Category Archives: Awards

2010s, Article, Awards, Engaging Culture, Philosophy, Theology

Redeeming the Oscars

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Another year and another Oscars ceremony in the books. I have a love-hate relationship with the Oscars. I love film for its power to communicate ideas and transport viewers to distant worlds and times. This year, the Academy rewarded a well-crafted, insightful, and entertaining film, Parasite, with Best Picture, Best International Film, Best Original Screenplay, and gave its Director Bong Joon Ho the Best Director award. As a subtitled, South Korean film, this was a huge step in normalizing and legitimizing world cinema because it is the first time ever that a non-English speaking film has taken home the highest award of the night.

However, the Academy Awards ceremony has become known, especially by Christians, as a place of rampant liberal politics. Because of this, most Christians stay away, not just from Oscar night, but from Hollywood in general. In my opinion, this is a mistake. To look at Hollywood as if it was a place that is beyond the reach of God’s grace is to put God in a box. What would it look like for Christians to be salt and light in Hollywood?

Art Imitates Life

I take the Oscars ceremony as an opportunity to look back on a very busy year. On the world’s stage, we saw protests and violence in Hong Kong, Algeria, India, Nicaragua, and others. Both the Amazon and Australia were on fire. Brexit stretched on, while China and Iran had conflicts with the U.S. over trade and nuclear weapons respectively. Speaking of the U.S. there was obviously the circus that was the House of Representative’s impeachment of President Trump.

Film is a fascinating storytelling medium with the ability to speak to the trends of the day in unexpected ways. Consider two 2019 releases. Captain Marvel is a veiled commentary on immigration policy and Greta Gerwig transformed Little Women into a feminist manifesto instead of a timeless story of faith and family.

The liberal politicization of Hollywood has turned many Christians off to film in general. This agenda is on full display at the Oscars. For instance, Brad Pitt used his acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actor in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood to comment on the Senate’s acquittal of President Trump.

Ego and the Greatest Snub

But Joaquin Phoenix one-upped everyone in the room when he equated gender-equality and racism with animal rights as he encouraged everyone towards his vegan agenda and indicted everyone for their egocentric worldview which leads to inequality. While Mr. Phoenix and I would disagree about the rights of a cow when compared to the rights of indigenous peoples, I would completely agree with his assessment of egoism.

I’m happy that today’s films elevate the voices of the marginalized. God calls his people to fight for justice for the oppressed. But the biggest snub of this year’s Oscar ceremony was not the fact that there were no female directors or that The Irishman went 0 for 10. This one is even more glaring. As I listened to the acceptance speeches, I don’t think I heard a single mention of God. No word of thanks or praise. Of course, I may have missed something, but even in the official Oscars Acceptance Speech Database (Yes, that is a real thing), the number of mentions of God has been steadily dropping over the years.

The most recent mention of God that wasn’t a vain exclamation was back in 2018. Regina King said, “God is good all the time,” in her win for If Beale Street Could Talk. In the most recent actual expression of thanks to God, Common said, ” First, I would like to thank God that lives in us all” when he accepted the award for Best Song for “Glory” from Selma in 2014.

The Absence of Light

How did things get so dark? It’s a picture of Romans 1:21, “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.” Do I say this with my nose held high in the air as I condemn those sinful Hollywood heathens? Of course not. We are no better. All people have sinned and bring shame on the glory of God’s image in them. In fact, much of the darkness prevalent in Hollywood is overwhelming because of the absence of the light that should emanate from the lives of believers.

Christians should be different. Does light have any fellowship with darkness? Does saltwater and freshwater come from the same spring? Of course not. But at the same time, we are not called to exit from culture and cloister ourselves away. Light should be put on a lampstand and salt should be used to preserve, transform, and flavor. Christians lose their identity in Christ and are freed to take up the cause of others. They are freed to lose their life for the cause of the gospel of Christ. This means engagement with culture.

Creators

Engagement can look many different ways for different Christians. Maybe you are called to create art that influences culture by showing God’s transformation to a watching world. Think of a movie like The Blind Side that doesn’t have any overt Gospel message but shows what a selfless, other-centric, God-glorifying life looks like. More creators need to step up to bat and more churches need to support their creative efforts.

Redeemers

Maybe you will engage with culture by finding the redeeming aspects of culture and calling attention to them. This is the affirmation that all truth is God’s truth and when the culture gets it right (even with the wrong motives or worldview) we need to be ready to cheer on the truth in those common areas of human flourishing. This comes through in a film like Spotlight that reveals corruption and evil that people inside and outside of the church should condemn. Believers need to respond to these films in positive ways to show that our faith is about more than believing some platitudes about Jesus.

Prophets

Finally, we need those who will stand in the gap and engage with culture by speaking the truth in love. Paul walked through the city of Athens and drew attention to their great religiosity, though it was misguided and twisted. He used the words of their own poets to show them a better way in Jesus Christ. I try to do this. For instance, in my recent article about 1917, I looked at the darkness of war and the way that all people reflect on their mortality in the face of danger. I also showed the light and freedom possible in a life spent in the cause of Christ. My hope is that someone may read or hear my words and would see that Jesus is infinitely better than anything else in our finite lives.

I hope you’ll think about how you can engage with the culture around you. If Christians are to be identified with Christ, we must do more of what he did. That means spending more time doing life with people the way Jesus did. Granted, this might mean being accused of the things that he was accused of, but I’m willing to endure that for some to see Jesus as I have seen him.

Maybe Hollywood is too far gone for my prayers and words to have any effect, but I worship a Savior who knew no limits to the love he would show to snatch men and women from hell and bring them back into right relationship with his Father. We have been given this same ministry of reconciliation, and if we pull out of the conversation and don’t shine our light, then we are the ones truly responsible for the darkness.

2010s, Action, Adventure, Awards, Suspense, Theology, True Story, War

The Wayfaring Stranger and Wartime Mentality in 1917

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Director Sam Mendes crafted an immersive World War I drama in 1917 through the clever use of practical camera tricks and special effects so we as the audience never leave the sides of our heroes. In fact, it is as if we don’t even blink. Roger Deakins starkly beautiful cinematography and an extremely talented editing team made it so that we never wanted to either.

The camera fixes its gaze on Lance Corporals Schofield and Blake through their rescue mission. It doesn’t cut from the action. It never leaves their side to show us an establishing shot or to tell us what is happening somewhere else. The entire film is one long and winding road through treacherous terrain.

If you’ve seen the trailer, you understand their mission. One of the soldiers’ brother is in a battalion miles away with another unit and they are going to charge into an ambush if they don’t hear from command. Armed with their message, they march off as a company of two bravely preparing to cross no man’s land and enemy lines in order to save 1,600 men including his brother.

From a Christian worldview, this mission rings of familiarity. We are called onto a mission that may cost us our lives. We are marching into enemy territory with a message that can rescue our brothers and sisters from the fire. The urgency and energy with which these soldiers carry out their mission should serve as a reminder to believers that the great commission is not completed. We must advance on our mission to bring this message of salvation to a world marked for destruction. They have been deceived and believe that victory is in their grasp.

Of course, in the film, the message is only good news because it means that this particular advance has been canceled. It would have been an even more powerful picture if the war was over and peace had been won. Then it would have truly been good news similar to the message that we as Christians proclaim. The enmity we have with God because of our sin ended through the sacrifice of the sinless Son of God, Jesus Christ.

Favorite Scene

There are a few short reprieves from all of the action. One of them comes after a particularly harrowing scene in which we follow George MacKay’s Lance Corporal Schofield through a terrifying ordeal only to see him emerge on the other side physically whole but mentally broken. He begins stumbling through a forest towards an ethereal voice. We’re not sure if this is part of the soundtrack or if he actually hears this angelic singing, until he stumbles into a camp of his fellow soldiers seated in the forest listening to an unnamed soldier sing…

I’m just a poor wayfaring stranger
Traveling through this world of woe,
There is no sickness, toil, or danger
In that bright land to which I go.

I’m going there to see my Father.
I’m going there no more to roam.
I’m only going over Jordan,
I’m only going over home.

I had never had the pleasure of hearing Wayfaring Stranger in its heyday, but I’ve enjoyed listening to many different renditions since seeing the film. Its history stretches back to at least the time of the American Civil War when it was called Libby Prison Hymn, named for the Confederate prison that was in Richmond, Virginia.

Since its creation, it has a rich history both religious and secular. It appeared in the Broadman Baptist Hymnal in 1940 before Burl Ives popularized it in 1944. Later versions include Emmylou Harris in 1980, Johnny Cash in 2000, and, most recently, Jack White on the soundtrack of Cold Mountain in 2003.

This rendition is the most stylistically bare of all of those with no accompaniment, and just a solitary soloist, Jos Slovick, upon whom the cameras focus never rests. It could have been a throwaway scene transitioning from one massive set-piece to the next, but the camera methodically slows down and leaves our protagonist to show some of the other young men who are mentally preparing to face the horrors of war is profound. In that moment, the immersion into the setting has been completed. We are not just with them, we are one of them. Not soldiers, but just men, mortal men. Looking out across the river of our own mortality.

As believers, we are reminded by Paul in Philippians 4:13 that he “can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” This is not a promise that all of our business ventures will succeed and that our sports teams will win. This is the Apostle Paul speaking as a man in prison nearing the end of his earthly life. He is getting ready to face death for the sake of Christ and he confesses that no matter whether he is hungry or full, sick or well, in bondage or free, he has learned the secret to contentment in all circumstances. It is not his best life now, it is Christ in him, the hope of glory.

This life is hard and we are not promised a delightful rose garden of a life. It is a war. We are called to live streamlined gospel-centered lives and when we reach our final moments we do not rest in the abundance of our possessions or the joy in the faces of our loved ones but in the hope of glory as we remember that to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Have you seen 1917? What did you think? Is it the best war film since Saving Private Ryan? If you haven’t seen it, it is extremely intimate and passionately created. It’s still in theaters and begs to be seen on the largest screen you can find.

2010s, Action, Animation, Awards, Best Movie Bracket, Comedy, Crime, Documentary, Family, Lists, Reviews, Science Fiction, Top 3, Uncategorized

2018 Best Movie Bracket

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From my best count, there were about 266 major films released in 2018. That includes all the tentpole blockbusters and the independent festival darlings. It also includes the most prominent foreign films which received a US release and major original releases from streaming platforms. Of those 266, I have seen 111. I’ve still got about 50 for 2018 on my watchlist, but I will probably never see the vast majority of those unless I get a government grant that allows me to stop working and do nothing but watch movies all day every day.

I track and rate all of the movies I watch at Letterboxd.com. Since I usually do this list as a top 3, it is convenient that I have exactly 3 movies from 2018 that I would classify as five-star films. That number may increase because I have a rule that no film can be rated as 5 stars based upon a single viewing. The highest I can go on one viewing is 4 1/2 stars.

Honorable Mentions

It was a very good year for film. I could just list off 20 films that were easily in the running for my top film of the year, but in addition to my top three, I want to highlight a few special films that were unique or extraordinary in some way.

A Quiet Place surprised me because I didn’t expect such an immersive story from Jim from the Office. Upgrade was the best Science-Fiction action film with its locked camera Logan Marshall-Green’s face/body acting split. Mission-Impossible: Fallout was easily the most entertaining film I saw all year, I could watch it a dozen times and still be ready for another go around. 

Leave No Trace is Debra Granik’s long-awaited follow-up to Winter’s Bone (2019) and it was heartbreaking and uplifting and hopeful and brutally honest. BlackkKlansman is Spike Lee’s best since Malcolm X. It caught you laughing about systemic racism and how dumb those Klan members could be then flipped the script and left me with my mouth hanging open and tears in my eyes. Shoplifters left me wanting to be kidnapped and loved so purely whether it is technically a family or not. Finally, I’m so sad to leave First Reformed out of my top three, Paul Schrader had my rapt attention with an arresting meditation on faith’s place in the modern world.

Top Three

3. Blindspotting

The year was filled with amazing films focused on the theme of race relations. We’ve already mentioned BlackkKlansman, but there was also If Beale Street Could Talk, The Hate U Give, and Sorry to Bother You. However, the best, in my opinion, was the one that was criminally overlooked, Blindspotting.

The story is pretty simple. Collin, played masterfully by Daveed Diggs (whom you might know as Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in Hamilton), must make it through his final three days of probation for a chance at a new beginning. Despite his childhood best friend Miles (a solid introduction from newcomer and co-writer Raphael Casal) not being the best influence, Collin is loyal. That countdown clock comes under pressure when Collin witnesses a police shooting and the two men’s friendship is tested as they wrestle with their identity in their rapidly-gentrifying Oakland neighborhood.

I don’t understand why Lionsgate released this unbelievably prescient masterpiece in mid-July rather than holding it a little later for Awards season. It was electrifying while also remaining accessible. However, Blindspotting was released in the same summer as Childish Gambino’s firebrand This is America and it is a perfect companion piece. 

2. Won’t You Be My Neighbor

I wouldn’t usually even think of putting a documentary on my best films of the year, but I was so incredibly floored by Morgan Neville’s documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor. I grew up watching Mister Rogers every afternoon as a little kid and I even remember watching often into my teenage years. At some point, I probably kind of outgrew it and thought that he was uncool. But now looking back as an adult I see that Fred Rogers was the coolest guy in the neighborhood.

If there were one film in 2018 that I would force every person to watch it would be this. The faith, hope, and love that Fred Rogers exhibited in every show is a salve that I believe our culture needs now more than ever. Fred Rogers wasn’t seeking to entertain kids with his show and he wasn’t trying to rush them through growing up like so many try to. Instead, the yellow caution light flashes outside the building even before the familiar song begins as if to signal that it is time to slow down and learn what it means to be a human and how to live as a human with other humans. 

It didn’t fall into the trap of fawning over Mister Rogers. That’s good, because he would push back on being idolized in any way. Instead, he would call us to action, encouraging us to be better neighbors to all in hopes that this love and kindness might spread. Morgan Neville struck gold with this film and I only hope that it stays on constant rotation and that Fred Rogers is allowed to touch the hearts and minds of another generation and that my generation might be reminded of his gentle example.

1. Spider-Man Into The Spider-verse

I was not on the early bandwagon for Spider-Man Into the Spiderverse. I felt like it was too soon to do anything with Spider-Man much less introduce eight new ones. It wasn’t until I saw the sneak preview after Venom that I was even interested. I thought the animation looked great and I was intrigued by the concept and thought that it would be a good movie to take my kids to. However, about 15 minutes into the film, I knew I was watching something special. 

Let’s count the Spider-Men. First, we have Chris Pine’s stellar Peter Parker prime. He’s better than our Peter Parker and Spider-Man in every way except for the turn of events of this film. Second, we have Miles Morales, also from the home dimension of this film. Miles is played by Shameik Moore with bright-eyed energy. Then things get crazy with a whole slew of Spider-people.

Third, the road-weary veteran Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson), complete with sweatpants, who is a sadder more tired version of the uber Spider-man. Fourth, Spider-Gwen, which I can easily see getting her own stand alone. Hailee Steinfeld brought some youthful confidence to the powerful girl’s role that will be seen over and over at Comic-con. Fifth, Spider-Man Noir, voiced in an amazing casting choice by Nicholas Cage. It’s seriously the best thing he’s done in years except destroying that pool table while singing the hokey pokey in Mom and Dad.

Sixth, Peni Parker, who shares a psychic connection to a radioactive spider that lives in her deceased father’s robot. I’m not making this up and she’s not even the weirdest. That award easily goes to seventh, Peter Porker (a.k.a Spider-Ham) a Looney Tunes type animated pig who actually started out as a spider but was bitten by a radioactive pig. In case you think I’m making this up, this is a comic you can actually read. Finally, eighth, featured just briefly in the post-credit scene is Oscar Isaac playing Miguel O’Hara as Spider-Man 2099. 

Somehow, all of this works and is magically told with no confusion and incredible balance and confidence. I haven’t even mentioned the supporting cast in Lily Tomlin, Katherine O’Hara, Mahershala Ali, and Liev Schriber among others. It is a truly star-studded cast and with all the right stuff.

So what do you think? Agree or disagree? Did I miss one of your favorites? Let me know in the comments below or on social media.

2010s, Awards, Best Movie Bracket, Lists

Best of 2017: Top 5

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This is it. I’ve already looked at the rest of my top 20. you can read them elsewhere on the site. (6-10, 11-15, 16-20). But now, it is time for the cream of the crop. These are the movies that made a lasting impact on me. They changed the game somehow or made it impossible for me to shake them. This will also serve as my Best Movie Bracket entry for 2017. Once I publish this post, I’m going to stop looking back to 2017 and start looking at some of the 2018 movies that I have already missed and that are coming on the horizon.

This year has been one of the more diverse and varied in my recent memory. In this list we have indie films next to billion dollar blockbusters. We have psychological horror next to morally ambiguous drama, next to totally ambiguous metaphorical experimental cinema. Three of these five films have a female as the lead protagonist and we have a black screenwriter/director as well.  The point should never be diversity for the sake of diversity, but these are amazing films and they deserve the credit that they are getting. Let’s dive into my top 5 of the year!

5. mother!

The award for the most audacious, controversial, and avant-garde film this year goes to Darren Aronofsky’s awkwardly titled mother! I hope that you, like me, have been shrieking the name like Norman Bates from Psycho every time it comes up in conversation. This is a film that many did not appreciate but that I could not forget. I left the theater thinking about it and as my whole family can attest, I did not stop talking about it and pondering it for days and weeks afterwards.

Jennifer Lawrence plays the titular character and is featured in close-up, over the shoulder, or from her point of view for nearly the entire film. This promotes a claustrophobic feeling within this house which she is painstakingly attempting to restore to its former glory. She does all of this for her husband, played by Javier Bardem, who is known only as Him or the poet. The entire film is a metaphor or allegory for a multitude of different things that have been debated since its release. They are probably all somewhat right in their own way.

We’ve got an allegory of the biblical creation story mixed with a little bit of awaited messiah worship. These biblical themes are overlaid with a struggling creative type who ruins his relationships with his writers block and subsequent struggle with newfound fame and mixed in for good measure is a metaphor for climate change and environmentalism. Essentially, it is a big jumbled mess, but it is marvelous and hideous to behold all at the same time.

4. Get Out

Jordan Peele, half of the comedy duo, Key and Peele, writes and directs his first film. This is not the comedy that you might expect, if it is a comedy at all. We are presented with the story of a young black man invited to a weekend at the family home of his white girlfriend.

This could be the source of an interesting romantic comedy, but there is something wrong with this setting that we just can’t put our finger on. Is it the overt anti-racist statements that her father makes? “I would have voted for Obama for a third term if I could.” Why are the two servants the only black people around and why are they acting weird? Is this all just in his head? Is he being racist to think that there must be something else going on under the surface?

This will go down in a long line of movies that use racism as a theme, like American History X, The Help, Django Unchained, Crash, and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. However, this film is unique because it turns the horror genre on its head. There is no boogeyman, no monster in the closet, there is no supernatural force of evil. The nefarious evil of Get Out is displayed in the white people who cannot be trusted. It is so impactful because this fear is something that is all too real for many young black men all over this country. We might hope that we would have moved on from racism in our country, but it is alive and well and it’s just as ugly, evil, and scary as any movie monster.

3. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

It may sound like I love horror movies based on the marketing of my two previous choices. The fact is that I love movies that do things differently that other films that I’ve already seen. I like original concepts and execution that is done with high quality.

In Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri we get a more conventional narrative story but the psychology of its characters pushes it into the outstanding category. It is a dark comedy to be sure. Coming from Martin McDonagh, who brought us In Bruges, I would expect nothing less, but as with that film there is also earth shattering heartbreak and pain. This is the duality of the world that we live in. There are notes of joy, beauty, grace and absurdity punctuated by hate, violence, hypocrisy, and apathy.

Frances McDormand is a force of nature. She carries such emotion through her performance that we can’t help but root for her even though she is crude, mean-spirited, and hateful. The growth of all of the characters is what keeps us rooted as viewers to this story. We know that her meanness is coming from a place of deep pain and sorrow and we want to see justice. We also see the ignorance and racism of the deputy played by Sam Rockwell. Our desire to see the good in people leads us to hope for his change and redemption. This film delivers on all sides.

2. Logan

I hope you can see from this choice that I am not like most critics. I try to take a look at all different types of film regardless of their standing within a particular community. I cross the gap so a film like Logan can go toe to toe with an indie film that only saw a limited release. I try to look at each film for what it is and for its merits and efforts to do what it set out to do.

I was looking forward to Logan since the initial teaser trailer and the revelation that a big budget R-rated Wolverine film would now be sharing my name. As the campaign continued I only got more excited to see that we were going to be exploring the Old Man Logan story line from the comics. We were going to see Hugh Jackman in his final performance as the adamantium-clawed anti-hero and he was going to be grizzled and broken.

The film joins Logan years into the future where no new mutants have been born and most of the old mutants are mysteriously absent. We get some beautiful touches of the paternal relationship between Logan and Charles Xavier played expertly by Patrick Stewart in his final role of the franchise as well.

The thing that impressed me the most about Logan was that there were huge sections of the film that I forgot this was supposed to be a superhero movie. It took its time in storytelling and character building and we are left with beautifully stark western about the consequences of a life of violence and how there can be hope for change but not without sacrifices. It is rich and deep and immensely entertaining for a fan of the X-Men but even if you’ve never picked up a comic book or seen another superhero film this is a story that will resonate and hit deeply.

1. The Florida Project

If you follow any of my social media feeds, it should come as no surprise that this is on the top of the heap for my year end list. I’ve been in love with this film since I first saw it. I love the style that Director, Sean Baker, brings to the table. It is rich and grounded and humanistic. All of his stories have been semi-documentarian. Starlet and Tangerine both focus on sex workers and their real-life struggles in a fictionalized setting. However, this is his most accessible film and it drips with charm.

The film was actually shot on site at a budget motel in Orlando outside Disney World called the Magic Castle. During filming, the motel was still operational, so many of the people featured in the film as extras were actually real residents of the motel. Willem Dafoe brings an air of gravitas to the role of Bobby, the on-site motel manager. He’s playing against type for him and is warm and paternal with many of the residents and their kids, however he still buzzes around this castle keeping it magical.

 There really isn’t much of a story in a narrative sense. We just get to spend a portion of the summer with a couple of families that live in this budget motel. Our main characters are young mom Halley and her precocious young daughter Mooney. The trick of the film is that the movie is told from the perspective of the kids. We are seeing this world with all of the potential wonder and hope while we keep our knowledge and it makes a profound difference. What kind of trouble will Mooney get into, is that going to affect Halley’s ability to raise her?

Can meaning be found in the shadow of the false god of consumerism? Is there happiness when the happiest place on earth is out of your reach. The film struggles with deep religious and philosophical and religious themes without ever mentioning any of them or having an expository scene. It is also a marvel to behold with gorgeous cinematography from Alexis Zabe who’s only other credit that I recognized was the music video for Pharrell Williams’ hit song “Happy.” His use of color and framing was so vivid and rich and reminded me of Wes Anderson in a good way without becoming distracting. This will be added to my Blu-Ray collection as soon as I can add it and I would encourage you to do the same.

So that’s it for 2017. Next up, I’m hopefully going to be looking at the recent Alex Garland follow-up to Ex Machina, staring Natalie Portman, Annihilation. Stay tuned for that. In the meantime, please let me know your top handful for the year. You can always comment here at LifeattheMovies.com, but you can also visit me on various forms of social media and let me know your thoughts/opinions and leave snide comments.

2010s, Awards, Great Movies, Television

Oscar Outlook: Best Picture

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The Oscars are almost here and I’m excited to talk about the biggest award of the night. We sit through all the other awards to see which film is going to take home Best Picture. I remember my father having a poster of all the Best Picture Academy Award winners from 1927 – 1991. I studied that list of films, many of which I had never even heard of, much less seen. But it gave me a sense of this world of films that I was stepping into at just 10 years old.

I remember watching Billy Crystal hosting that next year’s Oscars. I remember asking about some of these films that I was too young to watch and begging my parents to let me see them. My father was a collector of VHS films during those days and once I could get my hands on it, one afternoon as a latch-key kid, I remember watching the Best Picture winner of 1992, Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven. I think 10 year old me probably would have ranked Aladdin above Unforgiven (35 year-old me might just do the same thing), but I was hooked and wanted more.

Since those days, I remember watching all kinds of films from Hitchcock and Kubrick to westerns and war films. I had developed a taste and would never go back. Perhaps this year, there will be another 10 year old boy who might watch to hear “Remember Me” from Coco, but will stay up late to hear the proclamation of the Best Picture of the year and might ask his parents if he can see Dunkirk or Lady Bird. The Oscars are a love letter to the cinema that we adore so deeply and cherish so fondly.

Best Picture

And the nominees are…

  • The Shape of Water
  • Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
  • Darkest Hour
  • Call Me By Your Name
  • Dunkirk
  • Get Out
  • Lady Bird
  • Phantom Thread
  • The Post

Who Will Win

When nominations were first announced the clear favorite seemed to be The Shape of Water. However, it seems that the tides have turned towards my pick which is Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. I’m happy with this change because I did not enjoy The Shape of Water as much as many of my movie loving friends. Three Billboards, on the other hand, has grown on me and found itself squarely in my top five movies of 2017. It could very easily be the big winner of the night with Best Picture, Actress, and Supporting Actor. What a shame that Martin McDonagh was not even nominated for direction. This original screenplay is also nominated but will most likely lose to Get Out.

Outside Chance

Of course, it is very possible that The Shape of Water could hold onto its original popular sentiment and win. The film is gorgeous, but I think Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth was so much better. I would be shocked if Get Out squeaked away with the victory, but it is not out of the realm of possibility. I really enjoyed Get Out, it was one of the best theater going experiences of the year. It is currently ranked just below Three Billboards in my top 10 of 2017.

Who Should Win

This is probably cheating, but if I had one wish, it would be for Warren Beatty to come out with Faye Dunaway for their second chance to announce the Best Picture award after last year’s fiasco, and I want him to rip up the ballot and declare that The Florida Project is the best movie of the year. It is available for streaming right now on iTunes, and many other sites. It has so much heart, imagination, and despair all wrapped up in a seedy hotel nestled just off I-4 in sunny Orlando, Florida just outside the Happiest Place on Earth.  Watch the trailer below and try not to fall in love with Brooklyn Prince and forget everything you ever though you knew about Willem Dafoe. It was criminal that his performance was their only nomination. This was the only glaring snub that I saw this year.

What do you think? Who will take home all those little golden statuettes tomorrow? Do you care? Will you even be watching? Do you remember some of the first movies that made you love film? Share with me below or send me a message on social media.

2010s, Actor/Actress, Awards, Television

Oscar Outlook: Male Performance

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What’s happening on Sunday night? That’s right. It’s time for the 90th annual Academy Awards more commonly called the Oscars. The one television program that I make arrangements to watch every year. It is a night to celebrate the movies and to a lesser extent, politics, and other social issues. This is the very reason that I have to watch this without my wife.

Let’s keep looking at the nominees in the major categories, because nobody is talking about Best Adapted Screenplay at the water cooler on Monday, that is unless Logan pulls off a major upset to beat Call Me By Your Name. Instead, all eyes are on the big awards like the two male performance categories that we are going to look at in this post.

Best Actor

And the nominees are…

  • Timothee Chalamet in Call Me by Your Name
  • Daniel Day-Lewis in Phantom Thread
  • Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out
  • Gary Oldman in Darkest Hour
  • Denzel Washington in Roman J. Israel, Esq.
Who Will Win

This is another category with a clear favorite. Gary Oldman will most likely take home his first Oscar on Sunday night after already winning the SAG, BAFTA, and Golden Globe. I loved Darkest Hour. I’m a fan of history (when presented to me in 2-3 hour segments in a dramatic way). When I first saw the makeup that transformed Gary Oldman into Winston Churchill, I was amazed and knew that we were going to see them nominated and probably winning for Best Hair and Makeup.

After watching the film though, I forgot it was Oldman under that makeup. I was completely enthralled with the story and sold on his passion and eccentricities. Oldman is known for being immensely flexible in his range and he has sunk deeply into characters before. Think of Dracula, True Romance, Sid and Nancy, and many more, but he has never been this electric and transparent in such an accessible and moving film.

Outside Chance

There are some rumors that the new kid on the block Timothee Chalamet could pull an upset. I think this is highly unlikely. While Call Me By Your Name does tick a lot of the Oscar’s boxes for being relevant politically and socially, when those anonymous votes get tallied, I don’t think the voters  ) find a majority to vote for the most pretentious and self-indulgent movie of the year. Fun fake fact: Peach sales have increased by 15% since the movie’s release.

Who Should Win

The Academy is probably trending towards the correct choice at this point. Part of me would love to see Daniel Day-Lewis take home his fourth Oscar in six nominations. That would give him the best nomination/win batting averages of those with more than five nominations. Compare that to Meryl Streep with her 21 nominations and only three wins. No offense to either Daniel Kaluuya or Denzel Washington who I thought were great in their roles but they don’t have a chance of winning.

Best Supporting Actor

And the nominees are…

  • Willem Dafoe in The Florida Project
  • Woody Harrelson in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
  • Richard Jenkins in The Shape of Water
  • Christopher Plummer in All the Money in the World
  • Sam Rockwell in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Full disclosure: This is the only category in which I still have a blind spot. I missed All the Money in the World so I can’t comment on Christopher Plummer’s quick exchange for Kevin Spacey. I’m going to try and catch it before Sunday. I’m sure he is wonderful, but part of me thinks this is one of those political statement nominations.

Who Will Win

Sam Rockwell is the odds on favorite to win this and I couldn’t be happier for him. I’ve been keeping an eye on him ever since I saw him play Guy in Galaxy Quest back in 1999. Then when he played Zaphod Beezelbrox in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy I loved it. But his breakout role was for Duncan Jones criminally underrated sci-fi thriller Moon. Perhaps after he gets the win people will know him by his name instead of “you know, that one guy.”

Outside Chance

As much as I like Sam Rockwell and would love to see him win, in my heart of hearts I want to see Willem Dafoe pull out the victory for his role in the film that affected me more deeply than any other this year. Sean Baker’s The Florida Project was humanistic and rich. Dafoe plays an On-Site Manager for a small slum hotel called the Magic Castle in the shadow of Orlando’s Disney World.

The film was created with many non-actors, and actual residents of the hotel. I was shocked when this wasn’t even nominated for Best Picture because it is worth that accolade and more. There has been some groundswell of support for him in recent days, but I ultimately think that it was just too small of a film to make the impact that the Oscars are looking for.

Who Should Win

Rockwell and Harrelson both provide quality supporting roles to Frances McDormand’s powerhouse performance, but I’m going to go with the little guy and and say that Willem Dafoe should win this category for his supportive and compassionate father figure.

This is all just my speculation and it is all about what amounts to a fancy human horse race. The Academy invariably gets things wrong, they vote based upon popular tides and political leanings. They vote to make statements, and often that means that the true best of the year go by overlooked and under appreciated except by those of us who champion them. Let your voice be heard! Sound off in the comments below or find me on any of the major social media platforms and let’s talk about movies (or other stuff… but mostly movies.)

2010s, Actor/Actress, Awards, Television

Oscar Outlook: Female Performance

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The Oscars are on Sunday night. I want you to be informed about all the nominees and the stories surrounding their movies and nominations. That way you can be well informed at your Oscar party as you stuff your face full of hors-d’oeuvres.

There is an entire debate about whether or not the Actor and Actress categories should be combined or left separate. I don’t want to get involved in the politics of it, but I do like having separate categories because it means that we can recognize more performers for their craft. In this post, I’m going to look at both the race for Best Actor who happens to be a female and best Supporting Actor who happens to be a female.

Best Actress

And the nominees are…

  • Frances McDormand for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
  • Saoirse Ronan for Lady Bird
  • Sally Hawkins for The Shape of Water
  • Margot Robbie for I, Tonya
  • Meryl Streep for The Post

Who Will Win

Frances McDormand is the hands down favorite to win this. Honestly, anyone else would be a shock. Three Billboards has grown on me the further I have gotten away from watching it. The film itself had a bit of controversy early on because of its somewhat flippant attitude towards racial violence. However, it lingers and invades in a good way and much of it is due to McDormand’s performance as a tortured mother who lost her daughter in a tragic way and is seeking justice in unconventional means.

This is her 5th nomination, and if all goes according to plan, it would be her 2nd win since her victory for her role in 1996’s Fargo. She has already taken home the Screen Actor’s Guild award, BAFTA, and Golden Globe for this performance, it is hard to think that the Academy will push against this wave of support.

Outside Chance

I guess technically McDormand split the Golden Globe with Saoirse (pronounced “Seer-sha”) Ronan. McDormand won for a dramatic performance and they called Lady Bird a comedy/musical. It’s possible that Saoirse could sneak in to win this, but anyone else is pretty much a statistical impossibility. But it is an honor to just be nominated, right?

Who Should Win

I’m not going to fight this one either, McDormand gave the female performance of the year in my eyes. She commanded the screen and left us broken with her. However, if we take that amazing performance away, I think we would be having a heated race between Saoirse Ronan for her coming of age Lady Bird performance and Margot Robbie as Tonya Harding in I, Tonya. All three of these films are in my top 10 of the year and all are deserving of much credit and praise.

Best Supporting Actress

And the nominees are…

  • Mary J. Blige for Mudbound
  • Allison Janney for I, Tonya
  • Lesley Manville for Phantom Thread
  • Laurie Metcalf for Lady Bird
  • Octavia Spencer for The Shape of Water

Who Will Win

If there were odds on this race, Allison Janney would be so far out front that I could lose money if I bet on her. Regardless, she deserves it! If you haven’t seen I, Tonya because you hate ice skating or whatever or the true crime drama kind of thing, then just watch it for the 5-6 scenes that we get with Allison Janney playing the acidic mother of Tonya Harding. She does more to elevate Margot Robbie’s performance as Tonya than Margot could have ever done on her own. That is why they call it a “Supporting” actor.

Outside Chance

If it comes out this week that Allison Janney is a cannibal and was somehow responsible for the death of Mr. Rogers, she would still win. Not just because voting is already completed but because she is that good.

Who Should Win

Are you listening? Allison Janney should win!

But if we are discounting her, then this would be between Laurie Metcalf as the Mother Bird to Saoirse Ronan’s Lady Bird and a subtle but tenacious performance by Lesley Manville as the sister of the unique and exacting character that was Daniel Day Lewis’ lead character in Phantom Thread. I obviously knew Laurie Metcalf from Roseanne ages ago, but Lesley Manville, I had to look up to see what else she had been in that I had missed. She was my favorite part of that film.

What do you think? Will the stars align for both of these favorites so they leave the stage grasping gold or will there be a shocking upset that we will all be talking about on Monday? I want to hear your opinions. It’s no fun just talking to myself. Let’s start a conversation here or on any of the major social media platforms.

2010s, Awards, Director, Television

Oscar Outlook: Best Director

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The 90th Academy Awards are this Sunday night. I’ve already made my picks on a couple of the contest sites including the Official Oscar Challenge and Gold Derby where you can play the odds on all kinds of entertainment contests. If you’re feeling old fashioned, you could just print out a ballot and pass it around your office this week. Whether you are going to a fancy Oscar party or just watching in your pajamas, it’s always fun to play along.

With that in mind, I thought in these few days leading up to the biggest night in Hollywood, I would take a few minutes to look deeper at the top categories. Best picture, the four top actor nominations, and of course…

Best Director

Among most of my non-movie friends the Best Director category holds just as much mystery as the Best Production Design might. “Normal” people don;t go around talking about movie in terms of their director. Oftentimes they go unnoticed in the background, and that is how most of them would like to keep it, the exceptions being those few directors that almost demand that their name be read before their movie’s title, like Lee Daniel’s The Butler.

I however, directors do so much to create the films that we see everyday, it is good that they have a few moments in the sun to take credit for the pictures that they have painstakingly collaborated and toiled for years to create.

Even if you have no idea who these people are, you should at least be happy that this isn’t a panel of old white guys. That’s what we usually see, but with last years Oscars so white controversy we have a great deal more diversity this year. I think it certainly helps those efforts that many of the best pictures of the year came from diverse sources and were made by a varied group of individuals. This is a good thing because we need to see films highlighted that reflect our country’s population.

Without further ado, the nominees are…

  • Christopher Nolan for Dunkirk
  • Jordan Peele for Get Out
  • Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird
  • Paul Thomas Anderson for Phantom Thread
  • Guillermo Del Toro for The Shape of Water

Will Win

There is not a doubt in my mind that Guillermo Del Toro will take home the gold on Sunday night. We’ve seen a trend of Hispanic Directors over the last few years with Alejandro G. Innaritu and Alfonso Cuaron. Del Toro should have been Nominated (and probably won) for Pan’s Labyrinth. That movie was better than this one, but the Oscars have a way of righting past wrongs through new awards. See John Wayne’s only Oscar for one of his last films, a good role in True Grit but far from his best.

Outside Chance

If the Academy voters are keen to just hand out diversity nomination but not awards, they could give the trophy to Christopher Nolan for Dunkirk. I think that would be the wrong move, Dunkirk is not Nolan’s best film by far, but he’s been snubbed previously and they could try to make up for that.

Should Win

I’m not one for pandering, but I would love to see either Greta Gerwig or Jordan Peele take home the win. They are only the 5th nominee that is female or African American respectively. Gerwig would be second only to Katherine Bigelow who won a few years ago for The Hurt Locker.

However, my should win has to go to Jordan Peele for his outsanding Directorial debut in the completely original and seamlessly crafted Get Out. He weaved comedy, drama, horror, and political satire into one massively entertaining film and seemingly didn’t even break a sweat. I’m looking forward to what we will see from him next. Part of me wishes the Oscars had a category for best new director so he could at least get full credit there., but unfortunately, he would still be up against Greta Gerwig and the juggernaut that was Lady Bird.

What’s Your Pick?

Who do you think will win? What was your favorite of the year? Do you think that it’s a good thing that we are seeing more diversity represented in these awards? Let your voice be heard in the comments below.

2010s, Action, Alien/Monster, Awards, Biopic, Detective, Drama, Epic, Great Movies, Horror, Lists, Mystery, Political, Science Fiction, Suspense, Thriller, True Story, War

Best of 2017: Outsiders 11-15

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Let’s continue to look at those just outside of my top ten of 2017. You can also read my #16-20. I’ve seen most of these on other people’s top ten lists and I think that they could all be up there if I was in a different mood. You’ll notice that on most of these mini reviews, I’m not focusing on technical merit or acting unless it was hands down better than anything else I’ve seen this year. Instead, I’m choosing my top films by selecting the ones that resonated the most with me. I hope that you will read my thoughts on these five and give me your thoughts. Link me to your top 10s, Tell me why I’m wrong or what I got right. Continue reading Best of 2017: Outsiders 11-15 →

Awards, Coming Soon

Entering Academy Awards Season

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The Academy Awards, Golden Globes, BAFTAs, Screen Actors Guild, the list of film awards goes on and on. Traditionally, once we enter September, Summer movie season is over and we begin the march toward the years’ end which acts as a deadline for Oscar consideration. Those lines have blurred over the past 20 years or so through several factors. There has been a widening gap between popular films and critically acclaimed films. If you look at the Best Picture Oscar Winners from the 1970s and 80s (The Godfather, Rain Man, and Rocky) many of them were the most popular movies of the year. I don’t know if we can trace it back to a particular film, but many have linked the beginning of this divide to Jaws in 1975.

Wherever the crack started, it has grown into a grand canyon. In 2015, Spotlight won the Best Picture Oscar, but it earned just over $45 million. That may sound like a lot, but it was the second lowest grossing Best Picture Winner in 38 years just behind Birdman in 2014 which made just over $42 million. Spotlight made over 20 times less than the top grossing film of the year, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which hauled in a cool $936 million domestically. In fact, The Force Awakens made over 5 times as much as Spotlight in its opening weekend.

Obviously, these two films are very different. For instance, The Force Awakens had a $245 million budget and it was continuing an epic saga that millions of fans have adored for decades. I’m not out to condemn the blockbusters. I love them. I don’t even particularly mind that the top grossing films of this fall/winter season will probably be big budget blockbusters like Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Marvel’s Dr. Strange, or the one that my kids are clamoring for, the animated, Sing! We live in a different time than the late 60s when The Jungle Book was the 2nd highest grossing film with $73 million behind The Graduate with just over $100 million. Those years were not better than today, just different.

Perhaps the likes of the People Choice or MTV Movie awards could fill the gap and give some recognition to the films which have captivated the popular opinion. However, I don’t believe that those films need any awards. Most of them have traded their hopes for critical success for big bags full of money. Who knows, maybe there is a film just on the horizon that will be able to complete the trifecta: Entertain fickle audiences, delight cynical critics, and pad the pockets of greedy producers.

But, since the mountains have gotten higher and the valleys lower, it makes it more difficult to notice some of the films that are garnering Oscar attention. Some of the films are counting on that Oscar consideration to help them at the box-office as they will stretch their theatrical run through February in hopes of getting a bump. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to post a handful of guides to this season. I want to give you a roadmap so you can set your calendar and look out for some of the exciting releases that are coming soon. Are there any that stand out in your mind that you are particularly excited about? Let me know in the comments below.