Review: "Black Panther"

At last, a comic book film adaptation that doesn't leave me supremely restless!

Three years ago, filmmaker Ryan Coogler pumped a thunderbolt of vitality into the flailing Rocky franchise with his gangbusters Creed. Now, he has done the same for the middling Marvel Cinematic Universe. Black Panther, while hardly a perfect picture, is handily the most satisfying film to sport the Marvel name.

The film finds T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) returning home to the technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda, following the death of his father, King T'Chaka. T'Challa assumes the throne but soon finds his place as king threatened by the entrance of the reckless N'Jadaka (Michael B. Jordan), a black-ops soldier with ties to Wakanda who is out for vengeance and determined to send the nation into a world war.

Boseman and Jordan may earn top billing but it's really the women of Black Panther who tend to steal the show.

There's Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o as undercover spy Nakia, the former love of T'Challa's life; Danai Gurira as Okoye, the badass leader of Wakanda's all-female special forces crew; Letitia Wright, a wise-cracking delight as Shuri, T'Challa's innovative sister; and, of course, the incomparable Angela Bassett, wonderful (per usual) as Ramonda, queen mother of Wakanda.

This is one hell of an ensemble all around, which also includes Andy Serkis, gobbling up every shred of scenery as a black market arms dealer, and Martin Freeman, a tad more subdued as a CIA agent. There's also an amusing cameo from the one and only Stan Lee himself.

Coogler does a fine job orchestrating the picture's countless action sequences and the film looks divine, with cinematography by Oscar nominee Rachel Morrison and vibrant costumes designed by Oscar nominee Ruth E. Carter.

Black Panther may not be as emotionally involving as something like Creed or riveting as some of the past Batman films but, in an era when comic book movies are by-the-numbers as can be, fresh off the assembly line with scant inventiveness to be found, this one stands out as one of the finest in its genre. It is richly deserving of the praise and $$$ it has amassed and Coogler is a true superstar behind the camera.

A-

3rd Annual Oscar Prediction Contest - WINNER!

Congratulations to Alex Kazhinsky, winner of the 3rd Annual Awards Connection Oscar Prediction Contest! Hope you enjoy your Fandango gift card.

Thank you again to all 79 awards season afficiandos who participated this year!

2017 Oscar Winners

At last, this year's Oscar winners!

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
The Disaster Artist
Logan
Molly’s Game
Mudbound

Best Animated Feature

The Boss Baby
The Breadwinner
Coco
Ferdinand
Loving Vincent

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 Documentary Feature

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

Best Documentary Short

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

Best Foreign Language Film

A Fantastic Woman
The Insult
Loveless
On Body and Soul
The Square

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Darkest Hour
Victoria & Abdul
Wonder

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 Original Score

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

Best Production Design

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

Best Cinematography

Blade Runner 2049
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Mudbound
The Shape of Water

Best Costume Design

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

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 Live Action Short Film

“Dekalb Elementary”
“The Eleven O’Clock”
“My Nephew Emmett”
“The Silent Child”
“Watu Wote/All of Us”

Best Animated Short Film

“Dear Basketball”
“Garden Party”
“Lou”
“Negative Space”
“Revolting Rhymes”

FINAL 2017 Oscar Winner Predictions

Welp, here we go!

It legit feels like years ago that I was predicting the likes of The Current War, mother! and Wonder Wheel for Oscar nominations. Now, here we are, with that trio long out of the picture and The Shape of Water and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri (and maybe, hopefully Get Out too) poised for battle on Oscar night.

There are a bunch of categories, at least on the technical end, that I'm having a tough time projecting. Will, for instance, one of Dunkirk or The Shape of Water steamroll through the tech fields or shall they split those fortunes, perhaps with Baby Driver and/or Blade Runner 2049 taking a prize or two? Original Screenplay is looking awfully close too, with cases to be made for Get Out and Three Billboards. Oh, and the shorts are never easy to predict. (The acting fields, I'm afraid, look like a snooze.)

A key question I have is which is more detrimental to winning Best Picture - the lack of SAG Best Ensemble nomination for The Shape or Water or no Best Director Oscar nomination for Three Billboards? Stats like these, and how rare it is for a film to triumph on Oscar night without those two nominations, is why we cannot count out something like Get Out, even as it unimpeachably heads into the big night an underdog.

With that said, here's what my gut is telling me...

Best Picture

1. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
2. The Shape of Water
3. Get Out
4. Dunkirk
5. Lady Bird
6. Call Me by Your Name
7. The Post
8. Darkest Hour
9. Phantom Thread

Best Director

1. Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water
2. Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk
3. Jordan Peele, Get Out
4. Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
5. Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread

Best Actor

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

Best Actress

1. Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
2. Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
3. Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water
4. Meryl Streep, The Post
5. Margot Robbie, I, Tonya

Best Supporting Actor

1. Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
2. Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World
3. Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
4. Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water
5. Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Supporting Actress

1. Allison Janney, I, Tonya
2. Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
3. Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread
4. Mary J. Blige, Mudbound
5. Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water

Best Original Screenplay

1. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
2. Get Out
3. Lady Bird
4. The Shape of Water
5. The Big Sick

Best Adapted Screenplay

1. Call Me by Your Name
2. Mudbound
3. Molly's Game
4. The Disaster Artist
5. Logan

Best Animated Feature

1. Coco
2. The Breadwinner
3. Loving Vincent
4. The Boss Baby
5. Ferdinand

Best Original Song

1. “Remember Me,” Coco
2. “This Is Me,” The Greatest Showman
3. “Mighty River,” Mudbound
4. “Mystery of Love,” Call Me by Your Name
5. “Stand Up for Something,” Marshall

Best Documentary Feature

1. Last Men in Aleppo
2. Faces/Places
3. Strong Island
4. Abacus (Small Enough to Jail)
5. Icarus

Best Documentary Short

1. “Eden and Eddie”
2. "Heroin/e"
3. "Traffic Stop"
4. “Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405”
5. “Knife Skills”

Best Foreign Language Film

1. A Fantastic Woman
2. Loveless
3. On Body and Soul
4. The Square
5. The Insult

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

1. Darkest Hour
2. Wonder
3. Victoria & Abdul

Best Film Editing

1. Dunkirk
2. Baby Driver
3. The Shape of Water
4. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
5. I, Tonya

Best Visual Effects

1. Blade Runner 2049
2. War for the Planet of the Apes
3. Star Wars: The Last Jedi
4. Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2
5. Kong: Skull Island

Best Original Score

1. The Shape of Water
2. Phantom Thread
3. Dunkirk
4. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
5. Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Best Production Design

1. The Shape of Water
2. Blade Runner 2049
3. Beauty and the Beast
4. Dunkirk
5. Darkest Hour

Best Cinematography

1. Dunkirk
2. Blade Runner 2049
3. The Shape of Water
4. Mudbound
5. Darkest Hour

Best Costume Design

1. Phantom Thread
2. Beauty and the Beast
3. The Shape of Water
4. Darkest Hour
5. Victoria & Abdul

Best Sound Editing

1. Dunkirk
2. Baby Driver
3. The Shape of Water
4. Blade Runner 2049
5. Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Best Sound Mixing

1. Dunkirk
2. The Shape of Water
3. Baby Driver
4. Blade Runner 2049
5. Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Best Live Action Short Film

1. "DeKalb Elementary"
2. "The Silent Child"
3. "The Eleven O'Clock"
4. "Watu Wote/All of Us"
5. "My Nephew Emmett"

Best Animated Short Film

1. "Lou"
2. "Garden Party"
3. "Dear Basketball"
4. "Negative Space"
5. "Revolting Rhymes"

Review: "Annihilation"

Oh, Natalie Portman, it's so very nice to have you back where you belong.

Portman, whose turn two years ago in Jackie left me breathless, is once again in sensational form, this time in Alex Garland's eerie and inspired, if also uneven Annihilation. It's a sci-fi picture that recalls the likes of Alien, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Thing (and, in terms of sheer look and feel, is a dead ringer for Arrival) and, on occasion, hits the same sky-high heights of those classics.

Based on Jeff VanderMeer's eponymous 2014 novel, the film opens on Lena (Portman), a biologist, professor and former soldier, suddenly visited by husband Kane (Oscar Isaac), who has been missing for more than a year. Kane hasn't a clue where he's been and, shortly after his arrival, he falls gravely ill and, alongside Lena, is captured by the Southern Reach, a government organization.

At the Southern Reach compound, Lena is informed by Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh) that Kane is the sole survivor of a mission into the mysterious Shimmer, a region within a national park that formed after an extraterrestrial object struck a lighthouse within the park. With Kane on the verge of death, Lena volunteers to join the next expedition into the Shimmer. Alongside Ventress, physicist Josie (Tessa Thompson), anthropologist Cass (Tuva Novotny) and paramedic Anya (Gina Rodriguez), the quintet ventures into the Shimmer and well, let's just say a whole lot of freaky shit goes down over the next hour and a half.

Much of Annihilation, in the early-going at least, rings of those fabulous sequences in the aforementioned Ridley Scott and John Carpenter films, in which our crew investigates the abandoned surroundings of former/now deceased visitors. Garland's vision for the Shimmer is as splendid as it is unsettling. Kudos to the filmmaker, production designer Mark Digby and cinematographer Rob Hardy on their inventive efforts here.

The cast, too, is aces. Beyond Portman (who, per usual, rocks), Novotny and Thompson are terrific and I was especially taken with Rodriguez, who gets one scene in particular (which also happens to be the scariest in the film) that will strike many as just batshitcrazy but had me thinking 'Oscar clip!' Oh, and you can't go wrong with the legendary Leigh.

My qualms with Annihilation come with the picture's final half hour or so, in which at least one of the crew members actually manages to make it all the way into that lighthouse. Instead of building on all of the momentum leading into this finale, we're treating to some not-so-convincing CGI and a sort of battle of the wits that some may find captivating but struck me as supremely silly. The film, thankfully, ends on a note that is intriguing and satisfying enough to mostly make up for some of the missteps.

Annihilation is hardly pitch-perfect and I'm not convinced, years from now, will necessarily be looked upon as one of the great contemporary sci-fi features. That said, the cast is gangbusters, there are at least a dozen deeply unnerving or downright terrifying moments and Garland continues to prove himself one of the more innovative and idiosyncratic filmmakers working in this genre today.

B+