The Oscars are in a few hours and I have a few thoughts on the movies that I got to see which were nominated, unfortunately, I was unable to catch Phantom Thread by Paul Thomas Anderson in theatres and I was really looking forward to it. (Doesn’t come out on Blu-ray until 10th of April). I harbour no intentions of watching Darkest Hour or The Post because both of them seem like average movies with decent performances and predictable and boring plots. These are the movies I got to see:
Lady Bird (Written and Directed By Greta Gerwig)
Lady Bird stars Saoirse Ronan as the titular character and is a story about a high school girl from a lower middle-class family and the relationship she shares with her family (primarily her mother played by Laurie Metcalf), her experiences with love and friendship. Lady Bird was an entertaining film that was well written and well acted, for the most part, the lead actresses delivered very good performances although there were a few scenes where I couldn’t help but notice Saorise Ronan’s Irish accent slipping in. I enjoyed this film and the dialogue was quirky and fun but I had a few issues with the plot as they started going the cliched route which completely ruined the tone of the film. Although fairly well written, the movie is far from well directed, it looks alright and is a great first attempt but absolutely doesn’t deserve a best director nomination, there were a few lighting issues I couldn’t help but notice, it did have a few decent shots. Also, the ADR in a few scenes seemed off. All said and done, Lady Bird is a film with heart and is really enjoyable, worth checking out for the writing even though it’s filled with cliches and the direction is a little poor. I’d probably say this was a 6/10.
Call Me By Your Name (Directed By Luca Guadagnino and Written By James Ivory)
Call Me By Your Name is a film about a teenage boy exploring his sexuality, love, loss, and relationships. Luca, the director has proven himself to be remarkable once again delivering his best film since ‘I Am Love’, the movie was extremely pleasant to look at and to top that he was somehow able to capture an essence of sensuality in the film which truly mesmerized me, this film had some of the best cinematography of the year, I was pleased with the filmmaking as I expected I’d be. The performances in this film were fantastic with newcomer Timothée Chalamet delivering a wonderful performance and Armie Hammer finally accepting a role to match his talents. The supporting cast was fantastic as well, especially Michael Stuhlbarg who fascinated me in this and also proved his talents in The Shape Of Water (More about this in a bit), I thoroughly enjoyed the acting and the direction which was also accompanied by the brilliant cinematography, and to top it all off the movie has an amazing soundtrack by Sufjan Stevens particularly the songs ‘Mystery Of Love’ and ‘Visions Of Gideon’, he’s been one of my favourite artists so it’s nice to see people warming up to him (Check out Illinois if you liked these songs). As for flaws in the movie I only have a few gripes with the pacing, it’s slow paced for the most part (which is fine) but constantly changes pacing, the first act is a little pandering and longer than the other two acts. However, it’s one of my favourites of the year and I’ll be giving this one a 9/10.
Dunkirk (Written and Directed By Christopher Nolan)
Dunkirk is written and directed by my favourite filmmaker Christopher Nolan and is about the breathtaking true story of the Dunkirk evacuation during the Second World War. I thoroughly enjoyed this film and the direction it took was extremely brave and unique, I think the idea of having the score control the tension in the movie was brilliant and needs nothing but praise, the visuals were undeniably amazing and scenic, this film was a visual spectacle and I loved the palpable tension that the score ensued, Hans Zimmer is fantastic and hasn’t lost his touch (Let’s not bring up The Amazing Spiderman 2). I think the use of practical effects instead of CGI needs nothing but appreciation and proves that Nolan is one of the most creative filmmakers working today. I think the film worked extremely well on many levels and failed in a few, the time contrivation seemed unnecessary even if it was stylistic, the grenades thrown didn’t end up resulting in the limbs of these human soldiers being torn apart which you should expect but since it was rated PG-13 it didn’t happen and it seemed artificial, there were a few sound mixing problems but they didn’t necessarily take me out of the film’s environment. My main issue with the film was that I never felt like there were two hundred thousand lives in danger as I was subjected only to a certain few people. Still, the movie was great and extremely enjoyable, not the best Christopher Nolan film but a good one still and good enough to get him his first best director nomination. This film’s an 8/10.
Get Out (Written and Directed By Jordan Peele)
Get Out is a horror-comedy of sorts about a black man in an interracial relationship with a white woman caught up in a strange situation as he visits her parents. I, unfortunately, had to watch this movie in two separate sittings so my thoughts on this film can be quite hazy, nevertheless, I enjoyed the film and thought it was great, the film is surprisingly very well written and has layers and a lot of allegories, very intense and interesting, I liked most of the characters and the comic relief was surprisingly not annoying, it didn’t use racism as a trope or generalisation but more as a plot point which was great to see. I was bothered by the unnecessary jump scares of a character moving in the background accompanied by a loud noise which the main character didn’t even notice. The score for this movie was decent and fit the movie quite well. When it comes to the acting and filmmaking I had a few issues, I thought Allison William was good same goes for Catherine Keener, Bradley Whitford, Caleb Landry Jones, Lil Rel Howery. Daniel Kaluuya was great for the most part but there were some scenes where I could see right through the act and instead of seeing Chris the character saw Daniel Kaluuya the actor pretending to be Chris the character. I think this is a great first attempt by Jordan Peele, his writing in this movie is remarkable and the direction needs work, I found the cinematography to be very bland for the most part but there are a few great shots in the film, the third act in this film is very intense and well done. Lil Rey Howery is excellent in this film. Again my judgment is impaired due to me having to watch it in two sittings. So either a 6 or a 7/10 I can’t decide.
The Shape Of Water (Written and Directed by Guillermo del Toro)
The Shape Of Water is about a mute woman who falls in love with an amphibian creature in the 1960’s. The Shape Of Water once again proves that Guillermo excels as a director in so, creating enticing images and brilliant set designs that are awe-inspiring, this film is a visual masterpiece, it is so wonderfully made and aesthetically pleasing. It’s a treat to watch and it surprises me that the movie was created with a budget as low as twenty million dollars. The cinematography is top notch and is one of the best in recent movie history (Although I will be rooting for Roger Deakins at the Oscars). The performances in the film are all brilliant as expected due to actors with high caliber and reputation, this is Sally Hawkins’ best performance and same goes with Richard Jenkins whose character I ended up caring about more than I thought I would, Michael Shannon and Octavia Spencer were breathtaking and scene-stealers as usual, Doug Jones who played the amphibian man was great too. This movie is an instant classic and happens to be a modern fairy tale, I was surprisingly a huge fan, I enjoyed the meandering and sneaky (yes, sneaky) score as well. Although very cheesy the movie handles it in a very professional way by embracing it which was endearing, the events during the third act were odd and I briefly lost my connection to the film. I did enjoy this way more than I thought I would and I will be giving it an 8/10.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Written and Directed By Martin McDonagh)
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is a very strangely beautiful film that works best when you know nothing about it. It’s a wonderful film that is eloquent, poised and elegant in a very unconventional way. I adore Martin McDonagh’s skills as a writer and the helming of this film makes me respect him more than I already do. This movie has a unique and beautiful plot, bringing out strangely dark and sensitive humour from very inappropriate situations. This film evoked the strongest of emotions and had incredibly powerful performances by Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell, and Woody Harrelson (Lucas Hedges’ performance in this film was annoying but thankfully he wasn’t there much so no point reduction). I don’t particularly have any flaws with the film and I was completely swayed by the different directions this characters went in and I ended up caring about all of them so much so that I was completely taken aback, this movie is not in any sense conventional or predictable, it breaks all barriers in storytelling and becomes its own beautiful thing. I thoroughly enjoyed this film and think it’s probably the best of 2017, along with Blade Runner 2049. This movie was astounding and unforgettable. I’ve heard a lot of gripes about a scene with a CGI deer but that moment in the film was more dominated by the emotions expressed by Frances McDormand’s character allowing me not to pay any heed to it, I didn’t even notice it, it was beautiful. The score in this film was remarkable, some of the best I’d heard in years, and truly impeccable. I adore this film and I’m giving this one a 10/10.
Out Of The Blue 