2018 Oscar picks

Here is my 2018 Oscar picks:

Best Picture:

“Call Me by Your Name”
“Darkest Hour”
“Dunkirk”
“Get Out”
“Lady Bird”
“Phantom Thread”
“The Post”
“The Shape of Water”
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Lead Actor:

Timothée Chalamet, “Call Me by Your Name”
Daniel Day-Lewis, “Phantom Thread”
Daniel Kaluuya, “Get Out”
Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour”
Denzel Washington, “Roman J. Israel, Esq.”

Lead Actress:

Sally Hawkins, “The Shape of Water”
Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Margot Robbie, “I, Tonya”
Saoirse Ronan, “Lady Bird”
Meryl Streep, “The Post”

Supporting Actor:

Willem Dafoe, “The Florida Project”
Woody Harrelson, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Richard Jenkins, “The Shape of Water”
Christopher Plummer, “All the Money in the World”
Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Supporting Actress:

Mary J. Blige, “Mudbound”
Allison Janney, “I, Tonya”
Lesley Manville, “Phantom Thread”
Laurie Metcalf, “Lady Bird”
Octavia Spencer, “The Shape of Water”

Director:

“Dunkirk,” Christopher Nolan
“Get Out,” Jordan Peele
“Lady Bird,” Greta Gerwig
“Phantom Thread,” Paul Thomas Anderson
“The Shape of Water,” Guillermo del Toro

Animated Feature:

“The Boss Baby,” Tom McGrath, Ramsey Ann Naito
“The Breadwinner,” Nora Twomey, Anthony Leo
“Coco,” Lee Unkrich, Darla K. Anderson
“Ferdinand,” Carlos Saldanha
“Loving Vincent,” Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, Sean Bobbitt, Ivan Mactaggart, Hugh Welchman

Animated Short:

“Dear Basketball,” Glen Keane, Kobe Bryant
“Garden Party,” Victor Caire, Gabriel Grapperon
“Lou,” Dave Mullins, Dana Murray
“Negative Space,” Max Porter, Ru Kuwahata
“Revolting Rhymes,” Jakob Schuh, Jan Lachauer

Adapted Screenplay:

“Call Me by Your Name,” James Ivory
“The Disaster Artist,” Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber
“Logan,” Scott Frank & James Mangold and Michael Green
“Molly’s Game,” Aaron Sorkin
“Mudbound,” Virgil Williams and Dee Rees

Original Screenplay:

“The Big Sick,” Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani
“Get Out,” Jordan Peele
“Lady Bird,” Greta Gerwig
“The Shape of Water,” Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Martin McDonagh

Cinematography:

“Blade Runner 2049,” Roger Deakins
“Darkest Hour,” Bruno Delbonnel
“Dunkirk,” Hoyte van Hoytema
“Mudbound,” Rachel Morrison
“The Shape of Water,” Dan Laustsen

Best Documentary Feature:

“Abacus: Small Enough to Jail,” Steve James, Mark Mitten, Julie Goldman
“Faces Places,” JR, Agnès Varda, Rosalie Varda
“Icarus,” Bryan Fogel, Dan Cogan
“Last Men in Aleppo,” Feras Fayyad, Kareem Abeed, Soren Steen Jepersen
“Strong Island,” Yance Ford, Joslyn Barnes

Best Documentary Short Subject:

“Edith+Eddie,” Laura Checkoway, Thomas Lee Wright
“Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405,” Frank Stiefel
“Heroin(e),” Elaine McMillion Sheldon, Kerrin Sheldon
“Knife Skills,” Thomas Lennon
“Traffic Stop,” Kate Davis, David Heilbroner

Best Live Action Short Film:

“DeKalb Elementary,” Reed Van Dyk
“The Eleven O’Clock,” Derin Seale, Josh Lawson
“My Nephew Emmett,” Kevin Wilson, Jr.
“The Silent Child,” Chris Overton, Rachel Shenton
“Watu Wote/All of Us,” Katja Benrath, Tobias Rosen

Best Foreign Language Film:

“A Fantastic Woman” (Chile)
“The Insult” (Lebanon)
“Loveless” (Russia)
“On Body and Soul (Hungary)
“The Square” (Sweden)

Film Editing:

“Baby Driver,” Jonathan Amos, Paul Machliss
“Dunkirk,” Lee Smith
“I, Tonya,” Tatiana S. Riegel
“The Shape of Water,” Sidney Wolinsky
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Jon Gregory

Sound Editing:

“Baby Driver,” Julian Slater
“Blade Runner 2049,” Mark Mangini, Theo Green
“Dunkirk,” Alex Gibson, Richard King
“The Shape of Water,” Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” Ren Klyce, Matthew Wood

Sound Mixing:

“Baby Driver,” Mary H. Ellis, Julian Slater, Tim Cavagin
“Blade Runner 2049,” Mac Ruth, Ron Bartlett, Doug Hephill
“Dunkirk,” Mark Weingarten, Gregg Landaker, Gary A. Rizzo
“The Shape of Water,” Glen Gauthier, Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” Stuart Wilson, Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick

Production Design:

“Beauty and the Beast,” Sarah Greenwood; Katie Spencer
“Blade Runner 2049,” Dennis Gassner, Alessandra Querzola
“Darkest Hour,” Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
“Dunkirk,” Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis
“The Shape of Water,” Paul D. Austerberry, Jeffrey A. Melvin, Shane Vieau

Original Score:

“Dunkirk,” Hans Zimmer
“Phantom Thread,” Jonny Greenwood
“The Shape of Water,” Alexandre Desplat
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” John Williams
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Carter Burwell

Original Song:

“Mighty River” from “Mudbound,” Mary J. Blige
“Mystery of Love” from “Call Me by Your Name,” Sufjan Stevens
“Remember Me” from “Coco,” Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez
“Stand Up for Something” from “Marshall,” Diane Warren, Common
“This Is Me” from “The Greatest Showman,” Benj Pasek, Justin Paul

Makeup and Hair:

“Darkest Hour,” Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski, Lucy Sibbick
“Victoria and Abdul,” Daniel Phillips and Lou Sheppard
“Wonder,” Arjen Tuiten

Costume Design:

“Beauty and the Beast,” Jacqueline Durran
“Darkest Hour,” Jacqueline Durran
“Phantom Thread,” Mark Bridges
“The Shape of Water,” Luis Sequeira
“Victoria and Abdul,” Consolata Boyle

Visual Effects:

“Blade Runner 2049,” John Nelson, Paul Lambert, Richard R. Hoover, Gerd Nefzer
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Jonathan Fawkner, Dan Sudick
“Kong: Skull Island,” Stephen Rosenbaum, Jeff White, Scott Benza, Mike Meinardus
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,”  Ben Morris, Mike Mulholland, Chris Corbould, Neal Scanlan
“War for the Planet of the Apes,” Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett, Joel Whist

Black Panther

Black Panther                                                                                                               February 20, 2018

Black Panther achieved several mile stones. The box office over the President’s weekend will be north of $200m and with some estimates of $1b, including forgein markets, projected. The film has been lauded for its positive portrayal of black super heroes and the uplifting effect for Afro-American youth. This film establishes a new “tentpole” for this Disney which can generate sequels and character spinoffs under the Black Panther franchise. With this potentially huge box office this is clearly a cross over movie.

The film it is a spectacle. It has all the super hero elements. Handsome hero with super powers, bad guys, one handsome the other not. Beautiful women; some bald carrying electro charge spears. A wise mouth sister who is a science wiz.

Chadwick (Chad to his friends) Boseman is the Black Panther. Boseman is a versatile actor playing various roles: Jackie Robison, James Brown and Thurgood Marshall. He plays Black Panther, or his royal name T’Challa, with an air of seriousness subverted by sibling jabs. His powers lie in an impenetrable suite made of a rare mineral called vibranium. The vastly advanced scientific achievements of Wakanda are at his disposal. There are plenty of fight scenes and battles featuring a mélange of new and old weapons.

Michael B. Jordan (Creed) is the main villain. With all the modernity of Wakanda the fights between Boseman and Jordon are hand to hand combat which harkens more traditional films. The uniqueness of this film is combining traditional African motifs with advanced scientific achievements created by the proud indigenous population.

Lupita Nyong’o is T’Chatta’s former lover and warrior who displays fighting chops. Forrest Whitaker is a sort of shaman. This a cream puff role for Whitaker, but great performances is not mandatory for super hero movies. Martin Freeman is a recognizable face and plays a CIA agent who is an ally of T’Challa. Andy Serkis is a South African actor, he is the ugly bad guy. I cannot say anything about Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out), without being attacked as a plot spoiler. One comment about Angela Bassett, Queen Mother, she is an ageless beauty. The star power of this movie is impressive but with so many stars their air time is limited, except for Boseman.

For authenticity in the movie they speak the South African language isiXhosa. This was the langue of Nelson Mandela.

This movie more like an experience than just a film. At some point you should catch it.

p.s.-As with other Marvel movies there is the “Where’s Waldo” gambit; here Waldo is Stan Lee.

Molly's Game

Molly’s Game                                                                                                                January 20, 2018

This movie is a patch work of scenes from Molly Bloom’s life. From little Molly learning how to ski, to an Olympic skier, to a novice poker manager, to a high stakes poker entrepreneur, to a felon. These scenes are managed through flash backs but make the narration awkward. The problem with this segmentation is it limits character development. Michael Cera (whose acting is best described as warm milk on a warm day) is Player X in a key poker sequence. The relationship with Molly could have been good or bad, but was equivocal because the scene ended

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Molly, played by Jessica Chastain, is an Olympian skier who suffers a career ending accident. She takes a gap year on her way to law school which lasts about ten years. She becomes an entrepreneur of a high stakes poker attracting film celebrities, athletes and Wall Street titans. Pots are in the hundreds of thousands. The film feels like a docudrama. A lexicon of poker terms are explained  and are quickly forgotten. Little poker cards float in the air displaying winning and losing hand. Like a docudrama Chastain practically narrates the entire movie.

Chastain’s roles vary from rebellious daughter to damaged athlete to a high stakes poker entrepreneur. She gives a good performance, but the material limits her scope. This film lacks pathos. The film’s moral imperative is not whether to publish the Pentagon papers or to seek revenge for a murdered daughter, but to keep Molly in the game and out of prison. The tawdriness of the film is like a gossip magazine.

The two strongest interactions are Chastain with her father and her lawyer. Kevin Costner plays her father as a hard driving perfectionist, whose unyielding parenting drives her away. Costner plays the role cold and detached, not a stretch for him.

 The best scenes are with her lawyer played by Idris Elba. Their interaction is spirted and heated. He is a reluctant lawyer and she an unsympathetic client. The exchange is compelling because he strips her down to the essential and she is vulnerable and needs his help. They have good chemistry.

This is not a movie about pulling yourself out of poverty by your boot straps, but rather balancing yourself on stiletto heels wearing a skin tight mini dress. This movie is more voyeuristic than dramatic. Rather than a must see movie it is at best a nice to see movie.

The Post

The Post         

                                                                                                                                     January 5, 2018

In 1970 my draft number for the Vietnam war was 254, not good. My college deferment kept me out of the draft for four years. By 1974 the war was winding down along with my chances for selection. That is the closest I got to the Vietnam war.

This movie is brilliant. With the trifecta of Streep, Hanks and Spielberg it is hard to miss. They deliver on the movie’s hype. Spielberg captures the electricity of the Pentagon Papers drama. It was a time when the freedom of the press was in peril and the Nixon Justice Department was in full tilt trying to crush publication and the First Amendment. Nixon’s Machiavellian paranoia makes Trump look like a hand puppet.  

Robert McNamara was the Secretary of State under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. He commissioned the Pentagon Papers which documented the history of the war from Presidents Truman to Johnson. The study revealed lies perpetrated by the US government, political assassinations, coup de tas and clandestine wars. The study concluded the war was unwinnable.

Streep was fantastic, she delivered a master class in acting. Katrin Graham became the publisher of the Washington Post after her husband committed suicide. Graham never worked in her life and now she was the publisher of the Post. Streep displays Graham’s trepidation with darting eyes, nervous hands and heavy sighs. These nuances are make her character rich.

I am reluctant to say there was a subplot in the movie, it is more of a co-plot. In 1970 Graham was a woman in a man’s world. She sought the support and advise of the all-male board of directors. As the movie progresses she becomes her own boss with daring boldness.

Tom Hanks pays Ben Bradlee. He plays the role with a bit too much cheek. Hanks was not reinventing himself for the is role he rather was pulling in parts from older characters he played. Nonetheless, his brashness was a counterpart to Streep’s trepidation.

There are a number of other actors. Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Sol) plays Ben Bagdikian who precures the Pentagon Papers from Daniel Ellsberg. Odenkirk plays the role with a mixture determination and fear. Peddling government secrets leads to jail time. Bruce Greenwood is a dead ringer for Robert McNamara.  Even on the verge of revelations of government’s lies, he was unapologetic and still rationalizing the war.

Streep has twenty Oscar nominations and won three. I think another nomination is a good bet. Her performance is good enough to win. This movie can win best picture.

Star Wars the Last Jedi

Star Wars the Last Jedi                                                                                               December 15, 2017

I have been doing this since 1977.The first Star Wars movie mesmerized me. I never saw special effects like that before; I watched the movie elven times. It is quite a feat for a franchise to maintain relevancy and freshness for this long. This film is as good if not better than a lot of prior ones.

Star War films are a medley of classical themes from Greek Tragedy to Shakespearian drama. This film is more operatic with its sweeping battle scenes and good verse evil drama. There is the tense student master relationship between Luke Skywalker and Rey. Adam Driver’s hulking presence imbues Klylo Ren with dark secrets. A constant in these movies is John William’s soaring music. The opening notes are so ubiquitous they are instantly recognizable. The script is excellent, it incorporates elements from earlier films and portends future episodes.  

Carrie Fisher looked tired but wise; she did a good turn. She is no longer Princes Leia but is now General Leia Organa. She was in the entire film, she completed her work before dying. Her presence in this film is important to legitimize the transition to future films. Mark Hamill’s revival as Luke Skywalker is pivotal to the film. Luke has many conflicts some dark. He is weary and heavily burdened by the past and what awaits him. He is a dominant factor of the movie

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I was not enamored with Daisy Ridley in the prior film, but I feel better with her now. With her athletic body she performs action well. Her acting is a bit stiff but this is a minor distraction given the sweep of the movie.

Oscar Isaac is the new Han Solo. He is as rash and bull headed as Han but less larcenous. He has a big role in the movie and I am sure in the ones to come. John Boyega brings some humor to the part. There was always a lighted heartedness in these films. He is the romantic interest in the film, but with whom?

There is plethora of other actors; Benicio del Toro is a scoundrel (what a stretch). Laura Dern is a rebel commander with a with a challenging hairdo. I did not spot Prince William and Prince Harry, they were Strom Troopers. Hint they are tall storm Troopers.

Chewy, the franchise’s mascot, was loquacious as ever. There is a new merchandising stocking stuffer named a porgo, who needs to lay off the caffeine.  Another fantasy animal is called a crystal fox (the four-legged kind not two).

They film is doing very well in the box office, but it needs to break $800m before making a profit. Hey, with Force in your sail, that’s a chinch.

p.s.-Do not leave before the credits roll!!!

Lady Bird

Lady Bird                                                                                                                   December 14, 2017

This movie is annoying, but it grows on you. Why is it annoying? It is about the coming of age a 17 year old teenage girl who hates where she lives and has a tumultuous love/not like relationship with her mother. Her desire is to leave Sacramento and go to an East coast collage which would put a strain on the family’s precarious finances. She is also on the verge of sexual adventures, which pose their own perils. Parents of a daughter can relate, parents of a son have their own problems.

Instead of using her name she calls herself Lady Bird (a.k.a. Christine) Why? Like her pink hair she wants to stand out and call attention to herself (given the limited number of brain cells of a teenager I bet she never heard of Lady Bird Johnson). Her choice of boyfriends is problematic. In her rush to experience life she loses her virginity to a teenage boy who claims to be a virgin but is not. His prior experience does not spare from performance anxiety to the crestfallen Lady Bird.  Dissatisfied with her family’s circumstances (they literally live on the wrong side of the tracks) she pretends to live in a wealthy home of an ex-boyfriend.  She abandons close friends for flashy but false new ones.

Saoirse Ronan skillfully juggles these emotions. On the surface she is obnoxious and hallow but through conflict and experience becomes tolerable and even nice. Compared to her performance in Brooklyn, as a shy responsible young woman, this role is the exact opposite and is a testament to Ronan acting range. She is not my favorite character, but I appreciate her acting.

Laurie Metcalf plays the domineering long-suffering mother. She is fabulous in the role. Besides her contentious relationship with her daughter she bears the weigh of her family being the only one working parent and her laid off husband is battling depression. Her rubbery face is imprinted with her burdens. Despite clashes with her daughter they love each other even if it is not apparent.

The Darkest Hour

The Darkest Hour                                                                                             December 13, 2017

This movie will be challenging for American audiences. I am the tail end of the baby boomers generation and I think following generations will have less knowledge, or care about, WWII and foreign leaders. I do not mean to malign anyone, but I do not think millennials and their cohorts will be much interested in this movie. To date the box office is disappointing.

Gary Oldman resembles Winston Churchill as much as I resemble Dwayne Johnson (more body than face). Oldman’s transformation to Churchill results from copious application of makeup and prosthetics. My problem with this movie is the heavy emphasis on imitation. Accents (which are so important in defining class in England) and distinctive speech patterns were as critical as make up. Churchill had an unmistakable voice in tone and cadence. Oldman got it close.

The movie captures Churchill’s idiosyncrasies. Cigars perpetually in his mouth; whisky at breakfast, champagne at lunch and whisky in the evening. He preferred to walk barefoot at home and wears matching his and hers pink bathrobes with monogram.  I think all this emphasis on replication takes away from the performance. The film tilts towards caricature. When Danial Day Lewis played Lincoln, he did it without affectations; he became Lincoln.

The movie’s topic is 75 years in the past. The darkest hour has a dual meaning. It was a critical period for England with Europe capitulating to the Nazis and England on the verge of negotiating for peace. For Churchill his premiership was under attack from his own party. Certain licenses were than with historical facts.

The supporting cast is even more esoteric: Neville Chamberlain (the Great Appeaser), Lord Halifax (Foreign Secretary) and King George VI (same king from The King’s Speech) have critical roles. The movie gets deep into the weeds with terms of surrender, the Dunkirk disaster and the failure to get military help from America.

My review is going against popular opinion. Oldman already has a Golden Globe best actor nomination and most likely he will get an Oscar nomination. The life of a critic is perilous.