The day after the day after ... the 2018 Oscars

The Oscar show this year reflected the last several month's atmosphere in the business, which might be coined the 'Year of the Activist'. Thankfully the time of black dresses to mark the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements were a thing of the past, so that all of Hollywood's prime divas and hunks flushed the red carpet with bold colors, including many in white. Beating the lot in sheer striking beauty and swanky throwback style was - unsurprisingly - Wonder Woman herself, Gal Gadot:

Host Jimmy Kimmel dug right into the fraught political agendas in his opening monologue and followed the course throughout the evening. He succeeded in being embraced by his Hollywood crowd by and large, (insults at Matt Damon, Reese Witherspoon and Mel Gibson went by unpunished), and undoubtedly getting the show's minority Republican and right wing audiences to change the channel. The show suffered a 13 % drop in US viewership and with just 26.5 mil. American viewers, it was the least seen Oscar show in its entire history. - Clearly audiences at home are not as passionate about anti-harassment, pro-minority, anti-gun, pro-Mexico, pro-dreamers etc. etc. etc. affinities in what is supposed to be primarily an entertaining and glamorous show, as the people on stage were. And Kimmel's political swerves left less room for fun bits and traditional show, which Oscar audiences adore. So for next year, expect the producers to find a radically different host; either an insult-prone 'dirty comedian' or a real showman, - a likely - and likable - candidate could be 2009 host, globally beloved song-and-dance man Hugh Jackman.
The show paid tribute to Eva Marie Saint, soldiers on-screen and in real life, had great musical performances by Mary J. Blige and Keala Settle, whose This Is Me was perhaps the night's most powerful emotional moment, touching, nervous and funny speeches, and little if any in the way of really surprising wins. The funniest moment of the show was Tiffany Haddish and Maya Rudolph's presentation, shoes-in-hand.

I guessed 14 of the night's 21 feature category winners, up from the 11 correct last year but under the best year (2016), in which I got 16 right. 13 were correct in 2015 and 7 in 2014. 

Here is a full list of the predictions, favorites and winners of the night:

Red marks the person/s or film I predict will win the Oscar
Film Excess favorite marks the person/s or film I hope will win the Oscar
Winner marks the person or film that actually won the award

Best Production Design:

Beauty and the Beast
Blade Runner 2049
Darkest Hour  
Dunkirk  
The Shape of Water Film Excess favorite Winner 
 

Best Animated Feature
 
Coco Winner 
Ferdinand Film Excess favorite
Loving Vincent
The Boss Baby  
The Bread Winner
 
Best Foreign Film
 
A Fantastic Woman Winner 
 Loveless
On Body and Soul  
The Insult
The Square Film Excess favorite
 
Best Documentary
 
Abacus: Small Enough to Jail
Faces Places Film Excess favorite
Icarus Winner 
Last Men in Aleppo  
Strong Island
 
Best Score
 
Hans Zimmer, Dunkirk
Jonny Greenwood, Phantom Thread  
John Williams, Star Wars: The Last Jedi Film Excess favorite
Alexandre Desplat, The Shape of Water Winner
Carter Burwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
 
Best Song
 
The Mystery of Love, Call Me By Your Name Film Excess favorite  
Remember Me, Coco Winner 
Stand Up for Something, Marshall
Mighty River, Mudbound  
This Is Me, The Greatest Showman
 
Best Markeup and Hairstyling
 
Darkest Hour Winner 
Victoria & Abdul
Wonder Film Excess favorite
 
Best Visual Effects
 
Blade Runner 2049 Winner  
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Kong: Skull Island
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
War for the Planet of the Apes Film Excess favorite
 
Best Sound Editing
 
Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk Film Excess favorite Winner
Star Wars: The Last Jedi  
The Shape of Water
 
Best Film Editing
 
Baby Driver
Dunkirk Film Excess favorite Winner 
I, Tonya  
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
  
Best Sound Mixing
 
Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049  
Dunkirk Film Excess favorite Winner  
Star Wars: The Last Jedi  
The Shape of Water

Best Costume Design
 
Beauty and the Beast
Darkest Hour
Phantom Thread Film Excess favorite Winner 
The Shape of Water
Victoria & Abdul

Best Cinematography
 
Roger Deakins, Blade Runner 2049 Winner 
Bruno Delbonnel, Darkest Hour
Hoyte Van Hoytema, Dunkirk Film Excess favorite
Rachel Morrison, Mudbound  
Dan Laustsen, The Shape of Water
 
Best Adapted Screenplay
 
James Ivory, Call Me By Your Name Film Excess favorite Winner 
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 Original Screenplay
 
Jordan Peele, Get Out Winner 
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 Film Excess favorite
 
Best Director
 
Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk Film Excess favorite
Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water Winner  
Jordan Peele, Get Out
Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread

Best Supporting Actress
 
Allison Janney, I, Tonya  Film Excess favorite Winner  
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread  
Mary J. Blige, Mudbound  
Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water

Best Supporting Actor
 
Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World
Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Film Excess favorite Winner
Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
 
Best Actress
 
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Film Excess favorite Winner 
Margot Robbie, I, Tonya
Meryl Streep, The Post  
Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water  
Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
 
Best Actor
 
Daniel Day-Lewis, The Phantom Thread  
Daniel Kauuya, Get Out  
Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq.
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour Film Excess favorite Winner 
Timothée Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name
 
Best Picture
 
Call Me By Your Name  
Darkest Hour  
Dunkirk Film Excess favorite  
Get Out
Lady Bird  
Phantom Thread  
The Post
The Shape of Water Winner 
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405 won Best Doc. Short, The Silent Child Best Live Action Short and Dear Basketball Best Animated Short.
Honorary awards went to Agnès Varda, Charles Burnett, Donald Sutherland and Owen Roizman, and a special achievement Oscar to Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritu.

Related posts:


Oscars 2018: Predictions and Film Excess' favorites
The day after ... the Oscars 2017
Oscars 2017: Predictions and Film Excess' favorites
The day after the day after ... the Oscars 2016
Oscars 2016 - Predictions and Film Excess' favorites
The day after the day after ... the Oscars 2015   
Oscars 2015: Prognosis and Film Excess' favorites
The day after ... the Oscars 2014   
Oscars 2014: Prognosis and Film Excess' favorites

Here are some more pictures of the evening:
 

What do you think of the 2018 Oscars?
Did the right films win - or even get nominated?
Comments on the host and activism of the evening are also welcomed 

Philomena (2013) - Dench astounds in Frears' powerful true-story drama

♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

+ Best True-Story Movie of the Year

+ Best English Movie of the Year

 

The posters for Stephen Frears' Philomena didn't catch my interest, as they seem rather bland and certainly don't relate the actual power of the film, in my opinion

 

Martin has been fired from his political job and looks for a story for a book, when one happens to fall into his lap: Ageing Philomena had her bastard child taken from her by nuns 50 years ago.

As noted above, the Philomena posters don't relate the film's narrative power, which is clear all the way through Jeff Pope (The Place of the Dead (1997, TVM) and Steve Coogan's (The Parole Officer (2001)) Oscar-nominated, excellent adapted script, based on Coogan's character Martin Sixsmith's (Putin's Oil (2010)) 2009 book, The Lost Child of Philomena Lee. The film is directed by English master filmmaker Stephen Frears (Florence Foster Jenkins (2016)) in exemplary fashion; it plays our emotional chords as a violin with great command throughout.

Philomena is technically astute, with an outstanding score by Alexandre Desplat (Reality (2012)). Coogan and Judi Dench (The World Is Not Enough (1999)) illuminate the screen as few can and both stand out as completely real characters while also often being downright hilarious. Dench has never been better than here and is really something of a miracle. All the secondary characters are ideally cast.

Philomena is among the year's best, a rare gem that I can't recommend enough.

 

Related posts:

 

Top 10: Best UK movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

2013 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED VI] 

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 12 mil. $

Box office: 100.1 mil. $

= Huge hit

[Philomena premiered August 31 (Venice International Film Festival) and runs 98 minutes. Filming took place in Maryland, Washington D.C., England and Northern Ireland from October 2012 - January 2013. The film only takes minor artistic licenses in its relation of the true story. It opened #28 in 4 theaters with 128k $ and peaked at #8 in 835 theaters in North America, where it grossed 37.7 mil. $ (37.6 % of the total gross). Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 18.4 mil. $ (18.4 %) and Australia with 10.1 mil. $ (10.1 %). The film was nominated for 4 Oscars: For Best Picture (lost to 12 Years a Slave), Actress (Dench) (lost to Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine), Adapted Screenplay (lost to 12 Years a Slave) and Score (lost to Gravity). It was also nominated for 3 Golden Globes and 4 BAFTAs. Philomena is certified fresh at 92 % with a 7.8 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Philomena?

Film Excess' 2nd birthday movie masterpiece: The King's Speech (2010) - Hooper's soaring, royal masterpiece about overcoming human frailty

♥♥♥♥♥♥

1 Film Excess win:

Best Film 

7 Film Excess nominations:

Best Film (won) 
Best Screenplay: David Seidler (lost to Christopher Nolan for Inception)
Best Lead Actor: Colin Firth (lost to Stephen Dorff for Somewhere)
Best Supporting Actor: Geoffrey Rush (lost to John C. Reilly for The Extra Man) 
Best Supporting Actress: Helena Bonham Carter, also for Alice in Wonderland (lost to Dianne Wiest for Rabbit Hole) 
Best Director: Tom Hooper (lost to Sofia Coppola for Somewhere) 
Best Editing (lost to Somewhere)

+ Best Movie of the Year
+ Best English Movie of the Year
+ Best Historical Movie of the Year

The elegant, simple poster for Tom Hooper's The King's Speech

The Duke of York has had problems of stuttering for as long as he can remember, when George V, his father, dies and his older brother ruins his own future as king, so that the duke, unexpectedly, must stand tall on his own and become king of the vast, British world empire, which is on the verge of World War II.

King's Speech is a grand film with a relatively small plot; one man has to learn how to give a successful speech. It is written by Oscar-winning David Seidler (The King and I (1999)) and directed by Tom Hooper (The Damned United (2009)).
The film lives through its sublime actors' performances: Oscar-winning Colin Firth (Mamma Mia! (2008)), Geoffrey Rush (The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004)) and Helena Bonham Carter (The Heart of Me (2002)) are all excellent. From Hooper's direction to Oscar-nominated composer Alexander Desplat's (Argo (2012)) score, King's Speech is peopled by outstanding talents doing first rate work all the way around.
This film is both funny and full of human warmth. A story of human defiance in a historic setting. About stepping out of the shadows of fear and becoming one's own master. - Hooray for The King's Speech, truly a must-see!
Hooper is currently in post production with his next film, the long-awaited transsexual drama The Danish Girl (2015) with Eddie Redmayne in the title role.

Related posts:

Top 10: Best UK movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Watch the trailer for The King's Speech here - a film that truly, magnificently, works

Cost: 15 mil. $
Box office: 414.2 mil. $
= Mega-hit
[The King's Speech has become the most successful British independent film ever made; (although it is actually a UK/US/Australian co-production, it is designated as a mostly British film.) It was especially big in the UK and Australia, (in the UK alone, it grossed 44.4 mil. £!) It grossed 138.7 mil. $ in North America (33 % of the total gross), where it also won 4 out of 12 Oscar nominations: Best Original Screenplay, Director, Actor and Best Film.]

What do you think of The King's Speech?