2018 OSCAR NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED

"The Shape of Water",  Guillermo del Toro’s love story between a mute woman and a sea creature, leads the field of the 90th Academy Awards nominations with the film receiving thirteen. The dark comedy, "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" follows with nine nominations and "Dunkirk", Christopher Nolan's epic WWII drama, received seven.

This year, the Oscars sort of went back to the traditional way of announcing the nominations with Andy Serkis and Tiffany Haddish (who had to settle for this moment as they were passed over for Oscar nods for their highly praised work in "War For the Planet of The Apes" and "Girl Trip") were on board live with an unseen audience wildly applauding after each nomination was read. While Ms Haddish certainly brought some bright humor to the early morning presentation, we also had to endure her mangling many people's names throughout the brief telecast. Just a little rehearsal would have made the things run much more smoothly.

The nomination I'm most shocked and thrilled about is for Lesley Manville for her outstanding supporting performance in "Phantom Thread". I'm so glad she was not overlooked and she really deserves this honor. I'm also happy about the showing of "Get Out" with the socially-conscience horror film receiving a Best Picture nod and Jordan Peele getting two nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Director with him being only the fifth African-American to receive an Oscar nod in this category.

Other notable nominations include Rachel Morrison who became the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar for her work in "Mudbound". Greta Gerwig, whose coming-of-age dramedy, "Lady Bird" received five nominations, has become only the fifth woman nominated as Best Director.  Christopher Plummer, who quickly replaced the disgraced Kevin Spacey in the role of J. Paul Getty in the drama, "All The Money in The World", has become the oldest acting nominee in Oscar history at the age of eighty-eight for his supporting role in the film. And Meryl Streep has once again broken her own record by receiving her twenty-first acting nomination with her amazing performance in "The Post" while Roger Deakins received his fourteenth Best Cinematography nomination for his undeniably impressive work in "Blade Runner 2049" yet still has never won. I'm seriously rooting for you, Roger. You are long overdue.

The 90th Annual Academy Awards will be held on March 4, 2018 at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood with Jimmy Kimmel returning as host.

Here is the complete list of the 2018 Oscar Nominations:

Best Picture:

“Call Me by Your Name”
“Darkest Hour”
“Dunkirk”
“Get Out”
“Lady Bird”
“Phantom Thread”
“The Post”
“The Shape of Water”
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Best Director:

Christopher Nolan, "Dunkirk"
Jordan Peele, "Get Out"
Greta Gerwig, "Lady Bird"
Paul Thomas Anderson, "Phantom Thread"
Guillermo del Toro, "The Shape of Water"

Best Actor:

Timothée Chalamet, “Call Me by Your Name”
Daniel Day-Lewis, “Phantom Thread”
Daniel Kaluuya, “Get Out”
Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour”
Denzel Washington, “Roman J. Israel, Esq.”

Best Actress:

Sally Hawkins, “The Shape of Water”
Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Margot Robbie, “I, Tonya”
Saoirse Ronan, “Lady Bird”
Meryl Streep, “The Post”

Best Supporting Actor:

Willem Dafoe, “The Florida Project”
Woody Harrelson, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Richard Jenkins, “The Shape of Water”
Christopher Plummer, “All the Money in the World”
Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Best Supporting Actress:

Mary J. Blige, “Mudbound”
Allison Janney, “I, Tonya”
Lesley Manville, “Phantom Thread”
Laurie Metcalf, “Lady Bird”
Octavia Spencer, “The Shape of Water”

Best Adapted Screenplay:

James Ivory, "Call Me By Your Name"
Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber, "The Disaster Artist"
Scott Frank & James Mangold and Michael Green, "Logan"
Aaron Sorkin, "Molly's Game"
Virgil Williams and Dee Rees, "Mudbound"

Best Original Screenplay:

Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani, "The Big Sick"
Jordan Peele, "Get Out"
Greta Gerwig, "Lady Bird"
Guillermo del Toro & Vanessa Taylor, "The Shape of Water"
Martin McDonagh, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Best Foreign Language Film:

“A Fantastic Woman” (Chile)
“The Insult” (Lebanon)
“Loveless” (Russia)
“On Body and Soul (Hungary)
“The Square” (Sweden)

Best Animated Feature:

“The Boss Baby”
“The Breadwinner”
“Coco"
“Ferdinand"
“Loving Vincent"

Best Documentary Feature:

“Abacus: Small Enough to Jail"
“Faces Places"
“Icarus"
“Last Men in Aleppo"
“Strong Island"

Best Cinematography:

Roger Deakins, "Blade Runner 2049"
Bruno Delbonnel, "Darkest Hour"
Hoyte van Hoytema, "Dunkirk"
Rachel Morrison, "Mudbound"
Dan Laustsen, "The Shape of Water"

Best Film Editing:

Jonathan Amos, Paul Machliss, "Baby Driver"
Lee Smith, "Dunkirk"
Tatiana S. Riegel, "I, Tonya"
Sidney Wolinsky, "The Shape of Water"
Jon Gregory, "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri"

Best Animated Short:

"Dear Basketball”
"Garden Party"
"Lou"
"Negative Space"
"Revolting Rhymes"

Best Documentary Short Subject:

“Edith + Eddie"
"Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405"
"Heroin(e)"
"Knife Skills"
"Traffic Stop"

Best Live Action Short Film:

"DeKalb Elementary"
"The Eleven O’Clock"
"My Nephew Emmett"
"The Silent Child"
"Watu Wote/All of Us"

Best Production Design:

Sarah Greenwood (Production Designer); Katie Spencer (Set Decorator), "Beauty and the Beast"
Dennis Gassner (Production Designer); Alessandra Querzola (Set Decorator), "Blade Runner 2049"
Sarah Greenwood (Production Designer); Katie Spencer (Set Decorator), "Darkest Hour"
Nathan Crowley (Production Designer); Gary Fettis (Set Decorator), "Dunkirk"
Paul D. Austerberry (Production Designer); Jeffrey A. Melvin & Shane Vieau (Set Decorator), "The Shape of Water"

Best Makeup and Hair:

Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski and Lucy Sibbick, "Darkest Hour"
Daniel Phillips and Lou Sheppard, "Victoria and Abdul"
Arjen Tuiten, "Wonder"

Best Costume Design:

Jacqueline Durran, "Beauty and the Beast"
Jacqueline Durran, "Darkest Hour"
Mark Bridges, "Phantom Thread"
Luis Sequeira, "The Shape of Water"
Consolata Boyle, "Victoria and Abdul"

Best Original Score:

Hans Zimmer, "Dunkirk"
Jonny Greenwood, "Phantom Thread"
Alexandre Desplat, "The Shape of Water"
John Williams, "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"
Carter Burwell, "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri"

Best Original Song:

“Mighty River” from "Mudbound",  Written by Mary J. Blige, Raphael Saadiq & Taura Stinson
“Mystery of Love” from "Call Me by Your Name”, Written by Sufjan Stevens
“Remember Me” from "Coco", Written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez
“Stand Up for Something” from “Marshall”, Written by Diane Warren & Common
“This Is Me” from "The Greatest Showman", Written by Benj Pasek & Justin Paul

Best Sound Editing:

Julian Slater, "Baby Driver"
Mark Mangini & Theo Green, "Blade Runner 2049"
Alex Gibson & Richard King, "Dunkirk"
Nathan Robitaille & Nelson Ferreira, "The Shape of Water"
Ren Klyce & Matthew Wood, "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"

Best Sound Mixing:

Mary H. Ellis, Julian Slater & Tim Cavagin, "Baby Driver"
Mac Ruth, Ron Bartlett & Doug Hephill, "Blade Runner 2049"
Mark Weingarten, Gregg Landaker & Gary A. Rizzo, "Dunkirk"
Glen Gauthier, Christian Cooke & Brad Zoern, "the Shape of Water"
Stuart Wilson, Ren Klyce, David Parker & Michael Semanick, "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"

Best Visual Effects:

John Nelson, Paul Lambert, Richard R. Hoover and Gerd Nefzer, "Blade Runner 2049"
Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Jonathan Fawkner and Dan Sudick, "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2"
Stephen Rosenbaum, Jeff White, Scott Benza and Mike Meinardus, "Kong: Skull Island"
Ben Morris, Mike Mulholland, Chris Corbould and Neal Scanlon, "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"
Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett and Joel Whist, "War For The Planet of The Apes"

FRANCES MCDORMAND'S DIFFICULT WOMEN

Frances McDormand, the Oscar, Emmy and Tony award winning actress, no longer signs autographs. And if you see her on the street, she will not take a selfie with you. And rarely does she give interviews nor will appear on talk shows.

Yet the New York Times magazine has miraculously managed to not only get the notoriously reclusive actress involved in a fairly detailed profile of her life and career for their Culture Issue but somehow managed to get her to be photographed for the cover despite her continuous claim of hating to have her picture taken.

Now this is exactly what I, and I'm sure all of her legion of fans, love about Frances McDormand. Much like many of the non-conforming characters she has played over her thirty-six year acting career, McDormand can also be a prickly and complicated character full of contradictions. While it's been noted McDormand will not give you a selfie, she will ask your name and engage you in conversation.

I'm sure part of the reason for McDormand's willingness to be interviewed is to promote her latest film, "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" from writer/director Martin McDonagh which has been getting plenty of buzz and just recently won Audience Awards at this year's Toronto and San Sebastian Film Festivals. Not only was this role written with her in mind but her appearance in the film is one of her rare starring roles for most of her work has been impressive and memorable supporting parts in such films as "Mississippi Burning", "Almost Famous", "Wonder Boys" and "North Country".

Click below to read:

Frances McDormand's Difficult Women

WINNERS FROM THE 2017 VENICE FILM FESTIVAL

The 2017 Venice Film Festival has come to a close and with that, prizes have been handed out. The Annette Bening-led Jury has selected "The Shape of Water", Guillermo del Toro's romantic fantasy fable, for the top prize of the Golden Lion or best film. This Fox Searchlight film, which received a warm and rapturous response during it's world premiere screening, stars Sally Hawkins as a mute woman who emotionally connects with an aquatic experiment. Samuel Maoz’s Israeli drama, "Foxtrot" won the runner-up, Grand Jury Prize while British icon, Charlotte Rampling took the Best Actress Award for her performance in Andrea Pallaoro’s French-language feature, "Hannah". Another warmly received film making it's world premiere at the fest was "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" and won the director, Martin McDonagh the Best Screenplay Prize. And Xavier Legrand won both the Best Director and Best First Film for his French custody drama, "Jusqu’à La Garde"

Here is the list of the winners from the 2017 Venice Film Festival:

Grand Jury Prizes

Golden Lion: "The Shape Of Water"
Grand Jury Prize: "Foxtrot"
Silver Lion Best Director: Xavier Legrand, "Custody (Jusqu’à La Garde)"



Volpi Cup Best Actress: Charlotte Rampling, "Hannah"



Volpi Cup Best Actor: Kamel El Basha, "The Insult"



Best Screenplay: Martin McDonagh, "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri"
Special Jury Prize: "Sweet Country"



Marcello Mastroianni Award for for Best New Young Actor or Actress: Charlie Plummer, "Lean On Pete"

Venice Horizons

Best Film: "Nico, 1988"



Best Director: Vahid Jalilvand, "No Date, No Signature"
Special Jury Prize: "Caniba"
Best Actress: Lyna Khoudri, "Les Bienheureux"
Best Actor: Navid Mohammadzadeh, "No Date, No Signature"
Best Screenplay: Dominique Wellinski and Rene Ballesteros, "Los Versos Del Olvido"
Best Short Film: "Gros Chagrin"
Lion of the Future: Luigi De Laurentiis Award for a Debut Film: Xavier Legrand, "Jusqu’à La Garde"

Venice Virtual Reality

Best VR: "Arden’s Wake (Expanded)"
Best VR Experience: "La Camera Insabbiata"
Best VR Story: "Bloodless"

2017 FALL MOVIE PREVIEW

Another summer movie season has come to a close and it has proven to be somewhat of a disappointment with the films ranging from unnecessary sequels, underwhelming remakes to just plain awful. While there were a few bright spots ("Wonder Woman", "Spider-Man: Homecoming", "Baby Driver", "Girls Trip", "Dunkirk") but mostly there were just too many duds released ("The Mummy", "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales", "The Dark Tower", "Valerian & The City of a Thousand Planets" to name just a few). Now is the time to look forward to the fall, where the selection of films looks far more promising. Here are ten upcoming films that I'm particularly looking forward in seeing.

All release dates are subject to change:

"BATTLE OF THE SEXES"

Release date: September 22, 2017

I was around eleven years old when the events of the comedy-drama, "Battle of the Sexes" took place so I was aware yet not particularly interested in this gender war between tennis players Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King. But I'm very interested now in the retelling of this tension-filled showdown that took place in 1973. Steve Carell and Emma Stone star as the iconic tennis stars as we witness all of the outrageous theatrics that leads up to the dramatic match between them. Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris ("Little Miss Sunshine") directs.



"WOODSHOCK"

Release date; September 22, 2017

It seems Tom Ford may have inspired other fashion designers to get in to the movie business. The Mulleavy sisters, Laura and Kate (who design the women's clothing line, Rodarte) have written and directed their first feature, "Woodshock". With friend and muse, Kirsten Dunst as an executive producer and star, the film focuses on a grief-stricken woman living in Northern California. She works at a marijuana dispensary and when a powerful new strain is discovered, it quickly replaces lumber as a lucrative cash crop in the area. It shouldn't be much of a surprise that the visuals in the film are wildly vivid and disorienting.



"BLADE RUNNER 2049"

Release date: October 6, 2017

When "Blade Runner", a 1982 film directed by Ridley Scott and based on the Phillip K. Dick novel, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep", was released, it was initially met with tepid critical reaction and middling box-office. Over time, the film became much more appreciated for it's inventive story-telling and groundbreaking visuals and is now considered a sci-fi classic. Now, thirty-five years later, a follow-up film has finally been made. "Blade Runner 2049" is set thirty years after the first film as a blade runner, Officer K (Ryan Gosling) begins to unravel a dangerous plot that could potentially end mankind. As he further investigates, it leads him to Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford),  a former blade runner who dropped out of sight years ago for a good reason. Denis Villeneuve ("Arrival") directs with Jared Leto, Robin Wright, Barkhad Abdi, Dave Bautista and Edward James Olmos (who also reprises his role in the original film) also starring.



"PROFESSOR MARSTON & THE WONDER WOMEN"

Release date : October 27, 2017

"Wonder Woman" became one of the biggest hits of the year and the timing couldn't be better to take a look at the unconventional life of that character's creator. "Professor Marston & The Wonder Women" examines Dr. William Moulton Marston (Luke Evans), a brilliant man who was a psychologist, inventor and most unlikely, a comic-book writer. We learn that the doctor, his wife (Rebecca Hall) and close friend to both (Bella Heathcote) were all involved in a highly unusual relationship and that these strong-willed women became the inspiration of his famous creation.



"MY FRIEND DAHMER"

Release date: November 3, 2017

John "Derf" Backderf wrote a memoir on his teenage friendship with Jeffrey Dahmer who would grow-up to become an infamous serial killer. But he took the unusual step of creating it as a graphic novel. Marc Meyers has adapted the novel and directed "My Friend Dahmer" and cast Ross Lynch, an actor formerly associated with Disney Channel programming, as Dahmer. While not exactly attempting to make him sympathetic, the teenage Dahmer is revealed to be a lonely and tormented young man who drank to excess, displayed strange behavior and was oddly fascinated with roadkill.



"MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS"

Release date: November 10, 2017

"Murder on The Orient Express", the 1934 Agatha Christie novel, had previously been made in to a popular 1974 film by Sidney Lumet and featured an all-star cast that included Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall, Sean Connery, Vanessa Redgrave and Ingrid Bergman who won the Best Supporting Actress Award for her role. So I guess the time must be right for a remake. Kenneth Branagh not only directs but also has taken on the juicy role of Hercule Poirot, the internationally famous French detective, who works to solve the crime on this train. This is also a star-filled event and features Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Josh Gad, Leslie Odom Jr. ("Hamilton"), Michelle Pfeiffer and Johnny Depp.



"THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI"

Release date: November 10, 2017

Frances McDormand makes a long overdue return to the big-screen with a starring role in "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri", the latest from playwright/filmmaker Martin McDonagh ("In Bruges", "Seven Psychopaths"). She plays Mildred Hayes, a mother, grieving over the murder of her daughter, who becomes angry and frustrated that no arrest has been made in this crime. Deciding to take a stand and draw attention to this, Mildred rents three billboards that publicly shames the town sheriff (Woody Harrelson) and his police department. Sam Rockwell, John Hawkes and Peter Dinklage also star.



"CALL ME BY YOUR NAME"

Release date: November 24, 2017

"Call Me By Your Name", based on the book by André Aciman, tells the story of Elio (Timothée Chalamet), an American teenager spending the summer with his parents at their Italian villa. Oliver (Armie Hammer), a handsome academic friend of the family, comes to stay for a visit. Elio is fascinated by this slightly older man, with a deep friendship developing before their relationship becomes more intimate. Luca Guadagnino directs from an adapted screenplay from legendary filmmaker, James Ivory ("A Room With a View", "Howard's End", "Maurice").



"THE SHAPE OF WATER"

Release date: December 8, 2017

Guillermo del Toro, the Mexican filmmaker who has made two of my favorite films, "The Devil's Backbone" and "Pan's Labyrinth", has returned with another dark fantasy, "The Shape of Water". While those previous films focused on young protagonists fighting against the supernatural, his latest is more of an adult romance. Set in the 1960's during the Cold War, Elisa (Sally Hawkins) is a lonely, mute woman who works as a janitor at a U.S. government laboratory. She discovers a secret experiment; an amphibious creature (Doug Jones) held in a water tank. Elisa makes an emotional connection with it and determined to set it free. Michael Shannon and Octavia Spencer co-star. The film will make it's world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and will also be screened at this year's Toronto fest.



"STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI"

Release date: December 15, 2017

The highly anticipated follow-up to 2015's "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is finally here. With Rian Johnson ("Looper") taking over directing duties from J.J. Abrams, "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" continues where we left off with the aspiring Jedi, Rey (Daisy Ridley) finding Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) on an isolated island but soon discovers he's no longer the heroic Jedi warrior of the past. Meanwhile, Finn (John Boyega), the former stormtrooper turned reluctant hero, is on a new mission for the Resistance with just a mechanic (Kelly Marie Tran) by his side. Oscar-winner, Benicio Del Toro and Laura Dern are new additions to the series with undisclosed roles.

2017 VENICE FILM FESTIVAL

The 2017 Venice Film Festival will officially kick-off the fall movie season with some of the most interesting and anticipated films of the year. The 74th edition of this Italian-based fest will begin on August 30th and run through September 9th.

The Opening Night film selected is "Downsizing", Alexander Payne's first film since his 2013 film, "Nebraska" which went on to receive six Academy Award nominations. This strange sci-fi satire is about a struggling couple (Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig) who decide the best way to cut finances is to cut themselves literally down in size.



The Closing Night film will be "Outrage Coda", the final chapter of the "Outrage" series from Japanese actor/filmmaker, Takeshi Kitano. This continues the story of the new Hanabishi-kai crime outfit which has unified all of the Japanese underground yakuza into a massively centralized organization. But the members of the former Sanno-kai yakuza who helped create this new group are now seen as expendable and are being taken out one by one.



American actress, Annette Bening has been named President of the main competition jury and the first female to hold this post since 2006. Other members of this year's jury include British filmmaker, Edgar Wright; British actress, Rebecca Hall; Hungarian filmmaker, Ildiko Enyedi; Mexican filmmaker, Michel Franco, French actress, Anna Mouglalis; film critic, David Stratton; Italian actress, Jasmine Trinca; and Taiwan-born filmmaker, Yonfan. The panel selects the major prizes including the Golden and Silver Lions and the acting Volpi Cups. Some of the films in competition for prizes include the latest from George Clooney ("Suburbicon"), Darren Aronofsky ("Mother!"), Andrew Haigh ("Lean On Pete"), Martin McDonagh ("Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri"), Abdellatif Kechiche ("Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno"), Paul Schrader ("First Reformed"), Frederick Wiseman ("Ex Libris: The New York Public Library") and Guillermo del Toro ("The Shape of Water").





Stephen Frears, the British director who brought us the now-classic films, "My Beautiful Laundrette", "Dangerous Liaisons", "The Queen" and "The Grifters", will be honored with the Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory To The Filmmaker Award, a prize given to an individual who has made a significant contribution to innovation in contemporary cinema. His latest, "Victoria & Abdul" will also be making it's world premiere at the fest in an out-of-competition slot. The film is based on the true story about the unlikely friendship between a young clerk from India (Ali Fazal) and Queen Victoria (Judi Dench).



Robert Redford and Jane Fonda will both receive the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. In addition, the actors have been paired up for the fourth time on film with "Our Souls At Night", a Netflix release that will make it's world premiere at the fest. This drama of a couple unexpectedly finding love late in life is based on a novel by Kent Haruf and directed by Ritesh Batra ("The Lunchbox").



Virtual Reality is making a major splash at Venice with a jury being assembled for the first time specifically for these films. Over twenty VR films will be shown and American director, John Landis will head this jury. His groundbreaking 1982 music video for Michael Jackson's "Thriller" will be presented for the first time in 3D as a Special Event along with Jerry Kramer's documentary on the making of "Thriller".