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Let’s blog Oscars! After all Oscar night is one of the biggest nights of my calendar year. It’s bigger then the super bowl! Hell it’s bigger then Christmas!
First things first. The obvious contenders. Lady Bird scored five Oscar nominations and Greta Gerwig became the fifth woman nominated for best director. I know there’s folks out there who loved this movie. I’m not one of them. Let me clarify, I enjoyed the film but did not love it. I’m not a Greta Gerwig fan. With rare exception I think she’s underperformed in mediocre movies. Mistress America, Frances Ha, the Arthur remake are just a few. I do think more women filmmakers need to be recognized in this category. The fact that Gerwig is the first woman to be nominated for best director since Kathryn Bigelow won for the incredible movie The Hurt Locker, only proves my point. That was almost a decade ago. In fact Kathryn Bigelow directed an incredible movie this year: Detroit. If you haven’t seen that one please do!
Moving on. The other obvious contenders were the excellent Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, The Post, Dunkirk, and The Shape of Water. All three films were well crafted, well acted, and most importantly told excellent stories. All are excellent qualities in best picture nominees and an eventual winner.
The two big surprises were the best picture nominations for Get Out and Phantom Thread. I am a huge fan of Get Out. I thought comedian Jordan Peele crafted a well thought out horror film. The movie was released in late February, just before last years Oscars. Clearly it left an incredible impression. The last film horror film to contend for best picture also shared a February release date. The movie: The Silence of the Lambs. In fact it opened on valentine’s day.
I enjoyed watching Phantom Thread. I was really excited to see it because it re-teamed Daniel Day Lewis with Paul Thomas Anderson. The duo first united for There Will be Blood, which remains one of my favorites. Phantom Thread was well crafted and had a very Hitchcock undertone in the second half. I do have to admit I was a bit bored with the movie at times. It’s still a beautiful movie that should already have the costume design Oscar wrapped up.
Two big snubs stand out for me in the best picture category. The Big Sick and The Florida Project were both excellent movies that deserved to be recognized as best movies of 2018. Both movies scored an individual nomination. The Big Sick for its original screenplay and The Florida Project for Willem Dafoe’s excellent supporting performance. I have a tough time spinning my head around best picture nominations for Lady Bird and Phantom Thread knowing these two incredible movies were snubbed.
I look forward to seeing Jimmy Kimmell return to host. He’s a safe and entertaining choice. I do like when the Academy thinks outside the box and hires someone like Hugh Jackman to host.
With all that said I’ll see y’all at the Oscars!
