Awards season isn't complete without my annual Oscars sum up, so once more I shall interrupt my hibernation and give you all my thoughts. As always, I'm only really going to talk about the categories I have something to say about, so assume any category I don't mention I have either no or neutral opinion on.
Best Picture
Call Me By Your Name
Indie film that did well on the festival circuit? Check. Overwhelming critical praise? Check. No sign of a release date in the UK in the near future, certainly not until just after the awards ceremony? Double Check with a cherry on top. Frankly, it wouldn't be the Oscars if this wasn't the case. Regardless, Call Me By Your Name appears to be the latest in a trend of LGBT Oscar films, following on from the likes of Moonlight and The Danish Girl, all of which have seemed to do very well with critics and audiences, and are often some of the stand-out films of their respective years. I'm definitely excited to see it, despite the late release, and I have a gut feeling that this will be one of the Academy's top choices.
Darkest Hour
Well, it ain't the Academy awards unless there's a biopic shoved in for good measure, and Darkest Hour is this year's representative. While it's not impossible for Oscar biopics to be successes (The Imitation Game, for example, was fantastic), I get the impression this probably isn't one of them. It may be a decent enough, well-made film, but I can't see this film being remembered for long after awards season, and I certainly can't picture it winning the award.
Dunkirk
I've already mentioned my thoughts on Dunkirk in my previous post, and it's no surprise to see it turn up in this category. Technically, out of the best picture films I have seen (currently three), Dunkirk is my favourite so I suppose it's my default choice for the win. Will it win? Probably not, but still a very worthy choice.
Get Out
Jeez, was it only last year this film came out? It feels like so long ago when I first saw the trailer for Get Out. And it's been quite the sensation. I remember going to see it and being told that the screening had sold out, something that has never happened to me before, and was especially impressive for an indie picture. Indeed, the reception for Get Out has been phenomenal, being loved and praised by audiences and critics alike: it's already become a case study for one of the modules on my uni course, and it's not even a year old yet. As a result, and also considering the racial edge and social commentary, it seems a lot of people are rooting for Get Out to win best picture. Personally, I can't see it happening. Not because it's a bad film, I think it's great, but the Academy has never been particularly favourable with the horror genre, and it just doesn't feel like the kind of pick they'd go for. If it does win though, it's definitely deserving.
Ladybird
Indie film that did well on the festival circuit? Check. Overwhelming critical praise? Che-
Ok Ok, you know where I'm going with this. Lady Bird at least appears to have a release date before the ceremony. It's like the week before and I'm probably gonna struggle to squeeze in a viewing before the ceremony but, oh well. Out of the best picture noms, this is the one I'm most interested to see. The trailer, for once, was actually pretty great (out of all the trailers I saw at my last cinema trip, Lady Bird's was, in fact, the only one that actually made me want to see the film it was advertising). Like Call Me By Your Name and previous nominees like Moonlight and Boyhood, Lady Bird is another coming-of-age film, which while may be a tad overdone, are generally very good and heartfelt films, offering up unique, highly personal and relatable stories, and Lady Bird looks like it'll have a lot of those qualities. This seems to me like the one the Academy will go for, or at the very least one of the frontrunners.
Phantom Thread
I was unimpressed by the trailer; in fact, I couldn't believe it when the Phantom Thread title card appeared, a title that I'd heard many good things about. Of course, trailers are very rarely any good, as mentioned above, and I doubt (or at least hope) it'll be indicative of the final project. Teamed up again are Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Day-Lewis, the same superstar team who brought you There Will Be Blood, an often-cited and praised classic of the last decade, and judging by the initial scores, Phantom Thread is a case of lightning striking twice. Supposedly it'll be out next week and I'll certainly give it a look, but I get the impression this won't be the one for the Academy. We shall see.
The Post
This year marks a special achievement, as we have for the first time managed to combine the annual Spielberg historical Oscar bait and the arbitrary Meryl Streep appearance into one uninspired and uninteresting grey sludge of a film. I guess that's efficient? Now as always, it's not like it's going to be a bad film, it's just going to end up being very average and unnoteworthy and leave next to no impact whatsoever. Here's a test, do you remember Bridge of Spies? From 2015? No? Hasn't that film really left such an impact on the landscape of film? Won't that film be remembered for years to come? Oh, but it had the world's most famous film director behind it and a really good actor in it. Because that's what makes the difference. You wanna know what films from 2015 stick out the most to me? Mad Max: Fury Road, Ex Machina, Victoria. You know, films that actually have a point to them, and a reason to exist outside of a shallow, nearly half-hearted attempt at grabbing a golden statue. And it's not like The Post is the only film to do this, it's just something about the trailer seemed so dull and lifeless and by the numbers that it almost seemed factory produced, and something about that just really riled me up. In many ways, this film is on the same level of sin as the likes of Marvel and their constant, insipid money-making output with little in the way of originality or creative flair or anything to make them stand out.
Ahh, nearly forgot how satisfying it was to write these kinds of rants.
The Shape of Water
Or: 'Fifty Shades of Grey meets Creature from the Black Lagoon', as I once described it. Guillermo del Toro's film about a woman fucking a human-shaped sea creature sounds like the kind of thing that would attract only a cult following, but much to my surprise this has become quite the critical darling: ask me from two or three months ago whether this would get a best picture nom and I'd have definitely said no. Maybe the Academy have misunderstood the interspecies romance as interracial and have nominated it on political grounds. Either way, it's certainly a film that's grabbed my attention, and while I still can't see it winning best picture, I'm definitely curious to check it out.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
The final film of the roster that I've seen, Three Billboards definitely was not a surprise to see in the list of nominations. A pitch-black comedy that seemed to strike a perfect balance between its humour and its more horrifying moments, and supported by a great script that constantly keeps you guessing and some spectacular performances. It's probably not quite enough to crack my top 5 from last year, but it's certainly a great film and well worth a watch. I'm not sure I'd be willing to place money on it winning, but I certainly think it will be one of the top contenders.
In summary, I think it's going to be a battle between Call Me By Your Name, Lady Bird and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. My money's probably on Lady Bird, but the Academy has certainly surprised me before. While others like Dunkirk and Phantom Thread are also plausible wins, I'd be surprised if it wasn't one of these three.
Best Actress
What a surprise, guess who's been nominated? Again? You guessed it, it's Meryl Streep! By this point, my opinions on Streep's constant unnecessary nominations are well documented, so I shan't dwell as not to sound like a broken record, but I would also like to take a moment to talk about Frances McDormand. My god. I actually couldn't believe this was the same actress who played Marge Gunderson in Fargo, almost the complete polar opposite of her character in Three Billboards. McDormand plays Mildred, a jaded, divorced mother who becomes the scourge of her town after she challenges the police over the lack of progress on the case of her daughter's rape and murder. But she is not the kind of person who takes criticism lightly, vehemently defending herself both physically and verbally, generating some of the greatest yet foul-mouthed retorts you could imagine (a rant against the church is a particular highlight). She's the very definition of no-nonsense, taken to the extreme albeit, and incredibly persistent. McDormand's portrayal is truly mesmerising to watch and is the unpredictable highlight of the film. I think she's got a strong chance: the other nominated performances will have to have done something really special to beat this.
Best Supporting Actor
While we're talking about Three Billboards, both Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell were also fantastic in their roles. Sam Rockwell's character was one of the most fascinating characters I've seen in a while, starting out as a violent, racist idiot that you can't help but hate, and yet he goes through a redemption (not even a particularly big one) and somehow becomes one of the heroes of the story. And each of these beats was portrayed so convincingly by Rockwell that by the time he's throwing a guy out a window, you want to do just the same to him, only to find yourself cheering for him at the film's climax. Woody Harrelson's police chief was also fantastic, playing off France McDormand's character perfectly, creating a real depth to their relationship of deep respect and friendship, despite what each is putting the other through. I can't comment on the other nominations, but these two at least are both well deserving of their statuette.
Best Cinematography
Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins Come on Deakins*
*Dunkirk also deserves it just for those Spitfire scenes alone but...you know, Deakins
Best Animated Feature
Ferdinand? Really? What looks like a somehow worse version of Home on the Range (which even my dumb 6-year-old self wasn't interested in) with a trailer boasting fart jokes. I mean, yeah, of course it ain't going to win: Coco came out this year, and Pixar will win the Oscar as they always do, so it's practically not worth nominating any other films. But Ferdinand? Fart jokes are Oscar-worthy now?
Best Original Score
"Academy?"
"Yes?"
"So, Best Original Score..."
"Yes."
"You know what I'm going to say, don't you?"
"Errrr...."
"Come on, you read my Top 5 post."
*blank stare*
"Fair point. But you must know what I'm about to ask."
"...'Where's Blade Runner 2049?'"
"Where's Blade Runner 2049?"
"Well, um, we just thought, you know, there were other films-"
*tuts*
"Look, we nominated it for Sound Editing and Mixing!"
"Yeah. Against Dunkirk and Baby Driver. You know that's a losing battle."
*sheepishly looks at the ground*
"It's not the same, Academy. Not the same."
Best Visual Effects
Well damn. Not a bad lineup at all. I think my choice on this will probably come down to biases since these are all well-realised, effects-heavy films. So, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is out because it's Marvel, and Kong: Skull Island just doesn't seem very Oscar-y. While I've yet to see any of them, the new Planet of the Apes films makes fantastic use of motion capture technology which, while not particularly new, has been practically perfected by this point. The Last Jedi had some great practical effects alongside some truly stupendous CG space battles, and Blade Runner 2049 had some fantastic work too, particular mention going to the holographic Joi, the breathtaking cityscape of Los Angeles and the nuclear wasteland beyond the city limits. So yeah. They're all deserving. May the best film win.
Best Production Design
On a similar note, Blade Runner 2049 is my definite pick for production design. Not that Dunkirk or The Shape of Water don't have good designs or anything, on the contrary. But I just can't pick anything other than the beautiful cyberpunk aesthetic of Blade Runner 2049. Keep in mind, the original is one of my absolute favourite films, and a big part of that is for its production design, so anything that can even come close to that kind of aesthetic is going to win me over, especially when it's as fantastically done as it is here. Both replicating and adding its own touch to the original's design, 2049 really couldn't have done it any better.
And that about does it. I think I've finally settled on a consistent format for these (at last), so I'm glad that only took four years to work out. Make sure to tune in in a month-or-so's time for the results post!
