2015 has been a landmark year in film for a number of reasons, be it the record number of movies to cross the billion-dollar mark at the box office, or the pressing social issues that bold filmmakers decided to attack with all their might to name just two. The internet has arguably never been more vocal about movies than in the past year, be it in praise of or voicing sheer disdain for a movie's politics, general plot or Oscar chances, but as is always the case online, half (if not more) of what you read is complete tripe. Whether or not people were merely misguided, film fans on the whole have made a plethora of incorrect and flat-out stupid remarks about recent films, and it's time to correct them, to attack the fallacy and illustrate why they may need to rethink their position a little bit. Sure, some of these were harmless wishful thinking, while others were egged on by a very clear, arguably sinister motive, and all have ultimately proven to be wrong in some way or another.
10. "Leonardo DiCaprio Automatically Deserves An Oscar For The Revenant"
What Everyone Thinks: Whether they've actually seen The Revenant or not, practically the entire Internet seems convinced that Leonardo DiCaprio absolutely has to win the Best Actor Oscar this time, and if he doesn't, the collective Academy deserves to be dunked in a fiery Hell-pit for all of eternity. The Truth: Yes, DiCaprio has missed out on the coveted award several times despite turning in spirited performances in each instance, but consider each case on its actual merits: he was beaten by Tommy Lee Jones the first time (The Fugitive), then Jamie Foxx (Ray), then Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland) and finally Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club). In any of those instances, can you honestly say that DiCaprio was better than the eventual winner? Not really, and so Leo isn't entitled to a win for The Revenant "just because". Yes, he's terrific in it and fortunately happens to be the front-runner so far, but given how fickle the Oscar race can be, there's no guarantee that he can keep it away from, say, Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs) or Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl), or that he's definitely the most deserving of the bunch. He's not exactly at Peter O'Toole's level of snubbery yet, is he? Let the silly, ill-informed meme die already.
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
