Academy Awards - The Oscars

Once again it is time to celebrate a year of film watching. Here are my choices for the following awards along with a few thoughts about some of the selections and non-selections The Academy made.

• Actor in a Leading Role – The nominees are: Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out), Timothee Chalamet (Call me by Your Name), Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour), Daniel Day-Lewis (Phantom Thread), and Denzel Washington (Roman J. Isreal, Esq.). Who else could be on this list? Tom Hanks (The Post), James Franco (The Disaster Artist), and Richard Gere (Norman). However, regardless of who wasn’t on the list, the runaway best performance is Gary Oldman for Darkest Hour. His Winston Churchill was simply sublime.
• Actress in a Leading Role – The nominees are: Meryl Streep (The Post), Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water), Margot Robbie (I, Tonya), Francis McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, and Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird). Who didn’t get nominated? Rachel Weisz (My Cousin Rachel), Emma Stone (Battle of the Sexes) and Jessica Chastain (The Zookeepers Wife). If it were up to me, I’d select Saoirse Ronan in Lady Bird because of the variety and excellent delivery of teenage emotions she effectively brings to the screen. Margot Robbie was utterly fantastic as Tonya Harding. Francis McDormand was filled with angst and fire as the woman who lost her daughter to rape and murder. Sally Hawkins was ethereal as Elisa Esposito a deaf woman who communicates with the captured creature. Meryl Streep showed the subtle development of strength as her character Katharine Graham.
• Supporting Actress – The nominees are: Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread), Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird), Allison Janney (I, Tonya), Mary J. Blige (Mudbound). Octavia Spencer (The Shape of Water). Who is missing from this list? Melissa Leo (Novitiate), who gave one of most outstanding performances of the year. The film wasn’t seen and that is a shame. This is a strong field but choosing from the nominees, I’d select Allison Janney. Her depiction of Tonya Harding’s mother was vividly cold.
• Supporting Actor – The nominees are: Christopher Plummer (All the Money in the World), Woody Harrelson (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Willem Defoe (The Florida Project), and Richard Jenkins (The Shape of Water). A great set of actors. Missing? Steve Carell (Battle of the Sexes) gave us an incredibly life like Bobby Riggs. I’d have to say that Sam Rockwell would get my vote although each of the above deserve the recognition.
• Best Cinematography – The nominees are: Bruno Delbonnel (Darkest Hour), Hoyte van Hoytema (Dunkirk), Rachel Morrison (Mudbound), Dan Laustsen (The Shape of Water), and Roger Deakins (Blade Runner 2049). Great list of people creating and delivering great pictures. My vote would go for Hoyte van Hoytema in Dunkirk. I admired the multitude and type of scenes that were shot and how they were made into a cohesive feeling of awe.
• Writing (Adapted Screenplay) – The nominees are: Dee Rees and Virgil Williams (Mudbound), Michael H. Weber and Scott Neustadter (The Disaster Artist), James Ivory (Call Me by Your Name), James Mangold, Michael Green and Scott Frank (Logan), and Aaron Sorkin (Molly’s Game). My vote would go to  Michael H. Weber and Scott Neustadter for The Disaster Artist.
• Writing (Original Screenplay) – The nominees are: Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor (The Shape of Water), Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick), Jordan Peele (Get Out) and Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird). This is probably the tightest category to be contested. Each of these stories is amazingly original. Therefore, I don’t have a single selection, they all are deserving.
• Film Editing – The nominees are: Lee Smith (Dunkirk), Tatiana S. Riegel (I, Tonya), Jonathan Amos and Paul MacHliss (Baby Driver), Sidney Wolinsky (The Shape of Water), and Jon Gregory (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri). All very good, however the standout in editing goes to Lee Smith for Dunkirk. This is a story based film and not a character based film and because of this the editing makes this film engaging.
• Directing – The nominees are: Paul Thomas Anderson (Phantom Thread), Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water), Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk), Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird), and Jordan Peele (Get Out). What is missing. To me there are huge gaps here. Margaret Betts (Novitiate), Kathryn Bigelow (Detroit), Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya), and Joe Wright (Darkest Hour) all had a great firm hand on their story's and told them with excellence. Out of the nominees, I’d vote for Christopher Nolan and Dunkirk because he made this event come alive. However, Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird) got amazing performances from her cast.
• Picture – The nominees are: Darkest Hour, Dunkirk, Phantom Thread, Get Out, The Post, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, The Shape of Water, and Lady Bird. All these pictures, except Phantom Thread (review in process) are films I loved to watch for different reasons. What is missing? I think Novitiate, Detroit, and Battle of the Sexes were deserving as well. However, Novitiate would be my candidate for replacing Phantom Thread which I didn’t really find likable or engaging. Who will win? My wish would be Dunkirk, Lady Bird, and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri in that order. If Novitiate was in the mix, it would be a tie between it and Dunkirk.

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The Disaster Artist

First Hit:  This is a very out loud funny film.

I’ve never seen The Room which has a reputation of being the worst film to ever be released. The basis of The Disaster Artist is about the making of The Room. Tommy (James Franco) plays Tommy Wiseau an odd person who seems to have unlimited funds, has a very peculiar accent, and would like to be an actor. Our first introduction to him is when he gets in front of an acting class and dramatically over does a scene. The looks on the other acting students’ faces? Priceless.

Contrarily Greg (Dave Franco) is in the same acting class and he freezes and cannot emote in front of his classmates. So, Greg reaches out to Tommy and asks him if he would help him learn to emote. The scene in the restaurant where the first lesson happens is hilarious.

Because they both want to be actors and do not see an opportunity, they decide to make a film together. Tommy ends up writing, directing, producing, financing and starring in this film called The Room.

They hire a team of people including actors for the film. Tommy, in the lead role of Johnny, gives Greg a major part as Mark. To play Johnny’s love interest, Tommy hires Juliette (Ari Gaynor) to play the role of Lisa. Additionally, he hires Carolyn (Jackie Weaver) as Claudette, Lisa’s mom. As someone to guide the actors with the script and help Tommy direct the film, Tommy hires Sandy (Seth Rogen) who has experience in filmmaking.

The rest of the film is about the poorly acted and scripted scenes of making this film, The Room. The difficulties of working with Tommy and worse, his unclear vision, are filled with hilarious scenes. Although Greg and Tommy are friends, this friendship gets tested in both the acting scenes as well as the scenes where Greg decides to live with his girlfriend Amber (Alison Brie).

Do I want to see the room? I’m not sure because just prior to the credits the film shows scenes from the initial film, The Room, next to the same scenes from this film of filming the room. I was struck about how close the scenes were done and now think that seeing The Room won’t enhance my overall moving going experience. This is because I don’t think I’d act like the audience in the film’s opening night.

James Franco was fantastic as Tommy. I loved how he gave this character an air of otherworldliness. Dave Franco was great. I loved his enthusiasm towards the character and giving this role a wonderful appeal. Weaver was really good. I loved her line about her announcing that she has cancer never appears again in The Room. Brie is wonderful as Greg’s supportive girlfriend. Gaynor is engaging as the film’s love interest. Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber wrote an ingenious script to capture the story of the creation of the film The Room. James Franco did an excellent job of putting a very funny story together by getting strong situational comedic performances out of the actors.

Overall:  This was probably the funniest film I’ve seen this year.

The Spectactular Now

First Hit:  I thoroughly enjoyed this film and thought it was well crafted.

I had a friend in high school who acted a lot like Sutter (played by Miles Teller). My friend had a quick smile, drank quite a bit to become the life of the party, and didn’t seem to want to plan something for his future. He became a drunk and died, for the most part, alone.

Sutter drinks all the time. He’s a very young functional alcoholic. He goes to school, he works and attempts to have relationships, but all his girlfriends end up seeing the light that there is no future for them with him, so they drop him and move on.

This film is about his beginning to see how he is screwing up his life. What helps him? Aimee (Shailene Woodley) is a girl he actually begins to care about. In helping her stand up to her mom, she helps him find out about his dad Tommy (Kyle Chandler) as he begins to reconcile the truth and his mom’s version of the truth of his father.

His mom Sara (Jennifer Jason Leigh), had kept Sutter sheltered from his father because, his father didn’t care, drank too much, and never cared about the future. When he glimpses his future through his father he begins to realize that his life of drinking, blackouts, and non-commitment won’t work.

Teller was fantastic as the guy who doesn’t care except to have a good time, only to find out his life may add up to little in the end. Woodley is sublime. Her subtle opening up as the plain unpopular girl have her first time boyfriend was extraordinary. Chandler was perfect as the good-time guy who didn’t and won’t make anything of his life. Leigh was great in her one major scene as her son begins to figure out that if he keeps doing what he’s doing, he’ll keep getting what he is getting. Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber wrote a very strong pointed screenplay. James Ponsoldt crisply and confidently directed this story and the actors.

Overall:  This was a very thoughtful film and experience.