Steven Spielberg entered 2018 with two films ready to impress the audience worldwide: the Academy Award Nominee The Post and the pop-culture praise of 1980ies Ready Player One. Absolutely different, but both attention-drawers, the two films reaffirmed the director`s image as a multidimensional artist who can incarnate any idea of any genre on screen.
There hardly could be something more Irish than endless and pure Connemara landscapes and traditional sean-nós singing that releases the very soul of the Emerald Island. This year Moscow Irish Week hosted the 11th Irish Film Fest that brought Gaelic-speaking Song Of Granite on screen. The film by Pat Collins rebuilds the biography of famous sean-nós singer Joe Heaney (Seosamh Ó hÉanaí) who spent his life wandering the world with motherland in his heart and deep affection to Irish tradition in his unique singing.
Another Academy Award season is over. The winner unveiled: Guillermo Del Toro`s nets double with The Shape Of Water. The film has received 13 nominations with 4 won, including Best Picture and Directing. Another Academy fave, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, has brought the award to Frances McDormand as Leading Actress and Sam Rockwell as Supporting Actor. It was quite a battle: the film has two Supporting Actor noms, for Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell, but the striking performance in Officer Dixon`s role made Sam win. Another well-deserved, long-awaited and highly appreciated winning nomination was Best Actor that went to Gary Oldman for his brilliant, smart and witty Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour. All listed above were more or less predictable, but what surprises was Oscar-2018 hiding, and who turned out to be a loser this time – let`s have a quick look.
The legend franchise ever has released maybe the most ambivalent episode in its long-lasting history. The audience has split into two camps: the ones who accepted Episode VIII positively with all its exceptions from the Galaxy Far Far Away, and those who stood sceptical about some innovations. Anyway, there is no one indifferent to Rian Johnson`s vision of Star Wars. With numerous surprises inside, the film undoubtedly received four Academy Award Nominations this year and pretends to win some if not all of them. But what does these surprises mean to the future of Star Wars, and were these last Jedi the very last drop in the ocean of Star Wars canon? No spoilers, just some thoughts out loud.
I`m not good at fantasy, nor at its literature angle, either at a cinematic one. To my mind, films about real life, true feelings, events, past and current, are better. The very idea of making a film around a person`s story looks more honest and attractive. The ones we loved. The ones we betrayed. The ones we even killed. Everything, but real.
Psychological criminal drama Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) has already won numerous awards, including Best Screenplay at the 74th Venice Film Festival, four Golden Globes, and got six Academy Award Nominations. Film director Martin McDonagh assumed a co-producer position in his third full length project after In Bruges (2007) and Seven Psychopaths (2012). He calls his nominee film “deliberately messy and difficult, because it`s a messy and difficult world”.
Time`s up for the Academy Award race. This year nominee`s list looks promising, all the films picked up by the jury are electric, remarkable, burning and stylish, there will be no one indifferent. Three BlogProFilm experts decided to try their luck and movie industry knowledge and place their bets in each nomination. Welcome to cinematic casino, we appreciate your opinion and stakes in comments.
Biopic and artistic circles are still attractive for filmmakers, and there is nothing wrong in here. Talented people are interested in other talented people`s stories and their odd bohemian lives. Acclaimed actor Stanley Tucci took another chance to direct a movie and decided to paint an emotional portrait of the artist who began his last portrait.
Expectations`s delivered. Darkest Hour proved to be serious, fair and captivating movie with a row of brilliant roles. A strong personality in history is a victorious but dangerous theme for filmmaking. Sometimes it`s easy to dive into populism, parody or politicized stamps. In my view, authors managed to leak between the devil and the deep sea and shown Winston Churchill not only as an iconic leader of his country but also like a person who is familiar with feelings and doubts.
The vibrant trend towards early WWII history overwhelmed cinematography in 2017. We have already seen British-made Churchill telling the tale of Normandy two-day talks, then came picturesque but detached Dunkirk with its faceless and nameless enemy, and now it`s Darkest Hour turn to put things right. The film starring Gary Oldman seems to be more realistic, lifelike and atmospheric than all listed above. But why seems – it surely is, I have seen it with my own eyes at SFFilm Honors special screening in November where it was granted with special award sponsored by SFFilm Board members Todd and Katie Traina. So it will be better to have not just a BlogProFilm opinion here, but also comments of film creators and its stars this time.
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