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Oscar nominations 2016: movies to watch
The 88th Academy Awards are happening this weekend, which means we once more see the acting elite put on their best frocks and fakest smiles for the biggest back-slapping ceremony the movie world has to offer.
Thankfully this year there are a number of Oscar-nominated that are available to watch right now in the comfort of your own home on a contract-free streaming service.
So, for about the same money as a cinema ticket, you can catch up on the following nine Oscar-nominated movies before Sunday evening and still have a month of movies and TV watching ahead of you. Bonus!
The following movies are all available now from either Netflix, Amazon Prime Instant Video or Now TV - and they all have been nominated in one way or another.
The Look of Silence
Nominated for: Best Documentary (Feature)
A follow-up to the superb The Act Of Killing, this documentary sees optometrist Adi traveling around Indonesia performing eye tests on those who helped with mass slaughter in the 1960s.
Although it it is more straightforward than Killing - which is one of the most surreal cinematic experiences anyone can have - it is no less devastating to watch.
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Nominated for: Best Documentary (Feature)
This powerful documentary is funded by Netflix and tells the sometimes harrowing tale of Nina Simone - a recording artist whose life and music was steeped in melancholy. The film intersperses archival footage with up-to-date interviews with Simone's close family and friends. Even if you are unaware of Simone's fantastic music and voice, this is a must-watch and shows an amazing talent at a time when the US was going through significant and wide-reaching change.
Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight For Freedom
Nominated for: Best Documentary (Feature)
Netflix has been nominated once again in the Best Documentary category for this thought-provoking look at, as the title states, Ukraine's recent fight for freedom. Already a darling on the festival circuit the doc is shot from the point of view of protestors whose numbers grow when tension between pro-European Ukrainians, the police and government builds. Given it's a documentary about events that are still raw, this is real-life filmmaking at its most daring.
Shaun The Sheep The Movie
Nominated for: Best Animated Feature
Stream it now on: Amazon Prime Instant Video
While it looks like the might of Pixar and Disney may win the Best Animation Feature thanks to the superb Inside Out, this doesn't mean that the Shaun the Sheep movie is any less fun. Created by Bristol-based animators Aardman, The Shaun The Sheep Movie is a delightful big-screen spin on a character that started off as bit part in a Wallace and Gromit short.
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window...
Nominated for: Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Stream it now on: Amazon Prime Instant Video
Based on the fun and immensely popular book of the same name, The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared works surprisingly well as a movie, given the book has more famous cameos in it than Forest Gump. One of the reasons for the film's success is its makeup and styling - the reason it's nominated for an Oscar. The lead character celebrating a century on Earth is played by Robert Gustafsson - an actor half his age.
Mad Max: Fury Road
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design
Mad Max: Fury Road has been nominated for - count 'em - 10 awards and we reckon it deserves every single one. Director George Miller has made a glorious, grizzled throwback of a film that is visually amazing and offers up plenty of gut punches in the action department, too. You won't find a better mix of violence, cars and adrenaline since, well, that incident that got Jeremy Clarkson sacked from Top Gear. Superb stuff.
Ex Machina
Nominated for: Best Visual Effects
Alex Garland cut his teeth first as a successful novelist with the Beach, then as scriptwriter for a number of Danny Boyle films. His debut, Ex Machina, is a brilliant slice of thoughtful sci-fi that asks many pertinent questions about the future of AI and the repercussions it may well bring. We reckon it should have been nominated for many more awards, but it's nice to see it get a Best Visual Effects shout.
Cinderella
Nominated for: Best Costume Design
It shouldn't have worked but Cinderella is a joy of a movie, thanks to the astute direction of Kenneth Branagh and performance from soon-to-be-megastar Lily James. The Disney animated movie way well be better but the costume design of this film is fantastic and well worth an Oscar nod. We're expecting The Jungle Book to get an Oscar nod for visual effects next year.
Fifty Shades of Grey
Nominated for: Best Music (Original Song)
No one at techradar will actually admit to watching or reading 50 Shades Of Grey, so we can't give you much of a synopsis - other than it is about a man, a woman, some interesting objects and something to do with a red room. What we can tell you, though, is that The Weeknd song that's been nominated for an Oscar is actually pretty good. We are glad the movie actually has a music soundtrack, otherwise all you would hear are the groans and moans from the lead actors and, by all accounts, the bored audience that actually sat down to watch the movie.
