2018 Oscars

[GAC]

Just saw Dunkirk. Was not a fan overall of the movie.

I have not seen it. My younger brother and I are huge fans of "war" movies that are based on the element of documentary/historical. He saw Dunkirk and said it was one of the chintziest, badly produced war movies he has ever seen. Came across as a "low budget" movie. Didn't care for it one bit. So I have yet to watch it (LOL)

[JaxRed]

I had two problems with it. One was directorial (I guess), you'd see a scene and an action. Then they'd jump to another person and you see the action not realizing they'd jumped back in time and the previous action you just saw hadn't occurred yet. They did this over and over.

Secondly, rather than tell the big story of what happened at Dunkirk, they followed (fictional) characters as they fought and fled because of what was happening. The story of Dunkirk itself was kinda glossed over.

[*BaseClogger*]

For Best Picture the "snub" so far for me was "The Greatest Showman". From the song team that did La La Land, except this was in the works before La La Land, because it took 7 years for the project to finish. It's also much better than La La Land.

[BuckeyeRed27]

I had two problems with it. One was directorial (I guess), you'd see a scene and an action. Then they'd jump to another person and you see the action not realizing they'd jumped back in time and the previous action you just saw hadn't occurred yet. They did this over and over.

Secondly, rather than tell the big story of what happened at Dunkirk, they followed (fictional) characters as they fought and fled because of what was happening. The story of Dunkirk itself was kinda glossed over.

It's funny because exactly what you just said is why I loved it. It's not your typical war movie and definitely comes at it from a different place. I thought Nolan did a brilliant job of weaving these time threads together to make a compelling story. He could have just started at point A and ended at point B, but I don't think that would have been very interesting.

I watched "The Shape of Water" last night. I see what they were going for and there are some good moments, but I wasn't into it.

[RedsBaron]

It's funny because exactly what you just said is why I loved it. It's not your typical war movie and definitely comes at it from a different place. I thought Nolan did a brilliant job of weaving these time threads together to make a compelling story. He could have just started at point A and ended at point B, but I don't think that would have been very interesting.

I watched "The Shape of Water" last night. I see what they were going for and there are some good moments, but I wasn't into it.

I liked "Dunkirk" for pretty much the same reasons. I found it to be an interesting depiction of what the events would have been like for the "average" soldier, flyer and civilian during those events. It is certainly not the "big picture" view. A viewer totally ignorant of history would leave the movie not knowing why the Allied force were the "good guys" or how much was actually at stake. Watching "Darkest Hour" after seeing "Dunkirk" would be helpful in getting a fuller view of what was at stake. Even better, read a few books.

[JaxRed]

I saw 3 Billboards yesterday in my Movie Pass driven quest to see all the Oscar contenders. I was expecting to not like it and ended up liking it pretty well. It would not be a best picture candidate for me for a few reasons. I'll try not to make any big spoilers.

a. I hate it when a movie interjects racism and homophobia into a movie that's not part of the plot/story, just so they can say they depicted it. Shape of Water did the same thing in a more obvious, ham handed way.
b. I hate when when a movie depends on implausible things/actions in order to further the story. The negotiation of the price of the billboards was one. The fact that nobody got arrested for arrestable facts was another.

Good movie, enjoyable movie, just not Best Picture stuff for me.

I would probably have Margot Robbie and Sally Hawkins over Frances McDormand for best actress. This seemed like so many of her other roles to me,

[The DARK]

I saw 3 Billboards yesterday in my Movie Pass driven quest to see all the Oscar contenders. I was expecting to not like it and ended up liking it pretty well. It would not be a best picture candidate for me for a few reasons. I'll try not to make any big spoilers.

a. I hate it when a movie interjects racism and homophobia into a movie that's not part of the plot/story, just so they can say they depicted it. Shape of Water did the same thing in a more obvious, ham handed way.
b. I hate when when a movie depends on implausible things/actions in order to further the story. The negotiation of the price of the billboards was one. The fact that nobody got arrested for arrestable facts was another.

Good movie, enjoyable movie, just not Best Picture stuff for me.

I would probably have Margot Robbie and Sally Hawkins over Frances McDormand for best actress. This seemed like so many of her other roles to me,

I thought I liked Three Billboards alright until I realized it’s basically The Hateful Eight, rewritten to be Oscar bait. The three main characters have (almost freakily) identical arcs, the themes are the same, and both are trying way too hard to do the whole “microcosm of America” thing. At least Hateful Eight had things that make movies good: beautiful cinematography, tightly wound scenes, and something moderately interesting to say. And geez did Three Billboards have some hack dialogue in places.

[cincinnati chili]

a. I hate it when a movie interjects racism and homophobia into a movie that's not part of the plot/story, just so they can say they depicted it. Shape of Water did the same thing in a more obvious, ham handed way

I am on board with your first sentence, but those things go to the essence of Shape of Water. The movie is about how we react to those different from us, who we see as monsters. For the diner manager it was blacks and gays; for Michael Shannon, it was the creature; for the military, it was the Russians. The creature was not the monster in the monster movie. The monsters were the ones who let their insecurities about others’ differences prevail over their own senses of decency. Ham handed? Sure. But I enjoyed it all the same.

[BuckeyeRed27]

So I didn't love "Lady Bird". I watched it last night and something just felt off about it to me and honestly I haven't figured out what it is yet.

[Boston Red]

I saw 3 Billboards yesterday in my Movie Pass driven quest to see all the Oscar contenders. I was expecting to not like it and ended up liking it pretty well. It would not be a best picture candidate for me for a few reasons. I'll try not to make any big spoilers.

a. I hate it when a movie interjects racism and homophobia into a movie that's not part of the plot/story, just so they can say they depicted it. Shape of Water did the same thing in a more obvious, ham handed way.
b. I hate when when a movie depends on implausible things/actions in order to further the story. The negotiation of the price of the billboards was one. The fact that nobody got arrested for arrestable facts was another.

Good movie, enjoyable movie, just not Best Picture stuff for me.

I would probably have Margot Robbie and Sally Hawkins over Frances McDormand for best actress. This seemed like so many of her other roles to me,

I watched Three Billboards and thought it was pretty awful. Can't believe it's in the best picture running.

[redsfanmia]

I watched Three Billboards and thought it was pretty awful. Can't believe it's in the best picture running.

It was ok, McDormand basically played the same role she has played for the last 10 years, very similar to Olive Kitteridge. I really felt like they just put Dinklage in the movie for a few dwarf jokes. Woody Harrelson was fantastic in it though, best performance I’ve seen in a while IMO.

[Kingspoint]

I have not seen it. My younger brother and I are huge fans of "war" movies that are based on the element of documentary/historical. He saw Dunkirk and said it was one of the chintziest, badly produced war movies he has ever seen. Came across as a "low budget" movie. Didn't care for it one bit. So I have yet to watch it (LOL)

The Brendan Gleeson/Emma Thompson German produced movie is good. There's also a good French movie about "the roundup" in Paris. That's the name of the movie, but in French. Just watched a Danish movie about the Danish atrocities against teenage German POW's removing mines along their coast. Very good. Needs to be seen so the stories are not forgotten.

I'll pass on Dunkirk. Have zero interest in watching it based on what I've read about it. You really have to get away from U.S. productions to get good war movies, exceptions existing, of course.

[NebraskaRed]

to me, Dunkirk was all technique and no heart. Great sound design, good cinematography, but I felt absolutely nothing while watching it.