Let's talk 2018 Oscars

Yeah - that was great.


Here's a list from the Times with Best movies of 2017:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/06/movies/best-movies.html?_r=0

Mentioned under, "Other favorites" is Jim and Andy which is on Netflix - I loved this!

And I've been wanting to watch this one about the New York Library - Ex Libris. 



I saw I, Tonya - excellent movie!



jamie said:

I saw I, Tonya - excellent movie

I saw it too and loved the Theodore Dreiser class-in-America aspect to it. And Allsion Janney was fantastic in a fat juicy role that she must have loved doing. Oscar-worthy, indeed.




jamie said:

Mudbound was excellent - very intense in parts.

I still haven't found my favorite movie of the year yet.

Any other contenders streaming at the moment?

Mudbound is certainly a contender.


The Greatest Showman was fun.  I'm sure it oversimplified his story and added a ton of Hollywood to it, but if you look past that, it was really well done:



Caught up with Lady Bird yesterday.  Liked it a lot.  I want to praise it for one thing in particular and that is how it portrays the Catholic high school she goes to.  It would be very easy, in a movie about a headstrong rebellious girl, to make the school seem like a caricature of repression.  Not so here.  The teachers are enthusiastic and decent and even the nun who is the headmistress/principal reveals herself to have soul and a sense of humor.   It's a nice touch. I'm not Catholic or Christian, btw.


I watched Dunkirk on demand.

WTF? This movie was totally incoherent. What was going on? In the war? In the battle? The Cilian Murphy character (love him in Peaky Blinders) was just on the boat?

My vote so far for worst major release of the year.


I wasn't too impressed either. I'm a big Christopher Nolan fan, but this was kind of a dud.


The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

I watched Dunkirk on demand.


WTF? This movie was totally incoherent. What was going on? In the war? In the battle? The Cilian Murphy character (love him in Peaky Blinders) was just on the boat?


My vote so far for worst major release of the year.



I saw Darkest Hour.  Gary Oldman was fantastic, as was his makeup.  


I finally saw Shape of Water this week.   I really liked the love story between Sally Hawkins and the creature.  I wanted to love this film, but there was so much violence that I didn't think was quite necessary.  If it wins Best Picture over Lady Bird, I'll be very annoyed.  Agree about Hawkins' performance.  I liked Richard Jenkins in his role.

The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

Saw The Shape of Water Saturday night.

meh.

Sally Hawkins was marvelous; she's really a wonder. Someone described her to me as the female Daniel Day Lewis. She should definitely get an Oscar nom for this amazing SILENT portrayal. She is so good.


But the film was too whimsical for my taste, too much fantasy. (I don't like Wes Anderson's films because of the surfeit of whimsy.)  And Richard Jenkins was very miscast in the film.


If you like whimsy and fantasy and great acting, this may be the film for you.



Violence? 


I hated this movie. Way too “out there”. I typically like Fantasy but the love story was just too weird in this one for me. Creepy.


angelak said:

I finally saw Shape of Water this week.   I really liked the love story between Sally Hawkins and the creature.  I wanted to love this film, but there was so much violence that I didn't think was quite necessary.  If it wins Best Picture over Lady Bird, I'll be very annoyed.  Agree about Hawkins' performance.  I liked Richard Jenkins in his role.
The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

Saw The Shape of Water Saturday night.

meh.

Sally Hawkins was marvelous; she's really a wonder. Someone described her to me as the female Daniel Day Lewis. She should definitely get an Oscar nom for this amazing SILENT portrayal. She is so good.


But the film was too whimsical for my taste, too much fantasy. (I don't like Wes Anderson's films because of the surfeit of whimsy.)  And Richard Jenkins was very miscast in the film.


If you like whimsy and fantasy and great acting, this may be the film for you.



Three Billboards is amazing.    I think Frances McDormand will take the awards   


I, Tonya was really entertaining.  She really went through hell.  Such a great talent.


Re: Dunkirk: I wonder if Nolan aimed to demythologize. Whether intentionally or not, he left the epic scale of the evacuation out of his movie. (Maybe it wasn't epic in real life? Is he being fierce about sticking to the real story?)


He cares about showing a soldier's eye view, a pilot's eye view, a citizen sea captain's eye view, an officer's eye view--but I kept waiting for a stirring shot of thousands of small boats approaching France, and it never came.


You know, maybe this was Nolan  portraying both Dunkirk and Britishness itself. In which the lip gets stiffer as the emotion gets deeper?  I wanted that flotilla shot, but why should every movie "talk American," especially a movie about Dunkirk.



Yeah, that was a fun movie. Geez, her mom was a monster.

Some network is broadcasting an interview with Harding soon. Should be interesting. (Jan 11. 9pm ABC)

angelak said:

I, Tonya was really entertaining.  She really went through hell.  Such a great talent.



yes, the way the movie was filmed, I never understood how the Brits avoided getting completely decimated by the Germans. It seemed like they were sitting ducks. It wasn't clear how so many were saved.

Was it just the superior ability of the British Air Force?


brealer said:

Re: Dunkirk: I wonder if Nolan aimed to demythologize. Whether intentionally or not, he left the epic scale of the evacuation out of his movie. (Maybe it wasn't epic in real life? Is he being fierce about sticking to the real story?)




He cares about showing a soldier's eye view, a pilot's eye view, a citizen sea captain's eye view, an officer's eye view--but I kept waiting for a stirring shot of thousands of small boats approaching France, and it never came.




You know, maybe this was Nolan  portraying both Dunkirk and Britishness itself. In which the lip gets stiffer as the emotion gets deeper?  I wanted that flotilla shot, but why should every movie "talk American," especially a movie about Dunkirk.



The movie teaches that not many British planes provided air support to the British soldiers trapped on the Dunkirk beach. The soldiers and their ships were undefended--sitting ducks for German planes flying low & slow, unopposed. Except for one British plane. Nolan devotes lots of movie time to the British pilot who did make it across the channel, and did provide some cover. Remember?


I know - that's what I'm trying to get at - British air support seemed pretty meager as portrayed in the movie. Why didn't the Germans just lob a couple of V2 rockets (or was this pre-V2?) and just wipe them out?

To me it makes it seem like the movie has told an incomplete story - which in this case is not so good because this movie is "just" a story. Nothing complicated about it.

I think I prefer the more cerebral Nolan. With him, if I don't understand something, it's probably because I wasn't supposed to.  cheese


brealer said:

The movie teaches that not many British planes provided air support to the British soldiers trapped on the Dunkirk beach. The soldiers and their ships were undefended--sitting ducks for German planes flying low & slow, unopposed. Except for one British plane. Nolan devotes lots of movie time to the British pilot who did make it across the channel, and did provide some cover. Remember?



On the other hand,  I,Tonya was a lot of fun.



angelak said:

Golden Globes are tonight.  Here's the nominations:

https://www.npr.org/sections/monkeysee/2018/01/06/575431182/golden-globes-2018-the-complete-list-of-nominees

Good opening win! Loved Big Little Lies and Nicole Kidman was great in it. What a part to play.


Sam Rockwell just won a Golden Globe.

angelak said:

I liked it too, Jamie.  I thought Sam Rockwell's performance really made the film.



jamie said:

Saw 3 Billboards in Edding Missouri over the weekend - excellent movie - very Fargoesque:




Sam Rockwell for best supporting actor in 3 Billboards.   Well deserved.   He made that film.


yahooyahoo!  We cross-posted!


Handmaid's Tale doing really well.  Congrats to Margaret Atwood!


That commercial with Cary Elwes doing a parody of The Princess Bride was.... so upsetting.   


Best Actor - Comedy:

James Franco!


What a great acceptance speech.  Nice!!


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