Thursday, January 25, 2018

Movies


It's movie time!

As you probably know, when the Academy Awards nominations come out, we make an effort to go see as many of the Best Picture nominees as possible. 

There are so many other award organizations now, though, that the Oscar nominations are almost an anti-climax. "Winners" have been announced for weeks already, and there are clear favorites among the movie professionals.  

We hardly ever go to movies the rest of the year, and don't even watch that many at home via cable TV. But we do like good movies, of which there are very few, it seems to me, and January is a good time to get out and visit a local theater. 

Because of all of the movie hype early on, starting with the critic's lists of best movies of the year in December, we have a head start on this year's list. 

Here are the 2018 Oscar Nominations for 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"

We have seen, and can highly recommend for everyone, "The Post" and "Darkest Hour".  Both are based on historical events. "The Post" is about the release and publication of the Pentagon Papers during the Nixon presidency, and underscores the need for freedom of the press. "Darkest Hour" portrays Winston Churchill's determination to fight Hitler and the Nazis in spite of the current trend in Britain to  appease and capitulate. It takes place as the German army has trapped more than 300,000 British troops on the beach at Dunkirk. 

The movie "Dunkirk", which is now available for streaming or Comcast On Demand, is the story of what happened on the beach at Dunkirk. An armada of fishing and pleasure craft were sent across the channel to rescue the soldiers. You will have to determine your tolerance for war movie violence before seeing this one.  

All three of these movies are very well done and wonderfully acted. Gary Oldman as Churchill and Meryl Streep as Katherine Graham are definitely Oscar contenders. 

The other movie we have seen so far is "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri". Frances McDormand is great as a mother whose daughter was raped and murdered and left on the roadside, and who stirs up the small town when she takes on the beloved sheriff to get someone to solve this nine month old murder. Be forewarned. This is not a polite movie. The language is foul. The movie is by turns racist and accepting, hateful and loving, violent and kind, funny and sad, vengeful and redemptive. I liked it very much. 

Now I'll be checking to see when and where we can watch the next one on the list. I think I'll go for "The Shape of Water". 

10 comments:

  1. I always look forward to your Oscar contender movie reviews. I've been curious about Three Billboards and I'm glad to hear what you think of it. I love Frances McDormand, and I keep thinking in some ways her character in the movie reminds me of me (sometimes I'm not very polite either). I'd like to see The Post too. I've heard The Shape of Water is very good.

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  2. Of that list, I've seen 'The Post' and I can highly recommend it.

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  3. Of this list I have seen The Darkest Hour and loved it. Gary Oldman seems to become Winston Churchill and that was a pivotal historical moment, when England and Churchill had to choose to negotiate peace with Hitler or fight him. Churchill was heroic in choosing to fight.

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  4. Now you can sit back and enjoy watching how your choices rate.

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  5. I only go to the movies with Grandson Adam. His taste in movies is not exactly Academy Award material. There are too many people with perfume/aftershave for my husband to enjoy a movie in a theater. We will wait for the movies to be on Netflix:)

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  6. well, i have a low tolerance for violence of any kind and foul language which seems to dominate more films today but will have to see some of the less disturbing ones-history fascinates me.

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  7. I have seen all the nominated movies except for "Call Me By Your Name" and "Get Out." Oh, and 'Phantom Thread," which is next on my list. I haven't any real idea of which one I would choose for Best Picture, since they are all good in different ways. :-)

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  8. There was a time when I had seen most of the Oscar nominated movies but not since I moved here.
    The nearest theater is 50 miles one way so I wait for DVDs. I rely on blogger reviews to weed out those I'll pass on. Thanks to your reviews, think I will pass on Dunkirk and Three Billboards. The rest are so far to be seen.

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  9. I have some catching up to do. I will give Dunkirk a pass and maybe even Three Billboards, even though it sounds somewhat redemptive. I have a very low tolerance to violence.

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  10. Oh gosh! We haven't seen any of these movies. I really don't like violence so I'm sure I'll skip all the war movies. Three Billboards have had amazing reviews, but it's not my kind of movie. It'll be interesting to see who and what wins the Oscars. I didn't like La La Land. I really hated the ending.

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