Top 10 Week: Performances by Men in 2017

#10: Michael Shannon, The Shape of Water
In a film full of marginalized characters, Michael Shannon's government official is the symbol of social power. He is the type of character that the world has been tailored to satisfy, so imagine his growing rage through the course of the film when he is repeatedly denied what he wants and everything that he values is undermined. Shannon's character is everything corrupt and wrong about social power and the way that it excludes everyone who doesn't conform to its rigid ideal, and Shannon does absolutely nothing to soften the character's sharp edges. He's a villain in all his irredeemable glory, built upon layers of privilege, which makes the film's resolution all the more satisfying. Shannon isn't known for playing warm and fuzzy characters in the first place, but when he's allowed to play an unapologetic SOB he's particularly great.

Top 10 Week: Scenes of 2017

#10: No Man's Land, Wonder Woman
And with that, a hero is born. If you're a man, it may be difficult to fully understand why this scene spoke to so many women; after all, male characters get to do things like this so often that it probably feels perfunctory to this kind of story. The opportunity for women to see female characters on the big screen get to be the hero has been fewer and far between. This isn't just a crucial moment in the movie, where Diana/Wonder Woman gets to show what she's capable of and the men around her decide it's worth following her lead, nor merely an encapsulation of everything that the character stands for - compassion, fearlessness, inspiration - or even just an instantly iconic pop culture moment. It's a moment that meant a lot for a lot people seeing it, and isn't that what going to the movies is all about?

Top 10 Week: Posters of 2017

#10: Kong: Skull Island
You could argue that it's a bit no the nose in trying to evoke Apocalypse Now, but honestly it's just so refreshing to see the poster for an action movie try something other than the omnipresent "floating heads" advertising strategy that even if this is a little bit derivative, it still feels fresh and different.

Top 10 Week: Runners Up and Extras

Before we get to the runners up, I just want to take a few moments to recognize some things that don't fit into the categories that make up my "best of" lists. I also want to note some of the movies that I wasn't able to see prior to making my lists, which might have changed the rankings: Call Me By Your Name, A Fantastic Woman, Faces Places, BPM (Beats Per Minute), Wonderstruck, Novitiate, The Square, and God's Own Country.

Extras

Most Fun I Had at the Movies All Year: Thor: Ragnarok
Perhaps the most purely, gleefully entertaining movie of the year, I still kind of can't believe that a movie this weird was made with a superhero-level production and marketing budget. All praise to Marvel for stepping back and letting Taika Waititi do his thing.

Review: Phantom Thread (2017)

* * * *
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Vicky Krieps, Lesley Manville

Generally speaking, I'm not a person who thinks that spoilers matter. What happens is much less interesting to me than how it happens, particularly since plot twists tend to be so telegraphed anyway. I knew that there was some sort of twist to Phantom Thread but I didn't know what it was (and not for lack of trying, as the giddiness with which some reviews talked around the twist piqued my interest, but Movie Spoiler didn't have a write up for the film yet and Wikipedia's entry for it was still just a couple of sentences that only gave the basic premise). I'm glad that I didn't because in a million years I don't think I would have guessed that the plot would take the turn that it does until it was already veering into that other lane, and that realization that it was taking that turn (and then the turns that flowed out of that one) was one of the great pleasures of watching the movie. I think that Phantom Thread, a meticulously put together movie in every respect, is a film that can be enjoyed even if you go into it knowing where it's headed, but it's a lot more fun if you go into it cold. So if you're planning to see it, stop reading here, because spoilers lie ahead.

Review: The Post (2017)

* * * 1/2
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks

The Post is not a movie that will surprise you, but there's pleasure to be had in a classic tale told in a classic fashion. Is it accurate to the way things actually happened? I'm sure the New York Times would have something to say about that, and in the end I'm not sure that it matters, unless you want to split hairs over whether plot or theme represent what a film is truly about. What it tells is a well crafted story, one which is engrossing and often rousing, and which has been fashioned in a way to make it as relevant to the moment that we're currently living in as possible, even as it hits all of the expected beats. It leads with its talent - which is, of course, considerable both off screen and on, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks - and lets that do most of the work. After all, how wrong could a movie with that triumvirate go? I'd say it doesn't really go wrong at all.

Review: I, Tonya (2017)

* * *
Director: Craig Gillespie
Starring: Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney

Late in I, Tonya the film's eponymous protagonist wonders why it can't just be about the skating. It's a fair question in the specific context of the scene, wherein she's told that her athletic prowess is irrelevant because she's doesn't fit the image that US Figure Skating wants to put forward on the world stage, but it's a fair question in a larger sense, too. After the film was over, one of the images that stayed with me was a shot of 4 year old Tonya skating and how happy she was to be doing it. In the film's telling of her story, that was probably the last pure and unqualified moment of happiness she ever experienced and it makes you wonder, "Why couldn't it just have been about the skating?" or any sport for any kid who feels happy playing it. Why couldn't it have just been a thing that she enjoyed doing, rather than the thing that she was repeatedly told was the only thing that mattered and the only thing about her that gave her any value? I wouldn't say that I emerged from I, Tonya feeling like Tonya Harding is a hero, but I certainly came out of it with more sympathy for her than I expected because if even a quarter of this story is true then hers was a life that was always going to be marked by tragedy and ruin in some capacity or other.

The 90th Academy Awards Nominees

The nominees are:

Best Picture
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

Oscar Nomination Predictions

Best Picture
Call Me By Your Name
Dunkirk
Get Out
I, Tonya
Lady Bird
The Post
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Wonder Woman

SAG and PGA Winners

The Screen Actors Guild handed out its awards tonight, while the Producers Guild announced its winners yesterday. The winners are:

Screen Actors Guild Winners
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role: Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role: Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role: Allison Janney, I, Tonya

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role: Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture: Wonder Woman

Producers Guild Winners
Best Picture: The Shape of Water

Best Documentary Feature: Jane

Best Animated Feature: Coco

Critics Choice Award Winners

The winners are:

Best Picture: The Shape of Water

Best Director: Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water

Best Actor: Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour

Best Actress: Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Comedy: The Big Sick

Best Actor in a Comedy: James Franco, The Disaster Artist

Best Actress in a Comedy: Margot Robbie, I, Tonya

Best Supporting Actor: Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Supporting Actress: Allison Janney, I, Tonya

Best Acting Ensemble: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Foreign Language Film: In The Fade

Best Action Movie: Wonder Woman

Best Animated Feature: Coco

Best Original Screenplay: Jordan Peele, Get Out

Best Adapted Screenplay: James Ivory, Call Me By your Name

Best Cinematography: Blade Runner 2049

Best Production Design: The Shape of Water

Best Score: The Shape of Water

Best Costume Design: Phantom Thread

Best Editing: Baby Driver &  Dunkirk

Best Visual Effects: War for the Planet of the Apes

Best Hair and Makeup: Darkest Hour

Best Song: "Remember Me," Coco

Best Sci-fi/Horror Film: Get Out

Best Young Actor: Brooklynn Prince, The Florida Project

Director's Guild Nominees

Announced earlier today:

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Films

Guillermo del Torro, The Shape of Water

Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird

Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk

Jordane Peele, Get Out


Outstanding Directorial Achievement for a First-Time Feature Film Director

Geremy Jasper, Patti Cake$

William Oldroyd, Lady Macbeth

Jordan Peele, Get Out

Taylor Sheridan, Wind River

Aaron Sorkin, Molly’s Game

Review: Molly's Game (2017)

* * *
Director: Aaron Sorkin
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba

If there's one thing you can say for Aaron Sorkin, it's that you have to go out of your way to feel bored watching one of his stories unfold. That's because there's so much going on and everything is moving so fast. Molly's Game, his latest and his directorial debut, runs to almost 2 and a half hours but it doesn't feel nearly that long because it's told in such a nimble, dialogue and incident packed fashion. It also manages the impressive feat of making poker, which may be an interesting game to play but isn't a particularly interesting game to watch, feel entertaining from the distance of an observer (though that may be because while there's a lot of talk about poker in the movie, there's not necessarily a lot of time spent watching it). While Sorkin, a writer known for dynamic screenplays, hasn't historically been celebrated for his ability to write female characters, he's been gifted here with a real life person with a compelling story, and an actress who is so at home reciting his sharp, rapid-fire prose that it feels as if she's already been doing it for a lifetime.

Review: The Shape of Water (2017)

* * * *
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Starring: Sally Hawkins, Richard Jenkins, Octavia Spencer, Michael Shannon, Michael Stuhlbarg

Tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme, beauty and the beast. There's nothing new about stories of women seeing past the beastly exterior of a monster and falling in love with the soul that exists beneath the surface - movies called "Beauty and the Beast" are, at this point, a subgenre in and of themselves - but a filmmaker as creative as Guillermo del Toro, who is dedicated to mixing the sinister with the beautiful, leaving you at once enchanted and unsettled, is able to make an old formula feel fresh. The Shape of Water is a wonderful fairy tale for adults, impeccably put together on a visual level, masterfully unfolded on a narrative level, and built around one great leading performance and four great supporting performances. If you only see one movie this year about a woman falling in love with a fish man, make it The Shape of Water.

Golden Globe Winners

As they're announced:

Best Supporting Actor: Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Original Score: Alexandre Desplat, The Shape of Water

Best Original Song: "This Is Me," The Greatest Showman

Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy: James Franco, The Disaster Artist

Best Animated Feature: Coco

Best Supporting Actress: Allison Janney, I, Tonya

Best Screenplay: Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Foreign Film: In The Fade

Best Director: Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water

Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy: Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird

Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy: Lady Bird

Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama: Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour

Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama: Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Motion Picture Drama: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Golden Globe Predictions

The awards will be given out tomorrow. My predictions:

Best Motion Picture - Drama: The Shape of Water

Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy: Get Out

Best Director: Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water

Best Actress - Drama: Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Actor - Drama: Timothee Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name

Best Actor - Musical or Comedy: Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out

Best Actress - Musical or Comedy: Margot Robbie, I, Tonya

Best Supporting Actress: Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird

Best Supporting Actor: Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Screenplay: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Animated Film: Coco

Best Foreign Film: A Fantastic Woman

Best Score: Dunkirk

Best Song: "Mighty River," Mudbound

Producers Guild Award Nominees

The Producers Guild announced its nominees earlier today. They are:

The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures

The Big Sick
Call Me By Your Name
Dunkirk
Get Out
I, Tonya
Lady Bird
Molly's Game
The Post
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Wonder Woman


The Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures

The Boss Baby
Coco
Despicable Me 3
Ferdinand
The Lego Batman Movie


The Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures

The Boss Baby
Coco
Despicable Me 3
Ferdinand
The Lego Batman Movie