Oscar Nominations 2018

[Amor de Cosmos]

Yeah, I really didn't get the plaudits There Will Be Blood received. DDL's John Huston impersonation really didn't warrant it.

[Heliotrope]

I saw Lady Bird last night. For a while before it began, I was the only person in the theatre, but four other people showed up during the trailers. I was hoping I'd have a private screening.

Anyhow, the movie. I liked it, though it's not anything groundbreaking. Kind of reminiscent of Freaks and Geeks in that it's about breaking out of the status quo and trying new things at school, new friends, new boyfriends. A bit of the John Hughes rich kids/poor kids thing, though not heavy handed. There's more of an emphasis on the relationship between the main character and her parents than in most teenage movies like that, and it's not all neat and tidy and sewed up perfectly at the end.

[WOM]

Being The Best Actor In the World seems to give you license to overreact like an eejit.

Both DDL and Jeremy Irons for me. Two guys who are just so Serious Actors that I can't enjoy their work.

Fiennes in Grand Budapest was indeed marvelous.

[Ray de Galles]

Watch Grand Budapest but. I can’t stand “Raif” normally, but he’s just fantastic in this. Brilliant comic timing. Had something in my eye at the end.

He is indeed brilliant in that but I think Fiennes is generally a really watchable actor, especially when he plays against type like ‘In Bruges’. His more “important actor” roles are a bit much but he’s done a lot of great work through his career.

[Amor de Cosmos]

I watched The Square last night (it's up for Best Foreign Language film, though about a third of it is in English.) A subversively discomforting film with a light touch that I'm going to be thinking about for a long time. There is one extended scene towards the end that's one of the most discomforting I've watched in some time.

[Logan Mountstuart]

Brooklyn was utterly turgid. You missed nothing. But Lady Bird is actually quite fun.

Oh, I've got to disagree with that. Brooklyn was a beautiful film.

Trying to surreptitiously watch some of the best film noms recently as I have neither the time nor money for regular bioscope visits.

From what I've seen, 3 Billboards and Dunkirk are streets ahead at the moment. I also really enjoyed I, Tonya and would have liked to have seen it among the best films. The editing nomination is well deserved for the skating scenes.

Next up is Ladybird. I've heard it's a bit love or hate. Will try to go in with no preconceptions, although I think I know I will really rate the performances but not so much the subject matter. So I suppose I will be going in with preconceptions..

I have absolutely no intention of watching The Darkest hour. I already know what it's going to spoonfeed me and how it's going to do it. It's been happening all my life.

[slackster]

Saw Ladybird last night. A decent enough suburban coming-of-age movie, but I can’t see it winning the categories its been nominated for.

[Fussbudget]

I loved Lady Bird, it has more depth and subtlety than many people are giving it credit for. The characters and interactions are well observed and very nuanced, and there's a lot more to the film than the light facade suggests.

[Hot Pepsi]

meh (not for ladybird, but for the Oscar results in general)

[Vicarious Thrillseeker]

Best supporting actor
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best makeup and hair
Darkest Hour

Best costume design
Phantom Thread

Best documentary
Icarus

Best sound editing
Dunkirk

Best sound mixing
Dunkirk

Best production design
The Shape of Water

Best foreign language film
A Fantastic Woman


Best supporting actress
Allison Janney, I, Tonya


Best animated short
Dear Basketball

Best animated film
Coco

Best visual effects
Blade Runner 2049

Best editing
Dunkirk

Best documentary short
Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405

Best live action short
The Silent Child

Best adapted screenplay
Call Me by Your Name

Best original screenplay
Get Out

Best cinematography
Blade Runner 2049

Best score
The Shape of Water

Best song
Remember Me, Coco

Best director
Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water

Best actor
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour

Best actress
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best picture
The Shape of Water

[Felicity, I guess so]

Mexican directors win 4 of the last 5 'best pic' Oscars.

('Why does Hollywood dominate global film production..?')

[G-Man]

I'm glad I watched a recording of the Oscars. The fast-forward button got a good work-out.

The set design at the ceremony was absolutely gorgeous. Not understated, but lovely to look at.

Jimmy Kimmel is a gracious host but he wasn't exactly full of courage.

Frances McDormand didn't disappoint with her speech; when she put on her "and now down for business" face I knew things would get interesting at last.

The nominated songs were rather unimpressive (again). I sort of liked Sufjan Stevens' song. The guy singing the winning song was nit a very good singer.

[Hot Pepsi]

I watched The Square last night (it's up for Best Foreign Language film, though about a third of it is in English.) A subversively discomforting film with a light touch that I'm going to be thinking about for a long time. There is one extended scene towards the end that's one of the most discomforting I've watched in some time.

Based on the poster/picture, I thought it was a kung-fu film.

[Hot Pepsi]

I haven't seen Darkest Hour, and it's probably pretty good as these things go, but there have been about 700 movies about how Winston Churchill single-handedly saved humanity - indeed, indirectly, there was another one NOMINATED THIS YEAR - and the actor playing him always gets a lot of praise, when 95% of it depends on the make-up artist.

It reminds me of this, a bit...

And then....

BTW..Why Kate Winslet Refused to Thank Harvey Weinstein in Her Oscar Speech

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

I thought Jimmy Kimmel's opening was very deft. It occurred to me about halfway through, that I may have never seen him speak before.

[Gerontophile]

You never seen "The Man Show?"

I think he might have co-hosted it with Doug Stanhope... or possibly Adam Carolla. One or the other.

[Lang Spoon]

I’ve only ever heard Stanhope talk about how terrible that show was.

[Gerontophile]

He wasn't so wrong. I think his (Stanhope) mum was on it, reviewing porn movies IIRC.

[Ray de Galles]

You never seen "The Man Show?"

The basic idea of that show caused me to avoid it completely and also Kimmel at all until many years after it finished. It was only after around the time of the ‘Fucking Matt Damon’ video I paid any further attention to him.

[Lang Spoon]

He wasn't so wrong. I think his (Stanhope) mum was on it, reviewing porn movies IIRC.

That’s the context I remember the show mentioned (his mum was dying when I saw him live, so the skit was mostly about her).

[Felicity, I guess so]

The McDormand-Oldman double was as predictable as Coventry winning city of culture, so I’m kicking myself for not betting on them

[Hot Pepsi]

The McDormand-Oldman double was as predictable as Coventry winning city of culture, so I’m kicking myself for not betting on them

Indeed.

The Shape of Water is really good, but I'm not sure it was better than Lady Bird.

[Ray de Galles]

The McDormand-Oldman double was as predictable as Coventry winning city of culture, so I’m kicking myself for not betting on them

Both supporting actor winners were huge favourites too, surely?

[Amor de Cosmos]

Based on the poster/picture, I thought it was a kung-fu film.

Yeah, that's from the scene I highlighted. It's actually a piece of performance art by a "paleolithic hunter" let loose at a dinner for wealthy donors. It doesn't end well.

[RobW]

Watched Call Me By Your Name last night. Absolutely beautiful piece of work, superbly shot on 35mm, with Timothee Chalamet absolutely brilliant. Criminal that he didn't win Best Actor, and that The Shape of Water won Best Picture. Probably the weakest film I saw in that category.

Anyway, off to see A Fantastic Woman tonight which i'm looking forward to. Saw Loveless last week which was good, if not reaching the heights of Leviathan.