Catching Up on Three Oscar Noms... ("Movie Monday")

"Movie Monday"...

Ah, life. Mine has been throwing all manner of "stuff" at me lately, meaning the blog has suffered. (Sorry about that, but I'm betting you know how it goes, too.) Still, in between all that "just tryin' to keep my head above water" business, I've also managed to watch (and read) a few things. And, since today is Monday, well... you know what that means. 

So, the Oscars. They're upon us once again, and, as usual, I've found myself trying to cram in as many nominated films that I had yet to see, as possible. Last week, I actually managed three(!): The Shape of Water,  Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and Lady Bird. (I know, I know... it's like feast or famine, innit?)
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Director Guillermo del Toro has said that The Shape of Water is a movie that was pulled from his very soul, and I believe it. Exquisitely beautiful--both visually and thematically--it's a movie unlike any I've ever seen before. It's a love story straight out of a fairy tale, couched in a monster flick, set in a period piece... with subtle comments on the many things which divide us, and the sometimes-surprising bonds which opposition to ignorance and hate can forge. (As for the actors, Sally Hawkins gives a beautiful performance as the main character--a mute woman with a very ordinary job, and Octavia Spencer is absolutely sublime as her work friend and mouthpiece.) Truly, The Shape of Water is cinema perfection, and definitely not to be missed.
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As a huge fan of both Frances McDormand and Woody Harrelson, I'd also long been looking forward to Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. While it revolves around an unsolved crime--the rape and murder of a teenage girl in a tiny rural community--this one is neither a police procedural nor a mystery. Instead, it's an intimate drama, which never goes quite where you think it will. McDormand is brilliant as the bereaved and--more importantly--pissed-off mother of the dead girl, who, having grown extremely dissatisfied with the police's lack of results, takes it into her own hands to re-focus their attention where it should be: not on harassing the blacks who live in town, but on finding out who killed her daughter. Harrelson, likewise, turns in a top-notch performance as Ebbing's chief of police... a man with plenty more on his plate than just the murder, which he does care very much about solving. Finally, Sam Rockwell's turn as the bigoted police doofus is a real breakout kind of role, allowing him to show incredible range in the space of less than two hours.

As with Water, Billboards is a multi-layered gem of a film, with those three big signs allowing director Martin McDonagh to make some keen observations about life, and people, along the way. And again, I cannot recommend it highly enough.
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Lady Bird is the simplest tale in this bunch--a coming-of-age story about a young girl, with nothing odd or scary happening--just a look at what it's like to be a fairly-ordinary teenager, trying to make your way out of childhood and into adulthood. That simplicity, though, allows a touching and honest story to be told, without making any of the players into monsters or caricatures. Saoirse Ronan is spot-on as the angst-filled teen, and Laurie Metcalf is simply amazing as the oft-exasperated mother, just trying to make sure her child doesn't screw up too badly. Anyone who made it past their teenage years will have no trouble identifying with the kids in Lady Bird... and I imagine that anyone who has kids will also be right there with Lady Bird's mom. It's a sweet, lovely, and touching movie, and well-worth the viewing.

~GlamKitty