2017 Academy Awards Retrospective

A Little Princess...

Amores perros...

Y tu mamá también...

21 Grams...

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban...

Children of Men...

Pan's Labyrinth...

Babel...

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army...

Biutiful...

Gravity...

Birdman...

The Revenant...

The Shape of Water.

The Three Amigos. Cuarón... Iñárritu... del Toro. United in Oscar glory at last!

I will not lie, I may not have said that he was my favourite director of 2017, but when Guillermo del Toro won Best Director last night, I cried victorious tears... and then cried more victorious tears when The Shape of Water won the night entire!!! The first fantasy since Return of the King to win Best Director and Best Picture, and it's about damn time! I don't even care if it messed up my ballot to a tie with last year's all-time low of 14/24 correct. del Toro is my modern icon. He's a fantasist, a humanitarian, an incredible visual stylist, an incredibly sincere person, the best speech writer in history, he even gave a dedication to young filmmakers everywhere which gave me just the slightest bit of hope... You've earned this, del Toro! No one can take this away from you... not even Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway!

Honestly, like 2015, even if I was wrong in an uncomfortable amount of categories, I'm happy that I was because I could not fault the films that won in each category. I know I came down hard on Three Billboards in my build-up to this point, but that was more paranoia over the possibility that I may end up having an all-new Birdman... and even in that case, I may be able to look at Birdman in a new light now that the three Mexicans finally share this honour. By the time the Screenplay awards came and went, I finally settled into the assurance that Three Billboards wasn't going to win, at which point, I could easily say, Rockwell and McDormand were the right people to honour from that particular movie - and that they were two of the other best speechifiers of the entire evening!  As I said in my live tweet when McDormand called for all the female nominees to stand up together at once, "McDormand, YOU WIN EVERYTHING!" Her speech was so good that even if you didn't know what 'inclusion rider' meant, you knew it was something powerful and important and it meant something to everyone there! I'll say it: I'm actually glad she won, because otherwise, we would not have gotten that epic a moment!

The rest of the ceremony, no matter however wrong I was, honestly goes without saying. Although, I was surprised by how few gaps there were between really great speeches. After Rockwell dedicated his Oscar to Philip Seymour Hoffman - bravo - I feel like it took until Sound Mixing and Gary Rizzo, who may not have given that unique a speech, but it was the cutaway to his daughter sitting in his seat, that made me think: Any nominee who brings their child with them to the Oscars is officially the BEST PARENT EVER!!! More great moments especially came from the screenwriters. James Ivory was beautifully subdued and honestly lyrical in his acceptance of Call Me by Your Name's one Oscar, proving that he's great at more than just writing speeches in scripts but in reality too... And then Jordan Peele won! And I screamed in joy! I had expected Greta Gerwig to be the upset in this category, but this was just as awesome, if not slightly more so, as the first African-American screenwriter to win this award! He may be one of the few filmmakers to actively thank the audience for going to see his film; it was our pleasure, sir! Gary Oldman had a lovely moment himself, paying tribute to his 99-years-young mother, asking her to 'put the kettle on', that was wonderful. Allison Janney could have stopped at 'I did it all by myself' and I would have unquestionably believed her, that was awesome. Rachel Shanton signing during her speech on behalf of her young star, what a wonderful way to represent her. Coco winning Best Animated Film, and the music being cut off just in time to allow Robert Lopez to pay tribute to his mother, amazing- Stop me now or I'll drown!

The winners that I got wrong were all pretty well-deserved in their own right. It probably counts as an accomplishment that Blade Runner 2049 won both Visual Effects and the long overdue Cinematography for Roger Deakins. Those two often go together, but it gives that film which not a lot of people saw in theatres a lot of well-deserved validation...

...

I guess that's the only one that I hadn't yet mentioned, so I'll just move on by saying, the rest of the ceremony was very entertaining too!

Now I will be fair, I did not get to hear all of Kimmel's punchlines during the evening, as I was too busy trying to think of my own jokes on Twitter, but I will continue to say this, he is absolutely a natural host for this show. The jet-ski skit was an amusing addition to the show, and hey, it went to the one award-winner from my favourite movie of the year, Phantom Thread! Nice job, Mark Bridges, you got something extra! What's more, though, the 'prank' this year, with the film-going audience and thanking them for going to the movies, that was friggin' awesome! It compensates for the bit of awkwardness that happened last year with the random bus tour, and it made the night feel so optimistic and friendly, which was a very good counterpoint to all the other very important statements that were made during the ceremony.

As expected, this was a very political evening, a potent reminder of the events of last year regarding female representation and the outing of Harvey Weinstein. There were so many very good moments of tribute, including the montage to the 'trail-blazers' of Hollywood, and those spectacular introductions to every single acting category! I want that editor's job so much, because they are absolutely boss! Emma Stone's got some serious spunk based on her line, 'These four men and Greta Gerwig'! YEAH! Also, if the Academy wants to do themselves some good next year, I have two suggestions... or three, just so that I can be fair to all of them: either hire Kumail Nanjiani... or Tiffany Haddish and Maya Rudolph as next year's host! They're all amazing presenters, they're hilarious, they gave life to the ceremony while also being very frank about current events, they'd do a great job next year! Make it happen!!!

I have been satisfied. There's nothing else that needs to be done. I do not need to win a ballot this year, because everything feels somehow right with the universe. It was a tense night for some time, but I can say that every winner for the year 2017 earned their piece and made their time to say what they needed to damn well worth it.

Now all that needs to happen is Nolan, Anderson and Gerwig tie for whatever they do next... how likely its that at this moment? Eh, it don't matter.

I'll see you in the coming year folks! Spread the love to each other!

"Inclusion rider!"

Oscar Predictions 2017 - summary

You ready for your cheat sheet? Here y'are:

Best Animated Feature

My Pick and Dark Horse: The Breadwinner - Nora Twomey and Anthony Leo
Winner: Coco - Lee Unkrich and Darla K. Anderson

Best Animated Short Film

Winner: Garden Party - Victor Caire and Gabriel Grapperon
Dark Horse: Dear Basketball - Glen Keane and Kobe Bryant

Best Documentary Feature

My Pick and Dark Horse: Icarus - Bryan Fogel and Dan Cogan
Winner: Faces Places - Agnès Varda, JR and Rosalie Varda

Best Documentary (Short Subject)

Winner: Edith+Eddie - Laura Checkoway and Thomas Lee Wright

Dark Horse: Heroin(e) - Elaine McMillion Sheldon and Kerrin Sheldon

Best Foreign Language Film

My Pick and Dark Horse: The Square - Sweden

Winner: A Fantastic Woman - Chile

Best Live-Action Short Film

Winner: DeKalb Elementary - Reed Van Dyk

Dark Horse: Everything else

Best Cinematography

My Pick and Winner: Roger Deakins - Blade Runner 2049

Dark Horse: Hoyte van Hoytema - Dunkirk

Best Costume Design

My Pick and Winner: Mark Bridges - Phantom Thread

Dark Horses: Jacqueline Durran - Beauty and the Beast

Best Film Editing

My Pick and Winner: Lee Smith - Dunkirk

Dark Horse: Paul Machliss and Jonathan Amos - Baby Driver

Best Makeup and Hair Styling

My Pick and Winner: Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski and Lucy Siddick - Darkest Hour

Dark Horse: Arjen Tuiten - Wonder

Best Original Score

My Pick and Dark Horse: Jonny Greenwood - Phantom Thread

Winner: Alexandre Desplat - The Shape of Water

Best Original Song

My Pick and Dark Horse: "Mighty River" - Mudbound - Music and Lyrics by Mary J. Blige, Raphael Saadiq and Taura Stinson
Winner: "This is Me" - The Greatest Showman - Music and Lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

Best Production Design

My Pick and Winner: Paul Denham Austerberry, Shane Vieau and Jeff Melvin - The Shape of Water

Dark Horse: Dennis Gassner and Alessandra Querzola - Blade Runner 2049

Best Sound Editing

My Pick and Winner: Nathan Robitaille and Nelson Ferreira - The Shape of Water

Dark Horse: Richard King and Alex Gibson - Dunkirk

Best Sound Mixing

My Pick and Winner: Mark Weingarten, Gregg Landaker and Gary A Rizzo - Dunkirk

Dark Horse: Julian Slater, Tim Cave-in and Mary H. Ellis - Baby Driver

Best Visual Effects

My Pick and Winner: Joe Letteri, Daniel Barrett, Dan Lemmon and Joel Whist - War for the Planet of the Apes

Dark Horse: Ben Morris, Mike Mulholland, Neal Scanlan and Chris Corbould - Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Best Writing - Original Screenplay

My Pick and Dark Horse: Greta Gerwig - Lady Bird

Winner: Martin McDonagh - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Writing - Adapted Screeplay

My Pick and Winner: James Ivory - Call Me by Your Name

Dark Horse: Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber - The Disaster Artist

Best Supporting Actress

My Pick and Secondary Dark Horse: Lesley Manville - Phantom Thread
Winner: Allison Janney - I, Tonya

Dark Horse: Laurie Metcalf - Lady Bird

Best Supporting Actor

My Pick and Winner: Willem Dafoe - The Florida Project

Dark Horse: Sam Rockwell - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Actor

My Pick and Dark Horse: Daniel Day-Lewis - Phantom Thread

Winner: Gary Oldman - Darkest Hour

Best Actress

My Pick and Dark Horse: Sally Hawkins - The Shape of Water

My Other Pick and Secondary Dark Horse: Margot Robbie - I, Tonya
Winner: Frances McDormand - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Director

My Pick: Paul Thomas Anderson - Phantom Thread

Winner: Guillermo del Toro - The Shape of Water
Dark Horse: Christopher Nolan - Dunkirk

Best Picture

My Pick: Phantom Thread - JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson, Megan Ellison and Daniel Lupi

Winner: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh
Dark Horse: The Shape of Water - Guillermo del Toro and J. Miles Dale


Your final tally (bold for major releases):
The Shape of Water - 4
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - 3
Darkest Hour - 2
Dunkirk - 2
Blade Runner 2049 - 1
Call Me by Your Name - 1
Coco - 1
DeKalb Elementary - 1
Edith+Eddie - 1
Faces Places - 1
A Fantastic Woman - 1
The Florida Project - 1
Garden Party - 1
The Greatest Showman - 1
I, Tonya - 1
Phantom Thread - 1
War for the Planet of the Apes - 1

There doesn't seem to be any real massive success out of this lot, but I don't think it's that kind of year. The most that could happen is that Three Billboards and The Shape of Water could swap spots on the tally above, which I will try to remain calm about, because people do like both of them, I just like one of them less than most people.

I ultimately did land on Three Billboards winning Best Picture, because for the last seven years, with the exception of Birdman and The Artist, the winner in this category has not been the frontrunner in terms of nominations, nor has it won the most awards of that given year, nor has it won Best Director. It would actually be joining Argo as the winner without a nomination, which is really weirdly consistent for it to happen twice in one decade. As I said last year, the Academy does seem to favour the message movie these days, even at the expense of patting themselves on the back; Three Billboards definitely has the most blatantly modern message of all the films nominated, so it's a pretty safe bet at this point. The Shape of Water is its obvious competition, and people seem fairly evenly split on which one of those two will win. Dunkirk has the closest chance of upsetting the established order, which I would actually approve of, considering the artistic feat that it is.

Is this a year that really favours my personal opinion? I don't think so. I want it to, but it's not likely. At this point, just take what ya can. I know exactly which films I'm adding to my Blu-Ray collection - since I'm the only person in Canada who still buys those things, 'cuz I like physical property. I'm sure everyone else will know which of each of these films appeals to them. More power to them.

Have a lovely night!

Oscar Predictions 2017 - major categories

Quick update before we move on to this section:

I'm going to be live tweeting throughout the entire Oscar Ceremony. Follow me @daskyethor for my very opinionated opinions about each win... Okay, I'll try to be fair if they pick someone I disagree with.

Now, moving on.

Best Foreign Language Film

1. The Square

2. On Body and Soul

Winner: A Fantastic Woman

I've heard a lot of praise heaped onto A Fantastic Woman, one of the latest films to feature LGBT subject matter which the Academy is prone to admire. It will probably be a toss up between that and The Square, which I already mentioned as a runner-up for my favourite films of the year. That film has so much traction in this race because of its Palme d'Or win at Cannes... and I don't have any other comment at all. Moving on...

Best Documentary Feature

1. The first half of Icarus
2. Last Men in Aleppo

3. Strong Island

Winner: Face Places

It's a bit weird, but I haven't finished watching Icarus yet. That's entirely on me, because of late, I have found feature-length documentaries in general to be less than my cup of tea. I should be more interested in them because of my education, but I often feel like I don't want to spend two hours reminding myself of reality. What I have seen of Icarus, however, is very engaging, especially when it focuses on the very literal 'character' of Grigory Rodchenkov, the former anti-doping expert turned whistleblower. I could have done without the fake Orwell quote at the beginning, but that's just one problem. (I will update this post once I've seen the entire film.) Last Men in Aleppo does have one thing going for it, which is the controversy of the producers just barely getting a travel visa just to attend the Oscars because of current U.S. policies. The film follows in the footsteps of last year's Documentary Short winner The White Helmets, but it benefits from being directed by a Syrian, Feras Fayyad, and it does not shy away from showing very graphic imagery for the sake of realism. Two very worthy films, two fine dark horses... pitted against my biggest regretful miss of the year! I really wanted to see Faces Places before now, but the fates would not have it be so. I hope that Agnès Varda and JR will tolerate my insolence for one more week as I sing their praises when they win this award.

Best Animated Feature

1. The Breadwinner

2. Loving Vincent

3. Coco

Winner: Coco

No, I'm not a heartless bastard... I'm merely very tough to please. Coco is a lovely, heartfelt, visually wondrous and emotionally moving animated film about family legacy, respect for your ancestors and embracing of a very different aspect of Mexican culture... for about 80% of its runtime. The other 20% - the 20% at the front of the film - is the most formula animated movie I've seen all year. The kid wants something. The family does not want him to have that something. The kid tries to do that something anyway. The family punishes him for doing that something by some blatant act of violence that severs his tie to that something. The kid runs away to pursue that something... and then finally ends up in the afterlife, where the real greatness of this film abides. I apologize if I insulted the fans of this film ever so slightly, your love for it is entirely justified... Just let me have my under-appreciated animated masterpieces, okay!? Loving Vincent is astounding on a technical level, and its art may sell the film more than the narrative or staging, but at least for me, its visual beauty also translated to emotional beauty. It felt so right to tell the story of Van Gogh through his art style, and it's a spectacular film I hope to see many times again. And The Breadwinner, obviously, is one of my favourite films from 2017 and is easily one of the most thematically challenging with its depiction of Afghan culture, the Taliban, and the innocents who try to live in their midst. Both of these are just as worthy of this as Coco is, and I certainly won't begrudge Coco winning, at least for the other 80% that I loved. I would love a surprise here, but I'm not banking on it.

Best Writing - Original Screenplay

1. Lady Bird

2. Get Out

3. The Big Sick

4. The Shape of Water
5. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Winner: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Hmm... Which script should I say I admire the least? The one that takes more than a few hints from the director's previous masterpieces... or the one that's so obviously trying to be a Coen Brothers movie, but only comes across as a lesser film because of it? I really wanted to say that any other film was going to win in this category, but speaking with one of my friends ultimately made me nut up to the probability that Three Billboards is going to win. It is socially relevant, if rather messy in its approach, and it may not be a film that I am personally inclined toward, but I'll take one for the team. I really do think that the other three nominees are superior in this category. I appreciate The Big Sick for presenting an extremely unconventional rom-com story with a lot of heart and some pretty satisfying laughs. I've raved about Get Out's blending of genre and equally relevant social commentary/satire. And Lady Bird, my initial predicted winner for this category, is a film that speaks to a wide range of teenage experiences without being hokey, twee, or light; it's the most sincere and well realized teen drama I've seen in... forever. I will say this: given that she's not likely to win Best Director, the Writers' branch may decide to give this award to Greta Gerwig as compensation. She definitely deserves it, she made a lovely movie, I hope they can upset me, because if they do, there's still a chance that Three Billboards will get less traction in the end race.

Best Writing - Adapted Screenplay

1. Call Me By Your Name
2. The Disaster Artist
3. Mudbound

4. Logan
5. Molly's Game

Winner: Call Me By Your Name

Now do not let my ranking convince you that I dislike any one of these screenplays. These are all well written scripts and given their competition, it's the best line-up you could get in a pretty weak year for adaptations. I have quibbles with each one of the lower ones on this list: Molly's Game and Mudbound have more narration than I would have liked, and Logan as boundry-breaking as it is, I only find the protagonists to be really compelling while the villains, save for a certain clone of someone, feel like they're just kinda there. That said, I've bounced around the major contenders so often in this category, especially in regards to The Disaster Artist. So on top of the accusations made against Franco, now there's a new lawsuit in place where the original screenwriter for that film may have been underpaid, which seems decidedly unfair. Is the script that we now have great? I would say so, but I'm torn on whether I would give it to the film when that kind of an accusation is made against it. I think we can all agree that it's not very likely to win anyway. The Academy loves James Ivory; his period dramas were wild successes in the 80s and 90s, now he's actually written the script for Call Me By Your Name and it really is a fine piece. It deserves to win almost solely because of the speech given by Michael Stuhlbarg near the end of the film, a speech that should speak to every person of every orientation. I may not have related to the movie as a whole, but I admire that aspect of it more than anything else.

Best Supporting Actress

1. Lesley Manville

2. Laurie Metcalf

3. Alison Janney

4. Mary J. Blige

5. Octavia Spencer

Winner: Alison Janney for I, Tonya

Oh, I would love to see an upset here... then again, I won't be disappointed if any of my top three picks won this award. The only performer that seems a little out of place here is Octavia Spencer; although I liked her in The Shape of Water, she is still playing into a type that she does well enough in, but is not really building on anything she's done before. Janney is the current frontrunner, for very good reason; what a marvellously despicable character is LaVona Fay Golden, while also being incredibly lively and sardonically funny. Metcalf has probably the most varied performance in terms of how she interacts with Saoirse Ronan's Lady Bird, whether it be doting, condescending, loving, agitated, understanding or heartbroken. Of course, you know by now that I can't get enough of Manville; her quiet command of every scene in Phantom Thread is marvellous. Even when faced with such a self-centred ass of a brother, she's somehow always in control. She has the authority and the foresight to know everything that needs to be said at the absolute opportune time, which is more than awesome and GOD, why wasn't this movie nominated for Original Screenplay!? Just give it to Janney... or Manville, if I haven't annoyed you enough.

Best Supporting Actor

1. Willem Dafoe

2. Christopher Plummer

3. Richard Jenkins

4. Woody Harrelson

5. Sam Rockwell

Winner: Willem Dafoe for The Florida Project

I'm goin' against the grain, people! I know most are betting on Rockwell in Three Billboards, a performance that is not undeserving of a nomination, but is far and away the least interesting of the lot, in my opinion. He has the one scene that everyone remembers in the form of an unbroken shot, but I don't see as much depth to the character or the performance. Harrelson is a great deal more nuanced, for reasons that you learn about around the midpoint in the film. If I was to rewatch the film, I would probably want to keep my eyes squarely on Harrelson and be content with it. To be fair, my 2-4 could have been in any order and it would have been pretty accurate. I'm tempted to go on a diatribe about the casting process in All the Money in the World, but for now, I'll just settle on Plummer's presence here not being a stunt nomination, but a really worthy and spectacular example of his work. We really do need more Christopher Plummer in everything. But you know me: I love Dafoe, he's been nominated twice before, he should have won something by now, plus he's in his 60s,  so this would count as both a legacy win and an absolutely worthy win for his work in The Florida Project. Once again, it's a varied performance on an emotional level, especially in his interaction with the children, whom he cares for despite being an absolute nuisance and just so difficult to control. I remember so many of his scenes based on the emotions I felt for his character. He deserves to win, he should win... he will win. Fight me!

Best Actor

1. Daniel Day-Lewis

2. Daniel Kaluuya

3. Gary Oldman

4. Timothée Chalamet

Winner: Gary Oldman for Darkest Hour

I know. He doesn't need a fourth one. I don't care, because he's the best, and it's presumably his last role, and I like saying is name over and over and over again. Daniel Day-Lewis, Daniel Day-Lewis, Daniel Kaluuya- whoops, happy accident! There are a lot of thing that put each of these performances at something of an advantage in this category; Kaluuya has the audience's empathy throughout the entire movie, Chalamet does fine work as a kind of male counterpart to Ronan's performance in Lady Bird - ironic, since he actually appeared in both films - and Daniel Day-Lewis... see, I couldn't help myself. There's no need for an excuse. Let's be real here: This category was locked once they wrote up the cast list on Darkest Hour's Wikipedia page. Initially, I had Oldman at the bottom of my list, but I ended up switching because I still remember Oldman's Churchill more and was arguably more impressed by it. Just because Chalamet gives a quieter performance does not mean I remember him as much as Oldman's somewhat flashy but still nearly seamless performance. The one scene that is dividing people the most, the subway scene, is actually the point where I turned around to appreciating the film and Oldman's performance more. It's the one scene in a bombastic film about old men shouting at Oldman - only slightly accidental joke there - where we get to see Churchill settle into a certain mood and feel like someone that the audience could connect with and admire. It may not be his most subdued performance, nor the one that people will remember the most, but it is fine work to earn him a very fine legacy award.

Best Actress

1. Sally Hawkins & Margot Robbie

3. Saiorse Ronan

4. Frances McDormand & Meryl Streep

Winner: Frances McDormand for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

I want that tie so damn much! No, not the one at #4, they've got what they deserved for playing much better characters in much better movies - I'll give you my review of The Post sooner or later, I promise. Let's be real here: as cliché as it is to give this award to the young rising star because they're young and their star is rising... any of the three actresses who have not won an Oscar yet deserve to win one this year because they're great and awesome and they deserve the career boost. (By the way, yes, Hawkins is an established actress with a diverse career, I'm just using that statement to make a point.) Frances McDormand may be a favourite to win this year and she gives a good performance as a steely determined woman in a good movie, but that's nothing compared to her great performance as an energetic but emotionally diverse character in a great movie that I think this good movie is trying so hard to be. Hawkins did so much more in five minutes of her physical performance than most other actresses do in two hours of straight up talking. Robbie imbued Tonya Harding with a sense of empathy that was unexpected without sacrificing any of her talents as a comedienne. And I've nattered about Ronan a fair bit already; thanks to Gerwig's very heartfelt writing and her own versatility, she proves once again that she gets better with every new performance. If any of those three actresses wins this award, I'll stand and applaud for them because they deserve it. If McDormand wins, which she is likely to, I'll shrug it off. If Streep wins... I'll let you imagine what my response is.

Best Director

1. Paul Thomas Anderson

2. Christopher Nolan

3. Guillermo del Toro

4. Jordan Peele

5. Greta Gerwig

Winner: Guillermo del Toro for The Shape of Water

So, I love this entire line-up. I've already established that. They're either ingenious auteurs with great work behind them or some of the most exciting first-time directors of our current era. It seems obvious that I'm showing some bias based on how well established these directors are, but keep in mind I am coming at this category based on how much I think the director's style helps tell the story and how confident that style is at this time in their career. Gerwig, I would give a writing award to, Peele I would give an Oscar for Best Directorial Debut. But now, with the three veterans, you may notice something weird: if Dunkirk's not on my Top Ten of 2017, why is Nolan above del Toro on this stand? Because Dunkirk is perhaps the boldest statement of Nolan's career and the greatest deviation from his typical style. The sparse dialogue, the sound design, the cinematography, the editing, it's all meticulous and so vasty different from anything Nolan has done before without becoming alienating. I love del Toro's work as a director, he did an exceptional job with The Shape of Water, and when he wins that Oscar, finally bringing the Three Amigos together in Oscar glory, I will be very happy. I'll probably be just slightly happier, however, if he gets nominated again for a different film that's even more of a stretch for him as a filmmaker. I guess that's why Anderson becomes more impressive with every new film, and why I personally think he should win. If he does, I would probably die of the shock, but maybe don't count on that happening. I intend to live a long time so that I can make my own films, each one different from the next... except probably featuring a majority of female leads. I do like those...


I shall return promptly with my ranking of the Best Picture nominees, with my final summary of each category following soon after that.