Of the eight Best Picture nominees, I've seen four: Spotlight, The Revenant, The Big Short and Bridge of Spies. The others are Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, Brooklyn and Room.
Spotlight would be my choice, and from early buzz it seemed like the front runner. However, The Revenant cleaned up at the Golden Globes last weekend and leads the pack with twelve nominations total. Mad Max is a close second with ten, followed by The Martian's seven; Spotlight, six.
There's less cheerful news with the passing of Alan Rickman, much-beloved villain of Die Hard, Harry Potter and many other films. The fulsome tributes from his costars speak volumes to the gentleman's character, I think; his talent needs no elucidation. Combined with David Bowie's death earlier this week, it's been rough for celebrities dying before their time.
Italian actor Franco Citti died at age 80. He had a prolific career in Italian cinema, working with Pasolini, Bertolucci and others, but is best-known as Michael's bodyguard Calo in The Godfather.
Back to Hitchcock blogging tomorrow.