Spotlight

I agree that he shoulda at least been nominated.

There were two other performances left off that year, in the same movie.

Denzel shoulda been nominated for Best Actor in Crimson Tide, and Gene Hackman shoulda been nominated for Best Supporting.

 

I agree that Leo should have been nominated much more often and he should have won too. Aviator was tremendous

However I don't think Wolf of WS was Oscar worthy. Leo was very good but his character was too much of a caricature.

 

So, I finally got round to watching this after The Oscars.
Again, like with the brilliant All The President's Men, there's little melodrama here so even little things seem tense. The difference with Spotlight is that, it's a slow-burner of 'leg-work' than revelations (i.e. there's little secret that old priests are 50-50 when it comes to pedophilia)
The acting is similar with the Redford/Hoffman pic: nothing amazing as they methodically go about their business as they realize they could expose a massive institution (here, The Church, instead of the US Government) for what it really is.
And unless you're physically repulsed like Slystaff, then the subject matter is carefully dealt with.

Result: a grown-up movie about serious people / issues that has more 'thrill' than most action movies.

7.5/10

 

leo's alright, but he mostly strikes the same tone each time, not a great actor

good performances in the Beach, Departed, Inception, where he basically plays pretty much the same character - golden boy with inner demons - probably similar to his personality in real life.

apart from that he does that stupid shouty man act too much - Wolf of Wall Street and Django. in revenant he's basically doing an Iron Man endurance race on camera, not really all that much acting going on.

 

I'd never heard of mark rylance until bridge of spies, saw a couple of rave reviews about his acting beforehand, and it was a genuinely special performance. rare to see such a nuanced, understated, natural performance on screen.

 

Okay you compared it to 'All The President's Men' and that was my cue: I am not watching this one. :nono:

 

Spotlight would definatly bore you and also there are no real, of-the-day A-lister icons in it.