After Monday’s Oscar nominations, we got a better picture of the leading contenders in almost every category. And yet, the Best Picture race still felt like an enigma to most. As many as six of the nominated movies were being touted as front-runners with “Once Upon A Time in Hollywood” the de facto frontrunner with the Gold Derby pundits. Of course, I stuck by my hunch, a hunch I had even before it won Best Picture at the Golden Globes, that “1917” was the actual frontrunner. After all, Sam Mendes’ WWI picture has all the earmarks of the Best Picture winner (highly stylized direction and photography, historical context, not to mention, an accessible narrative).
Last night’s PGA Awards sealed the deal for me — “1917” will win Best Picture come February 3rd. Yes, Mendes’ film won the coveted Best Film prize last night. To put it into context more pronouncedly, 68% of all past Best Picture winners have won the PGA Best Film award, on their way to Oscar glory, that’s a hell of a stat to ignore.
And yet, despite 10 nominations overall, the WWI thriller has been nominated in only two of the major Oscar categories: Directing and Original Screenplay. No acting categories whatsoever. Problematic? Some might think so. I don’t. Mendes’ film seems to be an exception to the rule, a film which can be seen as a work of art by even the Joe and Jane popcorners of this world, mainstream audiences hungry for well-told and solidly realized drama. Its success doesn’t rely on acting as much as Mendes and Deakins carrying the film, and the audience for that matter, on their own broad shoulders.
And so, here we are, just three weeks away from the Oscar ceremony, and we have a hell of a tight race to get excited about. These are the current Best Picture rankings, as I see them fit, and chances are I’ll stick by them right up until the Best Picture envelope is opened on February 9th.
As expected, Snyder's latest is being torn apart by TIFF attendees. No mercy given. The film, which had its world premiere this evening, is being called by some one of the worst movies to ever premiere at the festival.