Movie Enthusiast Issue 45: If I were an Oscar voter (my 2017 ballot)
The nominees for the 90th Academy Awards will be announced tomorrow! If I were an Oscar voter, which I’m not, and if the Oscars allowed all voters to elect nominees in all categories, which they don’t, my ballot would look something like this (with my choices for winners in bold):
Best Picture
Call Me By Your Name
Columbus
Ex Libris: The New York Public Library
Good Time
Graduation
Phantom Thread
A Quiet Passion
Sieranevada
The Unknown Girl
The Work
Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread
Terence Davies, A Quiet Passion
Cristian Mungiu, Graduation
Cristi Puiu, Sieranevada
Frederick Wiseman, Ex Libris: The New York Public Library
Best Actor
Timothée Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name
Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread
Jean-Pierre Léaud, The Death of Louis XIV
Robert Pattinson, Good Time
Adrian Titieni, Graduation
Best Actress
Vicky Krieps, Phantom Thread
Cynthia Nixon, A Quiet Passion
Haley Lu Richardson, Columbus
Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
Kristen Stewart, Personal Shopper
Best Supporting Actor
Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
Buddy Duress, Good Time
Lucas Hedges, Lady Bird
Fabrizio Rongione, The Son of Joseph
Michael Stuhlbarg, Call Me By Your Name
Best Supporting Actress
Betty Gabriel, Get Out
Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Sienna Miller, The Lost City of Z
Rebecca Spence, Princess Cyd
Best Original Screenplay
Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread
Terence Davies, A Quiet Passion
Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
Cristian Mungiu, Graduation
Josh Safdie and Ronald Bronstein, Good Time
Best Adapted Screenplay
Sofia Coppola, The Beguiled
James Gray, The Lost City of Z
James Ivory, Call Me By Your Name
Dee Rees and Virgil Williams, Mudbound
Albert Serra and Thierry Lounas, The Death of Louis XIV * *from what is this screenplay adapted? I have no idea, but that’s how the International Cinephile Society classified it so I’m running with it.
Best Editing
Lee Smith, Dunkirk
Frederick Wiseman, Ex Libris: The New York Public Library
Ronald Bronstein and Benny Safdie, Good Time
Mircea Olteanu, Graduation
Dylan Tichenor, Phantom Thread
Best Original Score
Michael Abels, Get Out
Dan Deacon, Rat Film
Jonny Greenwood, Phantom Thread
Daniel Lopatin (as Oneohtrix Point Never) Good Time
Radwimps, Your Name.
Best Cinematography Barbu Balasoiu, Sieranevada
Roger Deakins, Blade Runner 2049
Darius Khondji, The Lost City of Z
Philippe Le Sourd, The Beguiled
Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, Call Me By Your Name
…and because it was an especially good year for this category, here are five more for good measure:
Florian Hoffmeister, A Quiet Passion
Hoyte Van Hoytema, Dunkirk
Rachel Morrison, Mudbound
Sean Price Williams, Good Time
Alexis Zabe, The Florida Project
Best Production Design
Dennis Gassner, Blade Runner 2049
Christopher Spelman, The Lost City of Z
David J. Bomba, Mudbound
Mark Tildesley, Phantom Thread
Paul D. Austerberry, The Shape of Water
Best Costume Design
Mark Bridges, Phantom Thread
Annell Brodeur, A Ghost Story
Patrícia Dória, The Ornithologist
Jennifer Johnson, I, Tonya
Jeffrey Kurland, Dunkirk
Best Hair and Makeup
The Death of Louis XIV
Good Time
I, Tonya
Phantom Thread
The Shape of Water
Best Visual Effects
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
A Ghost Story
Okja
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Best Sound Editing
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
Good Time
Okja
Phantom Thread
Best Sound Mixing
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
mother!
Personal Shopper
Song to Song
Best Documentary
Behemoth
Ex Libris: The New York Public Library
Faces Places
Rat Film
The Work
Best Foreign Language Film (besides the 3 I nominated for Best Picture)
Behemoth
Faces Places
Jours de France
The Salesman
Your Name.
I only saw one animated film this year. Whoops!
If these were categories, I’d nominate the following:
Best Adapted Score (a.k.a Best Use of Non-Original Music)
Call Me By Your Name
I, Tonya
Lady Bird
Nocturama (but I still don’t forgive it for ruining that one Blondie song for better movies)
Song to Song
Best Ensemble
Call Me By Your Name
Good Time
Lady Bird
Mudbound
Sieranevada
Best Use of Poetry or Prose Citations
Behemoth
Ex Libris: The New York Public Library
Hermia and Helena
Princess Cyd
A Quiet Passion
Most Creative Use of Food or Drink
The Beguiled
Call Me By Your Name
Good Time
Phantom Thread
Rat Film
Scenes of the Year
Rooney Mara eats a pie all by herself, A Ghost Story
Texts on the train, Personal Shopper
Ray explains the contents of the Sprite bottle, Good Time
Hardhat-level view of descending into the coal mine, Behemoth
A promise not to commit suicide, The Work
Amazons with shotguns, The Ornithologist
Casino fight, Blade Runner 2049
Holdo’s light-speed jump, Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Aunt Miranda’s kitchen monologue, Princess Cyd
A mysterious stranger comes to visit, A Quiet Passion
Shots of the Year (Best of the year + 5 more)
The shot of the year, which somehow has not yet been made into a GIF—
Portrait Session-as-Passage of Time
A Quiet Passion
Inferno
Behemoth
Sunken
Get Out
Inviting Evil Through the Front Door
The Salesman
The King Is Dead; Long Live the King
The Death of Louis XIV
[I can’t find it online and you wouldn’t want me to spoil it anyway]
The Final Shot
The Lost City of Z