Top 10 favorite performances of the year

Last night, I posted my 2017 film awards. Call Me by Your Name and Lady Bird nearly swept across the board. Today I thought I'd post my ten favorite performances of the year. Usually I have an assortment from different movies, but this year those two films claim five of the ten spots.

1. Timothée Chalamet as Elio in Call Me by Your Name

2. Laurie Metcalf as Marion McPherson in Lady Bird

3. Saoirse Ronan as Christine "Lady Bird" McPherson in Lady Bird

4. Michael Stuhlbarg as Mr. Perlman in Call Me by Your Name

5. Hong Chau as Ngoc Lan Tran in Downsizing

6. Armie Hammer as Oliver in Call Me by Your Name

7. Jennifer Lawrence as Mother in mother!

8. Sebastian Stan as Jeff Gillooly in I, Tonya

9. Daniel Day-Lewis as Reynolds Woodcock in Phantom Thread

10. Tiffany Haddish as Dina in Girls Trip

My 2017 Film Awards

2017 seemed to be a pretty good year in film, or else I had a better sense of avoiding the turds than I normally do. The top films of the year were hard to decide upon, where as in past years like 2014 it was hard to come up with a valid field for some categories. 

Here are my nominees for the best of film in 2017. The winners are in bold. 

Best Picture

Blade Runner 2049

Call Me by Your Name

Get Out

Lady Bird

mother!

Phantom Thread

Best Actress

Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water

Salma Hayek, Beatriz at Dinner

Jennifer Lawrence, mother!

Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Margot Robbie, I, Tonya

Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird

Best Actor

Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name

Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread

Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out

Ross Lynch, My Friend Dahmer

Sebastian Stan, I, Tonya

Ben Stiller, Brad's Status

Best Supporting Actress

Hong Chau, Downsizing,

Bridget Everett, Patti Cake$

Tiffany Haddish, Girls Trip

Catherine Keener, Get Out

Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread

Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird

Best Supporting Actor

Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project

Armie Hammer, Call Me by Your Name

Lucas Hedges, Lady Bird

Garrett Hedlund, Mudbound

Algee Smith, Detroit

Michael Stuhlbarg, Call Me by Your Name

Best Director

Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread

Darren Aronofsky, mother!

Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird

Luca Guadagnino, Call Me by Your Name

Jordan Peele, Get Out

Denis Villenueve, Blade Runner 2049

Best Original Screenplay

The Big Sick

Get Out

Lady Bird

The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)

Phantom Thread

The Post

Best Adapted Screenplay

The Beguiled

Call Me by Your Name

The Disaster Artist

Mudbound

My Friend Dahmer

Wonderstruck

Cinematography

Blade Runner 2049

Call Me by Your Name

The Florida Project

Mudbound

Phantom Thread

Wonder Wheel

Best Score

Blade Runner 2049

Call Me by Your Name

Get Out

A Ghost Story

Phantom Thread

The Shape of Water

Film Editing

Baby Driver

Blade Runner 2049

Call Me by Your Name

Dunkirk

I, Tonya

The Shape of Water

Production Design

Blade Runner 2049

Call Me by Your Name

Dunkirk

Lady Bird

mother!

Phantom Thread

Original Song

"Mystery of Love" by Sufjan Stevens, Call Me by Your Name

"Tuff Love (Finale)" performed by Bridget Everett, Patti Cake$

"Visions of Gideon" by Sufjan Stevens, Call Me by Your Name

Films with most nominations:

Call Me by Your Name -12

Phantom Thread - 8

Lady Bird - 7

Blade Runner 2049 - 6

Get Out - 6

mother! - 4

Top 10 Films of the Year:

1. Call Me by Your Name

2. Lady Bird

3. mother!

4. Phantom Thread

5. Blade Runner 2049

6. Get Out

7. Brad's Status

8. Detroit

9. The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)

10. The Florida Project

           

Last Five Best Adapted Screenplay Winners

Last Five Adapted Screenplay Winners:

2016: Arrival

2015: Brooklyn

2014: Venus in Fur

2013: Before Midnight

2012: Silver Linings Playbook

Ranking of the Best Picture Nominees

                

9. Darkest Hour - Directed by Joe Wright

8. Dunkirk - Directed by Christopher Nolan

7. The Shape of Water - Directed by Guillermo Del Toro

6. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Directed by Martin McDonagh

5. The Post - Directed by Steven Spielberg

4. Get Out - Directed by Jordan Peele

3.  Phantom Thread - Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

2. Lady Bird - Directed by Greta Gerwig

1. Call Me by Your Name - Directed by Luca Guadagnino

Oscar Nomination Reactions

Things I loved about this morning's Oscar nominations:

In one year, three of my favorite actresses (Allison Janney, Laurie Metcalf and Greta Gerwig) all became Academy Award nominees. Greta of course is not nominated for her acting, but for her beautiful screenplay and direction for Lady Bird.

Timmy Chalamet may have given my favorite film performance of all-time and is now an Oscar nominee.

Sufjan Steven's great "Mystery of Love" was nominated for Original Song.

Saoirse Ronan returns to Oscar glory.

I personally preferred Woody Harrelson to Sam Rockwell in Three Billboards, so I'm happy for Woody who is one of our greatest actors.

The Director and Screenplay categories are about as good as they could get. Loved PTA sneaking in.

Blade Runner in all the tech categories.

Things I did not like:

Hong Chau, Armie Hammer, Holly Hunter and Michael Stuhlbarg getting snubbed in the Supporting categories.

Otherwise I really don't have that much to complain about...WHAT A SHOCK.

White Noise What an Awful Sound

I'm not sure what my favorite film performance was before today. Barbara Stanwyck in Stella Dallas and Timothy Hutton in Ordinary People were probably the two at the top previously.

However after seeing Call Me by Your Name last night, my new favorite performance is Timmy Chalamet as Elio. Staggering work, and while he has been praised for the last year for this performance I just want it to be known that I'm joining the crowd. You talk about a lived-in performance, every single movement and line reading was perfect. THAT FINAL SHOT.

Sure this may seem like hyperbole, but this really feels like something that will live on for as long as Cinema remains.

I know that Gary Oldman has the Oscar locked up, but as Winston Churchull said "we shall never surrender!"

Oscar Predictions

My final predictions in the above the line categories for the Oscars. The nominations are this Tuesday! Wow, seems like it was just yesterday that Moonlight upset La La Land for Best Picture.

This year is all over the place. Three Billboards was an early front-runner, fell off a bit and is now back in the front. The Shape of Water and Dunkirk both seem like good bets for Best Director, but both missed out on the much needed SAG ensemble nomination. No film has won Best Picture without it. (A sign we should have seen for La La Land.) Lady Bird and Get Out, both have over-performed and seem to be the two films with the most passion behind them. Will this carry over for the win? I, Tonya seems to be peaking while The Florida Project might be limping towards the finish. Perhaps both get in? 

Will anyone else fall to their past? Will James Franco still get nominated? His scandal broke at the end of the voting period. 

Guess we will find out soon.

Best Picture:

1. Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

2. Lady Bird

3. The Shape of Water

4. Get Out

5. Dunkirk

6. Call Me by Your Name

7. The Florida Project

8. The Post

9. I, Tonya

---

The Big Sick

Phantom Thread

Darkest Hour

Best Actor:

1. Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour

2. Timmy Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name

3. Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread

4. Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out

5. Tom Hanks, The Post

---

James Franco, The Disaster Artist

Best Actress:

1. Frances McDormand, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

2. Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird

3. Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water

4. Margot Robbie, I, Tonya

5. Meryl Streep, The Post

---

Jessica Chastain, Molly's Game

Judi Dench, Victoria and Abdul

Michelle Williams, All the Money in the World

Best Supporting Actor:

1. Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

2. Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project

3. Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water

4. Armie Hammer, Call Me by Your Name

5. Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

---

Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World

Michael Stuhlbarg, Call Me by Your Name

Steve Carrel, Battle of the Sexes

Best Supporting Actress:

1. Allison Janney, I, Tonya

2. Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird

3. Holly Hunter, The Big Sick

4. Hong Chau, Downsizing

5. Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water

---

Mary J. Blige, Mudbound

Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread

Catherine Keener, Get Out

Best Original Screenplay:

1. Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

2. Lady Bird

3. Get Out

4. The Shape of Water

5. The Big Sick

Best Adapted Screenplay:

1. Call Me by Your Name

2. The Disaster Artist

3. Mudbound

4. Molly's Game

5. All the Money in the World

Last Five Best Original Screenplay Winners

A man struggling to recover from the worst grief imaginable. A team of journalists uncovering one of the biggest scandals of the century. Behind the scenes of a former star's production of a play. A young woman stuck in limbo as everything she knows changes round her. A woman's long journey to finding OBL.

Best Original Screenplay Winners:

2016: Manchester by the Sea

2015: Spotlight

2014: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

2013: Frances Ha

2012: Zero Dark Thirty

Last Five Best Director Winners

An interesting category where I have the most overlap with the Academy Awards. Three of these directors would win Best Director from the Academy for the same film. All except Bigelow were nominated for these films. However the only one to direct my choice for the best film of their year was Bigelow. Who will join this list for 2017? Luca? Spielberg? Gerwig? Del Toro? 

Best Director Winners:

2016: Damien Chazelle, La La Land

2015: George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road

2014: Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

2013: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity

2012: Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty

My Last Five Best Supporting Actor Winners

This category features four performances that really feel a bit chaotic as if the train could fall off the tracks at any moment. Then there is Andre Holland's performance as an old crush in Moonlight, where he gets a short amount of time to play the fiddle of which Chiron dances. Hedlund's charisma and boundless energy fit Dean Moriarty to a glove. He has the difficult task of making the audience see why all these people are drawn to him, while showing him for his flaws. Goggins gets a juicy, fun role in The Hateful Eight and makes his arc completely believable. He tears up the screen, it's such a joy to watch him relish in a great role. Edward Norton rips through Birdman, playing a vain actor that is a constant thorn in Michael Keaton's side. He's great and does his best to steal the show.

And well James Franco in Spring Breakers is an all-time great performance. Might be a top 10 all-time performance, in my opinion. SPRING BREAK FOREVER.

Best Supporting Actor Winners:

2016: Andre Holland as Kevin in Moonlight

2015: Walton Goggins as Sheriff Chris Mannix in The Hateful Eight

2014: Edward Norton as Mike in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

2013: James Franco as Alien in Spring Breakers

2012: Garrett Hedlund as Dean Moriarty in On The Road

Last Five Best Actress Winners

It's interesting the overlap between my Best Actress winners and my Best Picture winners. Four of my last five Best Actress winners come from my choice for the #1 film of the year. The only outlier is Amy Adams in Arrival, which was a Top 3 film for me last year. I'd say all of these performances helped make the film my top of the year. 

Adèle Exarchopoulos leaves everything on the celluloid including all of the mucus in her nose. Her performance is a complete canvas for the film to use. Her performance is so raw and complex, it's an all-time great performance. Saoirse Ronan can say so much with just her face and it's simply remarkable what she does in Brooklyn. Jessica Chastain's performance in Zero Dark Thirty represents America at every turn in a post-9/11 world. When Maya can finally sit at the end after completing the job, Chastain delivers one of the best final scenes of the decade. Under that tough, cold, no-nonsense outside is the soul of Zero Dark Thirty. Arrival didn't work for me on first watch. Amy Adams did of course, but it wasn't until a re-watch where the film really clicked for me and Adams performance rose above the rest. A brilliantly subtle turn that improves on each watch. Finally there is Anne Dorval in Xavier Dolan's Mommy. Dorval is able to match the chaotic energy of the film beat for beat, we see how exhausted she is, but see the love she has for her son. 

Last Five Best Actress Winners:

2016: Amy Adams as Louise Banks in Arrival

2015: Saoirse Ronan as Eilis in Brooklyn

2014: Anne Dorval as Diane in Mommy

2013: Adèle Exarchopoulos as Adèle in Blue is the Warmest Color

2012: Jessica Chastain as Maya in Zero Dark Thirty

Last Five Best Supporting Actress Winners

Best Supporting Actress is usually one of my favorite categories at the Oscars. This is the place where most of my favorite actresses get nominations, (Toni Collette, Catherine Keener) or even wins (Marisa Tomei or this year where one of Allison Janney or Laurie Metcalf will win.) 

It's interesting, because if you were to describe these roles on paper none of them would really sound comedic. Molly Shannon plays a mother dying of cancer. Rosemarie DeWitt plays a woman just leaving a relationship who uses her sister's crush to try and get pregnant. Shailene Woodley is a young woman encountering her troubled first love. Julianne Moore plays an actress that lives in her own little bizarro world. Greta Gerwig plays the most outright comedic character, a woman who seems to know everything and yet nothing. 

Yet, each woman finds the perfect mixture of comedic moments along with the dramatic pathos to bring these characters to the forefront. These performances are all supporting, and they are all missed when not on-screen. 

Who will join this list? Laurie Metcalf? Allison Janney? Hong Chau? Perhaps one of Get Out's supporting ladies; Catherine Keener, Allison Williams or Betty Gabriel? 

We'll find out soon.

Best Supporting Actress Winners:

2016: Molly Shannon as Joanne Mulcahey in Other People.

2015: Greta Gerwig as Brooke Cardinas in Mistress America

2014: Julianne Moore as Havana Segrand in Maps to the Stars

2013: Shailene Woodley as Aimee Finecky in The Spectacular Now

2012: Rosemarie DeWitt as Hannah in Your Sister's Sister

Last Five Best Actor Winners

My last five best actor winners are a pretty interesting group. From a subtle performance of grief from Casey Affleck to a hilariously disgusting performance from Leonardo DiCaprio, I don't think you could say any one of these performances is like another? Logan Lerman's Charlie is an introvert trying to recover from a childhood trauma that he can't remember. Jacob Tremblay's brilliantly wide-eyed performance as a kid seeing the world for the first time couldn't be anymore different than Michael Keaton's Birdman. 

No matter what, they were all my picks for the best leading male performances of the year. Who will join them this year? Timmy Chalamet? Sebastian Stan? James Franco? Daniel Kaluuya? Daniel Day-Lewis? I can tell you that Oscar frontrunner Gary Oldman will not be winning this prize. I'm sure he is sad about it.

Best Actor Winners:

2016: Casey Affleck as Lee Chandler in Manchester by the Sea

2015: Jacob Tremblay as Jack in Room

2014: Michael Keaton as Riggan in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

2013: Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street

2012: Logan Lerman as Charlie in The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Last Five Best Picture Winners

As I finish up viewing the last few stragglers from 2017, (Call Me by Your Name, Phantom Thread, I,Tonya, The Post) it's almost time for my awards for 2017! 

What film will be joining this esteemed list of my impeccable taste? Lady Bird? mother!? Get Out? Wonder Woman? 

Anyway here are my last five picks for Best Picture:

2016: Toni Erdmann 

2015: Brooklyn

2014: Mommy

2013: Blue is the Warmest Color

2012: Zero Dark Thirty

2018 Golden Globe Predictions

The Golden Globes have arrived, and with that the beginning of the televised awards for film. The Golden Globes are decided by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, so they always like to throw a few curve-balls while doing their best to predict the Oscars.

Usually by now we have a few locks, for example a Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine or Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln. This year we don't have that. Gary Oldman is probably the closest thing to a lock, but Timmy Chalamet might win the Globe because of passionate fans and Oldman's past remarks about the HFPA.

Tonight's awards kind of feel like closing your eyes and throwing a dart and seeing where it lands. Best Actress in a Drama seems like a real cutthroat race with Sally Hawkins fighting it out with Frances McDormand and Meryl Streep.

These are my current predictions with an alternate in parenthesis:

Best Motion Picture - Drama: The Shape of Water (Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri)
Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical: Lady Bird (Get Out)
Best Actor - Drama - Timmy Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name (Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour)
Best Actress - Drama - Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water (Frances McDormand, Three Billboards)
Best Actor - Comedy or Musical - Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out (James Franco, The Darkest Hour)
Best Actress - Comedy or Musical - Margot Robbie, I, Tonya (Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird)
Best Supporting Actor- Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World (Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project)
Best Supporting Actress - Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird (Allison Janney, I, Tonya)
Best Director - Guillermo Del Toro, The Shape of Water (Steven Spielberg, The Post)
Best Screenplay - Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird (Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards)
Best Animated Film - Coco (Loving Vincent)
Best Foreign Language Film - First They Killed My Father (The Square)
Best Original Score - Alexandre Desplat, The Shape of Water (Hans Zimmer, Dunkirk)
Best Original Song - Mighty River, Mudbound (This is Me, The Greatest Showman)