2017 Year End Report: My Oscar Ballot

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Oscar Ballot

Best Picture

1. Phantom Thread
2. Good Time
3. The Florida Project
4. Get Out
5. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri
6. A Ghost Story
7. Raw
8. Lady Bird
9. The Killing of a Sacred Deer
10. Mother!
    Thoughts: I’ve already written my top 10, so no need for deep thoughts, but I do think it’s an eclectic mix this year – and a fascinating one.
     
    Director

1. Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread
2. Josh & Ben Safdie, Good Time
3. Sean Baker, The Florida Project
4. Jordan Peele in Get Out
5. David Lowery in A Ghost Story
   Thoughts: If you wonder why I switched out McDonagh for Lowery, it’s really simple – McDonagh’s triumph is a little more writing that directing, and A Ghost Story is a little more directing than writing. Or at least, that’s how I saw it.
    

Best Actor

1. Robert Pattinson in Good Time
2. Daniel Day-Lewis in Phantom Thread
3. Harry Dean Stanton in Lucky
4. Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out
5. Timothée Chalamet in Call Me By Your Name
   Thoughts: No, I never thought I’d rank Pattison over Day-Lewis either, but here we are. The most disappointing thing about awards season is that Harry Dean Stanton never really gained any traction.
    
   Best Actress

1. Frances McDormand in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
2. Vicky Krieps in Phantom Thread
3. Brooklynn Prince in The Florida Project
4. Garance Marillier in Raw
5. Saorise Ronan in Lady Bird
   Thoughts: I could be talked into any of these five as the best (and the two right outside here as well to be honest). I do love how opposite the top two performances are though.
    
   Best Supporting Actor

1. Willem Dafoe in The Florida Project
2. Woody Harrelson in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri
3. Barry Keoghan in The Killing of a Sacred Deer
4. Sam Rockwell in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
5. Michael Stuhlbarg in Call Me By Your Name
   Thoughts: In the immediate aftermath of Three Billboards, I thought for sure Harrelson or Rockwell would be my favorite of the year – but Dafoe’s performance has stuck with me the most.
    
   Best Supporting Actress

1. Lesley Manville in Phantom Thread
2. Laurie Metclaf in Lady Bird
3. Michelle Pfeiffer in mother!
4. Allison Janney in I, Tonya
5. Taliah Lennice Webster in Good Time
   Thoughts: It’s a shame the two of the top 3 performances here have been overlooked far too often this season – but the ones that have won everything, are just as good.
    
   Best Original Screenplay

1. Get Out – Jordan Peele
2. Phantom Thread – Paul Thomas Anderson
3. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – Martin McDonagh
4. Good Time – Josh & Ben Safdie
5. Lady Bird – Greta Gerwig
   Thoughts: An almost impossible call to make – and to narrow down to just five. Perhaps my toughest choice this year.
    
   Best Adapted Screenplay

1. Call Me By Your Name – James Ivory
2. The Beguiled – Sofia Coppola
3. Lady Macbeth – Alice Birch
4. The Disaster Artist – Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber
5. Wonderstruck – Brian Selznick
   Thoughts: No knock on these screenplays, but this really is the weakest I have ever seen this category.
    
   Best Documentary

1. Faces, Places
2. The Work
3. Casting JonBenet
4. Let it Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992
5. L.A. 92

Thoughts: I’m glad Faces Places got the love it deserved this year. I’m saddened the other four did not.

 

Best Animated Film

1. World of Tomorrow Episode II: The Burden of Other People’s Thoughts
2. Coco
3. The Lego Batman Movie
4. The Breadwinner
5. My Life as a Zucchini
   Thoughts: Yes, I’m cheating having a short at number one, but I had to include it somewhere. Coco will be a VERY worthy Oscar winner.
    
   Best Foreign Language Film

1. Raw
2. The Square
3. Nocturama
4. Graduation
5. Happy End
   Thoughts: I missed some biggies (BPM, Thelma, etc.) so it’s likely to change over time.
    
   Best Cinematography

1.    Blade Runner 2049 – Roger Deakins

2.    A Ghost Story – Andrew Droz Palermo

3.    The Killing of a Sacred Deer – Thimos Bakatakis

4.    The Shape of Water – Dan Lausten

5.    mother! – Matthew Libatique

Thoughts: Give Dreakins the Oscar this year, please! He actually deserves it as well. I felt weird putting Phantom Thread on here because Anderson did it himself, so I didn’t, but it would be as worthy as anything. When is Matthew Libatqiue going to get some love?

 

Editing

1. Baby Driver
2. Good Time
3. Dunkirk
4. Phantom Thread
5. A Ghost Story

Thoughts: Five meticulously edited films, in very different ways – you could make the case for any of them really.

 

Score

1. Phantom Thread – Jonny Greenwood
2. Wonderstruck – Carter Burwell
3. The Shape of Water – Alexandre Desplat
4. Good Time – Oneohtrix Point Never
5. Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri – Carter Burwell

Thoughts: Carter Burwell really did have a career year, and the work in Good Time is great. Desplat, as always, does fine work. Still, Jonny Greenwood is in a class by himself.

 

Song

1. A Ghost Story – I Get Overwhelmed
2. Call Me By Your Name – Visions of Gideon
3. Coco – Remember Me
4. Call Me By Your Name – Mystery of Love
5. The Greatest Showman – This is Me
   Thoughts: Sorry, I really couldn’t come up with a fifth nominee, so The Greatest Showman shows up. Still, the other four are truly great.
    

Production Design

1. The Shape of Water
2. Blade Runner 2049
3. Phantom Thread
4. The Square
5. Wonderstruck
   Thoughts: Five very different movies who used their production design in truly exciting ways.
    

Costume Design

1. Phantom Thread
2. The Beguiled
3. The Shape of Water
4. Personal Shopper
5. Lady Macbeth
   Thoughts: Number 1 was never in doubt – but I wish some of the others got more love. The blue dress in Lady Macbeth should become iconic.
    

Make-Up & Hair Styling

1. Logan
2. I, Tonya
3. The Shape of Water

Thoughts: A fine group of three, I guess. I’m a little tired of people winning for putting jowls on people – sorry Darkest Hour!

 

Sound Mixing

1. Blade Runner 2049
2. Dunkirk
3. Phantom Thread
4. Baby Driver
5. Wonderstruck
   Thoughts: An absolutely ridiculously though call. I thought the work on Wonderstruck was truly brilliant, and it barely held on to number five.
    

Sound Editing

1. Blade Runner 2049
2. Dunkirk
3. Star Wars: The Last Jedi
4. War for the Planet of the Apes
5. Baby Driver
   Thoughts: Easier than Sound Mixing to be sure, but still five great choices.
    
   Visual Effects

1. Blade Runner 2049
2. War for the Planet of the Apes
3. Star Wars: The Last Jedi
4. Okja
5. Dunkirk
   Thoughts: I almost want to see Apes win – because the work in that series has been brilliant. Still, it’s impossible to deny Blade Runner 2049 here. The Star Wars work is, as always, great – Okja should get some love for doing it on a fraction of the budget, and Dunkirk weaved them in seamlessly.