I love movies and I try to see at least one movie a week.  Seeing movies is probably my favorite pastime, and is not something I do out of boredom: I look forward to my movie time.  So with that in mind, I present my Oscar choices.  If I am picking a category it means that I have seen all the nominees.  Let me also clarify: these are my favorites, not necessarily what I think is going to win- there are so many other factors involved in that.

Best Picture- Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing Missouri

Best Actress: Margot Robbie

Best Actor: Gary Oldman

‘Best Adapted Screenplay: Call Me By Your Name

Best Supporting Actor: Sam Rockwell

Best Director: Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk)

Best Supporting Actress: Allison Janney

Best Original Song: This is Me (The Greatest Showman)

Best Original Score: Dunkirk

Best Animated Feature: Coco

Best original Screenplay: The Big Sick

Best Cinematography: Dunkirk

Best Live Action Short: The Silent Child

Best Film Editing: Dunkirk

Best Costume Design: Phantom Thread

Best Sound Mixing: Star Wars

Best Production Design: Dunkirk

Best Make Up: Darkest Hour

Best sound Editing: Star Wars

Best Documentary Short: Heroin(e)

If you couldn’t tell, I did not like The Shape of Water.  I thought it was a movie trying to accomplish a whole of things and actually accomplishes nothing.  If (when) it wins a bunch of awards, I feel it will go the way of Birdman (which I did not like either) and no one will ever talk about it again.

Would love to hear about what other people love!

 

 

 

50 thoughts on “The Awards”

      1. My husband wanted to go see that water one..and I told him I’d heard it was weird..I barely have the attention span to last through a good movie let alone a strange one. (movies are SOOO long these days!)

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      2. I know. When I see they exceed two hours I groan! I obviously didn’t like the water one! And I didn’t really like phantom thread. But the others were decent

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    1. But it’s more putting it together with certain scenes. I’m giving it more for use in the actual movie than the piece itself. I know you can always go with the Hans Zimmerman, John Williams approach, but the way they used music to heighten and reduce the scenes….to me it was part of the directorial process which is why I give the director nod to Nolan…..he crafted that movie which really had no screenplay or acting but was still amazingly powerful

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      1. I was really torn by Dunkirk – it was very good, *for a very low budget movie*… As soon as you stop to think about it, you realise there should have many, many more people on the beach. Then there’s the problem of using the real aircraft during the dogfight scenes – 70 year old museum pieces that cannot be thrown around as they would have been at the time. Also – the burning spitfire at the end – you can see the stick holding the propeller on – once you see it, you can’t unsee it…

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      2. I get that, which is why I don’t think it was best pic. But I love the way he wove the timelines together, bringing the three stories together

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  6. I’m so behind in the movie uptakes and it’s quite embarrassing to admit the last time I went to the movies, let alone watch one. I was talking to a co-worker earlier about some of them. I like your take up, even if I’ve only heard it through the grapevine.

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  7. I love movies too. Your picks seem like good ones with good actors. I haven’t seen the majority of those films yet so I cannot comment on my personal favorites. I usually watch them all after the awards are given.

    Since my youngest son is in the Director’s Guild the Academy sends him DVD’s of all the films and he votes on them. My son does not vote on actors, but votes on a majority of other categories that involve what he personally does in regard to his job.

    Many of the voters come from a variety of different sources. My SAG actor friends who vote on the actors and best film usually have a different criteria and don’t always agree with the winners. Example: Like Emma Stone winning for Lala Land??? Since my friends did theatre with me in my youth they are all singers and dancers as well as actors and so to see two actors who don’t really have much talent in singing or dancing, it is disheartening when there are SO many young people with more ability who can actually sing and dance well but weren’t given an opportunity to get the part. That really irked them and me as well. We all thought the film was awful.. Ryan was better than Emma, she was just ok in that role. (Both have been excellent in other parts but NOT that film.) Anyhow, actors vote differently and often times it is popularity. But they are critical of one another and there were a multitude of fine actors who are also stage people who sing and dance. To select those two stars was ridiculous.I thought it was a bad knock off of Hollywood’s golden era.

    Also, people voting for specific categories can be in the weapons crew, the costume crew, lighting , camera dept., make-up etc. So they all vote in their area of expertise. Thus winners are often people the general public does;t know.
    So, I come to judging films now with a plethora of different standards since I better understand what goes into making making a film now that I am more aware.
    I love many of the actors you suggested but since I haven’t watched the films I really can’t comment. I now can’t watch any film without noticing the extras filling up dead space, the scenes where the stunt doubles are used instead of the actors, the CGI stuff, the blocking, etc. and especially the acting and the screenplay. I’m a tough critic. So I’ll have to revisit this post when I can give you my thoughts on the films you selected. I look forward to seeing these movies.

    Who are your favorite actors?

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    1. I often disagree with the actual winners….so much politics involved….so these are who I think should win, not who I would bet in a pool….right now I’m sort of living Adam driver. I think he’s a great understated actor and I think he has range. Love Saoirse Ronan. Thought Gary Oldman was outstanding!

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  8. I love your blog and I love the answers from your friends. I shouldn’t even be commenting because I haven’t seen any of the nominees, but I have learned much about the movies just by reading. Thank you!

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  10. I’ll take your word for it in all categories. I don’t go to the movies often. Seems I always get stuck sitting next to the guy chomping on popcorn, swirling his ice and fiddling with candy wrappers. You’re fortunate to have seen all these flicks, and be able to make informed choices.

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      1. I swear the last guy I sat next to was having a five-course meal of movie theater food. He didn’t shut up the entire time. At one point, even my husband looked over at him. There should be a rule that you have to stop crinkling wrappers within 30 minutes of the show starting.

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    1. My biggest problem with the post was that spotlight came out a few years ago and it was a much better movie about a newspaper expose

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  14. Okay, I am returning to this post and answering after watching three of films. I just finished watching the shape of water tonight and I loved it. I wonder what you didn’t like about it.

    I am a big science fiction fan and grew up watching al those fabulous campy 1950’s movies on Saturday afternoons. You know the ones, Like War of the worlds and especially The Creature from the Black Lagoon. I watched it in black and white and would hide behind the couch when the scary creature music began. But I always felt sorry for the creature because he fell in love with the leading lady. This movie had a hint of all those old films I grew up with as a little girl. The clothing, the hairstyles, furniture, and music were all reminiscent of my childhood and I loved that aspect. Plus, I found it deeply touching. I was allowed to care for this creature whereas the one from the Black Lagoon was turned into a villain and hunted down because caring for something or someone who was different in the 1950’s wasn’t politically correct. But I did care about the creature as a little girl and cried when he died. So, while I felt the strange sex in this movie was unnecessary, it was the love story and the message of diversity that won me over.So, I absolutely loved it. It was almost as if they remade my Black Lagoon guy and gave him a happy ending.
    I watched LadyBird and enjoyed it, although I didn’t care for the ending… too abrupt and I really enjoyed Three Billboards and felt the acting in that movie was excellent. The winners deserved their awards. I haven’t seen the other films but I now feel happy with the results. Did The Shape of Water need to win Best picture? No, Three Billboards probably did. But, Shape of H2O had so many campy elements AND even the mute girl and the Fish guy were better dancers than Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. So for that alone they had to get an award…. LOL And that’s my take now that I’ve seen those films.

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    1. Agree with ladybird. Ending wasn’t satisfying at all. My problem with water was that it was supposed to be a parable, yet it also tried to be spy story, and a sci fi and I thought it didn’t do any of them well. I thought the characters were too stereotypical….the generic gay neighbor, the generic Russian spy, the generic general (I realize this is signature Del Toro, but I thought they were one dimensional) I also thought the script was very average, and acting average as well. I thought script and acting of 3b was superior in every aspect. Glad you got to see them. Keep me apprised if you see anymore

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      1. I found out something interesting… that Del Toro found original drawings of the Creature of the Black Lagoon and that is what he used to create his sea monster. Which explains why I was so reminded of the film I grew up watching on weekends as a kid. I remembering crying as a little girl because they went after the creature and thought it was so unfair. So this movie let the fish guy get the girl. And that made me feel that after 60 some years there was some justice. It was really a modern beauty and the beast story. I thought the main female role was well written. We knew she had routine in her life, we knew she appeared less than and vulnerable but we also knew she was so much more. I felt she was very three dimensional. But, yes, The others WERE 50’s stereotypes but I think that is because that was the way they would have been portrayed back then. Growing up at a time when EVERYTHING was a stereotype, I think the director did it for artistic reasons more than anything else. It made a political statement by doing so. Today those people who voted for Trump talk about bringing back the good old days and have some kind of fanciful dream of what those days were like. The truth was that if you weren’t a stereotypical person in the 50’s then you were an outsider and this movie had a host of outsiders. It pretty much shows you that the good old days that DT wants to bring back weren’t very nice. That was definitely part of the message. I don’t think it was a brilliant movie but an enjoyable one. Very campy in a way.

        Three Billboards was indeed superior. The only character who I didn’t like in that movie was the actress who playedWoody H’s wife. Her accent kept changing – like she was British and trying to be southern. Everyone else was terrific.

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      2. My problem with Sally Hawkins character was that it seemed like damaged people can only hope to find love with other damaged people. I don’t know if that’s such a great thought process. Was it love, or was she settling?

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  15. That’s a good question. A little of both I think. Based on the year I assume she never saw herself the way others saw her. Most of society at that time would have considered her an outcast in society. She never had a real family and in the 1950’s she was probably considered mentally challeneged, even though she wasn’t. So considering those obsticles, she still happy in her own way. I do think she avoided most people because they avoided her. The two people she was closest to saw her for who she really was. Most others did not. I think she had an appreciation for every aspect of life and was fascinated with the creature. Was it love? Not sure. She clearly cared for him and was attracted to him. He seemed to appreciate her as an equal and that meant the world to her. I saw one therory that said some people felt because she was unable to speak that she was a decendant of the water creatures and thus she and the creature were attracted because they were like one another in a species kind of way and her scars were mutated gills. It was an interesting theory. I don’t think she settled. I think she went with her gut feelings and her heart and for the first time in her life she was brave. The creature gave her courage to be herself. So in a way, with him, she could love herself. Before him she
    was merely surviving.

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    1. I think to say it was love is to stretch the parable to a bizarre level. I think this movie will go the way of Birdman and be considered one of the worst winning movies ever.

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  16. I saw I, Tanya tonight. I liked it. I felt rally sorry for Tanya Harding and even cried at the end. I didn’t expect to like the movie. The acting was good and it was unique in its presentation. Yeah, I liked it.

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