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".