To write this article, I watched 28 full-length movies. For years I’ve analyzed the Academy Award nominated movies for violence, sexism, and ageism. While movies have improved in terms of sexism and ageism, violence still reigns supreme. Fourteen of the movies I watched this year were very violent, while 10 had some violence. That’s 86 percent of the Academy Award nominated movies shown in 2017 and nominated in 2018 that I reviewed.
It’s a shame movies are so violent because they make such an impression on young people. My grandchildren, who are teenagers, came to visit this summer. They had seen the hype for the movie “Baby Driver.” In fact, they chanted “Baby driver, baby driver, baby driver” before they went to see the movie. “Baby Driver” is a terrible movie full of gratuitous violence. Please, can’t the movie industry do better than this?
New to the Academy Award nominated movies shown in 2017 is masturbation. Really? Two movies included it: “Call Me by Your Name” and “The Shape of Water.”
Here are my picks for which movies shown in 2017 should win Academy Awards:
Best picture – “The Post”
“The Post” is what movies should be like. It’s a terrific movie about something important; how The Washington Post made decisions on whether to publish the Pentagon Papers.
Although I appreciated being able to watch a movie about a gay romance, I thought “Call Me by Your Name” was slow. They ride bicycles, listen to each other pee in a shared bathroom, then ride bicycles again. In addition, I was troubled that the young man who is trying to figure out his sexuality was only 17, while the graduate student is in his mid-20s.
“Darkest Hour” is a great movie portraying a turning point in British history during World War II. The storytelling and acting are superb.
“Dunkirk” tells the story of getting 300,000 troops off the beach in France as German troops advance on foot, in the air, and by sea. It’s a well-done movie about an important event.
I thought “Lady Bird” was an entertaining movie, but, for me, it failed to be a great movie. A self-centered teenager who wants to go to a prestigious college on the East Coast to get away from home has her parents take out a second mortgage on their house. The spoiled child doesn’t make a sympathetic character to me.
“The Shape of Water” is a very good film, although greatly anxiety producing in terms of the characters facing so much possible peril. A mute woman who works as a cleaning woman in a government lab befriends a scaled creature from South America who lives in a water tank. When I first heard about it, I had to look up the ending, because it worried me even before I saw it.
I didn’t like “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” at all. Although the woman’s initial idea to call attention to her daughter’s rape and murder is good, she just goes out of control in firebombing the Sheriff’s Office. Spoiler alert: Then, she gets in the car with the fired deputy, who was badly burned in the fire she set, and they’re going to Montana to kill a guy who may have raped another woman? She ended up looking like a crackpot.
I didn’t see “Get Out.” While I’ve seen dozens of violent movies so I can write about them for my blog, I refuse to go to a horror movie.
I wasn’t able to see “Phantom Thread.”
Directing – “Dunkirk”
Actress in a leading role – Meryl Streep in “The Post”
Streep does a terrific job portraying the new publisher of The Washington Post, Kathryn Graham, who’s taking over after her husband commits suicide. Graham hesitantly mulls over the risks involved in publishing the Pentagon Papers.
I didn’t see “I, Tonya.”
Actor in a leading role – Gary Oldman in “Darkest Hour”
Gary Oldman does a fantastic job in “Darkest Hour,” portraying an older Winston Churchill, who despite drinking heavily, smoking cigars, and experiencing doubts and fear, inspires the nation to fight for victory as English troops are trapped at Dunkirk.
“Roman J. Israel Esq.,” starring Denzel Washington, is an upsetting movie. At first, the character is so naive that it makes you want to scream because he fumbles around so much as he’s forced to make changes in his life when the boss at his law firm dies. Then he gets himself into so much trouble as he goes off the deep end in giving up his principles for money, but finally realizes his mistakes. Spoiler alter: However, as he tries to remedy the errors, a gangster who figures out he was tricked by Israel kills him.
Writing an original screenplay – Guillermo Del Toro and Vanessa Taylor; story by Guillermo Del Toro for “The Shape of Water”
Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani were nominated for writing “The Big Sick.” It’s surprising this movie received a nomination in this category. The movie seems disjointed and rambling at times. The comedian/actor, who's the lead, doesn't seem like a smooth actor, rather a person without training who’s just talking.
Writing: adapted screenplay – Aaron Sorkin for “Molly's Game”
Aaron Sorkin’s “Molly's Game” is a well-done and well-written movie about a woman who runs high-stakes poker games legally, but gets caught up unknowingly when one of her clients brings Russians, who have mob connections, into the games.
“Logan,” a terribly violent movie, is horrible. Spoiler alert: Logan dies, so this x-man, the wolverine, is gone.
I didn’t see “The Disaster Artist” or “Mudbound.”
Animated feature film – None
“Coco” is a typical Disney movie for kids with a bad guy causing havoc. It’s such a tired theme. Although some people raved about it because it’s about the Day of the Dead, a Hispanic tradition, it's more of the same from Disney.
“The Boss Baby” is really silly movie about a baby who's sent to earth to find out about an attempt to substitute cute puppies in everyone’s affection instead of babies. It isn’t as dumb as it looks. However, it has the typical kid movie theme – a bad guy stirring up everything.
“Loving Vincent,” about the death of Vincent van Gogh, didn’t appeal to me. Actors played their parts, then were put into animation that was painted to look like van Gogh’s work. The theme of the movie is that van Gogh didn’t commit suicide, but was murdered. The movie, the actors, or the story aren’t compelling or convincing.
I didn’t see “The Breadwinner” or “Ferdinand.”
Music: original song – "Remember Me" by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez from “Coco,” "Stand Up for Something" by Diane Warren and Lonnie R. Lynn from “Marshall,” and "This is Me" by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul from “The Greatest Showman”
“Marshall” was a surprising treat as I was on a marathon to watch some of the minor Academy Award nominated movies. It’s a well-done, inspiring movie about Thurgood Marshall, the first black person appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, as he was beginning his career as a lawyer.
I thought “The Greatest Showman,” a flattering musical about P.T. Barnum, was a good movie.
Documentary: feature – None
I didn’t see any of these. I injured my back, so I wasn’t able to get out as much as I would have liked.
Documentary: short subject – “Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405” and “Edith+Eddie”
“Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405” is about Mindy Alper, a 56-year-old artist who suffers from anxiety, mental disorder, and depression that caused her to be committed to mental institutions and undergo electro shock therapy and survive a 10-year period without the ability to speak. It’s fantastic to see this tribute to an older woman.
“Edith+Eddie” is a film about the country’s oldest interracial newlyweds, ages 96 and 95. Edith’s daughter Patricia takes her away to Florida, promising to bring her back in two weeks. Spoiler alter: However, when she doesn’t return, Eddie dies.
“Knife Skills,” about opening a French restaurant with mostly men and women just out of prison in Cleveland, and “Traffic Stop,” about how an African American math teacher was affected when she was stopped by police for speeding and arrested, also are good.
I didn’t see “Heroin(e).”
Foreign language film – None
I wasn’t able to see any of these.
Actor in a supporting role – Richard Jenkins in “The Shape of Water”
Willem Dafoe was nominated for “The Florida Project.” It’s a story about a low-income young woman who lives in a motel near Disney World in Orlando, Florida, with her young daughter. I didn’t like the movie at all. It's depressing that she making so many poor choices and can't get her life together. It's so sad for her and her daughter.
Actress in a supporting role – Octavia Spencer in “The Shape of Water”
Makeup and hairstyling – Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski, and Lucy Sibbick for “Darkest Hour”
It's amazing how Gary Oldman is turned into Winston Churchill.
I also liked “Wonder,” which also is nominated in this category. It’s about boy with a facial deformity overcoming teasing and bullying when he first goes to public school. It’s disappointing that this nonviolent movie wasn’t nominated in other categories rather than just how well the makeup artists were able to create his deformed face. It’s a good story.
Film editing – “Dunkirk”
I think film editing was an important part of making “Dunkirk,” a complicated movie, so powerful.
Paul Machliss and Jonathan Amos were nominated for “Baby Driver.” The movie is just as terrible as I’d imagined it would be. Lots of car chases and horrible violence. The young get-away driver is at the scene of at least a dozen murders. Then, when one of the gangsters comes after him, he kills him by pushing his car off an upper floor of a parking garage. Such a bad role model for teens to see a teen in this role.
Visual effects – John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert, and Richard R. Hoover for “Blade Runner 2049”
Visual effects were about the only thing these overly violent movies in this category have going for them.
Others overly violent movies nominated are “Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 2,” “Kong: Skull Island,” “Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and “War for the Planet of the Apes.”
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” continues in the usual tradition in this series of being overly violent. I remember taking my daughters, ages 14 and 11, to the second Star Wars movie, “The Empire Strikes Back,” in 1980. The violence stunned me. It’s one of the reasons I continue to write about violent movies and violence on television.
Music: original score – Hans Zimmer for “Dunkirk” and Alexandre Desplat for “The Shape of Water”
Short film: live action
I didn’t see any of these.
Short film: animated – “Negative Space”
Based on a short poem by Ron Koertge, this film’s narrator describes how his dad is always traveling, and how packing his bags became an unusual way for them to express their love for each another.
Like other categories, many of the animated shorts have violent themes.
Sound mixing – Mark Weingarten, Gregg Landaker, and Gary A. Rizzo for “Dunkirk”
Sound editing – Richard King and Alex Gibson for “Dunkirk”
Costume design – Consolata Boyle for “Victoria & Abdul”
I liked “Victoria & Abdul,” about Queen Victoria of England developing a friendship with a young Muslim man near the end of her life.
The costumes in “Beauty and The Beast,” another nominee in this category, are good, but I found this old story, this time a musical, seemed quite dated.
Cinematography – Hoyte Van Hoytema for “Dunkirk”
Production design – Nathan Crowley and Gary Fettis for “Dunkirk”
Here’s the tally for my picks for the Academy Awards Sunday: “Dunkirk,” six; “The Shape of Water,” four; “The Post,” two; “Darkest Hour,” two; and one each for “Blade Runner 2049, “Coco,” “Marshall,” “Molly’s Game,” “The Greatest Showman,” and “Victoria & Abdul.”