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.
