And the winner is…

A quick guide to the 2018 Best Picture Oscar nominees

Oscar’s big night is March 4, and everyone is excited to find out which of the movies they saw last year will win the big prize. Except most people have not seen all the movies on the list. If you are one of the great majority who do not live in a big city, chances are not all the movies have come to your town.

Despite having 12- and a 10-screen theaters in Beaumont, it has been hard to see them all. “I, Tonya,” and “Phantom Thread” were only in town for a week at the beginning of February, with “Thread” on limited showings.

Of the nine Best Picture nominees, “Get Out” came out early in the spring and is available free on HBO, and “Dunkirk” came out in the summer and is available to stream for $4.99. “The Post” got a wide release, but the others have been in the “see it now before it’s gone” category. “Call Me By Your Name” is not even scheduled to come to town until Oscar week, and then for only two days.

 Through careful planning, drives to Houston and, in one case, help from a friend, I managed to see “The Nine” in time to offer a guide to the what to expect on the big day (good luck trying to find the documentaries, but that’s another story).

 2017 was a good year for movies. The nine nominees for the top award are all strong and a good case could be made for several others. “The Disaster Artist” was weird and funny, “The Big Sick” was poignant and funny (and picked up a deserved writing nomination), and “Mudbound” was excellent. And let’s not forget the juggernaut that was “Wonder Woman,” which became a feminist rallying cry. But the picks are always subjective and someone is always going to be disappointed.

GET OUT was the first film to be released, so let’s start with that. Writer/director Jordan Peele had a loyal following due to being half of Key and Peele and their wonderful sketch show on Comedy Central. However, no one anticipated the success of this satirical horror film. Daniel Kaluuya plays Chris, a black photographer who has been interracially dating Allison Williams’ Rose for four months. The couple head out to her liberal parents’ country house where Chris is surrounded by well-meaning white people who go out of their way to praise black culture and his physical attributes. The white liberal praise is both embarrassing and funny. However, Chris gets an uncomfortable vibe, especially from the family’s black servants (of whom Betty Gabriel is a standout) who remind one of the Stepford Wives. As the movie progresses, Peele subverts the whole notion of race. The horror is the best kind of creepy, and his deft direction never resorts to gore for cheap effect. “Get Out” is an instant horror classic with a sharply intelligent soul.

I was on vacation when DUNKIRK came out but, as an Englishman, I wasn’t about to miss Christopher Nolan’s telling of one of England’s finest hours (it’s a long history, people. We’ve had a few). Nolan’s reputation is built on long time-and-space-bending films like “Memento” and “Inception,” as well as the “Dark Knight” series. “Dunkirk” is his shortest film, but it is a thrill ride from start to finish. Weaving three separate stories that cover one week, one hour and one day, backed by Hans Zimmer’s amazing ticking soundtrack, the tension builds and the soldiers’ fear, as they wait trapped on the beach, is palpable. The cast is excellent, especially Mark Rylance as the cardigan-wearing ordinary man, but it’s not about the actors. Nolan has given us a riveting film that does justice to an amazing story and will leave your heart pumping. If you don’t cry when the civilian armada shows up on the horizon then you have no soul.

The Dunkirk evacuation shows up again in THE DARKEST HOUR, which tells the story of England’s darkest, and Winston Churchill’s finest, moment. The whole film takes place over three weeks at the start of his term as Prime Minister. Churchill was not popular with his own party and really only got the job because England was in a bit of a jam and facing almost certain defeat by the German army. The rest of Winnie’s Conservative Party, led by Lord Halifax (splendidly played by Stephan Dillane) is pushing for a peace deal, but Churchill stands up against the Nazis and seals his reputation. The film itself is pretty decent, especially if one is a fan of history, but the real reason it’s getting praise is Gary Oldman’s performance. His Churchill is all wobbling flesh and jowly diction and is great fun. Oldman is great in everything, and he is particularly good in this and has picked up most of the acting awards this season.

Stepping away from the big themes, Greta Gerwig’s LADY BIRD is a small film about a small-town high-schooler with big dreams. Gerwig based the film on her experiences growing up in Sacramento, California, and its authenticity is in every frame. The ensemble is superb, but Soairse Ronan and Laurie Metcalfe dominate the action, and both have picked up acting nominations. As daughter and mother, their relationship is strained, with Metcalfe fighting to hold the family together through her husband’s unemployment, while Ronan’s Lady Bird (“It’s my given name; I gave it to myself.”) is just trying to make it through the myriad minefields of senior year. It is an absolutely beautiful film, and Gerwig is a deserved Oscar nominee for her direction and writing.

One of my favorites is THE POST — not because it’s a great film, but because of what has been dubbed “Hot Type Porn.” Anyone who worked at newspapers in the days pre-computer just gets a kick out of seeing all the typewriters, the lead type, the loud, heavily populated newsrooms, and that moment when the presses start and the building shakes. The film itself, directed by Steven Spielberg and featuring a stellar cast led by Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, does a good job telling the story of the Pentagon Papers. It also sheds light on the struggles of publisher Katharine Graham to establish herself in a male-dominated field. Spielberg has given us a film that is designed to emphasize the importance of journalism, as well as the importance of feminism. Sometimes he tries a little too hard, such as the scene where Graham meets the government’s intern at the Supreme Court. It just gets a little too earnest, bordering on trite. “The Post” is worth seeing and is a valuable entry into the journalism movie canon. It’s no “All the President’s Men” or “Spotlight,” but it’s pretty good.

Guillermo Del Toro’s THE SHAPE OF WATERis a wonderful, visual feast, a B-movie art film with heart and depth. Sally Hawkins leads a wonderful ensemble as a mute woman who works at a government research facility. When a “mer-man” is brought in to the lab where she cleans, an unlikely romance ensues. The whole film, from the color scheme to the set, has a “wet” feel. Del Toro’s movies are always interesting, and this is a masterpiece that blends B-movie horror, film noir and romantic movies from Hollywood’s Golden Age. Hawkins is nominated for Best Actress, and her wordless performance is a delight. What she lacks in words she makes up for with her face and her physicality. She is ably supported with excellent showings from Richard Jenkins, Octavia Spencer and Michael Stuhlbarg, with Michael Shannon in fine form as the villainous agent Strickland. “The Shape of Water,” which led all films with 13 nominations, is a must-see.

One of the Oscar frontrunners is Martin McDonagh’s THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI. Frances McDormand plays Mildred Hayes who puts up the titular billboards calling out the local police for failing to catch the person who raped and killed her daughter. McDormand has won every award going this year, and it will be a shock if she doesn’t add another Oscar to go with her previous win for “Fargo.” Mildred is a foul-mouthed, raging, grief-ridden tornado who dominates the picture. Sam Rockwell, in another Oscar-nominated turn as the racist Officer Dixon, is almost her equal. The movie is funny and bleak, harsh and heartfelt. The film was a long-time frontrunner for Best Picture but, as usual, the frontrunner is there to get shot at, and there has been some backlash over Rockwell’s character and the perception that his attitude does not get enough of a comeuppance. This has also spread to Rockwell’s performance itself. Remember, Rockwell’s character is racist, not Rockwell himself. And his performance deserves all the accolades it gets. “Three Billboards” is not perfect, but its performances make it worth seeing.

PHANTOM THREAD is supposedly Daniel Day-Lewis’ final film. If that is so, then the only three-time male Best Actor is going out on a high note. Teaming up again with Paul Thomas Anderson, the director of his Oscar-winning turn in “There Will Be Blood,” Day-Lewis is absolutely brilliant as Reynolds Woodcock, a 1950s coutourier. Reynolds is a creative genius, but he is also petulant, demanding and childlike. When he meets a waitress, played by Luxembourg actress Vicky Krieps, he opens the door to a disruption in his beloved routine. The movie shifts its tone and throws in twists and turns. “Phantom Thread” is beautiful to look at and is slyly funny. Krieps more than holds her own opposite an acting giant, and Lesley Manville is superb as Reynolds’ sister. “Phantom Thread” was a late entry into the Oscar race, not getting wide release until late January. As a result, it was not recognized at the Golden Globes, but the buzz is that it’s picking up steam among Oscar voters. It is certainly one to keep an eye on.

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME has yet to hit Beaumont, but when it does, on March 1, it is well worth checking out. This coming of age love story is set in early-1980s Italy, and the scenery alone is well worth the price of admission. James Ivory wrote the script and the film plays like one of the classic Merchant/Ivory films like “A Room With A View,” “Howards End” or, more fittingly, “Maurice.” When 24-year-old American graduate student Oliver, played by Armie Hammer, arrives to spend a summer as an assistant to Perlman, a professor of ancient antiquities, 17-year-old Elio, Perlman’s son, superbly played by Timothée Chalomet, is whiling away the summer, adrift in a haze of burgeoning sexuality. Both have liaisons with local girls, but it is clear from the glances and furtive looks that they are destined to find each other. “Call Me By Your Name” is a gorgeous love story. The summer romance in other-wordly Italy allows both to find themselves in each other. The film culminates with a brilliant speech by Elio’s father that should be required viewing for everyone, gay or straight. “Call Me By Your Name” is a moving and sweet romance.

Several times I saw a film and thought, “Well, this will be hard to beat,” only to see the next one and think it was at least its equal. So what is the “best picture of the year? The “best” picture does not always win, and I think my favorite this year will lose out to either “Three Billboards” or “The Shape of Water,” and I will be quite content with either film lifting the trophy. 

But “Phantom Thread” really stuck with me and should be this year’s Best Picture.

Andy Coughlan, ISSUE editor

For full reviews, visit Coughlan’s blog, English with a Bit of Texas