House Bunny

2008’s House Bunny, directed by Fred Wolf.

Starring Anna Faris, Emma Stone, Kat Dennings, Rumer Willis, Dana Goodman, Katharine McPhee, Kimberly Makkouk, Sarah Wright, Rachel Specter, Colin Hanks, Beverly D’Angelo, Christopher McDonald, and Hugh Hefner.

What is it about?

Playboy mansion bunny (Anna Faris) lives a life of luxury and magazine glory until one day she is evicted from the mansion. With no marketable skills or purpose, the 27 year old needs to find a place to live. Despite not being a student or alumni, she joins a struggling sorority house at a university as a house mom, in exchange for teaching their house mates how to be sexy so they can raise money to save their sorority. With rival house members (Sarah Wright and Rachel Specter) wanting to shut their sorority down, will Faris and her assorted bag of lovable losers be able to save the day?

Why is it worth seeing?

A shocking amount of talent is assembled here for a juvenile exploration into how middle school students think college (and pornography) works. Anna Faris continues to prove that she’s the smartest person with the dumbest career choices working in Hollywood, as the Playboy bunny with a heart of gold and brain of vapidity. She does her best to carry a DOA vehicle that plays like a poor man’s dumpster fire variation on a National Lampoon-like archetype.

Filled to the mediocre brim with cleavage and trite teeny bop drama, House Bunny’s biggest leap of faith may be the idea that Hugh Hefner in his last decade was lucid enough to remember the names of his harem of centrefold roommates a third his age. Not that the romance between Faris and Colin Hanks (playing a manager of a senior’s home fresh out of high school), the obvious zero to hero sorority makeover montage, and the Scent of Women impassioned speech to a room full of officials climax doesn’t make you roll your eyes.

Despite the fact it has a few chortles, it’s fascinating to watch stars and future Oscar winners (Stone) slum here, and it just may have killed some other careers (yet another Bruce Willis/Demi Moore child!). It makes sense- as the bumper sticker on Faris’ car reads, “Mean People are Mean”.

Rating:

2/5

Trailer: Click Here.

High Noon

1952’s High Noon, directed by Fred Zinnemann.

Starring Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Katy Jurado, Lloyd Bridges, Otto Kruger, Ian MacDonald, Sheb Wooley, Lee Van Cleef, and Robert J. Wilke.

Winner of an Academy Award for Best Actor (Gary Cooper), Best Film Editing (Elmo Williams and Harry W. Gerstad), Best Music (Dimitri Tiomkin), Best Song (Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington).

Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Director (Fred Zinnemann), 

And Best Screenplay (Carl Foreman).

What is it about?

High Noon is a western, set in New Hadley of the New Mexico territories. Gary Cooper stars as a retired town Marshall, seen getting married (to his Quaker fiancee, Grace Kelly). At around 1030AM, word gets out in the town that three outlaws (Ian MacDonald, Sheb Wooley, and Lee Van Cleef) are in town for Revenge. Waiting on a fourth outlaw (Robert J. Wilke) to come in on the train, they vow to kill Cooper at noon. Will Cooper be able to rally the town to his defence so that he and his bride can enjoy retired matrimonial life abroad?

Why is it worth seeing?

High Noon’s greatest strength is its ability to subvert expectations. For a western, it features an unusually low amount of action sequences, and an unusually high amount of tension. In place of bullets flying, we find minutes zinging past us via the hands of the clock. In this real time exercise, we find ourselves firmly rooted in Gary Cooper’s spurs, as his overmatched marshal attempts to round up support from a scattered and self involved populace. It’s a performance that is heroic, but not for the usual reasons.

The choice to make the film operate (essentially) in real time, means that the impending climax looms throughout the film. We know that the quartet of villains have little but revenge (and drinking) on their minds, and they’re going to settle the score with Cooper one way or another. Cooper is continually told by the townspeople (and his new wife) that the smartest thing to do would be to leave town. His intractable response to try to garner support so that he will stand a chance against the gang escalates the sensation of time’s deadly passing.

Cooper’s portrayal of the fair minded marshal would win him an Oscar. John Wayne was reportedly incensed that he did not get the role instead, but in a strange way, it’s the perfect choice. Cooper’s depiction is so much less machismo than the duke’s usual red meat schtick. And Cooper has a frame that seems to serve as an inspiration for Tim Robbins, and as he ambles around town with his gun belt dangling around his hips, it’s easier to imagine him being a taxidermist than a sheriff. While Grace Kelly’s pacifist Quaker character is left (mostly) on the side lines, Katy Jurado is also fantastic, as the character who sticks to her metaphorical guns no matter the flavour in the air.

Cooper’s attempts to round up support lead to us meeting many of the local townsfolk. Like any population, they are (usually) bonded to the marshal, are fair minded, respectful, and even philanthropic- but that doesn’t guarantee they’re going to put themselves in harm’s way. Similar to society in general, time and time again, people let their individualistic natures determine their responses. Is it wrong to do so in order to save one’s skin against impossible odds?

With an amazing score, real-time tension, an’ unexpected finale, a timeless message, and a brief running time (85 minutes!) to make each subsequent viewing experience easier to enjoy even more, High Noon is a film worth watching- any time of the day.

Rating:

4.5/5

Trailer: Click Here.

Jumanji (2017)

2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, directed by Jake Kasdan.

Starring The Rock, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Karen Gillan, Bobby Cannavale, Ryhs Darby, Alex Wolff, Ser'Darius Blain, Madison Iseman, Morgan Turner, and Nick Jonas.

What is it about?

Both a sequel and a reboot of the 1995 film, we meet 4 teenagers attending high school (Alex Wolff, Ser'Darius Blain, Madison Iseman, and Morgan Turner). While sentenced to detention together, they are sucked into a video game, called Jumanji. Given new avatars (The Rock, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Karen Gillan) with respective strengths and weaknesses, they are summoned to reclaim the jewel of the jaguar’s eye from a villain (Bobby Cannavale). Whomever possesses the jewel can control the animals of Jumanji, and balance can only be restored by replanting the eye in Jaguar Mountain. With a limited amount of lives, and a jungle full of hostile animals and Cannavale’s goons in pursuit, will our gang be able to return the jewel and return to our world?

Why is it worth seeing?

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is inventive in how it updates its original premise. Rather than bringing the board game zookeeper inspired chaos to our world, our protagonists choose avatars and jump into the jungle. Immersed in a world of adventure, how the characters reconcile their personalities with their new found bodies and skills and weaknesses is its most interesting wrinkle.

With a comfortable PG-13 rating to ensure no one is offended by the implicit violence and adults smooching like teenagers, the most appealing part of the story is watching the characters process through their avatars. From the Rock’s nebbish character learning how some people consider him charismatic, to the under developed Kevin Hart demonstrating how limited he is when not a typical high school football player in America, to Karen Gillan adjusting to having curves (and a body double), to Jack Black hilariously playing a teenage girl, the chemistry is appealing as the rag tag group slowly team up to self actualize.

Cannavale plays the villain, and despite a whopping amount of eye liner, isn’t much of a foil for our protagonists- he’s no scorpion king. It’s a bummer, since he is a versatile performer (most recently hysterically so in I, Tonya). And the opening/closing scenes of the high school students feel like a trailer for The Breakfast Club’s outtakes. But as the football player transitions into a career in bowling, the series yet again dares its next gaggle of screenwriters to figure out a way to make another sequel when it should be impossible. For some reason, it all reminds me of how back at Art School, my cocaine inspired Photography instructor used to exclaim, “What a game!”

Rating:

3.5/5

Trailer: Click Here.

Gone Baby Gone

2007’s Gone Baby Gone, directed by Ben Affleck.

Starring Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Amy Ryan, Titus Welliver, Amy Madigan, Ed Harris, John Ashton, Morgan Freeman, Michael Kenneth Williams, and Edi Gathegi.

What is it about?

Adapted from the novel by Dennis Lehane, Gone Baby Gone is a present day story set in Boston where Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan work as private detectives. After a public kidnapping, they are hired by a desperate maternal uncle and aunt (Titus Welliver and Amy Madigan) to find Madigan’s sister (Amy Ryan)’s daughter, Amanda. With Amanda missing, Affleck and Monaghan work with the police (Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, and John Ashton) to track down the free spirited single mom’s daughter. It’s a emotional but complicated case, with plenty of local characters clouding up the waters. Will Amanda be found alive, and returned to her mother?

 Why is it worth seeing?

Gone Baby Gone is a delightfully skilled and underrated film that not only proves to be much more than a detective crime caper, but is also finely attuned to a sense of place. Featuring a dynamite cast, Ben Affleck’s directorial debut (that he also co-wrote) might be his best. Lead by a rock solid performance by Casey Affleck, we wade through authentic feeling corridors of Boston’s less affluent and well worn areas, with a character around every corner offering various degrees of unfriendliness.

As a yarn about 2 private eyes doing detective work, Affleck keeps things drum tight as we funnel down a rabbit hole of leads, misinformation, uncooperative witnesses, violent suspects, false culprits, conspiracy, and how the mathematical odds always eventually lead to zero. As a procedural, it leaves no bullets in its chambers- and it even leaves hints for us armchair sleuths to follow.

In a movie that continually zigs and zags, GBG never forgets what it is at its core (a love letter to Boston), or what it’s ultimately about. Its authenticity is as potent as the movie is re-watchable. Fueled by a underrated score by Harry Gregson-Williams, we watch a great cast duke it out, helpless to the film’s purposeful trajectory.

Out of nowhere, by the film’s ending, we are forced to make a choice. It is so hard to know what is best for people, and impossible to enforce it once you’ve made that choice. How a community functions is tantamount to what permanency looks like. Gone Baby Gone understands that better than most.

Rating:

4.5/5

Trailer: Click Here.

Oranges and Sunshine

2011’s Oranges and Sunshine, directed by Jim Loach.

Starring Emily Watson, Hugo Weaving, Lorraine Ashbourne, David Wenham, and Harvey Scrimshaw.

What is it about?

Oranges and Sunshine is based around the true story of English Child Protection Social Worker, Margaret Humphreys (played by Emily Watson), who in 1986 exposed that the British government in the 40’s to 60’s moved over a hundred thousand children in care to Australia and Canada. Many of these children were permanently severed from their families, forced into slavery-like scenarios, and sent to religious organizations that would physically and sexually abuse them. Oranges and Sunshine tracks Humphrey’s attempts to locate the (now grown up) migrant children, and once they start to pour in, reunite them with their families, make public her results, and hold the government accountable for their past actions. As Humphreys absorbs the impacts of vicarious trauma and transitions through various stages of burnout, will she able to keep it together as she sifts through a purpose that may never be finished?

Why is it worth seeing?

Initially showing the apprehending of an infant from an unfit mother, Oranges and Sunshine does an admirable job of depicting the everyday reality of people who choose careers that involve opening doors awful people and organizations don’t want opened, and starting the healing of vulnerable and broken souls. Watson is great here, as the socially just, but still only human character, who fills the air of her client victims’ cries and gasps with the appropriate and powerful silences required. But when she needs to speak truth to power, she doesn’t hold back.

Sunshine’s other strength is in its depictions of the victims. With literally tens of thousands of children ripped from their families’ lives, we see in 2 or 3 case studies revealed here an idea of how deep the wounds go when humans are severed from their loved ones. Everybody grieves in their own way, but it’s always telling when a victim of abuse feels therapeutic cleaning, as it reminds them of their childhoods (no matter how abusive). It’s impossible to not feel for identity-less adults who haven’t seen their parents in decades- learn that they never will due to them passing away.

While its depictions of social work themes and Humphrey’s plight are spot on, Sunshine’s faults include diverging from the truth how Humphrey’s came into her migrant children discovery assignment. Its hard to believe that the local Nottingham child protection authority not only had no problem with her abandoning her caseload, but also supporting her in investigating its likely incriminating and morally execrable past. I especially felt this way because in real life Humphreys was let go from her job. That, and the usual glossing over details that the book likely can better explain in detail. Despite that, Oranges and Sunshine is a sobering look at another human atrocity that will take generations to heal from.

Rating:

3.5/5

Trailer: Click Here.

Annihilation

2018’s Annihilation, written and directed by Alex Garland.

Starring Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson, Gina Rodriguez, Tuva Novotny, Oscar Isaac, and Benedict Wong.

What is it about?

Annihilation stars Natalie Portman as a Florida biologist who is coping with her soldier husband (Oscar Isaac) going missing. Last seen on a mission exploring a mysterious large alien bubble referred to as, The Shimmer, it grows in size every day and has seen multiple groups of people go in to investigate- who never come back. Isaac eventually does return, but seems… different. Portman is then recruited by a mysterious woman (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who has Portman join her team of scientists (Tessa Thompson, Gina Rodriguez, Tuva Novotny) to go and investigate The Shimmer. With its diesel slick-like dome growing by the day, will the team be able to find out what this mysterious phenomenon is- and protect themselves from the unknown and each other?

Why is it worth seeing?

Writer/Director Alex Garland is no stranger to science fiction. His last film, 2014’s Ex Machina, was an exploration into the dystopian themes of artificial intelligence amongst human beings, but as anyone can tell you from his other penned works (The Beach, 28 Days Later, Never Let Me Go, Sunshine, Dredd), Garland is unafraid to explore a wide diversity of ideas. His works are often as likely to indulge our more primitive natures, as they are to engage with what makes us cerebral.

Fans of Garland will not be disappointed here, as Annihilation is equal parts thoughtful exploration as to where human beings could be headed, and potent nightmare fuel. Once witnessed, some of its creatures, put together by the random laws of mutated Darwinian survival, could be difficult to get out of the collective unconscious. They exist in a world that is all chaotic science, devoid of feeling or morality.

Garland loads up on the symbolism, and the very refraction of lights that we use to perceive our fragile genetic make up are highlighted through shots of various prism-like screens. Just who are we when the laws of nature change? However, there’s nothing symbolic about Portman’s resolve when it comes down to fight or flight. She kicks ass and has to fight her greatest battle of all by the film’s conclusion, where primitive assault weapons are useless.

Another strength of Annihilation is in resolving its characters’ fates. While not all of their conclusions are pleasant whatsoever, many seem destined for a resolution based off of their personality- which may be why many have been pointing out Annihilation’s similarities to Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1979 Stalker and 1972’s Solaris (also remade by Steven Soderbergh in 2002), featuring stories about worlds that seem to respond to its human visitors in customized ways.

With Annihilation, detractors will point out that Garland continues to struggle to end his movies with the flourish that he begun them with, that it is confusing and difficult to follow at times, and that its ambiguity and lack of a clear antagonist make it as unlikable as its box office is underwhelming. But that would be ignoring the point: similar to 2017’s Life, the real antagonist could be us humans, the future missing link to a species light years ahead of us. For that, you wish the movie had instead been titled, Evolution.

Rating:

4/5

Trailer: Click Here.

Limitless

2011’s “Limitless“, directed by Neil Burger.

Starring Bradley Cooper, Abbie Cornish, Robert De Niro, Johnny Whitworth, Andrew Howard, Robert John Burke, Anna Friel, and Darren Goldstein.

What is it about?

Bradley Cooper stars as a struggling writer at a crossroads. Dumped by his girlfriend (Abbie Cornish), on the hook from his agent for a book he hasn’t yet written, and behind on his rent, he’s between a rock and a hard place. A surprise visit from an ex brother-in-law (Johnny Whitworth) offers Cooper pills that could enhance his brain power. Having nothing to lose, Cooper takes them and becomes exponentially smart. In no time flat, he writes his book, cleans up his act, and starts working for a financial company where he tries to impress a ruthless titan (Robert De Niro). Eventually, he starts to black out and withdraw from a dwindling supply, is involved in a murder investigation, and a lethal loan shark (Andrew Howard) wants Cooper’s secret stash. Will Cooper be able to re-focus, or has he hit his limit?

Why is it worth seeing?

Limitless’ strength is based around its intriguing preposition. Who doesn’t like the idea of having it all for nothing? It’s the American Dream. By taking a pill, you can access long forgotten areas of memory long cut off by neuron rot, master the stock market, and even instantly teach yourself how to ward off attackers.

 

Niel Burger’s direction at times can be exciting, handily merging the visuals to match the occasionally breathtaking leaps of logic the movie has with its premise. It’s a lot of fun, and the movie is very successful in making viewers feel smart for watching characters grow smarter via montage. We feel the exhilarating vibes of Cooper’s character gaining in social status.

Eventually, the realism has to set in (at least as a plot device), and the similarly enhanced villain introduced here is a bit much (must be something in the blood). Ultimately, the steam starts to run out and the brain needs to rest, and that’s when Limitless starts to show some strain in the neuro feedback. And is it true that smart people see in fish eye lens view?

Cooper’s charm makes it all seem doable, and the fact that the introduction of limits makes the movie’s intoxicating rush of energy come to a realistic head- until it doesn’t. They don’t call it limitless for nothing.

Rating:

3.5/5

Trailer: Click Here:

2018 Oscars Predictions Results

Overall, I scored a respectable 19 out of 24, which is much better than my score (14?) last year. I’m still stinging over the results of Best Picture, as I struggle to see how it will age over the test of time, but we’re moving on. As always, the essentially 4 hour production is too long and the Academy will not change that. I just wish they would stop blaming speeches for going over- rather than all the filler they insert instead.

See below for the order of the night…      

Best Supporting Actor:

Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project

Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water

Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World

Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

No surprise, hopefully Dafoe gets something besides an honourary award before he dies.

Best Costume Design:

Beauty and the Beast

Darkest Hour

Phantom Thread

The Shape of Water

Victoria & Abdul

The movie about the tailor is going to win, right? Bingo.

Best Make Up and Hair Design:

Darkest Hour

Victoria & Abdul

Wonder

Not to be confused with Best Actor. Bingo.

Best Documentary:

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail

Faces Places

Icarus

Last Men in Aleppo

Strong Island

The Star Wars kamikaze is very supportive of Greta Gerwig…

What do I know? Does Icarus’ win connect to Trump somehow?

Nice song by Mary J. Blige, but as Kimmel says, these performances are a part of what makes the Oscars so grueling. Anybody else notice how the commercials just cut off the ending of the song? YOUR boredom is expendable, advertiser’s time is not.

In one of the montages, did they really show an image of Anton Yelchin alongside Shawshank Redemption saying that hope is a thing that can never die?

Best Sound Editing:

Baby Driver

Blade Runner 2049

Dunkirk

The Shape of Water

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

The dude from Baby Driver continues to not impress me. But Dunkirk it is!

Best Sound Mixing:

Baby Driver

Blade Runner 2049

Dunkirk

The Shape of Water

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

See above. Did the coworker to that presenter really giggle when his speech talked about loving his wife so much?

Best Production Design:

Beauty and the Beast

Blade Runner 2049

Darkest Hour

Dunkirk

The Shape of Water

I love it when a stand up comedian takes the mike. They’re tanks- even if the material is weak!
Hopefully Blade Runner wins something.

Cool short sleeves and sunglasses and tennis shoes, boss!

Had no idea Gael Garcia Bernal could sing- as well as act and be gorgeous!

Best Foreign Film:

A Fantastic Woman

The Insult

Loveless

On Body and Soul

The Square

Painful introduction to the category by whats her name.
Good guess!

I still want to see the Square though…

Best Supporting Actress:

Mary J. Blige, Mudbound

Allison Janney, I, Tonya

Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread

Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird

Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water

Painful montage leading up to the award, another reason the Oscars are so grueling.

Is Mary J. Blige a Method Man actress?

Bummer it wasn’t Laurie Metcalf.

Way to give credit to the Academy for voting for you.

Best Animated Short:

Dear Basketball

Garden Party

Lou

Negative Space

Revolting Rhymes

Painful introduction! Can you believe that BB-8 is not really there?

Kobe pointing out players shouldn’t just shut up and dribble, I feel bad for that idiot (not) journalist who said that about LeBron James.

More painful dialogue, no wonder the Oscars hate Star Wars.

Best Animated:

The Boss Baby

The Breadwinner

Coco

Ferdinand

Loving Vincent

Nice speeches, but an even more lovely performance by Sufjan Stevens.

Best Visual Effects:

Blade Runner 2049

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2

Kong: Skull Island

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

War For the Planet of the Apes

One of those ones where I’m glad I guessed wrong.

Best Editing:

Baby Driver

Dunkirk

I, Tonya

The Shape of Water

Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

A tough call! I’m not surprised but Joel Edgar Wright is a genius in the editing room who couldn’t compete with the Academy’s love for war movies.

A fascinating but painful trip to the theatre across the street. Thank you for the commercial break.

Similar to last year’s Oscars, Kimmel’s street antics bring the actual Oscars to a grinding halt.

Painful introduction to next award- no shoes hey!

Best Documentary Short:

Edith+Eddie

Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405

Heroin(e)

Knife Skills

Traffic Stop

I certainly guess well!

Best Short:

DeKalb Elementary

The Eleven O'Clock

My Nephew Emmett

The Silent Child

Watu Wote/All of Us

Nice man bun.

Interesting montage about #timesup, does this impact Best Picture at all???

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Call Me by Your Name

The Disaster Artist

Logan

Molly's Game

Mudbound

Surprised its his first Oscar at 89 years of age, but better late than never.

Best Original Screenplay:

The Big Sick

Get Out

Lady Bird

The Shape of Water

Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

It’s in! Will this lead to Best Picture.

“I thought nobody would make this movie.” Bravo.

Best Cinematography:

Blade Runner 2049

Darkest Hour

Dunkirk

Mudbound

The Shape of Water

Well done Roger! There is justice in the world.

Best Musical Score:

Dunkirk

Phantom Thread

The Shape of Water

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

It doesn’t really match the tone of the movie, but congrats!

Best Original Song:

“Mighty River,” Mudboundwwwq

“Mystery Of Love,” Call Me by Your Name

“Remember Me,” Coco

“Stand Up For Something,” Marshall

“This Is Me,” The Greatest Showman

As predicted.

Best Director:

Dunkirk

Get Out

Lady Bird

Phantom Thread

The Shape of Water

Hollywood loves to celebrate itself.

Best Actor:

Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name

Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread

Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out

Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour

Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq.

The ladies remind me of Casey Afflec...

Equal parts bombast, make up, and lifetime achievement award, nets Oldman his first Oscar.

Best Actress:

Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water

Frances McDormand, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

Margot Robbie, I, Tonya

Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird

Meryl Streep, The Post

Sorry ladies, you never had a chance to Frances. I just hope it dates as well as 96’s Fargo win.

Quite the speech, Inclusion Rider.

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

Beatty and Dunaway, indeed what could go wrong?!?!

Ugh. With its 13 nominations (and winner of the Director’s Guild Awards, The Producer’s Guild Awards, and Editor’s Guild Awards), it appears the Academy went with the traditional favourite. It’s a bummer, as I struggle to feel about how this movie will be remembered in 10 years. Will it be closer to Moonlight- or The Artist? I’m leaning towards the latter.

2018 Oscar Predictions

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

This was a tricky one. I was inclined to think that the Academy was going to go with The Shape of Water, with its 13 nominations (and winner of the Director’s Guild Awards, The Producer’s Guild Awards, and Editor’s Guild Awards). The next closest choice seemed to be Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri, with 7 nominations (and wins at the Golden Globes, SAG Awards, and the BAFTAs). But since 2009, with the higher number of nominees crowding for recognition inside of a preferential balloting system, combined with a more diverse Academy voting body, I’m going with the 4 time nominated Get Out. Its so crazy a prediction, it just might win. It doesn’t hurt that its my favourite of the bunch.

Best Director:

Dunkirk

Get Out

Lady Bird

Phantom Thread

The Shape of Water

I would have voted for Jordan Peele’s, Get Out, and some will clamour for Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk or Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird, and Paul Thomas Anderson is starting to look like Martin Scorcese (pre 2006), but I think Guillermo Del Toro will take Best Director for so slickly celebrating the magic of movies.

Best Actor:

Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name

Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread

Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out

Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour

Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq.

Equal parts bombast, make up, and lifetime achievement award, nets Oldman his first Oscar. Start the narrative about how it’s not time, for Chalamet and to a lesser extent, Kaluuya. See you next year Danzel. Thank god I don’t believe Day-Lewis is retiring (again).

Best Actress:

Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water

Frances McDormand, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

Margot Robbie, I, Tonya

Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird

Meryl Streep, The Post

That was easy.

Best Supporting Actor:

Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project

Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water

Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World

Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

I’m going with Rockwell, but I’ll be delighted if it’s Dafoe.

Best Supporting Actress:

Mary J. Blige, Mudbound

Allison Janney, I, Tonya

Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread

Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird

Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water

Bummer it probably won’t be Laurie Metcalf.

Best Original Screenplay:

The Big Sick

Get Out

Lady Bird

The Shape of Water

Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

Screenplay awards are keys to predicting Best Picture. Very rarely do Best Pictures win without 1 of the 2 Screenplay awards. Get Out is startlingly original and familiar, a believable blend of entrenched racism and science fiction. Watch for a Lady Bird upset?

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Call Me by Your Name

The Disaster Artist

Logan

Molly's Game

Mudbound

If Molly’s Game wins, can Jessica Chastain narrate the rest of the Oscars? In the meantime, book one for the Hollywood icon James Ivory. I’m okay with Mudbound taking it though.

Best Cinematography:

Blade Runner 2049

Darkest Hour

Dunkirk

Mudbound

The Shape of Water

The only category I’ll be offended at if I’m wrong. Roger Deakins needs 1 of these bad boys before he dies- can it be for the best looking film of the year?

Props to the first female cinematographer ever nominated, Rachel Morrison, for the great looking, Mudbound.

Best Visual Effects:

Blade Runner 2049

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2

Kong: Skull Island

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

War For the Planet of the Apes

Tough one to call, but the updated Apes series have continued to impress me with the motion capture performances, so much that you wish the humans had as much character as the chimps. The Academy seems to hate Star Wars over the past 3 plus decades and I don’t know if that will change?

Best Editing:

Baby Driver

Dunkirk

I, Tonya

The Shape of Water

Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

Another tough 1 to call between Baby Driver’s frantically cool sequences and Dunkirk’s hydrophobic scenes.

Best Sound Editing:

Baby Driver

Blade Runner 2049

Dunkirk

The Shape of Water

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Best Sound Mixing:

Baby Driver

Blade Runner 2049

Dunkirk

The Shape of Water

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Best Original Song:

“Mighty River,” Mudbound

“Mystery Of Love,” Call Me by Your Name

“Remember Me,” Coco

“Stand Up For Something,” Marshall

“This Is Me,” The Greatest Showman

Tough to see the Academy not going for the hankies for Coco’s song, but a win for Sufjan Stevens’ Mystery of Love would make me happy.

Best Musical Score:

Dunkirk

Phantom Thread

The Shape of Water

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

Not sure why John Williams received his 51^st nomination for a score that originally made him a household name 40 years ago, Billboards’s score was better when it was called, Fargo, and I definitely have some Hans Zimmer fatigue for the score of Dunkirk, but Alexandre Desplat’s European themed score for The Shape of Water seems to be a favourite- although I wouldn’t mind Johnny Greenwood’s music for Phantom Thread winning.

Best Animated:

The Boss Baby

The Breadwinner

Coco

Ferdinand

Loving Vincent

A walk, although I wouldn’t mind The Breadwinner getting some love.

Best Animated Short:

Dear Basketball

Garden Party

Lou

Negative Space

Revolting Rhymes

The Leonardo DiCaprio of basketball players (Kobe Bryant) gets 1 more thing to lord over Shaquille O’ Neal.

Best Documentary:

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail

Faces Places

Icarus

Last Men in Aleppo

Strong Island

Best Documentary Short:

Edith+Eddie

Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405

Heroin(e)

Knife Skills

Traffic Stop

Use a dart board, this is where Oscar Pools descend into violence.

Best Short:

DeKalb Elementary

The Eleven O'Clock

My Nephew Emmett

The Silent Child

Watu Wote/All of Us

Ibid.

Best Foreign Film:

A Fantastic Woman

The Insult

Loveless

On Body and Soul

The Square

Best Make Up and Hair Design:

Darkest Hour

Victoria & Abdul

Wonder

Not to be confused with Best Actor.

Best Costume Design:

Beauty and the Beast

Darkest Hour

Phantom Thread

The Shape of Water

Victoria & Abdul

The movie about the tailor is going to win, right? Probably goes to Beauty and the Beast.

Best Production Design:

Beauty and the Beast

Blade Runner 2049

Darkest Hour

Dunkirk

The Shape of Water

I’ll take a Blade Runner win too. 

See you next year all! I wonder if Jimmy Kimmel can pull off another solid hosting job- or will Matt Damon ruin his night?