# Oscars: 2017 Best Picture nominees - ongoing tracking thread of which of the films you have seen **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 24, 2018, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-best-picture-nominees-ongoing-tracking-thread-of-which-of-the-films-you-have-seen/807338 "2018-01-24T02:29:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2018, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-best-picture-nominees-ongoing-tracking-thread-of-which-of-the-films-you-have-seen/807338/41 "2018-02-11T04:28:23Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I think the nominees show yet again that “middlebrow” cinema is almost dead. > > The Oscars used to go to mainstream movies playing at neighborhood theaters. That doesn’t happen so much any more. Most of the nominees are now arthouse flicks. > > The days when Hollywood took best selling novels and made them into middlebrow movies for ordinary grownups are largely gone. You have indie movies at the arthouses for foreign and gay movies, and superhero or car chase movies at the multiplex for kids. Hardly anybody is making movies for middle class, middle American adults any more (they stay home and watch\*\*\* NCIS\*\*\*). > > The Oscars increasing go to the same movies that win Spirit awards, movies that most Americans have never heard of, let alone seen. This is a really interesting point, and something that I’ve always kind of thought intuitively but you’ve put it into words better than I could. I think the best writing and acting have largely migrated to television. I shouldn’t even say “television”, since Netflix is not television. The word is becoming obsolete. I really should just say “the series format.” The series format is now also where the “middlebrow” stuff is. There are many shows that are in the “pretty good, not groundbreaking, but entertaining and well-acted” category. Decades ago these would have been standalone movies. Now they’re shows. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2018, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-best-picture-nominees-ongoing-tracking-thread-of-which-of-the-films-you-have-seen/807338/42 "2018-02-11T10:58:20Z")
And now it appears that _Loveless_ will open at a local movie theater before the Oscars, so now I’m down to these that I haven’t seen and apparently won’t see before the Oscars: _Roman J. Israel, Esq._ _Strong Island_ _Last Men in Aleppo_ _Marshall_ _War for the Planet of the Apes_ _Kong: Skull Island_ astorian, you exaggerate when you say that Hollywood doesn’t make middlebrow movies. What about _Downsizing_, _Get Out_, _The Birth of a Nation_, _Split_, _Lucky_, _Good Time_, _The Killing of a Sacred Deer_, _The Meyerowitz Stories_, _The Blackcoat’s Daughter_, _The Lost City of Z_, _Lady Bird_, _I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore_, _Columbus_, _Marjorie Prime_, _Wormwood_, _Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri_, _I, Tonya_, _The Shape of Water_, _The Disaster Artist_, _The Greatest Showman_, _The Big Sick_, _The Zookeeper’s Wife_, _Gifted_, _The Dinner_, _Wonder Wheel_, and _Wonderstruck_, for instance, just in 2017? There’s a lot more of them that I could list if I wanted to spend enough time. I suspect you have some weird definitions of the terms “Hollywood” and “middlebrow”. ---
**Author:** ![eunoia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eunoia/32/97_2.png) [@eunoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eunoia)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-best-picture-nominees-ongoing-tracking-thread-of-which-of-the-films-you-have-seen/807338/43 "2018-02-14T06:50:48Z")
I’m done. This was my last year seeing all the nominees. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-best-picture-nominees-ongoing-tracking-thread-of-which-of-the-films-you-have-seen/807338/44 "2018-02-14T13:17:19Z")
> [@eunoia](#): > > I’m done. This was my last year seeing all the nominees. Elaborate, please? mmm ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-best-picture-nominees-ongoing-tracking-thread-of-which-of-the-films-you-have-seen/807338/45 "2018-02-14T14:19:44Z")
**Have seen, in order of preference:** The Shape of Water - Really really liked Lady Bird - Liked a lot Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Well done, but not LIKED liked Dunkirk - Missing something, can’t put my finger on it Darkest Hour - Conventionally good UK period stuff **Have not seen, in order of desire to see:** Get Out - Can’t believe I didn’t catch this when it came out Phantom Thread - Always like DDL, but I find PTA films to be tiresome, and the older man younger woman thing? Again? Call Me by Your Name - Somehow I’m resistant to seeing this The Post - No desire to see ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-best-picture-nominees-ongoing-tracking-thread-of-which-of-the-films-you-have-seen/807338/46 "2018-02-14T14:22:36Z")
This is actually only my sixth year in a row seeing all the Best Picture Oscar nominees, so it hasn’t really been that long since I’ve decided to see all of them before the ceremonies (and the Oscars party I go to each year). ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-best-picture-nominees-ongoing-tracking-thread-of-which-of-the-films-you-have-seen/807338/47 "2018-02-14T14:34:15Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > **Have seen, in order of preference:** > The Shape of Water - Really really liked > Lady Bird - Liked a lot > Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Well done, but not LIKED liked > Dunkirk - Missing something, can’t put my finger on it > Darkest Hour - Conventionally good UK period stuff > > **Have not seen, in order of desire to see:** > Get Out - Can’t believe I didn’t catch this when it came out > Phantom Thread - Always like DDL, but I find PTA films to be tiresome, and the older man younger woman thing? Again? > Call Me by Your Name - Somehow I’m resistant to seeing this > The Post - No desire to see I feel the same way about Phantom Thread and CMBYN. Dunkirk: I read someone else’s critique (possibly here) that it completely fails to capture the scope of what happened. You never get the impression that there are 300,000 men and thousands of vehicles stuck on that beach, or that there was an armada of small craft coming to rescue them. It feels too small. 3 Billboards: I liked it; I was moved; but in hindsight I think it has real problems with plot. (Without giving away too much) the sheriff’s letters seem way too pat and contrived and tidy. And there are 2 violent crimes committed that the authorities seem uninterested in pursuing. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-best-picture-nominees-ongoing-tracking-thread-of-which-of-the-films-you-have-seen/807338/48 "2018-02-14T17:47:06Z")
I’ve seen a couple more since my last post. Here are my preferences in order: Get Out The Shape of Water Ladybird Dunkirk The Post Phantom Thread I’m still hoping to see Billboards this weekend, but I don’t think CMBYN or Darkest Hour are still playing anywhere around; they may not be doable. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-best-picture-nominees-ongoing-tracking-thread-of-which-of-the-films-you-have-seen/807338/49 "2018-02-14T17:55:43Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > I’m still hoping to see Billboards this weekend, but I don’t think CMBYN or Darkest Hour are still playing anywhere around; they may not be doable. Darkest Hour is [available via streaming](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/darkest-hour), now. It’s not cheap since you can only buy it, rather than renting it, but it’s still likely cheaper than a trip to the theater if there are more than one of you watching. No such luck with CMBYN. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2018, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-best-picture-nominees-ongoing-tracking-thread-of-which-of-the-films-you-have-seen/807338/50 "2018-02-15T01:33:39Z")
Darkest Hour \*\*½ Dunkirk \* Get Out \*\*¼ Lady Bird \*\* The Post \*\*¾ The Shape of Water \* Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri \*½ Not Seen: Call Me by Your Name Phantom Thread ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-best-picture-nominees-ongoing-tracking-thread-of-which-of-the-films-you-have-seen/807338/51 "2018-02-16T06:15:22Z")
I was unimpressed with Dunkirk. The beginning was promising, and the cinematography was excellent, but It made it seem like the rescue was done by about a dozen boats. That ruined it for me. There was a damned fine story there that was missed entirely. While I thought John Lithgow was an excellent Winston Churchill, and I’m a big Lithgow fan, Gary Oldman’s Chruchill in The Darkest Hour was even better. A lot of people complained about the subway scene, but it didn’t ruin the movie for me. I also thought The Post was excellent. It didn’t come off as a documentary to me but took a fresh look at the newspaper industry in the days leading up to Watergate. In another thread, someone was disappointed it wasn’t All the President’s Men, but that story’s been done. Streep was excellent, Hanks was very good, and the movie’s message–journalistic integrity–was pretty timely. I have yet to see The Shape of Water but have heard it’s superb. Of the three I’ve seen: 1. The Post 2. The Darkest Hour 3. Dunkirk ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-best-picture-nominees-ongoing-tracking-thread-of-which-of-the-films-you-have-seen/807338/52 "2018-02-16T14:49:04Z")
We just saw The Florida Project (on demand) – excellent. (Willem DeFoe nomination for Best Supporting Actor.) ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-best-picture-nominees-ongoing-tracking-thread-of-which-of-the-films-you-have-seen/807338/53 "2018-02-20T14:33:44Z")
Busy weekend. Added to the list: Darkest Hour: excellent. Classic inspirational biopic, Gary Oldman an Oscar shoo-in. Phantom Thread: for the first hour, I was thinking that I was enjoying this more than I expected. Then the plot made a right-turn and ran into a ditch and kept going for another hour. My rankings of the 7 I’ve seen: 1. Lady Bird 2. Darkest Hour 3. Get Out 4. The Post 5. Three Billboards 6. Dunkirk 7. Phantom Thread ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-best-picture-nominees-ongoing-tracking-thread-of-which-of-the-films-you-have-seen/807338/54 "2018-02-20T14:39:49Z")
**Have Seen (in order of appreciation)** \*\*Lady Bird: \*\*I thought this was a wonderful character study. Laurie Metcalf is stellar. **The Post:** It’s good, not great. Streep is outstanding. Hanks is fine. The story is good. A little too Hollywoody, but it’s good. **Darkest Hour:** This works well and Oldman did a great job. It’s interesting that it covers some of the same ground as Dunkirk from a completely different perspective (though neither of them really look at the events head-on. Which is fine, nothing says they have to do that!) \*\*Phantom Thread: \*\*It’s well done, but I hated every character and it felt long. **Dunkirk:** God, I hate war movies. **Will see** Call Me by Your Name **Won’t see** Get Out The Shape of Water Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-best-picture-nominees-ongoing-tracking-thread-of-which-of-the-films-you-have-seen/807338/55 "2018-02-20T15:25:56Z")
We’re in our week of watching all the movies. So far: GET OUT A stellar movie. high level of craftsmanship, with the small quibble that whatshisname, the white brother, is a useless character. Get Out is a hell of a thriller hat managed to combine a solid horror movie with a smart commentary on how black people are afraid of white people. It isn’t otherwise the most ambitious movie ever made, but it does what it sets out to do more or less perfectly. THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI On the offchance this wins Best Picture, I’ll come out and say it; it will be one of the worst movies to ever win the award, if not THE worst. I was shocked at how poorly conceived it was, how uneven the tone was, how uninspired the direction was. The ending is preposterous, the characters nonsensical, and the costing choice of Abbie Cornish was… uh, terrible. I could write a 1000-word post on why I disliked ths movie. THE SHAPE OF WATER It was better than Three Billboards. After I watched this I read a bunch of review on Rotten Tomatoes. Fifteen raved about it and then one, I think Rex Reed, finally said “Look, this movie is fucking dumb.” Reed is correct. The movie is fucking dumb. I’ll say this too; I can see why Sally Hawkins is up for Best Actress. She is legitimately great, though it was not as worthy a performance as her work in “Maudie.” Octavia Spencer’s nomination, however, is a joke. Spencer is a great, great actress, but her performance is not one of the 50 best performances by an actress in 2017 and isn’t one of the 15 best of her own career. I laughed frequently, but at the movie, not with it. It was a logically executed story with consistent characters, however dumb those things might have been, though, and that makes it better than Three Billboards. This week we’ll see Lady Bird and Dunkirk, and on the weekend we’ll polish off the rest. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-best-picture-nominees-ongoing-tracking-thread-of-which-of-the-films-you-have-seen/807338/56 "2018-02-20T17:04:36Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Octavia Spencer’s nomination, however, is a joke. Spencer is a great, great actress, but her performance is not only of the 50 best performances by an actress in 2017 and isn’t one of the 15 best of her own career. I just wanted to voice my agreement with this. She’s got one reasonably powerful scene in the movie, and is otherwise a wisecracking sidekick. I have to think _she_ was surprised by this nomination. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-best-picture-nominees-ongoing-tracking-thread-of-which-of-the-films-you-have-seen/807338/57 "2018-02-20T17:07:46Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > I have seen 6 of 9 thus far. My rankings are as follows: > > 1. Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri (4.0) > 2. The Post (4.0) > 3. Get Out (4.0) > 4. Phantom Thread (3.5) > 5. The Shape of Water (3.5) > 6. Ladybird (3.0) Updating this list, having now seen 8 of 9: 1. Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri (4.0) 2. The Post (4.0) 3. Get Out (4.0) 4. Phantom Thread (3.5) 5. The Shape of Water (3.5) 6. Dunkirk (3.5) 7. Darkest Hour (3.5) 8. Ladybird (3.0) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-best-picture-nominees-ongoing-tracking-thread-of-which-of-the-films-you-have-seen/807338/58 "2018-02-20T18:41:30Z")
Only seen two of them, and have no particular interest in seeing the others. **Dunkirk** : I think those who wanted something more ‘spectacular’ missed the point; war (and for that matter any great events) are defined by many individual actions. The director chose to focus on several individual stories to reflect all of the several hundred thousand stories of that week/day/hour. I thought it superb. **Darkest Hour** : Not a bad movie, but not one I would say was Oscar-worthy as Best Picture. Gary Oldham, however, makes the entire movie worth watching and should be a strong contender for Best Actor. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-best-picture-nominees-ongoing-tracking-thread-of-which-of-the-films-you-have-seen/807338/59 "2018-02-20T23:06:11Z")
I saw **Three Billboards** for the second time over the weekend and I think I liked it even more. It was easily one of my favorite films from 2017. I have now also seen all 15 of the Short films and all but one of the Foreign Language films. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-best-picture-nominees-ongoing-tracking-thread-of-which-of-the-films-you-have-seen/807338/60 "2018-02-21T03:46:01Z")
**Have Seen (in order of appreciation)** \*\*Lady Bird: \*\*I thought this was a wonderful character study. Laurie Metcalf is stellar. **The Post:** It’s good, not great. Streep is outstanding. Hanks is fine. The story is good. A little too Hollywoody, but it’s good. **Call Me by Your Name:** I like little movies. A little self-consciously arty at times, but I enjoyed both the story and the characters. Loved the setting. **Darkest Hour:** This works well and Oldman did a great job. It’s interesting that it covers some of the same ground as Dunkirk from a completely different perspective (though neither of them really look at the events head-on. Which is fine, nothing says they have to do that!) \*\*Phantom Thread: \*\*It’s well done, but I hated every character and it felt long. **Dunkirk:** God, I hate war movies. **Won’t see** Get Out The Shape of Water Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri [/QUOTE] This is one of those years when I feel like I’m missing out too much by skipping the movies that I’m skipping, but I wasn’t blessed with a strong stomach, so I’m sticking with it. None of the films I was able to see strike me as of the same quality as some recent nominees. There definitely wasn’t a Moonlight among them for me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-best-picture-nominees-ongoing-tracking-thread-of-which-of-the-films-you-have-seen/807338.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-best-picture-nominees-ongoing-tracking-thread-of-which-of-the-films-you-have-seen/807338.md?page=4)