We watched The Revenant a couple of weeks ago. That 'they' are calling this an Oscar favourite tells me there must be a slew of mediocre films out this past year. Some good, if not excellent acting at times, but the story was long, not really believeable and somewhat boring with similar scenes seemingly played over and over again.
First, the Oscar nominees never tell the full story of what's been put out. Yes, there are more mediocre films than good, but that's always been the case. Let's not pretend there's ever been a time where there wasn't more filler than not. And while the Oscars are supposed to represent the height of the craft, what year are you thinking of where you agreed with the majority of the choices?
I enjoyed
The Revenant. Sure, the pacing isn't going to keep your blood pumping for the duration, and some of the moments that were supposed to get you there were trying too hard, but I still felt satisfied at the end. Honestly, one of the main reasons I wanted to see it is because of the way-cool shots in the trailer, and while I liked a lot of those, the most annoying parts for me were along the same lines, of trying to be too arty in the filmmaking. But hey, I'd rather a director with ambition than someone following what they think is a successful Hollywood formula.
And since someone else mentioned
Mad Max: Fury Road, I'll say I enjoyed that one, too. Yes, it fell short of my wildest dreams, but I haven't tried to watch the old ones in forever, so who knows how they stand up. This new one strikes me as more of a popcorn affair. Some aspects of it were a little cardboard and lifeless for me, but then other parts of it surprised me with their goofy inventiveness. I'll probably expect more out of the sequel(s), however.
