Oscar contenders 2018

[j_garcia]

So far have seen Dunkirk, Darkest Hour, Shape of Water and should be seeing 3 Billboards and Phantom Thread soon. Have Get Out at home but haven't watched it because nobody expected it to get an Oscar nomination lol. Also on the short list to watch is I,Tonya because it looks fun.

Dunkirk - solid film in Nolan's style. I like WWII films and this one wasn't one of the best I've seen IMO, but it was good. I can see why it was nominated.

Darkest Hour - what else is there to say? The other side of Dunkirk. Gary Oldman. Great performance by Oldman and overall a very interesting film. Yes, it is slow and dialog intense, but you should know that going in.

Shape of Water - OK, it is Del Toro, so you know it will be odd, but this one was unexpectedly odd. The trailer makes it look plain and the overall story is exactly what it looks like from the trailer, however there are a lot of other elements to it that make it almost a bit uncomfortable. I enjoyed it, but some of the odd aspects sort of weren't really beneficial to the film and the two others I went to it with did not like it. I can see why it was nominated because it has beautiful cinematography and solid performances, but I'd be a little select about who I'd recommend this one to - basically film buffs IMO.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Lets just say I rate Dunkirk about 4/10. Supposedly it's 4k version is really good
http://archimago.blogspot.com/2018/01/demo-dunkirk-resolution-difference.html

 

[lovinthehd]

The only one of the best pic nominees I've seen is Get Out, which is very good but best pic I dunno....looking forward to Three Billboards, Shape of Water and Darkest Hour the most.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I have not seen all the nominees.

But when I first saw “Get Out” I thought it should win best picture right then. This movie is too good.

I saw Dunkirk. I don’t even think it should be nominated.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I've now seen

1) Get Out - Best one so far
2) Shape of Water - Okay, but I was disappointed, not even close to being as good as "Pan's Labyrinth"
3) Darkest Hour - Another "Dunkirk", setting in England, except more boring
4) Lady Bird - boring and lame as hell
5) Dunkirk - Pretty good, not Nolan's best, but better than "Darkest Hour"

So far, I think the best one is "Get Out" follow by "Dunkirk".

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I have now seen every movie nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars next Sunday.

Get Out - Most exciting and interesting, I hope this wins
Dunkirk - Pretty good, I think will probably win
Darkest Hour - Okay, but I think Dunkirk was better
Three Billboards.. Interesting movie, not bad
Shape of Water - I thought it was kind of stupid, disappointing
Lady Bird - boring as hell
The Post - boring as hell
Phantom Thread - boring as hell
Call Me By Your Name - extremely boring as hell

For Best Cinematography, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing, I think it's between "Blade Runner 2049" and "Dunkirk".

 

[panteragstk]

I liked Dunkirk, but best picture is a stretch. Haven't seen a lot of the rest, but Get Out was fantastic.

 

[j_garcia]

When I saw it I could see why it would get nominated. I personally wouldn't pick it as a winner. Darkest Hour I think Oldman will probably win for actor, but the film maybe not. We were going to go see Three Billboards tonight but are opting for Black Panther instead lol.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I cannot believe "Shape of Water" won Best Picture and Best Director.

This is the same movie where a mute lady places one bath towel under the bathroom door to fill up the entire bathroom with water and creates an aquarium out of the bathroom!


Frances McDormand won Best Actress for "Three Billboards", but I think Margot Robbie should have won for "I, Tonya".

Gary Oldman won Best Actor, which I thought was spot on.

Blade Runner 2049 won Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects, which I thought was spot on.

 

[j_garcia]

This weekend squeezed in I, Tonya which was good. Allison Janney did a great job as the mom, but Margot Robbie's performance was good too. Also saw Get out. Not sure I'd call it a best picture contender, but it was good; I liked it.

Yeah, I am a little surprised that Shape of Water won. I don't fault it for it's fantasy, I liked it, but it had some issues IMO.

It seemed to be spread out across a lot of the films too though, Darkest Hour, Dunkirk, Get Out, I,Tonya, and Shape of Water, Blade Runner, etc... Also happy that the cinematographer for Blade Runner won since it was his first win in 14 nominations. I didn't realize Gary Oldman had not previously won an Oscar; that seems insane given his performances.

Glad Coco won for animated.

Thought it was pretty interesting to see Kobe win an Oscar. Now I'll have to check out that short.

 

[panteragstk]

This weekend squeezed in I, Tonya which was good. Allison Janney did a great job as the mom, but Margot Robbie's performance was good too. Also saw Get out. Not sure I'd call it a best picture contender, but it was good; I liked it.

Yeah, I am a little surprised that Shape of Water won. I don't fault it for it's fantasy, I liked it, but it had some issues IMO.

It seemed to be spread out across a lot of the films too though, Darkest Hour, Dunkirk, Get Out, I,Tonya, and Shape of Water, Blade Runner, etc... Also happy that the cinematographer for Blade Runner won since it was his first win in 14 nominations. I didn't realize Gary Oldman had not previously won an Oscar; that seems insane given his performances.

Glad Coco won for animated.

Thought it was pretty interesting to see Kobe win an Oscar. Now I'll have to check out that short.

I agree. Gary Oldman is one of those actors I've always thought was underrated. He's had so many fantastic performances he deserved the win this time. He did an excellent job.

Haven't seen Shape of Water yet, but they compare it to Pan's Labyrinth which I thought was fantastic.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

This weekend squeezed in I, Tonya which was good. Allison Janney did a great job as the mom, but Margot Robbie's performance was good too.

She had to learn ice skating for like 4 months about 4 x per week.

Her solid acting performance + physical performance (of course, she had a double for the difficult skills ), should have won her Best Actress IMO.

I bet Margot Robbie felt like Tonya Harding at the Oscars.


Frances McDormand just had to act like a biotch the whole movie to win Best Actress. How hard could that be?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Haven't seen Shape of Water yet, but they compare it to Pan's Labyrinth which I thought was fantastic.

I think "Pan's Labyrinth" is a masterpiece. I've watched it a few time.

"Pan's" is 100% better and much more complex than "Shape of Water", which I think is extremely simple with plot holes.

"Pan's" should have won Best Picture and Director back then, but it didn't.

That's why I was so disappointed in "Shape of Water" - I was expecting another "Pan's".

 

[TLS Guy]

I thought Dunkirk was full of missed opportunities. The story was poorly developed.

Darkest Hour should arrive this week. This is a crucial story. It was on a knife edge as to whether it would be the end of Western Civilization or not. Those that wanted to surrender put up a big fight. This was definitely Churchill's finest hour and the time when his leadership was most crucial. A lot of the script will have been already written for this movie as it is in Hansard.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I thought Dunkirk was full of missed opportunities. The story was poorly developed.

Darkest Hour should arrive this week. This is a crucial story. It was on a knife edge as to whether it would be the end of Western Civilization or not. Those that wanted to surrender put up a big fight. This was definitely Churchill's finest hour and the time when his leadership was most crucial. A lot of the script will have been already written for this movie as it is in Hansard.

Will you watch the movie that won Best Picture and Best Director - "The Shape of Water"?

If I thought it was bad, I can't wait to see what you say about it.

 

[TLS Guy]

Will you watch the movie that won Best Picture and Best Director - "The Shape of Water"?

If I thought it was bad, I can't wait to see what you say about it.

It is unlikely my wife and I will watch that movie.

 

[j_garcia]

I think "Pan's Labyrinth" is a masterpiece. I've watched it a few time.

"Pan's" is 100% better and much more complex than "Shape of Water", which I think is extremely simple with plot holes.

"Pan's" should have won Best Picture and Director back then, but it didn't.

That's why I was so disappointed in "Shape of Water" - I was expecting another "Pan's".

Pan's Labyrinth had some difficult elements as well, but I really did enjoy it. I am a Del Toro fan which is why I went to see Shape of Water. Cinematography, the great score and the performances were very good in Shape of Water too, it was just Del Toro's need to put a little something extra in there to push the limits that can be distracting from the story IMO. His earlier works Cronos and Devil's Backbone were also pretty interesting. The guy has a crazy imagination.

By difficult I mean elements that maybe don't need to be fully explored for people to get the idea of what is going on. I personally don't have an issue, meaning I know it is a film, but that doesn't mean I feel they're beneficial to the story telling.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Pan's Labyrinth had some difficult elements as well, but I really did enjoy it. I am a Del Toro fan which is why I went to see Shape of Water. Cinematography, the great score and the performances were very good in Shape of Water too, it was just Del Toro's need to put a little something extra in there to push the limits that can be distracting from the story IMO. His earlier works Cronos and Devil's Backbone were also pretty interesting. The guy has a crazy imagination.

By difficult I mean elements that maybe don't need to be fully explored for people to get the idea of what is going on. I personally don't have an issue, meaning I know it is a film, but that doesn't mean I feel they're beneficial to the story telling.

I saw Cronos also.

I am fan of Del Toro as well, which is why I expected perfection on “Shape of Water”.

To be fair, aside from that ridiculous bathroom “aquarium” scene with the bath towel under the door, the movie was good compared to most movies. But I just expected a lot more from him.

I’m probably taking that bathroom scene way out of proportion? Did you have an immediate reaction when you saw that?

 

[j_garcia]

I did comment that it wasn't possible, but then it is not supposed to be realistic after all

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I did comment that it wasn't possible, but then it is not supposed to be realistic after all

Well, there are things that seem impossible and unrealistic - like time travel, multiple words/ alternate universe, teleportation, mutant powers, superheroes, Zombies, Vampires and Lycans, the world of TRON - but we realize that it's science fiction.

I mean the sea creature himself is science fiction and I don't think any of us has an issue with the sea creature.

But placing a bath towel under the door to create an aquarium does not seem very creative, original, or science fiction - unless this is supposed to be all in her mind like a dream/fantasy and not "real". Maybe that's what it was. It was all in her head/fantasy when they showed the bathroom scene. I should have thought of that before!

On the bright side, as far as Best Pictures go, it's not the worst. I've seen a lot worse movies that won Best Pictures.