Love, Simon (***1/2)

There's something perfectly astounding about how ordinary a movie like LOVE, SIMON feels. 13 years ago, Hollywood released "Brokeback Mountain" which was remembered as the gay cowboy movie with an endless array of jokes and gags at the novelty of it all. Here in 2018, look what Hollywood has made - the first gay rom-com from a major motion picture studio, and I'm thrilled to announce that it's merely an adequate movie. At one time, gay-themed movies were such a novelty that they were bolstered to awards status and critical praise (look no further than Moonlight two years ago). Now, here's a perfectly charming film that draws no attention to its gay hero, it simply documents a funny and modern meet-cute the way movies have done for 100 years. About time Hollywood caught up.

"Simon" is based on a young adult novel by Becky Albertalli about the toils of high school life in some elite Georgia-based suburbia. We meet the hero, Simon (Nick Robinson) and his notably WASPy family (his parents are no less than Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel). Simon explains in an opening monologue that his life is something we might all recognize, and I laughed as we see the affluent life he leads. His house is ripped from the pages of Better Homes and Gardens, and his high school has a welcoming diversity not seen since High School Musical. The setting is all but ideal, save for the fact that Simon harbors a closely-held secret: that he is gay.

The movie essentially follows two threads: Simon's conversations with an online blogger named "Blue" (another closeted student who allegedly goes to Simon's school), and those same email threads being seen by another student, Martin (Logan Miller) and his attempts to blackmail Simon in order to get a date with one of his friends. The bulk of the film documents Simon's chats (online he goes by the pen name Jacques) with Blue, and his slow realization that perhaps he would be more comfortable coming out as gay and exploring a life he had previously hidden away to everyone in his life.

I liked the movie a lot for what it sought to accomplish. Robinson is perfectly charming as Simon, a quiet and timid young man on the verge of discovering himself. His friend circle is a bedrock of support, and yet Simon reminds the audiences that he is fearful of admitting himself to be gay, especially to his family. Why? It's said in the film's first minutes that his parents are as progressive as they come, and they regularly engage in family discussions that cover very candid topics (as well as weekly family viewings of "The Bachelor"). We can only justify Simon's actions by learning that only one other student is gay in his high school, a particularly fierce black student with long hair and feminine features. Yes, he is bullied, but unlike other stories, this kid is not the victim. Students throw around the word "fag" here and there, but in 2018, it's somewhat refreshing to see the gay boy taking no notice.

There are many scenes that may have viewers well up with understanding, and just as many that will encourage laughter as a way to stifle the tears (the drama teacher in particular, Natasha Rothwell, has nothing but scene-stealing moments). It feels at times that the film attempts a more broad humor not suited for the film, particularly with the vice-principal character played by Tony Hale. His is a character with a pension for awkward dialogue and an openness in discussing his own romantic life. Coupled against Simon and his more grounded dramatic story, the film indeed has many hiccups of silliness that I didn't find particularly funny (or fitting).

And in the end, as you might expect in the classic vein of romantic high school comedies, Simon meets Blue in a finale set around some unnamed amusement park. That Blue turns out to be a young, attractive, fit, and compatible lover despite the two never meeting is besides the point. I imagined Simon finally meeting his online companion only to discover Blue to be an obese lesbian with shaved temples and a knack for poetry... This isn't one of those films - it's one where everything is wrapped up with a pretty bow and the audience has a final moment to cheer and feel invigorated. I anticipate a second viewing of "Love, Simon" only to once again see the normalization of a topic that Hollywood has long kept on the back burner. This isn't a film that necessarily merits any "best of the year" conversations over next year's awards season, but knowing that more diverse topics aren't necessarily taboo anymore is a great comfort, indeed.

Annihilation (****1/2)

This was a movie that very nearly slipped by me. With critical acclaim but a dwindling box office, rumors are that this was a flick almost destined for Netflix. What a shame that so few people managed to see this one, what I think is the best movie of the year so far. It's a science-fiction/horror mashup that works so well in moments of quiet, and leaves you reeling in sequences of ambiguity.

This is the follow up film by director Alex Garland (who wrote/directed the Oscar-winner Ex Machina) that tells a story of exploration and the unknown. The story begins with Lena (Natalie Portman) reuniting with her husband (Oscar Isaac) who has been missing for almost a year. Thought to be dead while deployed with the Army, Lena soon discovers he was sent to explore a top-secret discovery along some eastern coastal town. A meteor, which crashed to earth some years ago, has left behind a wake of energy (called "the Shimmer") that is miles wide and leaves no survivors. The military has quarantined the area, but as the Shimmer grows and expands, the need to explore it is increasingly urgent.

Lena is briefed by a Dr Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh), a psychologist who will lead the first non-military expedition to explore and document the phenomenon. They are joined by a couple other scientists (all women), all capable and with enough smarts to come out intact on the other side (so they think). Where the other women seem to go on this suicide mission since they have nothing left to live for, Lena goes in seeking answers to her husband's health, who has returned as the sole survivor and with critical injuries and a foggy memory.

I had assumed this would be an 'alien' movie along the lines of Arrival and portray a strong woman who comes to solve a mystery via brilliant means. I was pleasantly surprised to discover this film takes more risks, enters more heady content, and crafts a story that is as much about the horrific moments as it is about this unknown entity. I am reminded of John Carpenter's "The Thing," Jonathan Glazer's "Under the Skin," and maybe to an extent Ridley Scott's "Alien." This is a story that wowed me on a technical aspect alone - the score is haunting and eerie (save for a couple misplaced guitar solos here and there) and the visuals are truly awe-inspiring. The Shimmer is ultimately believed to scramble all organic DNA so that species and flora become intertwined. We see flowering plants shaped like human figures, deer with branches for horns, and in the film's most suspenseful setpiece - a bear with a human skeleton's face and cry.

I can find very little to fault this movie for. There is a bookend that rarely works in which the film intercuts with Portman being interviewed after the mission (this dissolves all tension as to whether or not she will survive... Spoiler: we learn in the film's first shot that she does). There is a peculiar performance by Jennifer Jason Leigh that is so clearly "acting" and yet upon further thought I came to realize that this is specific choice by Leigh as to how her character views this situation... Listen to her speak, and maybe you can figure out why she is so dismissive. Portman delivers strong work as a hardened woman who is part soldier-part professor. Major praise also to Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, and Tuva Novotny who round out the crew of explorers. Each woman is smart, assured, and unlike most females in horror films - they are always thinking!

I know some might consider me wrong for classifying this as a horror film, but I can see no other way to explain it. It's a blood-and-guts adventure that is as scary as anything I have seen in years. It culminates in a climax set in a lighthouse that is both mystifying and intellectually-rewarding. If you have made it this far in the film, it does not fail to further reward observant audience members. Alex Garland has potentially outdone himself after "Ex Machina," and I cannot wait to see what comes next from this trailblazer of modern cinema. It was only after the credits rolled that I realized the film stars no white men, has only female leads, and the only male characters are minorities. Wow. For Hollywood to be so passionate about proper film roles for women, look no further than "Annihilation." It's a cookie-cutter example of all that Hollywood should be, and how ironic that such a film was glanced over altogether. This is what movie-making is all about.

Final Oscar Predictions

It's been a daunting year for movies. It's a curious thing to watch the year unfold, to see great films early on (Get Out) and front-runners fall by the wayside (The Post) in the last minute. This year has been anything except dull, and it seems like the top award, Best Picture, is yet again a toss-up between a couple films. Last year was the infamous Moonlight upset. The year before, Spotlight prevailed over front-runner The Revenant. With the preferential ballot (in which voters rank their favorite movies instead of simply checking their #1 selection), we have slowly seen the Oscars become unpredictable in the way we now must anticipate the film with the general consensus, not the film that draws the most divide. It's going to be anyone's guess right up until that last envelope is opened, and to be honest, isn't that exciting?




BEST PICTURE

1. Get Out
2. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
3. The Shape of Water
4. Dunkirk
5. Lady Bird
6. Phantom Thread
7. Darkest Hour
8. Call Me By Your Name
9. The Post

Last year, we swore on the Bible to never again predict a movie for Best Picture that did not get a correlating nomination for SAG Ensemble in the same year... And what did we do? We went right ahead and predicted "Shape of Water" anyways. I've had a last-minute change of heart, or maybe call it an intuition.

It has dawned on me on the eve of the Oscars that "Get Out" might have a better shot that we give it credit. It just took home the Indie Spirit Award for Best Picture tonight, which has accurately predicted the Oscar for 4 years in a row (including long-shots like Moonlight and Spotlight). Consider this: "Get Out" secured all the necessary precursor nominations (DGA, PGA, SAG, Golden Globes), and while it failed to win in any category, this might be that odd genre picture that is ranked just high enough on people's ballots, either out of passion, guilt, or a combination of the two. When Shape & Billboards split votes, couldn't this be the picture to slide right in between? Exactly 26 years ago, a horror film released in February went on to surprise at the Oscars and win Best Picture. That movie was "Silence of the Lambs." What are the chances it could happen again?

The old rules are out the window. The most nominations doesn't secure you victory. You no longer need to win at least 3 Oscars to claim Best Picture. You don't need an Editing nomination. Hell, you don't even need to win PGA & DGA anymore (we're looking at you, Shape of Water). All you need is a movie with a unique voice, a massive fan-base, and a rooting factor that is undeniable. For all these reasons, doesn't it have to be Jordan Peele's creation?


BEST DIRECTOR

1. Guillermo del Toro (Shape of Water)
2. Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk)
3. Jordan Peele (Get Out)
4. Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird)
5.  Paul Thomas Anderson (Phantom Thread)

This year's lineup curiously mirrors 2009, in which we had an African American nominee, an American woman nominee, and a majority of nominees having written their own movies. Kathryn Bigelow ended up as the Oscar's first female winner, but it doesn't seem likely that Ms Gerwig will pervail given her movie's light tone and female perspective. For all we can tell, del Toro has this award locked up tight. He won DGA, he won BAFTA, he won the Golden Globe... Recent trends see directors winning for visual effects-driven wonders that make audiences ask "how did he do that?" Maybe Shape doesn't match the spectacle of past winners like Gravity, Birdman, or The Revenant, but it seems fitting that del Toro join Alejandro G. Innaritu and Alfonso Cuaron as the trifecta of Mexican-born directors to share this prize. It's a lock. Even if Shape walks away without the top prize, it's not leaving empty-handed.


BEST ACTOR

1. Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour)
2. Timothee Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name)
3. Daniel Day-Lewis (Phantom Thread)
4. Denzel Washington (Roman J. Israel, Esq)
5. Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out)

So begins the boring streak of "locks." Gary Oldman, like every single acting front-runner, has won the Golden Globe, the Critics Choice, the SAG award, and the BAFTA. Only one actor in history has won all these precursors and gone on to lose the Oscar: Russell Crowe for A Beautiful Mind, and that's rumored to be only because he threw a telephone at a reporter. Save Mr. Oldman doing something rash or suddenly making the wrong sort of headlines, there's no stopping him in this race. Timothee Chalamet is second, but has he (or any of the other nominees) won any awards to even merit an upset?


BEST ACTRESS

1. Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
2. Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water)
3. Margot Robbie (I, Tonya)
4. Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird)
5. Meryl Streep (The Post)

Frances has not faltered, and in fact her slew of rebellious, hilarious acceptance speeches has certainly helped her more than anything.  At one point three-time nominee Saoirse Ronan might have been a front-runner, same with Margot Robbie. Their buzz has dwindled and the love for their respective movies is not as strong. The only chance for an upset (and that is like a 0.01% chance) must be Sally Hawkins on her second nomination. If you're in a Best Picture front runner and play a silent part (Marlee Matlin, Jean Dujardin, Holly Hunter, etc), Oscar oftentimes takes notice.


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1. Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
2. Christopher Plummer (All The Money In The World)
3. Richard Jenkins (The Shape of Water)
4. Willem Dafoe (The Florida Project)
5. Woody Harrelson (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)

Sam Rockwell has no reason to lose. He's a lovable character actor who has finally landed a role that people finally noticed. His character is not without flaws, and through no fault of his own, Rockwell might be the one actor who could be upset by a spoiler (we're talking like a 0.2% chance). The narrative around Plummer's recasting of Kevin Spacey is all the more profound given the strength of his performance, and Oscar certainly loves his veteran actors in supporting roles. Don't bet on it, but it would be a fun moment, wouldn't it? Same for Richard Jenkins, a wholly lovable bit actor whose character has the most heart by a mile (and potentially most screen time, too). Willem Dafoe has only lost momentum since The Florida Project's release, as good as he is. Woody Harrelson should be happy to be there.


BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1. Allison Janney (I, Tonya)
2. Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird)
3. Octavia Spencer (The Shape of Water)
4. Mary J. Blige (Mudbound)
5. Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread)

Three months ago, people were all but engraving the Oscar statue for Laurie Metcalf and declared it a lock. Today, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone in their right mind predicting her to win. Janney will certainly prevail for her twisted, hilarious villain in I, Tonya (and villains often win here, mind you), and she's been raking in the trophies to support this bet. Janney is funny, respected, star of TV and movies, and think of how many "Oscar" films she's appeared in (American Beauty, The Help, The Hours, Juno)... It's her time.


BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1. Call Me By Your Name
2. Mudbound
3. Molly's Game
4. Logan
5. The Disaster Artist

There's only one Best Picture nominee in the lot, and James Ivory (the legendary director) seems finally poised to win his first Oscar at the age of 89. He's going to break Christopher Plummer's record (who was 82 when he won Best Supporting Actor) by a mile. This was a weak category in general, and Ivory should win in a cake walk.


BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1. Get Out
2. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
3. Lady Bird
4. The Shape of Water
5. The Big Sick

This is it: the most competitive category of the night. It's stacked. No clear front-runner has emerged. One might have argued Lady Bird, but compared to the top 2, it's a pretty safe and "sweet" movie. What about Shape of Water? If you're going to win Best Picture, oftentimes you take a writing award, too. Think of past winners: Her, Birdman, Django Unchained... Sometimes, it's the weirdest of the lot that pulls out victorious in the end. As deserving as Greta Gerwig is for her first film as writer/director, Jordan Peele's debut as writer/director arguably packed more of a punch, one that kept it fresh in audience's minds all year long. An argument can be made for Three Billboards and it's angry, wordy script (not to mention its written by an acclaimed playwright, snubbed director Martin McDonaugh). Don't be surprised if it upsets.


BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

1. The Shape of Water
2. Blade Runner 2049
3. Dunkirk
4. Darkest Hour
5. Mudbound

For the first time in a while, Roger Deakins finally seems poised to win his long-coveted Best Cinematography Oscar after 14 nominations... Or is he? Time and again, it seems like Deakins is the perennial favorite to win, this year especially given the category's close ties to Best Visual Effects (and Blade Runner being the only film in this category nominated). Yet even more spectacular is the tie between Best Cinematography and Best Picture, of which we have 3 nominees (Dunkirk, Shape, Darkest Hour). You have to go back to Pan's Labyrinth (interesting) in 2006 to find a Best Cinematography winner that was not also a Best Picture nominee. I have felt the Shape of Water buzz for a while, and it makes sense for that to be the picture to win. Let's hope that we are wrong!


BEST COSTUME DESIGN

1. Phantom Thread
2. Beauty and the Beast
3. The Shape of Water
4. Victoria and Abdul
5. Darkest Hour

You've got to go all the way back to 2007 to find a Costume Design winner that wasn't also nominated for Best Art Direction (Elizabeth: The Golden Age was that film). Even last year's upset (Fantastic Beasts) might have been easier to predict given this precedent. As steady as this rule is, Phantom Thread seems poised to take it down for it's jaw-dropping 1950's formal wear and haute-couture dresses that sit at the heart of that movie. It will be a deserved win, and I can't imagine another film deserving it so richly.


BEST ART DIRECTION

1. The Shape of Water
2. Blade Runner 2049
3. Beauty and the Beast
4. Dunkirk
5. Darkest Hour

This category trends towards the film with the "most details," or the "most elegant" sets. Last year, La La Land got swept up into a win despite its modern setting and weak competition. This year, the film everyone talks about regarding its visual design is Shape of Water. I continually disbelieve the fact that "Shape" was made for under $20 million, a baffling statistic given its lush visual effects, costumes, makeup, and those glorious sets (to put in perspective, Beauty and the Beast had a budget of $160 million... Even Darkest Hour had $30 million to work with). I can vividly see in my mind Liza's apartment with it's half-circle window, the glorious movie theater below, and the dreary lab where the creature is held... Think of the other nominees... I can barely remember a detail about them. This is another lock.


BEST EDITING

1. Baby Driver
2. Dunkirk
3. The Shape of Water
4. I, Tonya
5. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

There is a strong case to be made for Baby Driver, which won the BAFTA last weekend and the Broadcast Critics award last month (it must be noted that it lost the Editing Guild to I, Tonya). Many would argue that Dunkirk has this by the way it edits together 3 stories and such varied narratives. Many reviewers did point out that at times Dunkirk was confusing in its structure and audiences were oftentimes lost as to where and when they were in the story. Like Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Bourne Ultimatum, there seems to be a large chance that Baby Driver could be the rare non-Best Picture nominee to succeed here simply on the merit of having "the most edits."


BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

1. Blade Runner 2049
2. War for the Planet of the Apes
3. Star Wars: The Last Jedi
4. Guardians of the Galaxy: Pt II
5. Kong: Skull Island

What an unexpected batch of nominees here. Despite Kong and Guardians, the top three all seem to have a potential to spoil. We tip the hat to Blade Runner for a variety of reasons. Usually, the Best Picture nominee wins (even though none of these were nominated, Blade Runner certainly feels more like a Best Picture contender). Usually, the film with a Cinematography nod wins. The Oscars have shown very little regard for Andy Serkis and his motion-captured apes (none of the "Apes" films have won the Oscar, despite being the front-runner each year), and with Blade Runner's uncanny recreation of Sean Young as well as an unforgettable cityscape, this seems like the film to take it all.


BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

1. Darkest Hour
2. Wonder
3. Victoria & Abdul

This is another baffling category, inconsistent through the years and sometimes hard to pin down. Victoria & Abdul, a perfectly ordinary movie, is nominated here for what I assume is a couple up-do's and beard maintenance? Compared to the other two, its makeup is anything but showy, and I was surprised to see its inclusion over more showy movies like Bright or Guardians. Darkest Hour has this locked up for more reasons than one. Like the Iron Lady, this is going to be another biopic that wins for both acting and makeup. and La Vie En Rose... and Ed Wood... and Dallas Buyer's Club... and Frida. There are time-tested rules here, and any victor besides Darkest Hour and the uncanny Oldman-to-Churchill transformation would be a shock.


BEST SOUND MIXING

1. Dunkirk
2. Baby Driver
3. Blade Runner 2049
4. The Shape of Water
5. Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Something in me senses that The Shape of Water can pull off the upset for its creature sounds and its musical-feel (and remember when Best Picture winner Slumdog Millionaire pulled out the upset for Sound Mixing in its own year... Maybe that's indicative of the film's overall support), but the top 2 in this category both have pros that simply outweigh. Dunkirk dazzled with its war aspect (a perennial Oscar favorite here), and Baby Driver integrated music with action (and musicals certainly have the advantage here). A war film won last year, after all (Hacksaw Ridge). We know Dunkirk is likely to win at least 1 sound award, and if you want to play it safe, that might be the one to pick.


BEST SOUND EDITING

1. Dunkirk
2. Blade Runner 2049
3. The Shape of Water
4. Baby Driver
5. Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Again, Dunkirk might be the safe bet, but Sound Editing veers more towards those sounds that are created specifically for the film. The alien noises from Arrival last year... The machinery of Mad Max... The silent action in Gravity... Still, war films do just as well, and we have to give it to Dunkirk for its heart-pounding opening scene, for its gunfire, and its relentless bombings and tirades and air strikes. If Blade Runner is as loved as we hope, this could be another category for it to sneak in.


BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

1. The Shape of Water
2. Dunkirk
3. Phantom Thread
4. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
5. Star Wars: The Last Jedi

The Star Wars nomination has perplexed me since day one, especially since John Williams actually had an original score with "The Post" instead of a rehash of endless themes we already know and love from Star Wars canon. Three Billboards is an undeniably weak score, and so we are left with three. Johnny Greenwood scores a rich first nomination for Phantom Thread, but the Academy has yet to embrace him the way we would hope (the nomination is his reward). Dunkirk, by Hans Zimmer, is a dizzying mix of rising action and suspense, though I would argue it's far from his best work. Then we have Alexandre Desplat, who finally won for Grand Budapest a few years ago, and seems ready to take home Oscar #2 for this French-inspired romance (that at times sounds a bit too familiar with Amelie, but hey, it was a good score wasn't it?)


BEST ORIGINAL SONG

1. This Is Me (The Greatest Showman)
2. Remember Me (Coco)
3. Mighty River (Mudbound)
4. The Mystery of Love (Call Me By Your Name)
5. Stand Up For Something (Marshall)

Many people still firmly believe that Coco is poised to win, and when you hear the song in the film, you can't help but cry at its simplicity and beauty. I ask - has the song won any awards so far? Greatest Showman won the Golden Globe, which is fast becoming a strong predictor for the Oscar. We have all heard the song, it plays during the Olympics, it's somewhat representative of this year as a whole. Even Mudbound's theme (written by Mary J Blige, a 2-time nominee this year) might get the benefit of the doubt and pull off a surprise in the end.


BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

1. Coco
2. Loving Vincent
3. The Breadwinner
4. Ferdinand
5. The Boss Baby

With Pixar, you usually can guarantee its win. Coco stands as one of their crowning achievements, and this is an easy victory to forsee. In another year, the dazzling Loving Vincent might have made a great winner given its adult themes and stunning oil-painted animation. For now, the "kids movies" will continue to reign in this field.


BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

1. Faces Places
2. Icarus
3. Last Men in Aleppo
4. Strong Island
5. Abacus: Small Enough to Jail

Jane was the expected winner all year, having won the PGA and varying guild awards. Its snub was surprising, but we are left with 4 downers and one gem - an apple in a basket of oranges. Faces Places is certainly not an "important" film by documentary standards, but the charming Agnes Varda (who just won an Honorary Oscar and would beat James Ivory's record as Oldest Oscar winner (age 89) by a week!) has created a film so charming and simple that voters might check it as a 'feel good' option.


BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

1. A Fantastic Woman
2. The Square
3. Loveless
4. The Insult
5. On Body and Soul

In this category year after year, the rule of thumb is find the front-runner (last year, that was Toni Erdmann), eliminate it, and then pick the next runner up. The Square is certainly at the head of the pack (it won the Palm d'Or), but A Fantastic Woman from Chile is a much more grounded, emotional film with a stunning actress at the heart of it. It feels like an important choice, especially this year.


BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

1. Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405
2. Edith+Eddie
3. Heroin(e)
4. Knife Skills
5. Traffic Stop

Audience consensus is "Heaven is a Traffic Jam," a documentary about an artist who struggles with mental disorders and institutionalization. It may not have the weight of some other winners or nominees, but in the shorts, best to go with consensus (and the picks of more tenured Oscar prognosticators!).


BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

1. The Eleven O'Clock
2. The Silent Child
3. Watu Wote: All of Us
4. DeKalb Elementary
5. My Nephew Emmett

Based on other critics, it seems to be a race down to The Silent Child (about a deaf girl who learns sign language) and The Eleven O'Clock - a razor sharp comedy about a couple of psychiatrists... Or is it? It stands out as the one film of the bunch not inspired by a true story and not seeking a deeper meaning. Emmett tells the story of a 1950's lynching that rarely knows where it's heading. DeKalb is a beautifully-acted film about a school shooter and a secretary - were it not so short and slight I might suspect it to have a bigger edge here. Watu is a horrific yet warming story of Kenyan-based religious persecution, dizzying in its execution and ultimately beautiful in its delivery. Silent Child certainly feels like a winner for its performances, but the ending slaps us on the face as being a "message movie" and it certainly could sway some voters from checking it forthright. Our money is on Eleven O'Clock for its wit, its sophistication, and having the most accomplished feel for what it is (a short film, nothing more).


BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

1. Garden Party
2. Dear Basketball
3. Revolting Rhymes Part One
4. Negative Space
5. LOU

Dear Basketball is the odd's-on favorite, until you begin to hear murmurs of #MeToo and the scandals surrounding nominee Kobe Bryant. His film, a self-congratulatory ode to his basketball career, looks good in concept but fares among the average shorts we have seen in years past. Revolting Rhymes stands as the longest of the five, a blend of animation to retell some Roald Dahl fairy tales. It's at best charming and at worst tedious. There's buzz gathering around Garden Party and its photorealistic animation, a whimsical story about frogs and an overgrown backyard. I recall that one of the only consistent rules when predicting animated short winners: go for the one with the animals.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (****)

To be honest, I don't remember a whole lot about 1995's "Jumanji" (with Robin Williams and Bonnie Hunt) aside from some scary monsters and a curiously dark tone. What little anticipation I had to see such a curious sequel over 20 years later is well earned; WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE is something so pure that I assume the original was trying to be: a comedy.

The board game from the first film is back, washed up on a beach in 1996 (I remember the kids disposed of it somehow in the first film, but was it really dumped in the sea?) and discovered by a gamer teen in 1996. 20 years later, the film jumps ahead to stories about this missing boy and the haunted house he used to live in.

We meet a gang of misfit teenagers who find themselves in detention for one reason or another (the setup is identical to last year's dismal Power Rangers). It's the usual crowd: the popular girl, the football jock, his geeky childhood friend, and a shy but defiant girl who would rather skip gym in favor of history. The kids discover the Jumanji game in the bowels of the school (now transformed into a video game for purposes of plot, nothing more) and as unlikely as it is, they enter the world only hinted of by Robin Williams before.

The movie is absurdly goofy, full of nonsensical lines of dialogue and characters. And yet it makes sense. The kids are transformed into their video game avatars (the geek becomes Dwayne Johnson, the jock becomes Kevin Hart, and the hottie hilariously becomes an overweight Jack Black). They essentially play the game from the introduction of the villains all the way through increasingly difficult levels and bosses. The movie aims for nothing more than to be a silly laugh, and boy does it work. It's clear the movie is only a vehicle to get big-named stars to appear (otherwise, why not have the actual kids journey through the adventure?), but in the end, who cares?

Phantom Thread (*****)

In more ways than one, PHANTOM THREAD is a great movie, and perhaps the best work by director Paul Thomas Anderson since "There Will Be Blood" 10 years ago. The stories couldn't be more separated, and yet the central through line of many themes, perfection being one, is oh so present. This movie is getting 'buzz' after Daniel Day-Lewis announced it to be his swan song (arguable, in my opinion), but apart from that, this is a dazzling movie that is anything but predictable.

The story is set in 1950's London where a designer named Reynolds (Day-Lewis) works at one of the prominent fashion houses in the city. We can imagine him going head-to-head with Burberry and the like. He designs women's dresses and high fashion out of his impressive house alongside his business partner and sister, Cyril (Lesley Manville). It's a small operation. Reynolds designs, a team of women create the garments in the upstairs workshop, and the high society shoppers visit the home in private sessions to select looks for balls, galas, weddings, etc. The relationship between Cyril and Reynolds is immediately a curious one, and it's coupled with the man's obsession with his long-deceased mother who began him in the world of fashion.

There is a beautiful woman who stays with them, a woman who appears to be Reynold's girlfriend. When this ends in a mutual agreement between brother and sister, Reynolds takes a trip to the countryside to clear his mind and return to his creation. There he meets a timid waitress named Alma (Vicky Krieps), who is rosy-cheeked and undeniably lovely. It's a quick infatuation in a memorable scene in which Reynolds orders a large breakfast. I can still remember his order, and I don't know why... The way the lines are delivered, or maybe it's because the food speaks to something much deeper. The two begin an affair, one that slowly began to baffle me as a viewer and made me wonder whether or not this man is capable of love at all. Maybe to him, Alma is simply a muse - a toy he can collect to get his fill.

The film takes a dreamlike approach to the material. We build up the repetition of Reynold's life and the habits he is accustomed to. Like a classic film like "Rebecca," this movie is about a naive woman who comes into a home and throws it off-kilter... Breakfast is to be served in absolute silence. Reynolds has a habit of wearing pink socks. He greets his clients at the top of the stairs with a kiss on each cheek. Anderson has a very clever way to tell the audience who this man is without really telling us anything. Through visuals and this ever-moving camera, we begin to know the man and realize that he is quite literally an enigma.

I loved this movie for its lush colors, all the more prevalent in the 70mm screening I saw at my local theater. I doubt a film could look as beautiful if filmed digitally, and the results here are spectacular. The green walls of the dining room, Cyril's piercing blue eyes... The colors of a pale pink dress... As much praise, if not more, must go to costume designer Mark Bridges (he won the Oscar for his work on "The Artist"). From scene to scene, there is not a repeated dress, and some of the designs we see are literally breathtaking. I imagine all the detail and craft that went into that particular pink dress with lace, built up by Reynold's in the film as a high-fashion collection of rare cloths, and then only seen in the film for maybe 20 seconds... There isn't an aspect of this film that is subpar. (High praise also to Johnny Greenwood, our composer, who creates piano compositions that you can't believe are original pieces written specifically for this film).

Our story takes quite a turn in the last half, twists that you might not anticipate from the mysterious trailer or plot summary. It involves Alma as a cook, Reynolds as a man of habit, betrayal, and passion. I can imagine many audience members being put off by such a turn, and I promise that many will find the last 10 to 15 minutes of the film preposterous. I admit that even I was at a loss as the film's credits began to scroll, and then I thought on Reynolds and his mother... In this character, Daniel Day-Lewis plays a man obsessed with a powerful woman who guided his hand, and then in death left him feeling incomplete as to how to live on. Women (besides his sister) seem to be pawns in a game that he does not fully understand. What actions Alma takes - and when he discovers the secret, seems to answer that deeper mystery the entire film seems to revolve around. And maybe it all concludes on little more than some sort of erotic act of sadism, but in the end, that's the only logical conclusion I could find. If you find the ending upsetting, think on it a bit. For every flaw you may find in this marvelous picture, I promise I can find 3 more aspects that will make you say "wow."