Post Magazine

January 2018

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www.postmagazine.com 19 POST JANUARY 2018 OSCAR CONTENDERS BY IAIN BLAIR he 90th Academy Awards are almost here, and as usual, the spring/ summer releases and biggest (i.e. most popular) films of the past year, including such global juggernauts as Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Wonder Woman, Beauty and the Beast, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2, Despicable Me 3, Logan, The Fate of the Furious and The LEGO Batman Movie, will have to vie for voter attention with the crowded fall and winter crop of potential contenders. Nevermind that many more once-reliable franchise offerings, including Transformers: The Last Knight, Cars 3, War for the Planet of the Apes, Alien Covenant and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, all under-per- formed — apparently heralding audience fatigue with endless Hollywood sequels and prequels. For 'tis the season when the studios momentarily turn their backs on familiar brands and money-making toons, superheroes and escapist fare (i.e. nearly every one of those Top Ten blockbusters), and give their full attention to such (most- ly) serious, Oscar-worthy prestige projects as Dunkirk, The Post, Darkest Hour, Call Me By Your Name, Lady Bird, Mudbound, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, The Shape of Water, Detroit, Stronger, Our Souls at Night, Suburbicon, Wonder Wheel, Victoria and Abdul, Breathe, The Children Act, The Big Sick, The Florida Project, Last Flag Flying, Molly's Game, Get Out, First They Killed My Father, Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool, Roman J. Israel, Esq., Wonderstruck and Battle of the Sexes. So will Oscar as usual largely turn a blind eye to popular summer popcorn hits (except in sound and visual effects) in favor of fall and year-end releases? Impossible to tell, but with all that in mind, we now look into our crystal ball and present our annual top picks list of likely nominees. BEST PICTURE/ BEST DIRECTOR OK, so there's no such thing as a "sure winner" — and who can forget last year's truly shocking and dramatic announcement mix-up that initially gave the Best Picture award to La La Land instead of true winner Moonlight? And these big races are still up in the air, because at press time, some of the most anticipated, highest profile releases of the season, including Spielberg's The Post, Paul Thomas Anderson's The Phantom Thread, Alexander Payne's Downsizing, Ridley Scott's All the Money In the World, and Michael Gracey's The Greatest Showman, still hadn't been fully unwrapped. But one thing is for sure; after all the recent talk about Hollywood's lack of diversity, 2017 has turned into a banner year for women directors, and Kathryn Bigelow (Detroit), Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird) who's featured in this month's Director's Chair (see page 16), Dee Rees (Mudbound), Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman), Angelina Jolie (First They Killed My Father) and Sofia Coppola (The Beguiled) all deserve attention. As Rees recently told me, all the Oscar buzz "is very exciting for all the crafts people involved. I feel we made a great film, but without a huge budget, so the more attention the better." And regarding the lack of opportunity for women and minorities in Hollywood, like the other women directors she feels that "it's improving very slowly, but a lot of the problem is the pipeline. We need more creatives able to get in the door. The Academy is just a receptacle at the end of the pipeline. We can change its make up, but the bigger thing is changing what's getting made." As this year's race tightens, Dunkirk and Chris Nolan are looking more and more like sure bets. The epic was not only a global smash (making well over half a billion dollars to date, and becoming the most successful WW11 film ever), but it was widely admired by critics and Oscar voters who traditionally love a good war film. And Nolan delivered — on land, sea and air, in his ambitious retelling of the famous rescue effort — reteaming with a top creative group that included director of pho- tography Hoyte van Hoytema, and Oscar nominees (for The Dark Knight) produc- tion designer Nathan Crowley and editor Lee Smith. T

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