Oscar Watch: The Hateful Eight (2015) and Burnt (2015)

Hello, Bloggers, welcome to another part of my Oscar Watch where I discuss trailers for upcoming Oscar contenders. For this post, I've got not just two trailers, but trailers for potential Harvey Weinstein underdogs since he is behind both films. The first film is Quentin Tarantino's eighth film known as The Hateful Eight. 

Normally, I like Quentin Tarantino. I love Pulp Fiction more abd more each time I see it, I loved Django Unchained, Jackie Brown, and Kill Bill: Vol. 1. But while I liked Inglourious Basterds, I thougnt there was almost too much build-up before each action scene and Death Proof was like a massive ego trip because of how it is so dialogue heavy and Tarantino is known for his witty dialogue.

Before I saw the trailer for this one, however, I expected it to look something like his two previous films in terms of the way it is shot. But it looks and feels completely different. Might be because it is filmed with 65mm film which is quite rare these days. But he might use his traditional witty dialogue, I'm sure, and the film has a great cast. It's wonderful that Tarantino casted Jennifer Jason Leigh in this. As I have mentioned before, he has a knack for recognizing leading men and women seemingly forgotten by Hollywood like John Travolta, Kurt Russell, and Pam Grier. So maybe this could do wonders for her if the part is substantial enough. I do have to say, though, we could be seeing a rumble between this and The Revenant, another western. We shall see. I think this'll be good.

The next trailer is for Burnt (previously titled Adam Jones and Chef) starring Bradley Cooper. Not only does it look delicious, but its story is something that seems almost tailor made for awards success: The underdog or mess-up trying to get a second chance at life and redeem himself. I do applaud for Bradley Cooper for continuously stretching himself an actor and taking challenging projects and while I don't think he will win an Oscar for this, that trophy certainly isn't far out of his reach. Despite the redemption story being incorporated, I don't see this as a legitimate frontrunner because it is quite under the radar thus far and if anything, it could be used as leverage for Alicia Vikander's potential march to Oscar since she has a part in this. I would say the same for Bradley Cooper, but I don't think he'll be nominated for this or even this year. His only other contender is Joy but he seems to have a small part in that. It looks appetizing, but in terms of its awards prospects, I'll wait and see.

So those are my thoughts on the trailers for these potential contenders. Please feel free to write your own thoughts in the comments section on whether you think these look like potential Oscar contenders and if you think these just looks like good movies.