Spotlight
More of a detective drama than a sole examination of the deeply entrenched evil that the Catholic Church posses in regards to paedophilia, Spotlight is still difficult to watch. See more in Stuart Jamieson’s review here.

The Big Short
In retelling a moment in time that had a dramatic effect on the entire world, The Big Short succeeds in taking a somewhat complicated story and reducing it to its primary human trait, greed. It also uses hilarious cameos by a surprising group of celebs to help reduce financial shenanigans to more understandably human terms.

Room
Featuring two of the year’s most arresting performances by Brie Larson (United States of Tara, Remember the Daze) and ten-year-old Jacob Tremblay, Room tells the amazing story of how much strength there is in human nature and how the power of the love a mother feels towards her child can overcome almost any adversity. The film also has a wonderful duality in the harshness of the situation and the wonderful flights of imagination shown by the young son played by Tremblay. It’s a shame that the academy is also quite ageist.

Carol
Another acting tour-de-force, this tale of forbidden love between two women show the amazing amount of craft that Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara possess as they say so much with just the simplest gesture and longing glance. The film creates a level of intimacy between audience and film that is mesmerizing.

Steve Job
Michael Fassbender does the almost impossible by making a man so ruthless as to disown almost every person in his life that cares about him seem absolutely real and human, almost likeable. As towering as Fassbender’s performance is, it’s matched scene by scene by the transcendent skill of Kate Winslet as his long-suffering co-worker Joanna Hoffman. This film will also make you think quite differently about all those tiny white boxes we love so much. See more in Rob Hudson’s review here.

Rob Hudosn
www.oscar.go.com

Winner Best Actor – Rooney Mara – Cannes Film Festival 2015. Based on Patricia Highsmith’s novella The Price of Salt.

Set in 1950s New York, two women from very different backgrounds find themselves in the throes of love in Carol. As conventional norms of the time challenge their undeniable attraction, an honest story emerges to reveal the resilience of the heart in the face of change.

A young woman in her 20s, Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara), is a clerk working in a Manhattan department store and dreaming of a more fulfilling life when she meets Carol (Cate Blanchett), an alluring woman trapped in a loveless, convenient marriage. As an immediate connection sparks between them, the innocence of their first encounter dims and their connection deepens.

While Carol breaks free from the confines of marriage, her husband (Kyle Chandler) threatens her competence as a mother when Carol’s involvement with Therese and close relationship with her best friend Abby (Sarah Paulson) comes to light. As Carol leaves the comfort of home to travel with Therese, an internal journey of self-discovery coincides with her new sense of space.

Competition will be drawn 13 January 2016, winners will be notified by mail.