TV/Film: The 2018 Oscars Thread

[Altair]

The nominees are here.

I for one am not aboard the Shape of Water juggernaut--and I say that as one who worship's Guillermo del Toro's earlier Pan's Labyrinth as one of cinema's most wondrous creations. The Shape of Water is a good movie with a lot to recommend it, but it's obvious, predictable, and suffers from some racial missteps (my review is here). It's just not in the same league as PL.

I'm rooting for Dunkirk, a truly immersive cinematic experience. Though I've heard some say that the Academy is suffering from WWII fatigue and therefore may overlook this masterpiece. (Really, Academy? Giving the best picture nod to--I can barely type this--Shakespeare in Love over Saving Private Ryan in 1999 wasn't travesty enough for you?)

I've seen all the best picture nominees except Phantom Thread, which won't be happening in my lifetime. I just don't think I could sit through 2 hours of Daniel Day-Lewis preciously mewling in that breathy voice without jumping up mid-movie and screaming, "For fuck's sake, speak from the diaphragm!"

[MadZealot]

(Really, Academy? Giving the best picture nod to--I can barely type this--Shakespeare in Love over Saving Private Ryan in 1999 wasn't travesty enough for you?)

Heh. Incidentally, '99 was the last time I gave a shit about the Oscars, and that travesty is why.

Haven't seen any of the nominees. I'm interested in Dunkirk, of course, but I also want to see Get Out. It's rare enough that a horror film gets a BP nod, but one that's also billed as a comedy and raised a convo about its subtext-- now that's REALLY rare.

I know a cameraman and cinephile who went all gaga over seeing Dunkirk in 70mm, and it happened he was one of the few in his area qualified to run the projectors, so he got to work its entire run. Pretty much Disneyland for him.

[Uneryx]

The nominees are here.

Once again, the animation category continues to be a joke. Boss Baby? Over Lego Batman or Mary & the Witch's Flower? Boss Baby, with its garbage character proportions, animation errors, and stupid plot? Next to Coco, the Breadwinner and Loving Vincent?

"Dur hur guess I"ll just vote for whatever movie my kids liked"

Pardon me, I'll be banging my head against the wall and waiting for the Annies for someone who actually knows wtf they're talking about to declare the best animated works this year.

[Altair]

Heh. Incidentally, '99 was the last time I gave a shit about the Oscars, and that travesty is why.

Sometimes the arc of movie-award justice is long: I remember my outrage when unexceptional and now-forgotten Crash shockingly beat out excellent gay-themed juggernaut Brokeback Mountain for best picture, because, y'know, ewwww, gay!...and then came last year, when in the most dramatic fashion possible, little gay movie Midnight shockingly derailed juggernaut La La Land to take the top prize. I sat back and savored The Revenge of Brokeback Mountain.

So perhaps this is the year that Dunkirk visits The Revenge of Private Ryan upon the Oscars. I hope so!

Haven't seen any of the nominees. I'm interested in Dunkirk, of course, but I also want to see Get Out. It's rare enough that a horror film gets a BP nod, but one that's also billed as a comedy and raised a convo about its subtext-- now that's REALLY rare.

Rare indeed--even more so because its underlying anxieties center on the black American experience. It's so much fun! And so clever in delving into people's discomforts. And all this from a first-time director. See it.

Once again, the animation category continues to be a joke. Boss Baby? Over Lego Batman or Mary & the Witch's Flower? Boss Baby, with its garbage character proportions, animation errors, and stupid plot? Next to Coco, the Breadwinner and Loving Vincent?

"Dur hur guess I"ll just vote for whatever movie my kids liked"

Pardon me, I'll be banging my head against the wall and waiting for the Annies for someone who actually knows wtf they're talking about to declare the best animated works this year.

Inexplicable. I'm putting my money on Coco. Mostly because it's the only one I've seen--and I chose to see it twice--which says something right there. I have a low tolerance for the tidal wave of cutesy-poo formulaic crap that gets dumped into movie theaters as animation these days, to the point that almost reflexively, if it's animated, I'll skip it.

Except if it's Pixar. And Pixar is a pretty safe Oscar bet.

[Valentine]

The nominees are here.

I for one am not aboard the Shape of Water juggernaut--and I say that as one who worship's Guillermo del Toro's earlier Pan's Labyrinth as one of cinema's most wondrous creations. The Shape of Water is a good movie with a lot to recommend it, but it's obvious, predictable, and suffers from some racial missteps (my review is here). It's just not in the same league as PL.

I thought The Shape of Water was absolutely exquisite, though I agree that Zelda was underdeveloped in a way that rankled. (I appreciated, too, the character note of the white gay man refusing to engage with thinking about racism until it got brought home and made personal--that felt true to a whole lot of people I know, unfortunately.)

I hope Get Out wins SO many things, though.

[Chatelaine]

The nominees are here.

I'll be happy if The Shape of Water gets a few awards; so many nominations make me nervous of the Turning Point/Color Purple effect. It's no ROTC, but it deserves not to leave empty-handed.

I also hope The Last Jedi gets something, because The Force Awakens was robbed.

Beyond that, Meryl Streep and Daniel Day-Lewis there again make me roll my eyes in boredom. Though not as great boredom as Dunkirk. I'm not interested in stories without women. Speaking of, where the hell is Wonder Woman? Technique not up to par for the Academy?

Finally, yay Coco!

[MadZealot]

Speaking of, where the hell is Wonder Woman? Technique not up to par for the Academy?

Should've been nominated for some of the technical awards-- effects, art direction, costuming.
Sadly, "comic book" movies still aren't seriously-film enough, to the Oscar people, to get nominated for the bigger stuff. They usually get less recognition than fantasy, scifi, or horror.
Nice to see a nod to Logan for best adapted screenplay, though.

[Jack]

Should've been nominated for some of the technical awards-- effects, art direction, costuming.
Sadly, "comic book" movies still aren't seriously-film enough, to the Oscar people, to get nominated for the bigger stuff. They usually get less recognition than fantasy, scifi, or horror.
Nice to see a nod to Logan for best adapted screenplay, though.

Logan's as close to Oscar bait as I've ever seen from a superhero movie, being about Sad White Guy and everything, but ffs Wonder Woman should have at LEAST gotten a costuming nomination.

[mona lizard]

Once again, the animation category continues to be a joke. Boss Baby? Over Lego Batman or Mary & the Witch's Flower? Boss Baby, with its garbage character proportions, animation errors, and stupid plot? Next to Coco, the Breadwinner and Loving Vincent?

"Dur hur guess I"ll just vote for whatever movie my kids liked"

Pardon me, I'll be banging my head against the wall and waiting for the Annies for someone who actually knows wtf they're talking about to declare the best animated works this year.

I'm actually super glad they at least nominated Loving Vincent. I hate the animation oscars as much as the next aimator but they usually don't even bother putting foreign films or films for adults (or, when they do nominate films for adults, they're films that are wrongly marketed to entire family, like ghibli movies. Anomalisa being the one exception I can think of). I hope it will at least give Loving Vincent some exposure. I didn't like any of the animated shorts and I'm a little bit tired of seeing negative space and garden party everywhere my eyes land but I still think objectively they're good. I have weird taste in short films and there are also so many of them that I can't complain. They can't reward every single one when hundreds of short masterpieces are out every year.

Going to the Annecy festival for the first time last year actually gave me some optimism for animation awards. Everyone at Annecy genuinely loves and cares about animation and the future of animation so much, there's thousands and thousands of artists and cinephiles from all over the world there rooting for indie movies and talking about the next Annecy Awards like the Oscars aren't even a thing. It felt refreshing.

I haven't seen most of the other movie categories because they aren't out in France yet so I can't get too excited haha! I've only seen Get Out, which I didn't find as groundbreaking as the critics say, but is a solid and well made thriller. Would be a little bit underwhelmed if it got a lot of wins but wouldn't be outraged.

[Altair]

Should've been nominated for some of the technical awards-- effects, art direction, costuming.
Sadly, "comic book" movies still aren't seriously-film enough, to the Oscar people, to get nominated for the bigger stuff. They usually get less recognition than fantasy, scifi, or horror.

Look, I'm a former comic-book pro, and even I wouldn't nominate the superhero movies for anything besides technical awards--Wonder Woman included. They're entertaining when they're good, but none have been great: a cinematic experience in which everything comes together to form a unique vision that communicates a lasting, moving message. The superhero flicks can be formulaic, even when the formula is well executed, and worse, the world is oversaturated with them. Nothing stands out; Wonder Woman's great differentiator is that the hero has a vagina. That's not Oscar-worthy. None of them are.

I agree the Academy finds it tough to give love to sci-fi/fantasy/horror, which is why I've been pleased to see District 9, Arrival, and now Get Out get nominated over the years. Those all have met my definition of a great movie--Get Out perhaps a little less so, but close enough.

Logan's as close to Oscar bait as I've ever seen from a superhero movie, being about Sad White Guy and everything, but ffs Wonder Woman should have at LEAST gotten a costuming nomination.

I can agree with that. Love your signature, BTW, Jack!