THE OSCARS for 2018

[Chris Knipp]

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The 2018 Academy Award Nominations.

The 2018 Academy Award nominations were announced Tuesday, and The Shape of Water led the pack with 13 nods. Rachel Morrison became the first woman to receive a nomination for cinematography. Jordan Peele's name was attached to three of the four Oscar nominations for Get Out. Wonder Woman was one of the bigger Hollywood movies to be snubbed, along with Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg of The Post, James Franco (though he got the Golden Globe Best Actor award, his reputation since marred by "sexual misconduct" allegations on Twitter), Armie Hammer of Call Me by Your Name, Emma Stone and Steve Carell of Battle of the Sexes, Michelle Williams of All the Money in the World), and the leading Best Picture hopefuls The Big Sick and Mudbound, (the latter other nominations but none for the most coveted one for the year's best movie).


BEST PICTURE
Call Me by Your Name
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Get Out
Lady Bird
Phantom Thread
The Post
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

BEST DIRECTOR
Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk
Jordan Peele, Get Out
Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread
Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water

BEST ACTRESS
Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Margot Robbie, I, Tonya
Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
Meryl Streep, The Post

BEST ACTOR
Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name
Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread
Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Mary J. Blige, Mudbound
Allison Janney, I, Tonya
Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water
Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Big Sick
Get Out
Lady Bird
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Call Me by Your Name - JAMES IVORY
The Disaster Artist
Logan
Molly’s Game
Mudbound

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The Boss Baby
The Breadwinner
Coco
Ferdinand
Loving Vincent

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Abacus (Small Enough to Jail)
Faces/Places
Icarus
Last Men in Aleppo
Strong Island

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
A Fantastic Woman
The Insult
Loveless
On Body and Soul
The Square

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Dunkirk
Phantom Thread
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Mighty River,” Mudbound
“Mystery of Love,” Call Me by Your Name
“Remember Me,” Coco
“Stand Up for Something,” Marshall
“This Is Me,” The Greatest Showman

BEST SOUND EDITING
Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi

BEST SOUND MIXING
Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Beauty and the Beast
Blade Runner 2049
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Blade Runner 2049 -ROGER DEAKINS
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Mudbound
The Shape of Water

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Darkest Hour
Victoria & Abdul
Wonder

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Beauty and the Beast
Darkest Hour
Phantom Thread
The Shape of Water
Victoria & Abdul

BEST FILM EDITING
Baby Driver
Dunkirk
I, Tonya
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Blade Runner 2049
Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2
Kong: Skull Island
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
War for the Planet of the Apes

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
“Eden and Eddie”
“Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405”
“Heroin/e”
“Knife Skills”
“Traffic Stop”

BEST SHORT FILM — LIVE ACTION
“Dekalb Elementary”
“The Eleven O’Clock”
“My Nephew Emmett”
“The Silent Child”
“Watu Wote/All of Us”

BEST SHORT FILM — ANIMATED
“Dear Basketball”
“Garden Party”
“Lou”
“Negative Space”
“Revolting Rhymes”
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[oscar jubis]

Outrageously deplorable:
Cynthia Nixon was NOT nominated as Best Actress for A Quiet Passion
Jennifer Jason Leigh was NOT nominated as Best Supporting Actress for Good Time.

[oscar jubis]

As the ceremony draws closer, I feel increasing dread at the prospect of Oscars for "3 Billboards" especially in the context of The Shape of Water and Lady Bird losing.

I've just seen the Pasadena-set, coming-of-ager again (my 5th? 6th?) and my fondness for it deepens even (because?) I'm more consciously aware of its minor (insignificant?)chinks and warts.

I've also seen all the 15 shorts nominated for Oscar and I have opinions as to which ones are more deserving. Anyone care about the little films?

[Chris Knipp]

I'm displeased with the prospect of Three Billbards' winning too, only it's more Dunkirk or Call Me by Your Name I would prefer. I do like (Lady Bird and admire (The Shape of Water) your faves too. I've not been able to see the Oscar Nominated Shorts this year so far but I'm back in New York for the French film series and I may be able to see some of them.

[Chris Knipp]

Guessing the Best Foreign winner. Richard Brody's prediction and an update.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
A Fantastic Woman
The Insult
Loveless
On Body and Soul
The Square

Richard Brody of The New Yorker has his own predictions (https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/my-2018-oscars-predictions) for the Oscars and I'm happy he chooses Loveless as the likely winner in the Best Foreign category, though I don't know if it is a sure prediction, just because I admire Zvyagintsev and consider him a great director, head and shoulders above the others in the list. Here is Brody's explanation for his pick:
Foreign-Language Film
"Loveless"
This is the second-most-accursed category , because of the system used for nominations: official boards from each country offer one nominee, and the Academy is constrained to choose from among them. You’d need a microscope to find any differences between this year’s five films. The substance of "The Insult" is more attuned to the Academy’s long-standing predilections, but the technique and tone of "Loveless" will prevail.
-Rchard Brody, [I]The New Yorker. I guess what he means by "You’d need a microscope to find any differences between this year’s five films" is to find "any significant differences in merit." Would you? "Technique" meaning masterful, "tone" meaning solemn and profound? This is yet another person, naturally, trying rather arbirarily to guess how the voting will have gone.

We see that Foxrot, which I've just reviewed, didn't make the cut. Would a microscope show it to be of lesser merit? I'd guess that Fantastic Woman (about a transgender person) and The Insult (about Israel-Palestinian conflict) made the cut on issues, and The Square got in not for that but for all the publicity it's received, thanks to its Cannes Palme d'Or.

I haven't seen the Hungarian film On Body and Soul and there it was on Netflix all along. The Oscars summary for it is:
Endre, the financial director of a slaughterhouse in Budapest, is interested in Mária, the new quality control inspector, but her icy demeanor makes her difficult to approach even though she shares his feelings. When they learn that they dream the same dreams every night, the couple tentatively embarks on a real-life relationship. Get out your microscopes.

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[Chris Knipp]

And the winners are:

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The 2018 Academy Award Nominations.

The 2018 Academy Award nominations were announced Tuesday, and The Shape of Water led the pack with 13 nods. Rachel Morrison became the first woman to receive a nomination for cinematography. Jordan Peele's name was attached to three of the four Oscar nominations for Get Out. Wonder Woman was one of the bigger Hollywood movies to be snubbed, along with Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg of The Post, James Franco (though he got the Golden Globe Best Actor award, his reputation since marred by "sexual misconduct" allegations on Twitter), Armie Hammer of Call Me by Your Name, Emma Stone and Steve Carell of Battle of the Sexes, Michelle Williams of All the Money in the World), and the leading Best Picture hopefuls The Big Sick and Mudbound, (the latter other nominations but none for the most coveted one for the year's best movie).


BEST PICTURE
Call Me by Your Name
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Get Out
Lady Bird
Phantom Thread
The Post
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

BEST DIRECTOR
Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk
Jordan Peele, Get Out
Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread
Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water

BEST ACTRESS
Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Margot Robbie, I, Tonya
Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
Meryl Streep, The Post

BEST ACTOR
Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name
Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread
Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Mary J. Blige, Mudbound
Allison Janney, I, Tonya
Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water
Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Big Sick
Get Out
Lady Bird
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Call Me by Your Name - JAMES IVORY
The Disaster Artist
Logan
Molly’s Game
Mudbound

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The Boss Baby
The Breadwinner
Coco
Ferdinand
Loving Vincent

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Abacus (Small Enough to Jail)
Faces/Places
Icarus
Last Men in Aleppo
Strong Island

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
A Fantastic Woman
The Insult
Loveless
On Body and Soul
The Square

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Dunkirk
Phantom Thread
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Mighty River,” Mudbound
“Mystery of Love,” Call Me by Your Name
“Remember Me,” Coco
“Stand Up for Something,” Marshall
“This Is Me,” The Greatest Showman

BEST SOUND EDITING
Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi

BEST SOUND MIXING
Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Beauty and the Beast
Blade Runner 2049
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Blade Runner 2049 -ROGER DEAKINS
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Mudbound
The Shape of Water

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Darkest Hour
Victoria & Abdul
Wonder

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Beauty and the Beast
Darkest Hour
Phantom Thread - MARK BRIDGES
The Shape of Water
Victoria & Abdul

BEST FILM EDITING
Baby Driver
Dunkirk
I, Tonya
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Blade Runner 2049
Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2
Kong: Skull Island
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
War for the Planet of the Apes

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
“Eden and Eddie”
“Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405”
“Heroin/e”
“Knife Skills”
“Traffic Stop”

BEST SHORT FILM — LIVE ACTION
“Dekalb Elementary”
“The Eleven O’Clock”
“My Nephew Emmett”
“The Silent Child”
“Watu Wote/All of Us”

BEST SHORT FILM — ANIMATED
“Dear Basketball”
“Garden Party”
“Lou”
“Negative Space”
“Revolting Rhymes”
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[Chris Knipp]

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Oscars 2018 in a nutshell.
NYTimes comments (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/04/arts/oscar-winners.html) and what "inclusion rider" (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/05/movies/inclusion-rider-frances-mcdormand-oscars.html) means.

Best Picture: “The Shape of Water”
Director: Guillermo del Toro, “The Shape of Water”
Actor: Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour”
Actress: Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Supporting Actor: Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Supporting Actress: Allison Janney, “I, Tonya”
Original Screenplay: “Get Out”
Adapted Screenplay: “Call Me by Your Name”
Foreign Language Film: “A Fantastic Woman”
Animated Feature: “Coco”
Visual Effects: “Blade Runner 2049”
Film Editing: “Dunkirk”
Animated Short: “Dear Basketball”
Live Action Short: “The Silent Child”
Documentary Short: “Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405”
Score: “The Shape of Water”
Song: “Remember Me” from “Coco”
Production Design: “The Shape of Water”
Cinematography: “Blade Runner 2049”
Costume Design: “Phantom Thread”
Makeup and Hairstyling: “Darkest Hour”
Documentary Feature: “Icarus”
Sound Editing: “Dunkirk”
Sound Mixing: “Dunkirk”

[cinemabon]

The theme of this year's Oscar annual love fest can best be described in one word: redemption. First of all, the opening set behind Viola Davis set the tone for the broadcast to come - spectacle. They re-created a movie palace as it would have appeared in the Hollywood hey-day of the 1950's when huge "palaces" appeared in major cities to attract audiences back inside theaters. Of course, none - not even the Oriental in Chicago or the 5th Avenue in Seattle - ever equaled this opulence or ostentation. Still, it hearkened to the theme of cinema history and "blew me away" with its attention to detail. No film dominated the show, which I loved. It seemed as if the members recalled that thing called quality. This show is about paying homage to those inside the industry who rose to the top by being the best in their craft that year; or, as in the case of this year's ceremony, to redeem a past wrong of someone who exemplified that level of excellence.

Those three awards - Cinematography, direction, and costume - addressed those wrongs and gave awards to those who brought this same level of excellence to their craft. How wonderful to bring back Eva Maria Saint who told a short story of Edith Head (not on the prompter in case you didn't notice). That must have sent the show's director scrambling. I thought Walken would do the same, but he stayed on script. Of course, Roger Deakin's award for his work was long overdue. And if you followed the ASC over the past few weeks, you would have known they did the same, giving him this year's top prize; well deserved. As to Guillermo del Toro, his award was long overdue as well. The DGA did the same for his earlier with this year's top award. He'd dedicated his life to this industry and made many personal sacrifices. Rather than do the political choice (recognizing a woman this year), they chose to award the man who worked so hard for that little gold statue not to be his on this night of nights. Costume the same way, Mark Bridges work followed the Edith Head tradition of being another star of Phantom Thread. How could we believe Daniel Day Lewis was a designer if they didn't have sumptuous gowns on the runway? His previous work, recognized for a black and white film, couldn't compare. Kudos to Bridges, who then won the jet ski. How apropos. Then you couldn't mention the word redemption without mentioning James Ivory, who after creating so many memorable moments in cinema history, had never won an Academy Award. How perfect when he took the stage and dedicated his Oscar to Merchant. I wept. Finally, did Kobe Bryant actually mention and thank John Williams for his score? Wow! A basketball legend who bows to a long-time Hollywood standard. I'd heard everything.

To end the night with that hilarious recreation of last years guffaw and that unlikely duo of Dunaway and Beatty, kept everyone tuned to see if they'd try to top last year's historic blunder. I found this year's Oscars - without big production numbers, without major song promos - thoroughly entertaining as Jimmy Kimmel kept things real and down to earth; a credit to his personal ability to balance comedy with social awareness.

[Chris Knipp]

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Emma Stone's 2018 Oscar Night look

Thanks Conemabon, for this deserved tribute. I agree, this was an unusually well-distributed set of awards, though not all the Best Picture nominees got more than a nomination. Some of us were just honestly glad Three Billboards didn't win as predicted, I'd have liked it ifDunkirk or Call Me by Your Name had gotten the top award, but I didn't expect it. I bow to Del Toro. I'm not really attuned to his imagination, but I recognize his craft and how he honors traditions. I got the message that he hopes for the Academy to be less bland in their choices genre-wise. But he is a hard act to follow.

Besides the people you mention, Gary Oldman stands out as another who has long deserved recognition. I followed him with excitement in the Eighties from Sid and Nancy to Price Up Your Ears, to Track 29 to Criminal Law, to We Think the World of You to Chattahoochee - each movie different and each role a transformation. It was a breathtaking sequence of changes. Then he lost me for a while, but his brilliance was proven. Doing Churchill in the entertaining, but not great Darkest Hour showed he's still got that ability. It's sort of ironic that in "The Queen" the massive BBC series John Lithgow is just as successful as Churchill without really physically resembling him that way, and much too tall, just with energy and bluster.

I have to mention Gary Oldman's "Drexl Spivey", the white gangster who wants to be a black pimp, a brief but hilarious full-on impersonation that's classic, like Brad Pitt's duplicitous stoner dude in Thelma and Louise, just a cameo that you cherish forever.

I loved the stage setting for this year's show, intricate and beautiful. If it was meant to evoke a grand Fifties movie palace that's ever cooler. But there were grand movie palaces way before that of course, like the Grand Lake in Oakland, which still survives well preserved from 1925. It just was elegant and classy. TV trouble caused me to miss Jimmy Kimmel's opening performance. But I didn't miss some of the outfits, on he red carpet, notably Emma Stone, the pants and the hair, the beautiful colors, and Helen Mirren's very understated but elegant, plain except for the jewels. Class. (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/helen-mirren-took-a-tequila-shot-on-the-oscars-red-carpet-like-the-queen-she-is_us_5a9d4b4ee4b089ec353cf41f)

Important speeches - and wins - were by Jordan Peele and Frances McDormand, speaking up eloquently for African American artists and more recognition of women, and McDormand's calling for the women to stand, and proposal of A-List ladies insisting on an "inclusion rider" in their contracts - wielding their power for diversity. It was all very political but it was never strident and it may get through better that way. Get Out's nomination, and its success, puzzled me. I guess I'm just out of touch. But it's - I guess - a bold statement about racism, reflects Key and Peele's provocative sense of humor, and is another vote for respecting genre.

I really enjoyed Oscar Night this year. I just miss my friend Carol, who was taken away from us too soon. Carol made everything more fun for everybody. Shs particularly relished the pomp and silliness and glamor of this event every year.

P.s. I just saw all the Oscar Nominated Shorts at the IFC Center. I liked them. I got lucky, because The Silent Child and Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405 were my choices. Maybe Heaven was an obvious choice but I wasn't so sure about The Silent Child. Thanks, Academy. I agree with you that it was a sight to see Kobe Bryant bowing to John Williams. I am not convinced Dear Basketball isn't just a very polished vanity piece. But aside from the dazzling photo-realism of The Garden, it's harder to pick a winner among the animated shorts, and I understand the emotional reaction to Kobe's uplift. Oscar, what were your choices?

[cinemabon]

It's so hard to find the Doc's, the shorts - both live and animated - unless you search through the various outlets. Sometimes HBO has them. Sometimes Netflix. I dropped my subs to Hulu and Amazon. I just didn't find the content worth it and I'm not shipping that much through Amazon to make the $110 worth it. Used to be a rule years ago that Academy members HAD to see all of the nominated films to vote. When you went to an Academy screening (many theaters in LA act as sponsors); you show your Academy membership and the theater registers you being there to see the film. Some members used to bribe managers with presents or gifts so they could skip out on screenings. I believe most members now get DVD's or digital downloads. Shame they don't see them in the theater any longer. Something about that big image with other people makes the whole experience more inclusive to me.

How on god's green earth did I forget Gary Oldman, whom I LOVE! So many movies he got passed over, probably due to subject matter (Dracula, for example). I get 50 lashes with a wet noddle for not having seen "Call me by my name" yet. So much buzz about it last week. Although the one "token" Oscar went to "Get Out" for screenwriting; the Academy, swamped with racial slurs over the past few years, bowed to pressure. I thought they were going to do the same with directing and sighed with relief when it went to Guillermo. I hoped the Academy would have given the supporting actor award to the young man who played the "love teen" interest. I understand he was quite good.

As wild as she's gotten in her appearance, I thought McDormand's speech was mildly subdued. She cries out some contract term and storms off stage. I laughed. I had to look it up. Seems its an all-inclusive term that means the producers must higher more minorities. Ok. Fine. Point taken. Dress designers all went to Belize this week. None of the presenters stood out as well as the film's brief look at "Phantom Thread" did. They should have hired Bridges to design the gowns of the presenters and then we would have had a show. I guess no one wanted to spend much money on a "fashion designer original." Too many cheap knock offs with plenty of sequins and very little Harry Winston. Diamonds were not anyone's best friend on the Red Carpet.

Lastly, I watched "E" on the lead up to the ABC broadcast. For the last hour, they brought in Ryan Seacrest. The only people who spoke to him were a few musicians that were performing songs. I saw no big stars in his corner. Speaking of which, the reason Jody Foster and Jennifer Lawrence presented the best actress award is because of allegations against Casey Affleck. When Jimmy Kimmel stepped up and threw Harvey Weinstein under the bus right away, I knew the Academy must have told everyone, "No snafus this year!" and let the dust settle where it may. Political correctness dripped off every chest in the room. Pins.

[Chris Knipp]

I felt deserted by Gary Oldman for many years but his early demonstrations of acting brilliance never faded from memory. The feature film of Le Carré's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy wasn't successful, and Oldman wasn't as appropriate as Alec Guinness, but he is good as Churchill.

I think they do show Oscar noms to Academy members in theaters less and that is a great pity. Online screeners are very convenient, easier and more reliable than DVD's, but it would be horrible to see Dunkirk or Phantom Thread any way but large. I've told how I saw Dunkirk in iMax and later in 70mm. I wanted to see Phantom Thread in 70mm. in San Francisco, it was available that way. I see a lot of movies on screeners though because that's the only way I can see them, or its' just more convenient when I'm in California across the bridge from the city.

I don't think the screenwriting Oscar to Jordan Peele was just political correctness. It was an opportunity for more diversity inspired by the surprising popularity of the movie Get Out And its originality. Even in making up my own annual movie Best Lists I now tend to make some diplomatic and political choices, but I don't mean politically correct. I recognize trends and popularity. But I think Get Out has had a bit more than its share of attention. It doesn't seem as successful as some of Key and Peele's Comedy Central skits, which nevertheless I don't like that much. But they are provocative, and sometimes funny too in a race-conscious SNL sort of way.

As for the atmosphere at the awards you describe. I didn't see much of the red carpet to evaluate the dresses. That was where my late friend Carol, whom I mentioned as making all this more fun, excelled. But really, you think they were wearing paste, not real jewels? That would very much surprise me. Why should they? It's such a great chance to promote designers and Harry Winston and such. One article (https://www.wmagazine.com/story/emerald-jewelry-golden-globes-2018-red-carpet) shows Zoë Kravitz wearing gigantic emerald errings. They may have been making a political point with their black dresses and their emeralds, but nobody was cutting corners here. I already said how much I liked Emma Stone's and Helen Mirren's outfits.

About #metoo and sexual harassment, it was my impression they simply kept mum about this a lot. For instance, they announcer celebrated Christopher Plummer's preparation for playing Getty senior in just a few days without ever mentioning the important reason why he had to do this , because they chose to edit out Kevin Spacey's performance in this role, which to me sounded like the Fifties when (it was claimed) the Russian encyclopedia would instruct libraries to clip out pages to eliminate blacklisted people.

Likewise in Icarus, which I just saw (see my review), Putin at a late point says he can't even remember the name of the person who headed the anti-doping laboratory - Grigory Rodchenkov, the whistleblower in the film. By "not remembering" him, he is erasing him. The presenters of the Academy Awards did not deign to mention the disgraced men, other than Harvey Weinstein, did they? Nobody said they thought it was a shame James Franco got erased from competition because five women accused him on Twitter, the medium of rumor and frivolous accusation ideal for masters of loose empty talk like Donald Trump. This is not the way of democracy or due process.

I would keep Amazon, but I sympathise with you paring down all those subscriptions. Who can watch all this stuff anyway? Remember this used to be a country where you didn't have to subscribe to TV, and could just plug it in, and watch the available channels. Our world has been made needlessly complicated, and it all benefits businesses, not the individual. We are milked in ever more ingenious ways to pay for what before, like telephones, were simple conveniences that worked for decades in your house. I am sorry I also can't find Oscar shorts nominees online.* In the past, when I reviewed the Best of Annecy animations a few times (which I found cooler than the Oscar nom ones), you could find them online.

I want to say that some things, which are not conceived on a grand scale - like Bergman films maybe - are okay to watch in a small format. Didn't you enjoy your VCR in the Eighties? I sure did, and learned about a lot of movies I'd never have without videotape rentals, which also formed some of our current masters like Tarantino. You can also appreciate a Shakespeare play by reading it; you don't have to see it produced on Broadway. The mind and the imagination can compensate for limited scale. Which incidentally was why radio was so great.
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*Tickets are still being sold to see Oscar nominated shorts in theaters (at IFC Center in NYC, where I recently saw them) and maybe when that stops they will appear online free.