Monday, March 12, 2018

The Shape of Water

The Gist: A mute cleaning lady falls in love with a mysterious creature that’s being secretly studied at a government facility.

From that short description one might think very little of The Shape of Water, but there’s a lot more going on in this year’s recently crowned Best Picture winner.

In fact, Best Director Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro took inspiration from the movies of old to craft a love story that’s also light comedy, conspiracy theory thriller, Cold War era paranoia, social commentary on the different ones and minorities in general, and a carefully layered drama.

Best Lead Actress nominee Sally Hawkins is excellent in the title role, but so are Best Supporting Actor nominees Octavia Spencer and Richard Jenkins. Michael Shannon and Michael Stuhlbarg, as always, hold their own.

Del Toro is also notoriously obsessed about every detail that goes into his movies, so it’s no surprise that his latest product is technically sublime, from cinematography to set decoration to soundtrack (all of which, among others, garnered Oscar nominations, the last two taking home their respective trophies).

The Bottom Line: The Shape of Water has been rightly described as a great example of what makes movies the perfect medium to transport us to alternate realities. It's a sweet fable about the triumph of love amid adversities and obstacles that will hopefully charm you as well.

Grade: 8

Monday, March 05, 2018

The 90th Academy Awards - The Winners


Jimmy Kimmel was back at the helm of the Oscars ceremony last night and he did a very good job. There were no mishaps, like last year's announcement of the wrong winner for the main trophy, he touched upon the important topics roiling our society today with the appropriate amount of tact, and he was funny and poignant when needed.

I really enjoyed the ceremony itself. I had not followed any of the countless prognosticators, so for me almost every winner was a surprise! I would recommend that to anyone who truly enjoys the Oscars, because it's the best way to enjoy them. Who cares about predictions and seeing how many you can guess if it detracts from the overall enjoyment of the show?!

The stage was stunningly beautiful! The Oscars turning 90 was certainly celebrated by the set design. Also, the wonderful clips that peppered the show here and there were a lovely reminder of how great movies can be, of how important the medium can be in the lives of ordinary people, and of how far storytelling has come in 9 decades.

Here are my random observations of the night:

  • Viola Davis' dress was quite stunning, but she couldn't even walk. Like at all. Like seriously. Like, girl, no!
  • Sam Rockwell's Oscar for Best Supporting Actor is well earned (he's great in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) and he gave a funny speech.
  • The "GET OUT!!" skit had me in stitches!
  • Very happy that Darkest Hour won for Best Makeup because the work was just incredible.
  • Eva Marie Saint turned out to be a great presenter, sweet and funny.
  • Greta Gerwig is the sweetest, and I just want her to be my friend!
  • Mary J. Blige's rendition of her own "Mighty River" was fantastic! What a voice!
  • Lupita Nyong'o and Kumail Nanjiani presenting together were funny and to the point. She looked absolutely gorgeous!
  • "Remember Me," from Coco, is a nice and uplifting song, but I was completely blown away by the performance for The Greatest Showman's "This is Me," so I was disappointed when the former took the Best Original Song Oscar.
  • Rita Moreno's entrance was cute and her choice of wearing the same dress she wore when she won for West Side Story paid off.
  • I was SUPER HAPPY that a movie about a transgender woman (A Fantastic Woman) won for Best Foreign Film!!
  • And shortly after my eyes widened with joy and pride when Coco won Best Animated Feature Film and, on the world's foremost stage, a woman thanked her wife and a man thanked his husband!!!! That's called progress.
  • I simply adore Allison Janney, so I was very happy for her Best Supporting Actress win.
  • Tiffany Haddish and Maya Rudolph were hilarious.
  • The Chinese Theater skit set up by Kimmel worked well and you could really feel the excitement of the lucky few who were in that dark hall.
  • The song and performance by Common and Andra Day and the following clip all gave me goosebumps. This really feels like a tectonic shift in the industry and society.
  • Nicole Kidman and Laura Dern were two of the best dressed ladies of the night in my opinion. Kidman's blue dress was, to say the least, daring.
  • Incredibly happy for James Ivory's win for Best Adapted Screenplay for Call Me by Your Name (I can't wait to see that movie).
  • So cool that Jordan Peele won Best Original Screenplay for the very original Get Out
  • The tribute to the military via the montage of war films was very touching. As was the usual In Memoriam montage.
  • Sandra Bullock was so funny! It sounded like she wasn't kidding about the lights, which made the joke really work.
  • Gary Oldman's speech was classy and respectful. Appropriate I would say.
  • Frances McDormand, on the other hand, gave everyone a piece of her mind... and it was glorious!! Literally rousing.
  • In the end, The Shape of Water seems to have succeeded in retaking its early lead and taking home the biggest prize of the night.

And here is the complete list of winners:

Best Motion Picture of the Year

The Shape of Water

Call Me by Your Name
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Get Out
Lady Bird
Phantom Thread
The Post
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour

Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread
Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out
Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq.
Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Margot Robbie, I, Tonya
Meryl Streep, The Post
Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water
Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World
Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water
Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Allison Janney, I, Tonya

Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread
Mary J. Blige, Mudbound
Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water

Best Achievement in Directing

Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water

Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk
Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
Jordan Peele, Get Out
Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread

Best Original Screenplay

Jordan Peele, Get Out

Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
Kumail Nanjiani, Emily V. Gordon, The Big Sick
Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor, The Shape of Water
Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Adapted Screenplay

James Ivory, Call Me by Your Name

Scott Frank, James Mangold, Michael Green, Logan
Aaron Sorkin, Molly's Game
Dee Rees, Virgil Williams, Mudbound
Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber, The Disaster Artist

Best Achievement in Cinematography

Blade Runner 2049

Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Mudbound
The Shape of Water

Best Achievement in Film Editing

Dunkirk

Baby Driver
I, Tonya
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Achievement in Production Design

The Shape of Water

Beauty and the Beast
Blade Runner 2049
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk

Best Achievement in Costume Design

Phantom Thread

Beauty and the Beast
Darkest Hour
The Shape of Water
Victoria & Abdul

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing

Dunkirk

Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi
The Shape of Water

Best Achievement in Sound Editing

Dunkirk

Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi
The Shape of Water

Best Achievement in Visual Effects

Blade Runner 2049

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Kong: Skull Island
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi
War for the Planet of the Apes

Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling

Darkest Hour

Victoria & Abdul
Wonder

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)

Alexandre Desplat, The Shape of Water

Hans Zimmer, Dunkirk
Jonny Greenwood, Phantom Thread
John Williams, Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi
Carter Burwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)

Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, Remember Me (Coco)

Sufjan Stevens, The Mystery of Love (Call Me by Your Name)
Common, Diane Warren, Stand Up for Something (Marshall)
Raphael Saadiq, Mary J. Blige, Taura Stinson, Mighty River (Mudbound)
Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, This is Me (The Greatest Showman)

Best Animated Feature Film

Coco

Ferdinand
Loving Vincent
The Boss Baby
The Breadwinner

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

A Fantastic Woman (Una Mujer Fantástica)

Loveless (Nelyubov)
On Body and Soul (Teströl és lélekröl)
The Insult (L'insulte)
The Square

Best Documentary Feature

Icarus

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail
Faces Places (Visages villages)
Last Men in Aleppo (De sidste mænd i Aleppo)
Strong Island

Best Documentary Short Subject

Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405

Edith+Eddie
Heroin(e)
Knife Skills
Traffic Stop

Best Animated Short Film

Dear Basketball

Garden Party
LOU
Negative Space
Revolting Rhymes Part One

Best Live Action Short Film

The Silent Child

DeKalb Elementary
My Nephew Emmett
The Eleven O'Clock
Watu Wote: All of us

Special Achievement Award

Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Carne y Arena

Honorary Award

Agnès Varda
Charles Burnett
Donald Sutherland
Owen Roizman