Why 2015 will be better than 2014

Looking at the upcoming releases for September through December, I was awestruck by the potential in awards-caliber films. The Best Picture race may draw a large crowd this year, but this year’s Best Director ballot will be the toughest call in as long as I can recall.

No fewer than 20 of the most critically acclaimed directors of our generation have films coming out between September and the end of December alone, but I can tell you who will be winning the major awards.

Perennial favorites Steven Spielberg, Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu, Ron Howard, Barry Levinson, Robert Zemeckis, Denis Villaneuve, David O. Russell, Oliver Stone, Danny Boyle, Quentin Tarantino, Ridley Scott, Scott Cooper, Nancy Meyers, Tom Hooper, JJ Abrams, Sam Mendes, Werner Herzog, Gus Van Sant, and Terence Malik all have films coming out over the last three months of the year, and Woody Allen, Michael Mann, and Francis Ford Coppola have films out now. The only A-listers seemingly missing the party are Christopher Nolan, Clint Eastwood, Katheryn Bigelow, James Cameron, David Fincher, the Coen Brothers, Paul Thomas Anderson, Wes Anderson, Ang Lee, and Martin Scorcese, who is on a journey of musical documentaries in between his trysts with Leonardo DiCaprio.

The sheer magnitude of entries into the cinematic landscape this year might be the most ambitious season to date, and although some of the films won’t be the masterpieces of their respective visionaries’ careers, there are a handful that will raise eyebrows and make 2014’s critically acclaimed films pale in comparison.

Ron Howard, Steven Spielberg, Oliver Stone, Danny Boyle, Quentin Tarantino, Alejandro Innaritu, Robert Zemeckis, Ridley Scott, and Denis Villaneuve will present the most likely Best Picture nominees. There is an interesting academy rumor going around, and it has been since 2009, that the Best Picture field will return to five films to increase interest by audiences and lend more credibility and prestige to the award. I support this rumor, and there would be snubs and controversy, but all nominees would be completely deserving. Here are my five Best Picture films of the season:

1.The Martian. Directed by Ridley Scott and based on the bestselling novel of the same name. Ridley Scott is the Master of Sci-Fi, and with a realistic, smart story and a stellar cast, this will be a very popular film with audiences. Matt Damon plays Mark Watney, the lone survivor of an abandoned manned mission to Mars.

2.The Revenant. Directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu, Leo DiCaprio plays Hugh Glass, a frontiersman in the early 1800’s. He’s mauled by a bear and left for dead, only to survive and seek revenge on his betrayers. Expect nothing short of epic greatness.

3.The Hateful Eight. Quentin Tarantino is in a class of his own. Every film is an adventure unrivaled by any other filmmaker in the business, and the entertainment value is always high. His ensemble casts create some of the most memorable characters, and you can be sure there will be some supporting actor (and perhaps actress) standout performances.

4.The Heart of the Sea. Ron Howard is back after the underappreciated Rush in 2013. The Heart of the Sea reunites Howard with Chris Hemsworth once again, this time based on the true story of Moby Dick. Can you say cool?

5.Steve Jobs. Directed by Danny Boyle and written by Aaron Sorkin, this might be a step up from The Social Network in terms of technology biopics, and I loved The Social Network. Michael Fassbender will earn a Best Actor nod for his work, and will help us all forget about Ashton Kutcher’s awful performance in 2013’s failed Jobs biopic.

However, if the field stays with its current model, expect Bridge of Spies, Snowden, Sicario, and The Walk to fill in the final four candidates, with Black Mass getting an outside shot. As is evident by these films, there is a noticeable void of lead female actors. This may be a boon for Jennifer Lawrence, as she is headlining David O. Russell’s biopic on Joy Mangano, but Emily Blunt may make a run in her Traffic-esque role in Sicario, and you can never count Meryl Streep out, though her Ricki and the Flash might be too loose with her character.

For the men, take your pick. Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Michael Fassbender are my locks with Joseph Gordon-Levitt (either of two roles may lead to a nomination), Chris Hemsworth, Matt Damon, and Johnny Depp following close behind. I think and hope this is DiCaprio’s year.

Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu will become the first director to win consecutive Oscars since Joseph Mankiewicz in 1949 and 1950. His film, The Revenant will be both riveting and innovative. If audiences aren’t turned away by the gritty violence, it should be a lock for Picture, Director, and Actor. This may seem a bold prediction in the face of such stiff competition, but as was the case with Birdman, Innaritu has adopted original and clever film making tactics making him the hardest working director looking to innovate his field besides James Cameron. For The Revenant, he is using absolutely no unnatural light which must prove to be a challenging film shoot following the lunar cycle, but ultimately, it will pay off huge dividends in the end.
In the face of such remarkable competition, 2015 will be the best crop of films since 2010.