The Oscar year that (almost!) was

Last year's race to the finish line was one of the nastiest things I have ever seen covering the Oscars.  In the world of Oscars, not liking a film has never been good enough. Instead it must be labeled something...sometimes truthfully, sometimes not. Remember the good old days when we said the likes of "Forrest Gump" and the "King's Speech" were manipulative Oscar bait.

Today, that sort of headline won't get you thousands of followers on Twitter, so a sexier, destructive narrative must be told.

"La La Land" spoke to me exactly where I was last year, in my own personal zeitgeist. Today, I might choose "Moonlight" over "La La Land," and perhaps the preferential ballot did what it was supposed to do and take passion of the moment out of the equation, hence the "Moonlight" win for Best Picture.

On the morning of the Oscars last year I wrote a small piece about my love for the Oscars, from "Moonstruck" to "La La Land" where it was pretty clear from re reading it that the writing was on the wall for a "Moonlight" best picture win.

Unfortunately it came with a price--those attacks on "La La Land" were simply the warm up for what happened this year with "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri."

One of the things that I find incredible about 2017 was the fact that my two favorite films of the year premiered at Sundance, a festival I've never been to which, to me has always had a reputation of being a launching pad for the likes of "Little Miss Sunshine" or Mumblecore. Not my personal taste and definitely not the place for masterpieces such as "Get Out" or "Call Me By Your Name."

Both were small films which took very different trajectories.  "Get Out" became a cultural juggernaut, opening on Oscar weekend, making tons of money at the box office. "Call Me By Your Name" took the festival route, playing the bridesmaid all year to films like "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" and "The Shape of Water." I think Sony Pictures Classics thought it would win the fests and unfortunately, when it didn't they stayed on the trajectory of the platform release instead of reading the tea leaves and benefiting from the buzz it had in November. It wasn't going to win Best Picture, but it could have gotten more money/nominations.

As summer approached I was highly concerned about the year ahead. I had loved "Get Out" but found myself not really wanting to go see anything else. I stayed away from "The Beguiled" and "Baby Driver," instead opting to revisit "Citizen Kane" and "Vertigo" while also doing a series on Bette Davis and Joan Crawford.

Eventually I did see "Baby Driver" which lead me to write my first real essay on the Oscar season. I went to the theater to see "Personal Shopper," which was absolutely amazing, but I still believed that 2017 was a desert. Despite "Call Me By Your Name" I wasn't at all that excited about the prospects ahead, feeling I would have to look outside the box for the best of the year. Interestingly enough, that still happened.

Changing lenses: Gearing up for the 90th Oscars

Things took a major turn when I eventually saw "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri." I remember being incredibly uncomfortable during the film's first hour. I felt like I had gone deep into the recesses of Trump's America--the worst of it. Not the obvious redneck idiots who want to deny my rights and burn crosses, but the somewhat intelligent, every day folk who still use the "n" and "f" word in casual conversation.

Unfortunately, living in MS I hear people say the "n" word often in this vein. Smart white friends who think it's ok to say it because they hang around black people. It's not.

After Woody says "faggot" for the second time, I wanted to walk out. But then I realized something. The way he said it was a tactic. Woody's Willoughby was trying something with Mildred. Just as he had been the first time he said it. Does that make it right? Hell, no.

Dixon, who tortured a black person prior to the events in the film, is making his attempts to do/say the right things despite what his past actions say about him. When Frances McDormand's Mildred says the "n word," Dixon corrects her with: "People of color." It's a ridiculous thing to say, of course, but this is Dixon's attempt- not yours or mine.

Near the end of the film Dixon tries to do the right thing by both Willoughby and Mildred by trying to solve the case.

Is Dixon's "right thing" perfect? NO! Could he do better? OBVIOUSLY! Will he do better? Who knows.... It's a fascinating character, and having watched the film a second time last night I'm perfectly ok if Sam Rockwell wins the Oscar. It's a great performance.

If you believe Film Twitter, "Three Billboards" was abandoned by critics and "Lady Bird" was the critical darling. Yes, critics liked "Lady Bird," but "Three Billboards" has a 92% Tomatometer. 92! And you better believe that includes plenty of haters.

It has 16 PERFECT 100 score reviews on Metacritic. It won the Golden Globe, the Screen Actors Guild, the BAFTA, Toronto. This film is loved. The backlash and the reprehensible, vile labeling of people who love the film as racist is the most disgusting thing I have ever seen happen in the Oscar race.

Opportunists hiding under the guise of journalist. Those people will have their audience until they don't. I beg of you, do not engage in their hate.

After viewing "Three Billboards," things kept getting better. I enjoyed "The Florida Project," although I didn't love it enough to make my top 20. I saw and loved Todd Haynes's "Wonderstruck" (which did make my top 20) and "Blade Runner 2049 (the first film since "Personal Shopper" that would eventually make my Top 10. I eventually watched "Mudbound" which was wonderful and come December I watched "Lady Bird." The first time I saw "Lady Bird" I found it ok, and as the season progressed I found myself thinking less and less of it.

This morning I revisited it, and found myself enjoying it much more. I think that part of the reason I was a bit off put by it the first time was the fact that I saw so much of my younger self in the character of Lady Bird. During the scene at the airport where Laurie Metcalf's mother cries in her husband's arms, my Mother even commented that it was exactly like that when I flew off to NYC.

I'm not sure if "Lady Bird" would've cracked my Top 10, but I do think it would have made my top 20. I might even change it for the first time. We'll see.

Needless to say, 2017 was no longer a desert.

And then came "Call Me By Your Name."

I tried very hard to get my hands on a screener for the film, and it simply didn't happen, so my first viewing of the film was not by proper means. I didn't want to talk about the film until I had seen it on my own screener or on the big screen. I even joined Film Independent knowing that I would get a copy eventually. But as I heard people saying that Gary Oldman was going to win his first Oscar over Chalamet I knew I had to come out for him, despite having watched the film in the manner that I did.

The internet was a bit of a scary place in late November to say to you thought Timothee should win over Oldman. There were people on Twitter who were making it clear that if you came for Oldman they would come for you. Let's call it what it is. Cyber bullying. Luckily enough, people started to see "Call Me By Your Name" and those bullies no longer stood a chance against those of us who loved the film.

Eventually I came to terms with the fact that "Call Me By Your Name" was not going to win Best Picture or Best Actor. Heck...there was a time when some of us weren't sure it would even be nominated for Best Picture. That lead to another "Changing Lenses" essay where I stated that this would probably be a year reminiscent to the 90s when the best films had to settle for the Screenplay Oscars. And that's exactly what I'm predicting to happen tonight with "Get Out" and "Call Me By Your Name" winning their only awards for their writing.


Changing Lenses, Part II: when you have to settle for a screenplay award

I could be wrong, and "Get Out" could win Best Picture. If that happens, everything I know about the Academy will have to be re-examined.

Eventually I did get that "Call Me By Your Name" screener, and it also opened in theaters nationwide, where I saw it 4 times on the big screen. I even found myself trying to experience my own "Call Me By Your Name" romance. Unfortunately it was a bit too realistic as I discovered (not quickly enough) that I was going up against the "closet," something that sadly still exists here in Mississippi. That is a battle I fought already, and choose not to partake in ever, ever again.

I also had the immense pleasure of interviewing Producer Peter Spears and Timothee Chalamet. If you have not read my ode to Queer Cinema and "Call Me By Your Name" I hope you will.

Love and Heartbreak: From Beautiful Thing to Call Me By Your Name

Heading into the final hours of this Oscar season, I am energized, and it will be time to change lenses yet again. The day after the Oscars I will be having a read through for a play I'm directing for Theatre Oxford. Sharr White's "The Other Place." While rehearsing that play I will be writing a screenplay for a short film I plan to direct. Similar words were said last year, but this time it is happening. No more talk. It's time to work.

I also have other things on the horizon that I'm not going to post here, but those closest to me will know soon enough.

I'll also be writing more for Awards Daily, beginning sooner than I thought just a few days ago. Next week I have tickets to see "The Godfather" in the theater. A once in a lifetime experience I will have to write about. I had the pleasure of seeing "The Exorcist" and "The Shining" on the big screen at similar one day screening events, and what a difference a theater can make.

What a difference indeed. The 2017 year in cinema has changed me. Multiple times throughout the year I have been reminded what art can do in people's lives. I have also learned what writing about film can do. It can tear people apart or it can bring them closer together. I choose the latter, and when I lean toward the former, I simply have to change the lens.