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| Clockwise from top: Dunkirk; I, Tonya; The Shape of Water; Darkest Hour; Three Billboards; The Florida Project |
It’s impossible to detach Moonlight from the #OscarsSoWhite narrative that engulfed the
Academy Awards for 2014 and 2015. I’m not saying that Moonlight won as a kind of peace offering or tokenism—because it
didn’t. I believe many Academy members approached Moonlight within the context of it being the kind of film that
would have normally been overlooked, thus causing #OscarsSoWhite3, but were impressed
by the performances and authenticity of the film. Whatever motivations people
had for watching the film, and it’s hard to argue against circumstance
benefitting Moonlight without
diminishing the merit of its win.
If race and inclusion were the “story” last year, what might
this year’s be? (Although this topic won’t and shouldn’t fade into the background.)
Every film is a product of its time and the context in which it was received,
and this year has two chief currents in the air: leadership and misogyny. With
Trump in the White House and Hollywood a-Twitter over male power and entitlement,
the audiences of today are looking for heroes: real leaders; people who can be
looked up to and folks who will do the right thing and reflect a reality to
which audience want to relate. This year’s frontrunners are tales of heroes.
Let’s have a look at the three heroes potentially leading the race before the
critics' prizes and noise turn up the volume.
Christopher Nolan’s time puzzle is an intricately crafted
feat of bravura filmmaking. The gripping aerial sequences and breathless
precision of the timing and storytelling make it a heavy favourite in technical
categories. But more significantly, it’s a tale of better times when countrymen
united to do what’s right. As the soldiers and civilians of Dunkirk rally on land, air, and sea for
a collective fight for survival, the film becomes more compelling for its heart
and united band of brothers than for its cinematic ballet. And, significantly,
it creates a united front between the soldiers without sugarcoating or
glamorizing war.
Darkest Hour
Darkest Hour reminds
audiences how a brave leader with integrity can unite a nation. Gary Oldman is
the frontrunner for Best Actor for his transformative performance as Winston Churchill
and could lead the film to the podium. The latest film from Joe Wright (Anna Karenina) opens in November after wowing
the festival circuit, and it might eclipse the memory of Dunkirk since Oscar often favours the films seen late in the year
and especially have the benefit of crossover appeal from art house and
mainstream audiences. A side point of contention is the speculation that the
film, or at least Oldman, won’t have support from the Golden Globes after
he called them “bent.” (But who hasn’t?)
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
The TIFF People’s Choice Award lives up to the hype! This
darkly funny black comedy from Martin McDonagh has a Best Original Screenplay
win in the bag, while Frances McDormand is a major threat to win Best Actress
for her deadpan funny and humane performance as Mildred Hayes, a foul-mouthed
momma causing a stir in her small town when she demands justice for her dead
daughter. Billboards is a riot, but
it hits unexpectedly hard with a tale that should resonate strongly post Harvey
Weinstein. It is, ultimately, about a mother’s quest to bring a sexual predator
to justice. The final scenes in which Mildred weighs her power to choose her
own path should have an impact on the industry at this time of reflection. The
negative? Rumor has it that Billboards
is competing as a Drama at the Golden Globes, despite being considered the
frontrunner (and, really, the only contender) for Best Picture – Comedy. The
only presumable explanation is that Fox Searchlight is hoping that its “comedy”
Battle of the Sexes and star Emma
Stone will benefit from Billboards and
McDormand competing in the dramatic race. (Review coming soon!)
There are many other heroes in this race from Sally Hawkins’ fishy mute in The Shape of Water to Willem Dafoe’s award-worthy motel guardian in The Florida Project to Gal Gadot’s summer smash Wonder Woman, and Margot Robbie’s empathetic anti-hero of I, Tonya. But let’s see how the stories pan out and the prizes come in.
Oscar predictions:
Best Picture
Call Me By Your Name
Darkest Hour
Lady Bird
The Post
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards
Outside Ebbing, Missouri
What about: Battle of the Sexes; Blade Runner 2049; Detroit;
The Florida Project; I, Tonya; Mudbound; Phantom Thread;
Wonderstruck
Best Director
Guillermo Del Toro, The
Shape of Water
Martin McDonagh, Three
Billboards
Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk
Steven Spielberg, The
Post
Joe Wright, Darkest
Hour
What about: Luca Guadagnino, Call Me By Your Name; Angelina Jolie, First They Killed My Father; Sean Baker, The Florida Project; Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird; Dee Rees, Mudbound;
Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread; Denis
Villeneuve, Blade Runner 2049
Best Actress
Judi Dench, Victoria
& Abdul
Sally Hawkins, The
Shape of Water
Frances McDormand, Three
Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Margot Robbie, I,
Tonya
Saoirse Ronan, Lady
Bird
What about: Annette Bening, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool; Jessica Chastain, Molly’s Game; Salma Hayek, Beatriz at Dinner; Emma Stone, Battle of the Sexes; Meryl Streep, The Post; Kate Winslet, Wonder Wheel
Best Actor
Timothée Chalamet, Call
Me By Your Name
Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom
Thread
Jake Gyllenhaal, Stronger
Gary Oldman, Darkest
Hour
Best Supporting
Actress
Allison Janney, I,
Tonya
Melissa Leo, Novitiate
Laurie Metcalfe, Lady
Bird
Kristin Scott Thomas, Darkest
Hour
Octavia Spencer, The
Shape of Water
What about: Mary J. Blige, Mudbound, Holly Hunter, The
Big Sick; Andrea Riseborough, Battle
of the Sexes; Tatiana Maslany, Stronger; Julianne Moore, Wonderstruck; Rosamund Pike,
Hostiles
Best Supporting Actor
Willem Dafoe, The
Florida Project
Armie Hammer, Call Me
By Your Name
Woody Harrelson, Three
Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Sam Rockwell, Three
Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Mark Rylance, Dunkirk
What about: Steve Carell, Battle of the Sexes, John Lithgow, Beatriz at Dinner; Michael Stuhlbarg, Call Me By Your Name; Bryan Cranston, Last Flag Flying; Idris Elba, Molly’s
Game; Will Poulter, Detroit; John
Boyega, Detroit
Best Documentary
Jane
One of Us, Chasing
Coral, Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, Hell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and the
Rise of ISIS
Best Foreign Language
Film
Cambodia – First They Killed My Father
Chile – A Fantastic
Woman
Denmark – You
Disappear
France – BPM (Beats Per Minute)
Hungary – On Body and Soul
Other submissions reviewed: Happy End (Austria), Racer and the Jailbird (Belgium), Hochelaga, Land of Souls (Canada), Amerika Square (Greece), Turah (Indonesia),
Song of Granite (Ireland), Kati Kati (Kenya), Razzia (Morocco), The Fixer (Romania)
Best Animated Film
Boss Baby
The Breadwinner
Coco
Despicable Me 3
Loving Vincent
What about: Window Horses (FYC Stick Girl!)
Best Adapted
Screenplay
Call Me By Your Name
– James Ivory
First They Killed My
Father – Angelina Jolie, Luong Ung
Last Flag Flying –
Richard Linklater
Mudbound – Dee
Rees
Wonderstruck – Brian Selznick
What about: The
Beguiled
Best Original
Screenplay
Darkest Hour
I, Tonya
The Post
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards
Outside Ebbing, Missouri
What about: Beatriz at Dinner, Dunkirk,
Lady Bird
Best Cinematography
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
Darkest Hour
The Shape of Water
Wonderstruck
What about: Wonder
Wheel, The Beguiled, First They Killed My Father, Call Me By Your Name
Best Film Editing
Blade Runner 2049
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
I, Tonya
The Shape of Water
What about: Atomic Blonde, Battle of
the Sexes, Wonderstruck; The Post; Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri;
Wonder Woman
Best Original Score
Battle of the Sexes
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Jane
Wonderstruck
Best Song
Beauty and the Beast –
“Evermore”
Beauty and the Beast –
“How Does a Moment Last Forever?”
Call Me My Your Name –
“The Mystery of Love”
Cries from Syria –
“Prayers for this World”
Step – “Jump”
What about: Battle of
the Sexes (“If I Dare”),
Coco (“Remember Me”), Despicable Me 3 (“There’s Something Special”),
An Inconvenient Sequel (“Truth to Power”), LEGO Batman (“Friends are Family”)
Best Costumes
Beauty and the Beast
Darkest Hour
Phantom Thread
Victoria & Abdul
Wonderstruck
What about: The
Beguiled, Blade Runner 2049, MyCousin Rachel, Murder on the Orient Express, Mudbound, Wonder Wheel
Best Production
Design
Beauty and the Beast
Blade Runner 2049
Darkest Hour
Murder on the Orient
Express
The Shape of Water
Best Sound Mixing
Blade Runner 2049
Detroit
Dunkirk
mother!
Wonder Woman
What about: Atomic
Blonde, Darkest Hour, The Shape of Water, Wonderstruck
Best Sound Editing
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
Logan
War for the Planet of
the Apes
Wonder Woman
Best Visual Effects
Beauty and the Beast
Blade Runner 2049
Star Wars: The Last
Jedi
War for the Planet of
the Apes
Wonder Woman