Month: February 2018

2018 OSCAR PREDICTIONS

Film Review by Marlene Ardoin

Best Picture

Will win: The Shape of Water

Should win: The Post

Did win: The Shape of Water

The Shape of Water I was not feeling the love. Too violent and sadistic for me. The Post was the only film in the group that I can really get behind. It has a true, heroic story, in which a woman gets to lead the charge. Meryl Streep really knows how to pick her roles. Call Me by Your Name turned me off. It is not ok to use your employee to test the sexuality of your son. And, it is not ok for your son to use impressionable, young girls to try out his sexuality. Except for the mother, all the other females were made to look hopelessly ridiculous.

Darkest Hour Everything was going great, until we came to where Churchill flashes his privates at his in-home secretary. Were they trying to illustrate the Me Too movement? One thing that I did like about this film was that it spelled out what Dunkirk was all about. Apparently, the whole British army was waiting on the Dunkirk beach. That point was not made clear to me in Dunkirk. The part of me that is half French was turned off by Dunkirk. I went cold when the British turned away the French soldiers from getting on the escape boat. It was obvious that French lives did not matter to them.

Get Out was very creative, but does not help Whites or Blacks like or trust one another. Very paranoid and hurtful story. Lady Bird features the competition between mothers and daughters, where the daughter finally gets to take the high road and forgive her mother. Bad mothers seem to be a theme this year.

Phantom Thread features a weird power struggle in a love relationship, which gets solidified in the marital relationship. This is not helpful in the slightest. Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri is one of the bad mother films. I, Tonya features yet another of the daughter sabotaging moms. Why is this so important for filmmakers to point out? No thanks.

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

Lead Actor

Will win: Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour

Should win: Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour

Did win: Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour

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.

Lead Actress

Will win: Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Should win: Meryl Streep, The Post

Did win: Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

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

Supporting Actress

Will win: Allison Janney, I, Tonya

Should win: Mary J. Blige, Mudbound

Did win: Allison Janney, I, Tonya

*Mary J. Blige, Mudbound

Allison Janney, I, Tonya

Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird

Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread

Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water

Supporting Actor

Will win: Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Should win: Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World

Did win: Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

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

Adapted Screenplay

Will win: Call Me By Your Name

Should win: Molly’s Game

Did win: Call Me By Your Name

Call Me By Your Name

The Disaster Artist

*Molly’s Game

Mudbound

Logan

Original Screenplay

Will win: Get Out

Should win: The Big Sick

Did win: Get Out

*The Big Sick

Get Out

Lady Bird

The Shape of Water

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Director

Will win: Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water

Should win: Greta Gerwig,Lady Bird

Did win: Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water

Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk

Jordan Peele,Get Out

*Greta Gerwig,Lady Bird

Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread

Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water

2/25/2018 # 2018 OSCAR PREDICTIONS

FIFTY SHADES FREED

Ana (Dakota Johnson) accepts Christian’s (Jaime Dornan) marriage proposal.

FIFTY SHADES FREED

Film Review by Marlene Ardoin

Nothing not to love in the final stage of “Fifty Shades Freed.” Everyone loves beautiful weddings, fantastic honeymoons in Paris and the French Riviera, then on to the setting of boundaries in a very modern marriage.

I think that some very important points are made in light of today’s male and female relations.

Personally, I know some women, who have had a marriage, but now seek to prolong the dating stage as long as they can, then instead of committing, they go on to the next lover.

You know who you are ladies, usually blond with a tattoo close to their breasts, who are not willing to trade bliss for a pile of dirty dishes.

Important marriage points in “Fifty Shades Freed”:

The wife gets to keep having an exciting career and her own money after marriage. Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) is a book editor, thanks to Christian Grey’s (Jaime Dornan) courting gesture. After marriage, she seeks his respect for her authority at work.

The husband does not get to take out his frustrations or anger on his wife in the bedroom. Christian is frustrated that Ana does not go straight home after work. Instead, she chooses to spend time with her friends. She makes it clear to him that she does get to have friends.

The husband does not get to turn to other women as a sounding board. He needs to communicate with his wife, instead. (Spoiler alert) Christian does not react well, when Ana tells him that she is pregnant. She reminds him that they are in this together. This is not something that involves other women.

The wife may choose to retain her maiden name for professional reasons. Ana is now Mrs. Grey, but at work, she retains the name of Anastasia Steele. Ana asks Christian to respect this.

The wife gets to retain her friends. Ana sets this boundary early. She does not intend to go home to keep the dirty dishes company.

The wife gets to do what every other woman is doing on the French Riviera. Europeans are not so prudish about exposed breasts. In fact, some circles believe that tightly constricted breasts, may lead to breast cancer.

The wife gets to spoil her man in the kitchen, and he gets to spoil her back, by learning how to cook. Ana has mastered the perfect steak, the least that Christian can do is turn out a decent pasta.

The wife needs to learn how to set boundaries for other designing women in her husband’s life. (Spoiler alert) Ana lets a female architect know that when on the job, she needs to dress and act in a more respectful manner. Also, the architect does not get to demolish a home that Ana thinks is beautiful.

The wife needs to be strong, smart, capable of making quick decisions and is well able to defend herself. (Spoiler alert) Ana takes a hand gun and the bank official’s phone, which requires a lot of thinking on her feet, in a very tight and dangerous situation.

And, last but not least, the husband needs to learn to trust his wife and needs to learn how to express his feelings. (Spoiler alert) Christian is not able to cry, but in this one scene, he does manage to cry. Well, almost. I got the impression that they both laughed their heads off, while trying to do this scene, and the best they could do was to fake it. No close ups of Christian’s eyes, which would have made this scene. Too bad.

If you can think of anything else that belongs on this list, please let me know.

Their first dance as husband and wife.

Dakota Johnson’s Bio:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakota_Johnson

Jamie Dornan’s Bio:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Dornan

Director James Foley Bio:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Foley_(director)

Screenwriter Niall Leonard Bio:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0502727/

Author E.L. James Bio:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._L._James

Ana (Dakota Johnson) switches seats with Christian (Jaime Dornan), so she can drive.

2/10/2018 # Fifty Shades Freed

ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD

Gail Harris Getty (Michelle Williams) waits for father-in-law, J P Getty.

ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD

Film Review by Marlene Ardoin

I understand why Kevin Spacey needed to be replaced. Director, Ridley Scott, needed a J P Getty, with whom the audience could be sympathetic.

Christopher Plummer, as J P Getty, fulfills the role of the American success icon, and his daughter-in-law, Gail Harris Getty (Michelle Williams,), walks a very fine line between the good mother and the gold digger.

Contrary to what the ending of this film leads the audience to believe, Gail Getty, married to one of Getty’s sons, John Paul Getty, II, does not end up controlling any of the inheritance money, at all.

Getty’s trust was overseen by his sons, Gordon and Ronald.

This is a pretty heavy-handed departure from the truth, which I suppose can be summed up as an accusation.

In the film, Gail is the one who suggests to her husband that they contact his father for financial help.

And, Gail is the one who contacts Getty for the 17 million in ransom money, to release her son, John Paul Getty III.

J P Getty died just three years after this kidnap incident. It pretty much took its toll on him and his status as an American icon.

After Gail’s son’s ear was cut off, after her son is freed, and after her son has a drug and alcohol stroke (not depicted in the film), Gail is also the one who requests funds to take care of him for the rest of his life.

Gail’s husband, John Paul Getty II, becomes an addict and divorces her for another woman, her son gets kidnapped, and then, her son becomes wheelchair bound, blind, quadriplegic, and unable to speak.

These events do not earn Gail Harris Getty any motherhood awards.

I do not believe that any of this was J P Getty’s fault.

J P Getty’s greatest crime was to be so focused on his career that he became the richest man in the world at that time, putting family and relationships, second.

If being married five times is a crime, he was guilty of that, as well.

Unconditional love was not a J P Getty strength. This imbalance in his life is what caused him a lot of strife and money.

“All the Money in the World,” written by David Scarpa, based on John Pearson’s 1995 book Painfully Rich: The Outrageous Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Heirs of J. Paul Getty,” is well worth the price of admission.

J P Getty Bio:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Paul_Getty

J P Getty Jr. Bio:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Paul_Getty_Jr.

True story:

http://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a9173861/john-paul-getty-kidnapping/

Getty Family:

http://www.tatler.com/gallery/meet-the-getty-family-andrew-getty-history-fortune-getty-images

SYND 18-7-73 ABIGAIL HARRIS TALKS ABOUT THE KIDNAP OF HER SON

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdBDlBODjhw

What happened to John Paul Getty III?:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eljSzWsaUIw