By the time I finish writing this I will have seen Black Panther and hopefully have a sweet review to link right about here. In the Bay Area Beer Week is taking it’s toll on my liver and if you can see through the hazy ipas, you’ll see The Academy Awards are almost upon us. Some years I am in better shape than others when it comes to seeing the contenders, but for the first time in awhile I have seen all the nominees for picture, director, actor, actress, original screenplay, supporting actress, and a few others. So allow this to serve as your official pre-Oscar blog post, not unlike damn near the first blog I ever wrote on this here site.
In order to keep this from meandering rambling, I’ll discuss the major categories and the films/people nominated. I’ll offer my own picks later for what it’s worth but keep in mind I’ll mostly be basing my picks on what I think is the best not necessarily what is going to win.
Best Picture
Call Me By Your Name - Oooh, I honestly didn’t want to start with this film. For the majority of people and many voters this film is touching some major nerves and affecting people in a truly remarkable and profound way. With the exception of the person I watched this film with, I seem to be the only person who thinks this film is sentimental tripe. This seems like the worst sepia toned coming of age story that was polluting screens in the early 90s (King of the Hill, Rambling Rose, etc) except this time one of them is gay, kinda. This film so deliberately removes any sense of conflict or grounding in reality that it seems like a half baked idea that got turned into a movie and everyone is so blinded by how “brave” the performers are to realize that nothing is worth watching. Other than objecting to the spelling of his name Timothee Chalamet delivers a fine performance for what it’s worth as does his co star Armie Hammer. What bothered me about the film is that his character comes across more as a sexual deviant/horny adolescent than someone discovering himself and I didn’t necessarily believe that his gay relationship meant any more than the girl he was with or the peach he fucked. The fact that his family seems obliviously accepting in a time when the only thing people really understood about AIDS was that it was a disease that killed homosexuals. The fact that all of this goes ignored just seemed to irritate me in lieu of some idyllic summer romp in the country. I may catch flack for my thoughts, but frankly I don’t see what the deal is.
Darkest Hour - Along with the next film on this list Darkest Hour is a well made waste of time. Gary Oldman deserves all the awards and he’ll likely get them here, but the film itself would have been damn near unwatchable without him. For reasons I can’t fathom people are incapable of making a film set in WWII without muting all the colors until they look like some form of grey/brown/khaki puke. Now this film is set in England so perhaps it just always seems drab. Whereas Dunkirk was a waste of time for different reasons it at least attempted to tell a story in a unique way. Darkest Hour just seems like one WWII film too many and a story that I’m not sure needs re-telling especially because it’s timeline is right in place with Dunkirk.
Dunkirk - I’ve discussed super hero movie fatigue as a real thing on this blog before, just as many people are going to be facing Star Wars fatigue either before or immediately after that Han Solo movie craps on our eyes, but WWII movie fatigue has been real for almost two decades. I know the war is the defining moment of the 20th century and there never seem to be a shortage of stories to tell, but my god I can’t take another one. Nolan for his sake did try to make this film a little different. Operating with three unnecessary timelines that intersect, minimal dialogue, and an unrelenting score it does try and shake things up. The problem is that first of all that minimal dialogue helped me not care at all about anyone on screen, except for perhaps the civilian boat captain. In order to make the huge stories resonate they need to focus on individuals otherwise it’s too easy to desensitize us to what’s happening. I know Nolan might have thought, it’s been done before, but it’s been done because it works. Academy voters still have a hard on for WWII movies, as last year’s Mel Gibson gore-fest can attest, but it’s hard to get excited about another one of these.
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| Peele's film just barely missed the mark for me |
Get Out - So for reasons that escape me Jordan Peele’s debut feature film got nominated under the Comedy-Musical category at the Golden Globes. They aren’t alone as HBO also had this film listed under comedy. Perhaps Peele’s history as 1/2 of Key and Peele may have led to some misinterpretations but what some people are viewing as comedy I see as comedic relief in a horror film. This was probably the earliest film released and one that many people are rooting for. I liked the film but man is it hard to make an original and great horror film. Certainly among the better films of the year I don’t seem to share the same extremely high praise others do, still I’ll take this over the previous three nominees.
Lady Bird - Another in the first time actor-turned-director camp, Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird got about as much praise as Peele’s film for very different reasons. Although the film is uniquely personal and made me wonder how much of it was fiction it still draws comparisons to some of the other well liked films of the year. Chalamet does appear in this film as well and to me this film gets right everything Call Me By Your Name dropped the ball on. Here the characters don’t talk like Kevin Williamson fountains of articulation but they seem awkward and wonderfully authentic. The film is painfully white and suburban but when that’s your life you gotta tell what you know. It’s hard for me not to picture Gerwig’s character in Frances Ha as the adult version of Lady Bird. Again this film was good but didn’t hit me in that best picture of the year sort of way.
Phantom Thread - Paul Thomas Anderson has proven himself one of the best filmmakers working today and unlike many of his peers each of his films seems destined to be dissected and analyzed ad infinitum. The Master and Inherent Vice went largely ignored by the Academy, but Phantom Thread is definitely well represented this award season. Perhaps it’s the rare appearance of the legendary Daniel Day Lewis, the fact that it’s a period picture, or perhaps most likely it’s the least weird Anderson film perhaps ever. That doesn’t mean you won’t occasionally scratch your head at certain character’s actions or behavior, but there aren’t too many curve balls being thrown here. The film is certainly well made but like every Anderson film except Magnolia I feel like I missed something here. I tend to appreciate Anderson’s films over time and with another viewing or two, so it’s not entirely fair to judge Phantom Thread on my single viewing, especially considering the less than ideal seats I had for our screening.
The Post - Ever since the Academy bumped up the number of best picture nominees it seems a foregone conclusion that if Spielberg has a film that isn’t hated it will get a nomination. Many of these films in hindsight weren’t good (War Horse and Lincoln come to mind) but most are simply decent to good. The Post is a film that makes me really appreciate what a great film All the President’s Men is. There are so many times where this film seems like it wants to pay homage to Pakula’s film but like how Spielberg completely missed Stanley Kubrick in A.I., he doesn’t have the recklessness to go all in the way Pakula’s film did. This seems too safe, and even the central conflict never seems truly threatening. This is overall a pretty bland film, and down to the casting seemed hell bent to take no chances.
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| Kind of like The Creature From the Black Lagoon in reverse |
The Shape of Water - You might be thinking by now that I just hated every film nominated for best picture. It’s true that the majority of this year’s nominees are forgettable and merely decent, they weren’t all so pedestrian. Guillermo del Toro seems determined to deliver a masterpiece every few years and this film is easily his best since Pan’s Labyrinth. There do seem to be some similarities, not just in the look and feel of the films but some plot points as well. Sally Hawkins is fantastic here, but this is one of those truly unique visions being allowed to run wild. Michael Shannon seems perfectly cast here and definitely brings back memories of his Boardwalk Empire days. This was easily one of the best films of the year and although I don’t expect it to win best picture I wouldn’t be shocked if del Toro took home best director honors. I should also give a special shout out to Michael Stuhlbarg for pulling off the rare hat trick appearing in three best picture nominees in one year.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Alright, I’ll come out and admit it, this is probably the best film nominated this year. Now I didn’t expect my personal favorite Lady Macbeth to get a lot of recognition, but Three Billboards is pretty damn excellent. It does face the unusual hurdle of not having a best director nomination, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it won’t take best picture. The fact that this film seems to be dominating other award shows had me pegging this as the front-runner, but considering what happened last year that can’t be too safe a pick. Frances McDormand is brilliant and worth any award coming her way. She’s like a less pretentious Daniel Day Lewis, quietly emerging every few years to let everyone know she’s better than them. The remaining cast is all excellent and there’s no surprise Rockwell and Harrelson are both nominated for best supporting actor Oscars as well. My money is on this and deservedly so.
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| My money is on this winning a lot of awards |
Best Director
Rather than go over each individual nominee I’d rather examine the other major categories as one group. There are definitely some well known names in this race including first timers Peele and Gerwig. I know the Academy won’t stop patting itself on the back any time soon to remind people they nominated a black person and a woman in the same year. Nolan and Anderson are two worthy nominees but I can’t help but feel like if they won it would be reparations from being snubbed earlier for better films. Del Toro seems like a strong candidate to win it this year. He has definitely earned a reputation as one of the better and more imaginative filmmakers working today and this film is definitely stronger than Nolan’s or Anderson’s. I might be projecting a bit, but my money is on del Toro.
Best Actor
Now we get to the most boringest category this year. I really couldn’t begin to care who wins here. That said I do have a passive rooting interest in Gary Oldman taking it home. Oldman’s win would be more of a career appreciation because really this man has quietly been one of the best actors of all time over the past thirty or so years. I can think of no other actor that so thoroughly transforms himself into whatever role he plays, and that certainly applies in Darkest Hour. My girlfriend would not believe that was the same man as Sirius Black. He is certainly good in Darkest Hour but in the same boring way other actors were who played real recognizable people (Ray, Walk the Line, Capote). I’ve already spoken a bit about Chalamet and my problems there even if my complaints with his performance are minimal. Daniel Kuluuya stole James Franco’s nomination after recent allegations were made public just before the nominees were announced. Perhaps the Academy thought, if we nominated Franco we’ll have to allow Tommy Wiseau in the building. Kuluuya is damn good in the film, but maybe it was his disloyalty in Black Panther that have me rooting against him. Denzel Washington is fine enough in Robert J. Israel Esq. but that film itself was terrible. Daniel Day Lewis is another boring safe choice. That doesn’t mean he isn’t up to his usual excellent standards but after three best actor Oscars his greatness is almost taken for granted.
Best Actress
This genuinely was a fantastic year for women in movies. I feel most years there is a struggle to find more than two great films with best actress nominees. This year four of the five nominees were excellent and the other was Meryl Streep. Although she has little chance of winning I do want to acknowledge Margot Robbie in I, Tonya. Not only is she fantastic but the film itself mercifully transcends what could have been a very pedestrian bio-pic. Honestly I’d prefer I, Tonya to over half the best picture nominees but I wasn’t a voter. This definitely seems like Frances McDormand’s award to lose but she did win one for Fargo so maybe voters go with a first timer. Both Hawkins and Ronan would definitely be excellent choices but I feel it’s unlikely we’ll see someone other than McDormand on stage.
The Rest
Sam Rockwell is amazing in Three Billboards and his performance looks to join the long list of no doubter best supporting actor winners (J.K. Simmons, Heath Ledger, Christof Waltz). In a perfect world Willem Dafoe would finally get the hardware he deserves for The Florida Project. As great as Dafoe is The Florida Project was probably one of my top three favorite films this past year and was wrongfully snubbed in the best picture race even if it wasn’t too surprising.
The supporting actress category is perhaps an even bigger foregone conclusion. In the race of overbearing mothers Allison Janney edges out Laurie Metcalf this year. Once again the foreign film category is full of shit no one ever heard of. Both Mary J. Blige and Kobe Bryant could become Oscar winners this year, who saw that coming? Holy shit Logan is up for best adapted screenplay, no chance of winning but still comic book movies making a big step forward. As for the rest of the categories I can’t say I’m too worried who wins or doesn’t.
So I’ll be watching tomorrow and will probably have my own ballet torn to shreds as I guess everything wrong, but that’s part of the fun.
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