The Oscars 2018: Nominations and Predictions
First, find short info and my emotions towards Best Picture nominated movies. If you want to see my Oscar’s predictions, go to the end of the post. The entire post DOES NOT contain any spoilers.
“The Shape of Water” by Guillermo del Toro
★★★★★ Drama/Fantasy (Fish Porn)
“The Shape of Water” by Guillermo Del Toro shows sentimental story of love between the mute lady Elisa and the mysterious creature. The movie brilliantly combines extraordinary with the ordinary, sensual and yes, sexual. When Del Toro pitched his movie nobody wanted to support it because “the fairy tale about love between the fish and the mute woman” doesn’t sound so original. However, Guillermo created a masterpiece about true love and how it overcomes the fear.
Michael Shannon who plays the villain named Strickland says in his interview that: “People communicate so much better without words than they do with them”. These words say a lot about the casting process for “The Shape of Water” because Guillermo wrote the script for specific actors who had unusual eyes. He needed to SEE the emotion not hear it. This movie stands out among other nominees because it is such a simple story that is so universal and you can say mainstream, however at the same time you can see Del Toro’s strong auteur vision in it.
This movie was not created to say something political on the first place but it still has the issue of acceptance in nowadays world. Metaphorically “The Shape of Water” stands along with all the imigrants, minorities, and simply the ones who are abused and underseen by most of people. The movie has a touch of “Amelie” that brings nostalgia and the feel of the sixties. I highly encouarge you to emerge in del Toro’s world and not judge it by sentimental story but rather like a deep reflection on love and fear.
“Darkest Hour” by Joe Wright
★★★☆☆ Drama/History (Where is Gary Oldman?)
“Darkest Hour” directed by Joe Wright and starring mind blowing Gary Oldman who plays Winston Churchill during the period of uncertainty and danger is a biopic about one person who inspired all nation.
The story feels alive, original and inspiring. Being an English, Joe Wright does his job exactly on beat: the shots magically transform the era and mood into a deeply personal level of Churchill’s point of view. The cinematography tones down to harsh shadowy Rembrandt paintings. Two hours of a running time passed like two minutes.
What would you do if you had to tell your whole country that the next day they might all die or have to be forever enslaved by nazis? Churchill knows exactly what to do. He is provocative and sharp, he loves double spacing and his nominal matchbox. He goes against everyone and wins. He succeeds on his own battlefield where he is constantly humiliated, but instead he stresses: “You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life”.
“Dunkirk” by Christopher Nolan
★★★★★ Drama/Thriller (Tick Tick Tick)
Christopher Nolan is famous for his already ‘classic’ movies like ‘Inception’, ‘Interstellar’, ‘The Dark Knight Trilogy’ and even his first movie ‘Following’. However, he never got the Oscar for any of his movies. Maybe this is the chance as his new movie ‘Dunkirk’ is now nominated for the Best Picture, Directing and of course for the soundtrack of Hans Zimmer. So, why is this movie praised? Why does it have so much interest among people? Simply because it is Nolan’s movie and it is automatically good? Let me try to expand on those points.
The movie is not about the war. You will never even see the enemy on the screen. But you will feel the enemy in the sky, in the water and on the battlefield. The movie itself has three stories located in these different spaces. This movie is not about fighting. It is about survival. The main characters themselves are ashamed when somebody called them ‘heroes’. They wonder and say: “well, but all we did is that we were trying to survive…”. ‘Dunkirk’ sends the important message of the war, that it is not about winning or losing but about human behavior, instincts and their true selves. It shows both weaknesses and strengths of young men never understood why they were even there…
“Phantom Thread” by Paul Thomas Anderson
★★★★☆ Drama/Crime film (wtf is going on)
Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Phantom Thread” is a painful portrait of a complicated and twisted relationship, in which love is a necessary poison, literally, the actual poison. The story unfolds around 1950’s post-war London dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis). He believes he is cursed that he will never love anybody else like his dead mother who creepy appears in one of the scenes tha made me scared and uncomfortable.
The director explains that the idea of the movie came to him when he was sick and his wife was looking after him. He liked being weak and change the positions in relationship where his wife was able to take control of him. Paul Thomas Anderson thought it would be an interesting idea to investigate this kind of relationship or even disease like Munchausen syndrome. It is mental disorder in which a person repeatedly and deliberately acts as if he or she has a physical or mental illness when he or she is not really sick.
Everything is too beautiful in this movie: cinematography, actors, music. The close up shots of little details emerged into the world and tender secrets. This film is about dressing and clothes but Daniel Day-Lewis says the idea that is behind all of this fake world could take place in any creative field. However, the director argues that this world is to be explored further. This movie is super weird, it is hard to grasp it fully, but give it a try.
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” by Martin McDonagh
★★★★★ Drama/Crime film (that acting though…)
This movie with a long and not at all catchy name got SEVEN nominations for the Oscars. It is about Mildred Hayes brilliantly played by Frances McDormand who directs a controvercial message to the chief of police Bill Willoughby (Woody Harrelson). Martin McDonagh, the director of the movie created the masterpiece about definiton and sacrifice to justice. He started his directing career with a short film ‘Six Shooter’ which you can btw watch on YouTube. There he already showed his unique vision of reality. It is brutal, sarcastic, funny and provoking. His masterpiece ‘In Bruges’ made him famous as a director.
His next movie ‘Seven Psychopaths’ introduced me to the amazing actor named Sam Rockwell. In “Three Billboards” Sam Rockwell blew my mind with his performance playing an ignorant and immature mother’s boy (oh yeah! he is also a second-in-command officer). Martin McDonagh is a playwright. He knows how to create characters and manipulate the audience.
“Get Out” by Jordan Peele
★★★★★ Mystery/Horror (I would vote for Obama too)
Another Best Picture nominee is the movie “Get Out” directed by Jordan Peele. When I sat down to watch the movie, it was just before it started to appear all over, and nobody really heard of it much. By now everyone quotes it and considers it to be the best horror movie ever made. Honestly, it’s great to see such diversity for the Best Picture.
“Get out” is not a typical horror that you expect it to be. It is provoking, creepy and totally accurate to post Obama reality. Many think that the racial issues are in the past. Now we are tolerant and do not propose extremist ideas. However, Jordan Pelee does not think so. Being native African American he understands the issues better than anyone else. Daniel Kaluuya who plays the main role was noticed after his brilliant performance in “Black Mirror, ep. 2” and I hope he will become a new star as his talent fascinates me. He has a wide spectrum of emotions which he uses so effectively that you gonna live the movie with him, become a part of him and you totally gonna be scared and surprised.
“The Post” by Steven Spielberg
★★★☆☆ Drama/Thriller (Meryl Streep)
“The Post” by Steven Spielberg is a painfully sentimental investigation of human morals and rights within a highly powerful system that influences the whole nation. The story unfolds in the period of Vietnam War which involves secret documents that were secretly copied and published by the New York Times.
What is exceptional in this movie is Meryl Streep’s performance as Katharine Graham, the first female director of the Washington Post who apparently does not have much influence or voice. Her character is not about bossy strong woman who changes the lives of many people but it is about insecure widow who is afraid of making decisions on her own.
The movie tackles the issues of women inequality that might be too explicitly shown when all women have to leave the room when men talk about politics. “The Post” balances between two ideas: serve people and tell them the truth or save the newspaper and don’t get into jail. Guess what finally wins?
“Call Me by Your Name” by Luca Guadignino
★★★★★ Drama/Romance (Peachy Romance)
“Call me by your name” directed by Luca Guadagnino impressed me with its story. No wonder it is nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay. The movie doesn’t follow any standardized conventions of storytelling. We suddenly appear on the north of Italy. It is summer. We feel the laziness every day with a character. Because of the slow pace, and repetition of eating, sleeping and reading we start feeling warm and nostalgic. I felt that way.
The movie is about love and finding yourself. It is nothing you’ve ever seen. So beautifully shot and told. The leading actors are amazing. Just google how much buzz the “peach scene” got and you would want to see it — to get bored, get excited, get embarrassed with the main characters. “Call me by your name” brings so much nostalgia about the past, it shows how the time flies and the hardest thing in life is not the loss, it is time… It can never be returned, the moments in our life that we cherish and remember most are only in our beautiful past, and this movie shows that: the untouchable, the irreversible spark of pure love.
“Lady Bird” by Greta Gerwig
★★★★★ Drama/Comedy (Sacramento Biopic)
Probably the most innocent and fresh movie about the freedom of a young teenager and the barriers of social class which make the main character overcome the hardships and understand that she misses her hometown Sacramento. Christine who calls herself “Lady Bird” truly hates it. She wants to run away from her family to New York. But does she really?
The story itself is very unique because it is not only showing the hardships of a teenager which involves stereotypical but fresh incidents of the first love, true friendship and inexperienced sex. It also shows the hardships of the mother who tries to understand her daughter but always fails. We do not take the side of a Lady Bird or the mother. We relate to both of them, and share the same pain as they do. This movie deals with much more serious topics such as social inequality which Lady Bird is first ashamed of but then truly embraces it and acts. Maybe she doesn’t have a cellphone but she has her family who builds relationships based on love, unity and support. And these simple qualities unfortunately became looser nowadays.
Predictions!
Best Picture
Victory: “The Shape of Water”
Favourite: “The Shape of Water”
Actor in a Leading Role
Victory: Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Favourite: Timothee Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name
Actress in a Leading Role
Victory: Frances McDormand, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
Favourite: Margot Robbie, I, Tonya
Actor in a Supporting Role
Victory: Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
Favourite: Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
Actress in a Supporting Role
Victory: Mary J. Blige, Mudbound
Favourite: Allsion Janney, I, Tonya
Cinematography
Victory: Blade Runner 2049
Favourite: Blade Runner 2049
Costume Design
Victory: Phantom Thread
Favourite: Phantom Thread
Directing
Victory: Dunkirk
Favourite: Dunkirk
Film Editing
Victory: The Shape of Water
Favourite: Baby Driver
Foreign Language Film
Victory: On Body and Soul
Favourite: The Square
Music (Original Score)
Victory: Phantom Thread
Favourite: Phantom Thread
Music (Original Song)
Victory: “Mystery Of Love” from Call Me by Your Name
Favourite: “Mystery Of Love” from Call Me by Your Name
Production Design
Victory: Blade Runner 2049
Favourite: Blade Runner 2049
Sound Editing
Victory: Blade Runner 2049
Favourite: Baby Driver
Sound Mixing
Victory: Dunkirk
Favourite: Dunkirk
Visual Effects
Victory: Blade Runner 2049
Favourite: Blade Runner 2049
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Victory: Molly’s Game
Favourite: Call me By Your Name
Writing (Original Screenplay)
Victory: Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
Favourite: Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
