2017 academy awards

[Chris Knipp]

Academy Award nominations 2017.

My first comments on the big ones.

BEST PICTURE

Arrival (Villeneuve)
I was not so deeply impressed by this. He is an impressive director and this is a new direction (sci-fi), but the follow-up never lives up to the arresting opening sequences.

Fences (Denzel Washington)
A little surprised because this is a film of a play that still feels like a play, but it seems like a great play and wonderful acting, so, no objection here.

Hacksaw Ridge (Mel Gibson)
This is cheering actually because it's a fine film with a great lead performance but I thought Mel was taboo and they wouldn't touch it. Good for them: they did. The first part is a conventionally well made movie, the second half is a blistering wartime action film. Garfield shines throughout.

Hell or High Water (David Mackenzie)
To be honest, I have trouble remembering the director of this, but due partly to my tastes for noir and good actioners, this has from the first viewing been clearly one of top five English language films (American setting, Scottish director) of the year. I just learned that Mackenzie also directed the extraordinary juvenile prison film Starred Up, which not a lot of Americans have seen. Also Starred Up was star-making serious role for the explosively talented Jack O'Connell, who around the same time played a more humorous part as the new main bad boy in 2nd generation of the BBC TV series "Skins." (Seasson is a must-see; hard to follow.)

Hidden Figures (Theodore Melfi)
This like Fences may show a desire to make it clear this is not going to be an Oscars-so-white year. It's a well acted, very enjoyable film, but not a great film, too conventional in my view. But this is a warm and vivid movie about female black empowerment at a 1961 (shockinglyl) racist and Jim Crow NASA.

La La Land (Damien Chazelle)
Sort of a Golden Boy director, whose Whiplash (brilliantly effective but terribly manipulative) was hugely admired, and everybody welcomes this as a needed feel-good musical moment. But the screenplay doesn't live up to expectations, and I was very disappointed, left flat. So I sure hope this doesn't win all the prizes it's predicted to be destined for.

Lion (Garth Davis)
No, not really. This isn't a work of cinematic art. It's a feel-good movie. I love Dev Patel and am glad he got to be more substantial (looking) in this but he's not the great actor in it, the kid is. Again, a "who's he?" director, another Aussie.

Manchester by the Sea (Kenneth Lonergan)
YES! Brilliant screenplay, brilliant acting. Even questions about structure, placing of flashbacks, fall away in the face of the emotional truth, subtle wit, sense of place, and humanity here. And the acting!

Moonlight – Barry Jenkins
Again, YES! This, the year's great black film (with not one white person in it). It came to me as a surprise from Jenkins. It took him a while to get to a 2nd feature; and it's such a shocking change from his first. You may well wonder what the heck he was doing with Medicine for Melancholy (SFIFF 2008), though I quite enjoyed that one. This is an original, vivid, powerful black gay ghetto coming-of-age movie that would stand out in any year.

My choices are Moonlight and Manchester by the Sea, with Hell or High Water and Hacksaw Ridge runners up. I wish they'd nominated Love and Friendship, but Whit Stillman is beyond their radar. And Captain Fantastic (Matt Ross) needs to be here too.

[Chris Knipp]

Documentary Oscar nominations

(3 of 5 are by black directors, 4 out of 5 US, one foreign, Italian, Fire at Sea)

Fire at Sea - Gianfranco Rosi and Donatella Palermo
There are questions about the urgency of this, but not about the quirky charm. I saw and reviewed it at the NYFF, wherre it was a sidebar item.

I Am Not Your Negro - Raoul Peck, Rémi Grellety, and Hébert Peck
I haven't seen this. It is about James Baldwin and the director is Haitian, that's all I know.

Life, Animated - Roger Ross Williams and Julie Goldman
I haven't seen this. It is apparently an endearing story of father and son love and a severrely autistic boy brought out from his wall of silence using his passiion for movie cartoons as a communication tool

O.J.: Made in America - Ezra Edelman and Caroline Waterlow
YES! A remarkable piece of work, really a mini-series 7-8 hours long, but somehow it qualified with a theatrical release, and it's one of the best docs of the year, hands down, and truly thought-provoking.

13th - Ava DuVernay, Spencer Averick, and Howard Barish
No. This is just a conventional documentary in every way, though the idea behind it, that mass imprisonment of black males is a de facto continuation of slavery in the United States, has merit. The NYFF gave it a big play showcasing it as the opening night film, unusual to present a doc that way.

There are other great documentaries this year. I favor ones about politics and privacy and cyber warfare. Here is the full Oscar shortlist, which includes one of my faves, Alex Gibney's Zero Days. Actually, I think that O.J.: Made in America, a staggering work, should win, though Raoul Peck's I Am Not Your Negro,is another powerful black-themed film of great merit.

Frontrunners
Cameraperson (Kirsten Johnson)
Fire at Sea (Gianfranco Rosi)
I Am Not Your Negro (Raoul Peck)
Life, Animated (Roger Ross Williams)
OJ: Made in America (Ezra Edelman)

Contenders
13th (Ava DuVernay)
Command and Control (Robert Kenner)
The Eagle Huntress (Otto Bell)
Gleason (Clay Tweel)
Hooligan Sparrow (Nanfu Wang)
The Ivory Game (Kief Davidson and Richard Ladkani)
Tower (Keith Maitland)
Weiner (Josh Kriegman and Elyse Sternberg)
The Witness (James Solomon)
Zero Days (Alex Gibney)

[Chris Knipp]

Best Director Nominations.

Denis Villeneuve – Arrival
Obvously not, because Arrival isn't as big a success as people seem to think.

Mel Gibson – Hacksaw Ridge
It's nice for him that he's here, and may pave the way for more good films. I'd be surprised if he won, and I'd prefer for Loneergan or Jenkins to win.

Damien Chazelle – La La Land
As I've said, everybody seems to want to think this is the year's best but it leaves you flat, and Chazelle has been give too fast a ride to the top, in my opinion He's a precocious talent, but there are things wrong with his conceptions.

Kenneth Lonergan – Manchester by the Sea
He or Jenkins would be my choices, though I don't imagine they will win, if La LA Land sweeps the Academy.

Barry Jenkins – Moonlight
I just hope he can go on to make other great films.

[Chris Knipp]

Best Actor nominations.

Frankly I'd be happy if any of these won.

Casey Affleck – Manchester by the Sea as Lee Chandler
A remarkable, subtle, almost imoploted, deeply felt and authentic performance. Watch it people, and learn about acting.

Andrew Garfield – Hacksaw Ridge as Desmond T. Doss
A classic appealing young man's go-for-broke emotional and physical performance, which he gave also in Scorsese's Silence, which came out since. A remarkable year for Andrew Garfield. And he is a favorite actor of mine, so I'm thrilled for him. Not many young actors have the physicality and personality and emotional appeal Garfield can muster.

Ryan Gosling – La La Land as Sebastian Wilder
I like Ryan Gosling but would rather he won an acting oscar for one of his great acting performances, of which he has had many, including
The Believer
Half Nelson
Blue Valentine
Drive
Crazy, Stupid, Love
The Place Behind the Pines
to mention some of the main ones where the acting and directing and writing shine.

Viggo Mortensen – Captain Fantastic as Ben Cash
A powerful performance that anchors a fascinating film, one of the year's best, in my opinion, that ought to be in the Best Pictures list instead of those feel-good or feel-right choices.
Denzel Washington – Fences as Troy Maxson

[Chris Knipp]

Best Actress Nominations.

This is a tougher one because there are issues of career achievement, language, and whatnot.

Isabelle Huppert – Elle as Michèle LeBlanc
This film has been overrated, though it's a remarkable return to form for Verhoeven, and a jaw-dropping over-the-top combination of porn-ish and French elegance, and Huppert is at her indominable best. It's more a career award, because she's made so many interesting films and is so prolific and consistent. Is she an actress? Not like Portman here, or Streep, doing an immitative shtick. She's just Isabelle Huppert, suave through it all. But amazing too.

Ruth Negga – Loving as Mildred Loving
She was very impressive and this is a great career boost for her but she may be overshadowed..

Natalie Portman – Jackie as Jackie Kennedy
Some will go for this because it's a hard-working shtick immitation of Jacqueline Kennedy. It's pretty accurate, I guess, but the movie didn't leave that strong an impression, so that means neither did her performance: emotional substance gets lost in the shtick.

Emma Stone – La La Land as Mia Dolan
I like Emma Stone a lot but. . . not this movie. She may win I guess.

Meryl Streep – Florence Foster Jenkins as Florence Foster Jenkins
I didn't like this movie or Streep's shtick. It was done also by Catherine Frot for a French version of the story. They are both grating.

So I guess I'd have to pick Isabelle. But she doesn't need it. She has won so many awards.

[Chris Knipp]

Supporting actors and actresses.

I don't know how you pick these. It must just be an arbitrary emotional thing. Throw darts at a board. Pick your favorite movie in the list. It's exciting that the 20-year-old Lucas Hedges got nominated (and a truly witty, strong performance) in Manchester by the Sea, also that Dev Patel got nominated, but I don't know....Michael Shannot is a mature actor, who is always strong. I never heard of Mahershala Ali before, but he's in Hidden Figures too, so suddenly he's in on the red carpet.

Supporting Actor.

Mahershala Ali – Moonlight as Juan
Jeff Bridges – Hell or High Water as Marcus Hamilton
Lucas Hedges – Manchester by the Sea as Patrick Chandler
Dev Patel – Lion as Saroo Brierley
Michael Shannon – Nocturnal Animals as Detective Bobby Andes

I'd go for Viola Davis, or Michelle Williams.

Supporting Actress.

Viola Davis – Fences as Rose Lee Maxson
Naomie Harris – Moonlight as Paula
Nicole Kidman – Lion as Sue Brierley
Octavia Spencer – Hidden Figures as Dorothy Vaughan
Michelle Williams – Manchester by the Sea as Randi

[Chris Knipp]

Best Foreign.

Oh no! Why do they always come up with titles you've never even heard of? But two of the year's best are here.

Land of Mine (Denmark) in Danish – Martin Zandvliet
Never heard of it that I know of, a WWII movie, perhaps pretty powerful. Would be worth watching.

A Man Called Ove (Sweden) in Swedish – Hannes Holm
This to me, is just a lame older-audience art house foreign film with a sort of feel-good theme. It does not stand out.

The Salesman (Iran) in Persian – Asghar Farhadi
Farhadi is noted for his complicated, intricatedly coordinated plots, and this is no differnt, though many seem to think that he's a bit below par on this movie (I didn't think that). A fine film, in which the screenplay, certainly, is important. Some by the way think the last part goes too far and it is rather drawn out, so maybe this needed some trimming.

Tanna (Australia) in Nauvhal – Martin Butler and Bentley Dean
I never heard of it. IMDb summary: "Set on a remote Pacific island, covered in rain forest and dominated by an active volcano, this heartfelt story, enacted by the Yakel tribe, tells of a sister's loyalty, a forbidden love affair and the pact between the old ways and the new."

Toni Erdmann (Germany) in German – Maren Ade
This is a great and deserving because it's such an original idea and working-out of that idea. I would give it the prize obviously, since three are out, and the other is less original for the director.

(THE SALESMAN won. They went by what they knew.)

[Chris Knipp]

2017 Best Documentary Oscar finalists.

These are listed above but here's an illustration that by chance highlights my choice. And now with its wide release everybody has a chance to see I Am Not Your Negro. I have seen and reviewed here all these except Life, Animated. I was aware of it from Amy Goodman's "Democracy Now!" coverage from Sundance last year, but don't think I had any opportunity to watch it.



Cameraperson was later (not unwisely) displaced by Ava Duvernay's 13th. Here is the list of finalists. All are issue documentaries, Life Animated being a more personal one of a parent's loving effort to get through to his severely autistic son. Fire at Sea/Fuocoamare is about refugees arriving on the far shores of Italy from North Africa. The three others are all about race and are by and about African Americans. I Am Not Your Negro is a brilliantly executed film, but I'd lean a little more toward the exhaustive treatment of the O.J. theme in Ezra Edelman's miniseries. Below I've linked to my Filmleaf coverage of the four out of five I have seen.

Fire at Sea – Gianfranco Rosi and Donatella Palermo
I Am Not Your Negro – Raoul Peck, Rémi Grellety, and Hébert Peck
Life, Animated – Roger Ross Williams and Julie Goldman
O.J.: Made in America – Ezra Edelman and Caroline Waterlow
13th – Ava DuVernay, Spencer Averick, and Howard Barish