It’s the same every year: actors stand next to the president of the Oscars and take pride in telling us what’s up for an Academy Award.
Which means they’re also telling us what’s not. And what’s not tends to be as important as what is. And every year, we’re left wondering whether months of daily forecasts of awards-season weather pollutes what was scarcely a pure process to begin with.
2016, and the Oscar selection process was no different. There were some surprises, some snubs, plenty controversy, and – above all – a handful of overlooked movies that won’t be winning an Academy Award this year that you should nevertheless have on your radar. Here are just 10 of them.
James White
Director: Josh Mond
It’s modest and low-key but the narrative of James White makes its audience feel everything from the smell of a man pretending not to be hungover to the sweat on a sleepless woman’s forehead. Mone – the Martha Marcy May Marlene producer – using New York’s claustrophobia to his advantage, shows how easy it is to become overwhelmed by life at the best of times.
Dope
Director: Rick Famuyiwa
Hands up who was a bit of a loser at high school? Now, hands up who stopped being a loser, when they accidentally got handed a massive stash of ganja and started going to underground parties with A$AP Rocky? Yeah, us neither. But it’s nice to find out what would have happened to us if we had.
Brand New Testament
Director: Jaco Van Dormael
Did you know that God is alive and lives in Brussels with his daughter? This Belgian dark comedy from past Oscar winner Jaco Van Dormael about a very grumpy God living in Belgium’s capital has Catherine Deneuve, lots of laughs, and a whole new take on the Good Book. Show a little faith people.
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
Director: Alex Gibney
Gibney’s penetrating profile of the church started by L. Ron Hubbard – which reveals abuses and strange practices – may not be to everyone’s liking in Hollywood but it suspends belief that this Emmy winning HBO film by the past Oscar winner was overlooked. Tom Cruise, time to call Hubbard in outer space!
Mississippi Grind
Directors: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
Maybe it’s a little too depressing in its appropriation of ’70s feel-bad movies like addiction drama California Split, but there’s no other film this year that has better portrayed the stagnant climate of current American life. Rent goes up every year, salaries go down, and no one’s hiring marooned midlifers… But there’s always road trips.
99 Homes
Director: Ramin Bahrani
The movie packs a mighty punch in playing on the horror of bankruptcy and the fear of losing everything. And while 99 Homes was a sleeper hit when it was released this past September, Take Shelter actor Michael Shannon’s portrayal of a merciless real-estate broker was recognized by the Screen Actors Guild.
Straight Outta Compton
Director: F. Gary Gray
Universal’s hit biopic of the onetime most dangerous group in the world got its mic dropped hard by Academy voters. Besides getting a Best Original Screenplay nomination, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and director Gray deserved better than to be left almost straight outta the Oscars with their flick that shows the pure electric craziness of the music that N.W.A first produced.
Danny Collins
Director: Dan Fogelman
This directorial debut of the Crazy Stupid Love writer is the cliched yet actually brilliant tale of a washed-up singer trying to win back his long-abandoned family – and cop off with Annette Bening. Al Pacino’s winning comic bravado captures the essence of the aging celeb pretty perfectly.
Listen to Me Marlon
Director: Stevan Riley
A documentary that combines footage from the Marlon Brando’s films with snippets from his previously unheard personal recordings; the result creates a beautiful impression of a flawed man with many faces. Perhaps they figured that the eight Oscar nominations Brando earned himself were enough to convey the message…
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
Director: Felix Herngren
Its plot is very neatly summed up by its title, which was also the title of the bestselling novel upon which it is based. “All I ever want to do is eat, sleep, and blow things up, ” the movie’s aged hero, Allan, says. Definitely one for viewers in tune with absurdist humor (and probably too cynical and in-your-face with mordant humor for the Oscars, just yet).
