Similar to years past, the 2018 Oscar nominations for Best Picture stack heavy on the drama. Not surprisingly, period pieces, war films, and the gratuitous nod toward diversity highlight a strong, although not overwhelmingly great ballot of movies. That being said, here’s my personal critique on what these films had to offer and, on most occasions, where they fell short.

 

Darkest Hour – 8.5/10

What’s more exciting than a second film about Dunkirk, a generally unknown bit of WWII history (if you’re American)? Perennial Oscar snub Gary Oldman in a fat suit, portraying the surly Winston Churchill to the general rabble rousing of British Parliament and the Wartime Committee?

 

I know, it’s laughable, and I absolutely was unable to get into this film for the first 15 minutes because as an American it is so laughable to watch the only government more absurd than ours, British Parliament in the 1940’s. Yet, I’ll be the first to admit, this was a surprisingly strong, emotional and interesting film. Given the current political landscape, it deftly uses a very singular narrative, following Churchill and his unlikely rise to power and personal struggles with how to rule without support from his own government.

 

The acting, cinematography, makeup and costume design are all top notch and Gary Oldman should come away with the win, finally, although you can never discredit Daniel Day Lewis (also in a biographical, period-piece role), who’s probably the best actor of all time. Go ahead, I dare you to challenge that claim.

 

 

Dunkirk – 8/10

 

I’m a big fan of Christopher Nolan, specifically his ability to incorporate sound design to emphasize his cerebral and psychological emphasis in his films. Unlike Interstellar, which despite his claims as intentional had way too loud and distracting a score, Dunkirk wonderfully uses sound design and editing to create tension in an otherwise uneventful war film. Ultimately, barely anything even happens in this film, yet it carries a sense of dread and tension that is somewhat masterfully done.

 

Characters are a bit blah, and again, I emphasize, not much happens…at all. Yet, the beautiful cinematography and sound design, plus dog fighting air battles equals a solid and worthwhile film, and hey, I learned something about British WWII history, how about that.

 

 

Get Out – 6.5/10

 

I might catch heat on this one because a lot of people loved this film, but to me it was nothing more than, meh. It’s ok. That’s it. It’s not bad, it’s not good…it’s ok. Frankly, the fact that it’s nominated for best picture is laughable to me, and almost insulting. My hat’s off to Jordan Peele and the success he had with this movie, but objectively looking at the film, it’s mediocre at best.

 

My biggest problems lie in the pacing of the movie. The whole setup takes way too long to develop. If you hadn’t seen a trailer for the movie, you really have no idea what it’s about until almost halfway through the film. Then, you’re beaten so hard over the head with the racism themes that you’re somewhat pulled out of what was, at one point, a suspenseful film. Acting is average, and aside from the violent payoff ending and comic relief from the TSA friend, there’s not much else to note about the film (from a purely filmmaking standpoint, ignore the ‘social’ commentary and its current relevance).

 

 

Lady Bird – 7.5/10

 

Overall, this is a solid indie drama that’s well-written and acted, with great moments of dark comedy and genuine sadness. Frankly, it’s a pretty depressing movie but its able to conjure enough nostalgia and believable human drama to bring you through a wave of emotions. Plot wise, it’s very basic, but that’s part of its beauty. I really enjoyed the way this film captured a snapshot of the different relationships we carry through life and their ebb and flow in creating our own self-discovery.

 

In the end, like so many indie dramas, the ending fell flat on its face for me. We’re left open-ended, to ‘interpret ourselves,’ which always seems like a cop out to me. Overall, a strong and unique film that left a little more to be desired.

 

 

The Post – 5.5/10

 

This was flat out a dud. The acting is solid, the story is interesting but never captivating, and there’s flat out never any real emotional connection to any of the characters. You keep waiting for that, ‘wow’ moment that just never really comes. Spielberg rushed to get this made, and it shows. It draws important parallels to our current political climate and the historic battle of freedom of the press in the 1970’s, but is more propaganda for expression than film for an audience. Even the opening war scene was dull, so sad. Hopefully Steven redeems himself with Ready Player One.

 

 

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – 7/10

 

This is another solid film that left me wanting more. I’m always a fan of dark comedic moments, and this feels like a Cohen Brothers film on downers. The plot is bizarre, depressing, and just weird and unexpected enough to keep you interested through the long feeling two-hour run time. Given lesser actors, this might have actually been an awful film. I’m not sure.

 

Woody Harrelson is always great, but not necessarily worth a Best Supporting Actor nod for his short role in this piece. Frances McDormond and Sam Rockwell are exceptional and warrant their Oscar nods, and perhaps should win in their categories.

 

For me, this film fell short in its lack of clarity. I’ve put a lot of thought into it and I’m still not sure what the message is supposed to be. It touches on love, loss, abuse, racism, police brutality, lack of justice, yet…it’s all just a little too much that nothing really gets said. Say what you will, it’s a worthwhile and entertaining, although extremely depressing, film that could and should have been just a little bit better.

 

 

The Shape of Water – 6.5/10

 

Given all the buzz surrounding this movie, it just sort of fell flat to me. Although there’s nothing terrible about this film, there’s nothing exceptionally great either. Pretty much everything in this movie is a cliché. It has some excellent acting performances, specifically by Richard Jenkins and Michael Stuhlbarg and even Octavia Spencer. Michael Shannon is one of my favorite actors going today, but while he pulls of the villain well, the intricacies of his character seem too muddled in backstory we never get to truly understand any of his motives clearly.

 

The strengths of this film clearly lie in its overall feel and style, as well as the use of sound (or lack of sound) from the main character to portray the deep theme of this film about love, understanding, and acceptance in being “different.”

 

However, other than the above mentioned theme, there’s not much sense to be made of the actual plot of the film, other than to force characters into interactions with one another. The 50’s/60’s theme fits well into the style, but doesn’t necessarily have a clear point other than weakly trying to touch on modern day “cold war,” sentiments.

 

Overall, a unique and interesting film, in my opinion, not close to worth of a best picture, or even nomination for that matter, but worth a watch if inter-species sex is on your ‘to-do’ list.

 

 

Call Me By Your Name – 7.5/10

 

Who doesn’t love Italy, right? Despite numerous “slow,” or seemingly meaningless small moments, the larger picture builds very beautifully to a nice emotional climax that really pays off for this film.

 

The locations of this film come to life and add another character that really sells the romance and artistic/intellectual attractions rampant in this film. Well acted, beautifully shot and an overall fresh spin on the gay-coming-of-age genre we’ve come to see over the past decade or so. This film succeeds in its sexual ambiguity of its characters, often fluidly changing back and forth, which makes a much stronger statement about love and connection that we all strive for.

 

There may be “uncomfortable,” moments for some, but overall I thought this film could have pushed that even further and perhaps held back a little too much. Fortune favors the bold! Look for this film to rake in some awards as the Hollywood Foreign Press loves films with International flare.

 

 

Phantom Thread – Unknown but probably 3/10 or 9/10 depending on who you are

 

This is the only film on the list I didn’t get around to watching, and that being said, it’ll probably win Best Picture because of that. I’m generally not a huge fan of PTA films, the only exceptions being Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood. Quite frankly, he clearly has talent and often creates thought provoking films (especially upon later reflection), but they’re never enjoyable to watch. Honestly, most of his movies feel like a 2-3hr punishment of some kind.

 

 

So, although I haven’t seen everything nominated, here’s my predictions about what I suspect will be another underwhelming and boring awards show used to peddle political opinion more than celebrate filmmaking…fingers crossed, I hope I’m wrong.

 

Best Picture: Darkest Hour

Best Actor: Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour

Best Actress: Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird

Best Supporting Actor: Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water

Best Supporting Actress: Allison Janney, I, Tonya

Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread

Best Writing Adapted Screenplay: Mudbound, Dee Rees, Virgil Williams

Best Original Music Score: The Shape of Water, Alexandre Desplat

Best Documentary Feature: Last Men in Aleppo

Best Animated Feature: Coco

Best Original Screenplay: Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig

Best Cinematography: Roger Deakins, Blade Runner 2049

Best VFX: War for the Planet of the Apes