. Still it’s a lighthearted, popcorn flick of the highest order and an enjoyable way to spend two hours.
9. Ant-Man
Was ranked as high as number four on this list in July but this spot seems to be just about right. This is an enjoyable movie experience not to be taken too seriously.
8. The Imitation Game
Watched this again recently and it completely held up through its second viewing. This is a really interesting and expertly made film and Alan Turing’s story is one that many more people should be familiar with. A brilliant, troubled man who did remarkable things and yet suffered a terrible fate.
7. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Probably the least known film in the final top ten but this was a quirky, wholly original film with great performances from a trio of young, talented actors.
6. Inside Out
I wrote in October that it was going to take something massive for Inside Out to fall out of the top five. Well, something massive happened, so it falls out of the top five. Not by much though. This film takes place in the mind of a twelve-year-old girl named Riley who is struggling to cope with her family’s sudden move to San Francisco. It is a heart-warming masterpiece and one of the best Pixar films to date.
5. Foxcatcher
I saw this movie in late January 2015 so it did remarkably well to hold on to a top five spot. You don’t necessarily enjoy the experience of watching Foxcatcher, hence I have yet to watch it for a second time. It’s an uncomfortable experience, a slow-build of tension and fear that is further enhanced with the knowledge that all of this really happened. It’s an unforgettable film, with unforgettable performances from Carell, Ruffalo and Tatum.
4. Selma
Drops a couple of spots but holds firm in the top five and deservedly so. Selma is an important film because it not only portrays the terrible history of civil rights injustices, but it serves as a reminder that this is unbelievably still happening today. The film follows Dr. Martin Luther King’s campaign for equal voting rights in the United States and particularly focuses on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches through the state of Alabama. In one of the best screen acting performances you are ever likely to see David Oyelowo becomes the living embodiment of Dr. King, carrying the film in a way that few did in 2015. Wonderfully directed by Ava DuVernay, Selma portrays the struggle of not just one man but millions of people around the world, and for many, the struggle continues.
3. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Not growing up a Star Wars fan, I decided to rewatch all six films before going to see The Force Awakens. My week-long rewatch marathon was thrown into disarray when I realised that I was definitely watching at least half of these films for the first time. Regardless, I was completely blown away by them all, yes even the prequels. I went to see The Force Awakens by myself and could not have enjoyed the experience more, it was just so much bloody fun. This is why I go to the movies, to be completely lost in a story and in its characters. JJ Abrams completely nailed the feel of the original movies and has introduced wildly likeable new characters that I can’t wait to see again. Bring on Episode VIII.
2. Creed
There’s a scene towards the end of Creed where I was so moved that I began to cry. After the film I remarked that at that moment I didn’t even know if I was crying happy or sad tears, all I knew was that they were flowing like a river. Those tears can only be the culmination of a lifelong love of the Rocky films that was passed on to me by my dad. You’d need to give NASA a call to figure out the exact number of times that I’ve seen all of the Rocky films. They completely shaped my childhood and my love of watching movies. Shit, I even think that Rocky V has its moments. For fans of the series, there are more than enough gems to keep you smiling throughout and for those who have never seen a Rocky film it’s a complete and compelling film in its own right. Written and directed by Ryan Coogler, and starring Michael B. Jordan as the titular character and Sylvester Stallone as an aging Italian Stallion, Creed hits every mark in a sophisticated way while at the same time avoiding cliché. It’s a special film. Jordan turned up in shape as well.
- Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
It held on! Birdman held off a rampaging two-hour injection of testosterone and nostalgia in Creed that came awfully close to claiming the top spot. Everything about this film is unique. It was directed in a way that I’ve never quite seen before, with the entire film being made to appear like one long tracking shot. A fairly incredible feat considering some of the bizarre turns the film takes, particularly towards the end. Brilliantly made and phenomenally well-acted this was a true film going experience that I will remember for a very, very long time.
See you next time.
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