90th Academy Awards: Best Actress

Oscars 2018: Best Actress

With Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri handing Francis McDormand her most juiciest on-screen role since Fargo, a film which of course also brought Academy Award success for the star, the category for Best Actress is seemingly over before it begins, with McDormand's portrayal of the hateful, scenery chewing Mildred Hayes picking up awards in a similar ilk to Gary Oldman's colossal domination of success as Winston Churchill, and whilst Saoirse Ronan's role as the angsty, hysterically colourful titular teenager in Greta Gerwig's masterful Lady Bird would be my own personal choice for the win, it seems my plead to the Academy will seemingly go rather unnoticed. Elsewhere, in a alternate universe, Sally Hawkins would undeniably lead the line for her outstanding performance in Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water whilst Margot Robbie continues to show off her sturdy acting chops as the disgraced ice skating star, Tonya Harding in the wildly comical, I, Tonya, and with Meryl Streep capping off the nominations for The Post, it's no surprise to say that this year's ballot paper is one of the strongest in recent memory. As for the forgotten few, whatever anyone may think of the movie, Jennifer Lawrence is absolutely fabulous in Aronofsky's divisive mother! in her best on-screen role to date, whilst who can forget Jessica Chastain's performance as Molly Bloom in Aaron Sorkin's directorial debut, Molly's Game, and whilst it's a tad late to change the nominations, here are the top points for the Best Actress category...

Winner - Francis McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)

Personal Favourite - Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird)

Nomination Snub - Jennifer Lawrence (mother!)

90th Academy Awards: Best Picture

Oscars 2018: Best Picture

With the 90th Academy Awards set to take place on the 4th of March, we begin our examination of the nominations and major snubs in each of the major categories with the prestigious Best Picture nod, a category which features this year, nine movies vying for the chance to win the top prize and whilst the easiest course is to examine elsewhere where movies have done particularly well, including winners at the Golden Globes and BAFTA's, the Oscars do tend do pop out the odd surprise, with last year's Moonlight win being arguably being the most iconic in recent history. With the top two in contention for the prize being The Shape of Water and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, it would be great to see Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk potentially take away for the award, but with its' total snub at the BAFTA's, a ceremony with a predominantly British-centred gaze when it comes to choosing the winners, Nolan's Oscar vacuum may seemingly go on. Elsewhere, the likes of Get Out, Lady Bird and Call Me By Your Name prove that independent, ideas based movies continue to be recognised, whilst Darkest Hour and The Post seem to be the box-ticking historical dramas which although have a wide range of merits, really have no chance of taking home the award, and even with Paul Thomas Anderson's Phantom Thread potentially being the worthy outsider for the prize, it can be hard to argue between the top two favourites which have been dominating award ceremonies over the past few months. When it comes to nomination snubs, Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049 is the obvious misstep whilst the widely acclaimed Logan and Julia Ducournau's Raw are too movies which easily could have been chosen with an eye-widening and forward thinking Academy. Anyhow, here are the predictions...

Winner - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Personal Favourite - Dunkirk

Nomination Snub - Blade Runner 2049

Film Review: The Post

"What Are You Going To Do, Mrs Graham...?"

Working on its' production during the latter stages of finalising the upcoming science fiction spectacle Ready Player One, Steven Spielberg's first of two movies arriving within the space of just four months, The Post, arrives suspiciously close to the one year anniversary of a certain American President's inauguration, and in a time when media scrutiny, both on paper and in the online stratosphere, is rife more than ever, Spielberg's latest is a topical drama which not only manages to balance a hefty load of important and ever-present societal issues, but a film which captures quite brilliantly a moment in media history which ultimately turned the table for press freedom and solidify the right to question and challenge the decisions of our leaders and representatives to rule. Focusing on the high profile leak of the Pentagon Papers, classified documents detailing America's involvement during the much maligned Vietnam War, The Post follows on the one hand, a Spotlight-esque narrative which features Tom Hanks' Ben Bradlee as he battles to locate the sacred papers and subsequently publish amidst legal scrutiny and fears of incarceration, but more importantly, Meryl Streep's portrayal of Katherine Graham, the owner of The Washington Post who attempts to balance the arrival of the scandalous papers with the survival of her family business after she is made heiress due to the death of her late husband. 

With the two leads on top dramatic form, Hank's confident, swaggering, editor in chief with a crystal clear view regarding the purpose of the press is brilliantly contrasted by the performance of Streep's Graham, with her managing to convey the radical development of a figure who begins unsure and insecure in a world primarily ruled by men to a fist-pumping advocate for female empowerment. With the narrative funneling through conversations which tackle conflicted interests between the press and those that are meant to being held to account, the righteousness of war and the decision between what is right and what is easy, Spielberg's latest is undeniably audience pleasing, with even a handful of cheese-twisted dramatic turns somewhat passable, but within all the flashiness and swirly whirly camera angles which convey a heavier sense of cinematic wantness than Tom McCarthy's Spotlight ever did, The Post works best when the gripping search for the truth is front and centre of the story, and with the holy trilogy of Streep, Hanks and Spielberg, The Post is the slice of entertaining period drama you expected, just with added excellence. 

Overall Score: 8/10

Film Feature: Looking Forward to Film in 2018

2018 In Film

Whereas 2017 proved that audiences were more inclined to disperse away from a turgid summer blockbuster full to the rafters with trashy, monetary fuelled nonsense and head instead for the likes of interesting, well-made movies in the ilk of Andres Muschietti's It and Christopher Nolan's spectacle epic Dunkirk, particularly within the UK, 2018 is the chance for Hollywood to recompense for their sins in a year which once again features endless amounts of sequels, remakes and franchise continuing cash cows which counteract the release of independant and much more interesting movies which although tend to falter at the box office in comparison, do tend to be the movies which make more of an impact throughout the year. As per the norm at Black Ribbon at the start of a new cinematic year therefore, here we will look forward to 2018 in film, picking out the highlights of a year full to the rafters with new and hotly anticipated movies and attempting to gauge which ones will be the real hits of yet another twelve months of visiting your local cinema.

Beginning the year and acting as a cure for the inevitable celebration hangover is Aaron Sorkin's Molly's Game, a dramatic adaptation of Molly Bloom's career as the high-profile poker runner with a brilliant central performance from the ever reliable Jessica Chastain and a supporting cast featuring the likes of Idris Elba and Kevin Costner. If the first day of 2018 is primarily acting as a day of recovery however, the first weekend of the year brings with it a stack load of new releases including the Ridley Scott directed All the Money in the World, featuring a thrown in Christopher Plummer after the much publicised Kevin Spacey debacle, as well as the latest Christian Bale movie, Hostiles from Black Mass director, Scott Cooper. Heading through January and into February therefore, Oscar season sweeps along with the likes of Darkest Hour, Steven Spielberg's The Post, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and of course, Paul Thomas Anderson's latest, Phantom Thread, featuring Daniel Day Lewis' self-proclaimed final on-screen performance, and whilst all are seemingly on show primarily for awards consideration, neutral film fans can take comfort in the release of the Ryan Coogler directed Black Panther just on the stroke of the half term holidays, one of three MCU related releases over the course of the year. 

With the Greta Gerwig directed Lady Bird featuring the radiant presence of Saoirse Ronan, and Guillermo Del Toro's The Shape of Water closing out the end of February with a much anticipated bang, the following weeks bring with it Francis Lawrence's Red Sparrow, an American spy thriller which reunites the director with Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence, alongside the likes of the Walt Disney released A Wrinkle in Time and the science fiction spectacle sequel Pacific Rim: Uprising, both of which are guaranteed to light up the box office to some extent before summer hits, even with the likes of the second Spielberg release of the year in the form of Ready Player One acting as healthy competition. Carrying on through to Easter, the latest X-Men installment in the form of the Anya Taylor-Joy and Maisie Williams starring, The New Mutants, gets a release, whilst the Martin Freeman starring horror portmanteau, Ghost Stories also comes to cinemas after a handful of trailers which immediately pricked up my attention, yet the holidays will undoubtedly belong to Avengers: Infinity War, the biggest release of the MCU so far which brings together the many plot threads set in place since the franchise's inception back all the way in 2008 and a movie which will undoubtedly break a handful of blockbuster records with a rising wave of anticipation after its' recently released trailer. We can't wait. 

Skimming through May and into June, the money machine which is the Star Wars universe continues with the Ron Howard directed Solo: A Star Wars Story featuring Hail, Caesar! star Alden Ehrenreich as the titular space cowboy, whilst the likes of the ensemble comedy thriller Game Night and Deadpool 2 are sure to find audiences in their own right, particularly the latter after the outstanding commercial success of its' predecessor back in 2016. With A Monster Calls director on directorial duties for the latest Jurassic Park movie in the form of Fallen Kingdom, with Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard both reprising their role from the previous installment, the most interesting sequel of the month goes to Sicario follow-up, Soldado, featuring the return of both Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin from the stunning Denis Villeneuve thriller back in 2015, with a screenplay once again from the extraordinary scribing talents of Taylor Sheridan, and if the dark underworld of the American drug trade isn't for you then maybe Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again or Mission: Impossible 6 is indeed the sequel for you. Whilst the latter end of the year does simmer down in terms of possible future releases, the likes of Shane Black's The Predator, the latest adaptation of Robin Hood and the final MCU release of the year in the form of Ant-Man and the Wasp, will hopefully all be there to entertain the masses before the final three months of a jam packed year of film. 

With a Star Wars release absent from the Christmas schedule for the first time since 2015, the remaining couple of months of 2018 open the floodgates for a wide range of eclectic releases including the likes of the Tom Hardy starring Venom, Andy Serkis' take on Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book and even the newest release in the everlasting and indestructible Halloween franchise. Sticking on the lines of horror releases, Eli Roth's The House With a Clock In Its Walls will appease an incredibly niche fanboy audience whilst Don't Breathe director, Fede Álvarez takes over from David Fincher on the continuation of the Americanised Millennium series with The Girl in the Spider's Web featuring Claire Foy as Lisbeth Salander. From a personal point of view, Whiplash and La La Land director, Damien Chazelle also returns with First Man, an autobiographical drama focusing on the life of Neil Armstrong, and with both previous releases managing to receive full marks here at Black Ribbon, the bar is set exceptionally high. No pressure. Finishing the year with the likes of Aquaman, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald and Mary Poppins Returns, it's fair to say 2018 is set to end with a considerable bang, but of course, with so many releases to come, please stick with us for another twelve months of movie reviews as we attempt once again to point you in the right direction of where you should be spending your well earned pocket money. Enjoy!