This is probably my Oscars wrap-up

Cheap day at the theater again.

• Today, I saw The Phantom Thread. It’s an understatement to say I didn’t like it, but one of my 2018 resolutions is to spend less time critiquing obnoxious art. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, Mr. Day-Lewis.
• I probably should have seen Call Me By Your Name, but the goo oozing from that film’s trailer is extremely unappealing. I may go to see it next week if it’s still here; gay love stories are a hard sell in this neighborhood.
• I also saw The Florida Project in a one-off right before Christmas. It’s hard to see a Willem Dafoe movie around here; he’s local, but after he called his hometown a “favela” in a national publication, there’s a sort of unofficial boycott, so his movies are never here for more than the obligatory week. I spent about a day thinking about the film. It’s a very accurate portrait of its subject (I lived only an hour from there, so much of the material in that film is familiar to me), but in certain spots I felt like it crossed the border to prurience.
• Apart from that, the only major Oscar contender that I haven’t seen is Get Out, which I skipped because of genre. If the cinemas here bring it back in February for an Oscar preview, as sometimes happens, I will check it out.

I need to stop seeing so many movies, which shouldn’t be too hard, because after Oscars season the number of interesting ones that make it here drops off drastically. So anywhoo …

Best Picture

Nominees: “Call Me by Your Name,” “Darkest Hour,” “Dunkirk,” “Get Out,” “Lady Bird,” “Phantom Thread,” “The Post,” “The Shape of Water,” “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

My predicted winner: “The Shape of Water” or “Dunkirk”

The film I’d pick from this list: “Three Billboards”

Not on this list but should have been nominated: “I, Tonya”

Best Actor

Nominees: Timothée Chalamet, “Call Me by Your Name,” Daniel Day-Lewis, “Phantom Thread,” Daniel Kaluuya, “Get Out,” Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour,” Denzel Washington, “Roman J. Israel, Esq.”

My prediction: either Day-Lewis or Oldman

Who I’d pick: One of the performances I didn’t see

Best Actress

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

My prediction: Frances McDormand

Who I’d pick: Frances McDormand

Best Supporting Actor

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

My prediction: Sam Rockwell

Who I’d pick: Rockwell or Plummer

Who should have been at least nominated: Mark Rylance, for “Dunkirk”

Best Supporting Actress

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

My prediction: Allison Janney

Who I’d pick: Laurie Metcalf

Best Original Screenplay

Nominees: “The Big Sick,” Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani; “Get Out,” Jordan Peele; “Lady Bird,” Greta Gerwig; “The Shape of Water,” Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor; “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Martin McDonagh

My prediction: del Toro or McDonagh

I’d pick: McDonagh or Gordon / Nanjiani

Cinematography

Nominees: “Blade Runner 2049,” Roger Deakins; “Darkest Hour,” Bruno Delbonnel; “Dunkirk,” Hoyte van Hoytema; “Mudbound,” Rachel Morrison; “The Shape of Water,” Dan Laustsen

My prediction: “Blade Runner” or “The Shape of Water” (keeping in mind that I did not see “Blade Runner”)

I’d pick: “The Shape of Water”

~ by Servetus on January 24, 2018.