{"id":2130,"date":"2018-02-27T23:04:12","date_gmt":"2018-02-27T23:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/?p=2130"},"modified":"2018-02-27T23:04:12","modified_gmt":"2018-02-27T23:04:12","slug":"oscars-2018-lady-bird-and-the-shape-of-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/2018\/02\/27\/oscars-2018-lady-bird-and-the-shape-of-water\/","title":{"rendered":"Oscars 2018 – Lady Bird and The Shape of Water"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Apparently, I\u2019ve been saving the best for last. According to review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Lady Bird<\/em> was briefly the best-reviewed movie of all time (now overtaken by Paddington 2<\/em>). I therefore sat down to watch Greta Gerwig\u2019s unassuming coming-of-age movie with high expectations. It is, of course, excellently done, but I am slightly bewildered at the overwhelming adoration it has received. Maybe critics who are lauding it as an amazing debut didn\u2019t see Frances Ha<\/em>, also written by Gerwig (but with Noah Baumbach directing) which now looks somewhat like a trial run for this.<\/p>\n

This is not to say that it isn\u2019t excellent. It absolutely is. Gerwig\u2019s acutely observed script follows Christine \u201cLady Bird\u201d McPherson through the end of high school and the beginning of college, and essentially watches her \u2013 as many people do at this time in their lives \u2013 try on different personalities, ways of engaging with the world and circles of friends, in an attempt to discover who she is and what space there is left in the world for her. Time and again, Lady Bird presents us with situations very familiar from other movies (high school prom, losing virginity, meeting the parents), but time and again Gerwig finds a way to twist, tweak, surprise or invert these tropes, without the film ever departing from reality too much.<\/p>\n

To deliver this script, Gerwig has marshalled an incredible cast, from the effortless Saoirse Ronan as Lady Bird, to the impeccable Laurie Metcalfe as her mother, to Beanie Feldstein as her off-again, on-again best friend. And \u2013 look! \u2013 there\u2019s Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet, so utterly convincing in Call Me By Your Name<\/em>, incredibly funny and having a whale of a time playing the hideously pretentious boyfriend whom Lady Bird goes to bed with.<\/p>\n

But as well done as all of this is, it seems inherently and necessarily limited in its scope. The themes, although universal, rarely rise above the trivial, and the appeal to religiosity at the end, while it might have more resonance with American audiences, did nothing whatever for me. So I would file this under \u201creally well made\u201d rather than \u201cchanged my life\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I had almost equally high expectations for The Shape of Water<\/em>, which comes to the 90th Academy Awards with the most nominations (13 including director, screenplay, score and cinematography). I made a point of watching del Toro\u2019s early hit Pan\u2019s Labyrinth<\/em> which I hadn\u2019t seen before and which I thought was absolutely amazing \u2013 far darker and grimmer than the whimsical fantasy I was anticipating, but hugely effective.<\/p>\n

A few similar themes recur here, but the intent is subtly shifted. The period setting and the slight unreality of the production design create a fully-integrated world in which Doug Jones\u2019 Amphibian Man fits properly. This contrasts with Pan\u2019s Labyrinth<\/em> in which the \u201creal world\u201d is generally presented in a realistic fashion and the hidden world of sprites and fauns seems fantastical. There\u2019s also something fairy tale about Sally Hawkins\u2019 apparent refusal to speak (although the marks on her neck, which give rise to the wonderful visual pun at the end hint at some physical trauma robbing her of the power).<\/p>\n

But elsewhere, the feel is much more realistic, with some fairly grim and gruesome violence, not least Michael Shannon\u2019s severed, reattached and rotting fingers, and it’s when these two approaches collide that the film is on thin ice. For much of its running time, the sheer conviction of the players \u2013 Shannon, Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Jenkins, Octavia Spencer and fabulously expressive and winning Sally Hawkins \u2013 carries it through. But all it takes is for the audience to think \u2013 even for a second \u2013 hang on, this is all a bit silly isn\u2019t it? And suddenly the whole enterprise collapses. And it\u2019s hard not to think that when Hawkins is blissfully filling her entire bathroom with water from an overflowing bath in order to engage in sub-aqua nookie with a fish man. Dear god!<\/p>\n

Looking back on the nine nominees, then, it strikes me that while there are no outright disasters \u2013 nothing nominated this year is anything like as bad as The Imitation Game<\/em><\/a>, Hacksaw Ridge<\/em><\/a> or Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close<\/em><\/a> \u2013 most of the nominees have been bettered by their own directors. Here, The Shape of Water<\/em> is good, but not as good as Pan\u2019s Labyrinth<\/em>. Christopher Nolan\u2019s Dunkirk<\/em> is good, but not as good as the same director\u2019s Memento<\/em> (or even The Dark Knight<\/em>). Phantom Thread<\/em> is good, but not as good as Magnolia<\/em>. Three Billboards<\/em> is good, but not as good as In Bruges<\/em>. The Post<\/em> is good but \u2013 take your pick! Call Me My Your Name<\/em> may be better than I am Love<\/em>, but I haven\u2019t seen it.<\/p>\n

Passing over Darkest Hour<\/em>, which really isn\u2019t all that good, that just leaves Lady Bird<\/em> and Get Out<\/em>: two films from first-time directors which really stand out as being true statements of intent from fascinating artists to look out for in the years to come. And although I thoroughly enjoyed Lady Bird<\/em>, it can\u2019t match the breadth, depth, complexity and ambition of Get Out<\/em>, which \u2013 I\u2019m slightly surprised to report \u2013 turns out to be my favourite of this year\u2019s nominees.<\/p>\n

On to predictions, briefly. I suspect another split year, with Three Billboards<\/em> gaining enough momentum to overtake The Shape of Water<\/em> (which is also dogged by accusations of plagiarism) for Best Picture, but I can\u2019t see anyone other than del Toro winning Best Director. Best Actor and Best Actress are foregone conclusions (Oldman and McDormand) as is Best Supporting Actress (Allison Janney). Best Supporting Actor is a little more open but Sam Rockwell should probably have a speech ready.<\/p>\n

Screenplay is much harder to call. Really, any of the five nominated films could take Best Original Screenplay, with Three Billboards<\/em> probably having a slight edge, but I\u2019d love Jordan Peele to take it. Best Adapted Screenplay won\u2019t go to The Disaster Artist<\/em> or Logan<\/em>, but the other three all have a shot. I suspect the Academy\u2019s tastes lean more towards Molly\u2019s Game<\/em> than Call Me By Your Name<\/em>, but I\u2019m by no means sure.<\/p>\n

Join me back here this time next week and we\u2019ll all know for certain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Apparently, I\u2019ve been saving the best for last. According to review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Lady Bird was briefly the best-reviewed movie of all time (now overtaken by Paddington 2). I therefore sat down to watch Greta Gerwig\u2019s unassuming coming-of-age movie with high expectations. It is, of course, excellently done, but I am slightly bewildered at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[25,11],"tags":[519,509,278,19,518],"class_list":["post-2130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-at-the-cinema","category-culture","tag-lady-bird","tag-oscars-2018","tag-predictions","tag-reviews","tag-shape-of-water"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5JY5l-ym","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2130"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2138,"href":"http:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2130\/revisions\/2138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}