On March 4, the 90th Academy Awards will air live from Hollywood on ABC at 8 p.m. Jimmy Kimmel will host for the second consecutive year only to be done prior by Billy Crystal in 1997 and 1998. Most local theaters are currently showing all of the Best Picture Nominees so here are some recaps of all the contenders for you to choose from. They all have something different to offer and none will disappoint.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (R)
This one has been winning big this year. Frances McDormand is up for Best Actress while Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson are both nominated for Actor in a Supporting role. Directed by Martin McDonagh, the film is very intense following the rape and murder of a teenage girl which doesn’t garner the attention her distraught mother wants. Taking matters into her own hands, she rents three billboards in town calling out the sheriff and making the crime front and center. Harassment and threats ensue and truths are unearthed.
Lady Bird (R)
Saoirse Ronan is nominated for Best Actress along with Laurie Metcalf for supporting actress. Director Greta Gerwig is only the fifth woman to be nominated in this category. The movie is a coming of age tale about a teenage girl and her tempestuous relationship with her parents, in particular her mother. She tests the waters with regards to her personal relationships and learns what is truly important.
Call Me by Your Name (R)
This film stars Timothée Chalamet, who is nominated for Best Actor and also stars Armie Hammer, Michael Stuhlbarg and Amira Casar directed by Luca Guadagnino. It is set in 1983 in Northern Italy, focusing on a young boy who falls in love with his father’s research assistant who is visiting for the summer. They bond over their Jewish culture and their mutual evolving sexual attraction, which increases as the days go by.
Phantom Thread (R)
For what is said to be Daniel Day-Lewis’s last film, he is nominated in the Best Actor category along with supporting actress, Lesley Manville and Best Director, Paul Thomas Anderson. This movie takes place in 1950s London where Lewis plays a celebrated dressmaker whose life takes an unexpected turn when he meets a young waitress who later becomes his lover.
The Post (PG-13)
Meryl Streep is up for Best Actress and stars in this film alongside Tom Hanks and Sarah Paulson. Under direction from Steven Spielberg, Streep portrays Katharine Graham, who took over the paper following her husband’s suicide. Along with her editor, played by Hanks, the two decide to publish the controversial classified documents regarding America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. Streep and Hanks are as you expect, brilliant, in this historic biography.
Dunkirk (PG-13)
Directed by Christopher Nolan, who has been nominated in that category, Dunkirk stars Fionn Whitehead, Damien Bonnard, Lee Armstrong, Mark Rylance and Harry Styles. It relives the gripping evacuation by land, sea and air of allied soldiers from Britain and France in 1940. The film is beautifully written and with little dialogue, the action speaks for itself.
The Shape of Water (R)
Another front-runner, The Shape of Water stars Sally Hawkins, who is up for Best Actress along with Best Supporting Actress, Octavia Spencer, Best Actor in a Supporting role, Richard Jenkins, and Best Director Guillermo del Toro. Michael Shannon and Doug Jones also star in this bizarre tale of love and self-worth set in the 1950s in a top secret laboratory.
Darkest Hour (PG-13)
Gary Oldman is nominated for best actor in this film, which also stars Lily James and Kristin Scott Thomas. Directed by Joe Wright, Oldman is superb as Winston Churchill, who must decide to negotiate or fight with Hitler. There have been many movies and documentaries about Churchill but this is one of the best.
Get Out (R)
Rounding off the Best Film nominees is Get Out with Daniel Kaluuya getting a Best Actor nod along with director Jordan Peele. The movie also stars Allison Williams and Bradley Whitford. This is a thriller at its best with Kaluuya playing a young African American man getting ready to meet his white girlfriend’s family for the first time up at their sheltered estate. What happens next will have your head spinning.
So no matter what your taste is you are sure to find something to enjoy, cozied up with a popcorn and drink. See them all and vote along for your favorite.
