Twelve Days of Oscars, Day 12: Foreign Language Film and the Big One You've All Been Waiting For

Oscars Day is here!

It has been a busy and complicated time for me, and sadly I was not able to make it through my entire checklist of 34 films before today, but I am definitely ahead of, you know, some people who aren't obsessed with such things. And of COURSE I've seen all of the nominees for Best Picture, silly. What do you take me for?

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

Foreign Language Film: A Fantastic Woman, Loveless, The Insult, On Body and Soul, The Square

Foreign Language Film is kind of like a Best Picture award, too. I love the Foreign Language category - and I'm aware that there are those among you who basically never see anything from it ever - so it's fun for me to pair it with the Best Picture category that everybody pays attention to. I love watching foreign films and I do pretty well getting to all the nominees eventually, but there are sometimes a few hard to come by in any given year that won't be released in the U.S. until after the ceremony. This year, I've seen four out of five, including the most recent I watched, Loveless, which opened at the Music Box Theater here in Chicago just  two days ago, Friday. You know I don't normally go to movies on their opening weekends or any movies on Friday nights, but I made an exception for a totally dismal bleak some-(all)-might-say-depressing Russian film nominated in the foreign language category playing at the ever cool Music Box. Needless to say, I loved the film. I love me some dark Russian art portraying the misery of the human experience. So good. Does the plot even matter? In this one, a divorcing couple who absolutely hate each other are too busy fighting to notice their suffering 12-year-old son, who goes missing. It's so damn good.

Also really good? The Insult. That one's from Lebanon, and has all my favorite themes (that aren't the dismal bleak Russian summation of our pathetic human existence - but on a grand scale) such as redemption, human rights, a feminist lawyer, family, grievances, forgiveness, international conflict resolution, all the good stuff. Loved it.

Didn't like as much: A Fantastic Woman, but I fear it could win because people are going to be proud of themselves to vote for its depiction of the cruelty toward a trans woman. I wish trendy factors like that weren't a factor, but they are, which annoys me. The film is kind of weirdly cliched with heavy-handed symbolism at parts, but it was good - I just don't think it was the best. And I hated The Square. If that wins, I will throw things at the television. If On Body and Soul  wins I won't do anything except remember that I still need to watch it.

All right then. Best Picture!

Man, I did not know, until I saw Call Me By Your Name, if I was going to think any of the nominees was most triumphant. I enjoyed The Post, Dunkirk, and Darkest Hour in many ways, but each of them had a bit of formula in their cinematic trajectories and Post and Darkest Hour had very specific flawed scenes where you're just like, really? He *had* to step into the street and be startled and almost hit by a car because he's in awe of The New York Times? Pointless. Dumb. Really? He had to go conquer his Underground fears and find the common people? No, obviously, in real life, not exactly like that on the way to that meeting. He apparently did some stuff like that, but not in such ...storytelling climactic style. Dumb. (If not pointless.) I enjoyed Get Out a lot but didn't think it was the best of the year. Ditto Lady Bird - I think the outsized reaction to it (i.e. "There's never been anything like it!") is utterly baffling. I did like Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and don't totally agree with the backlash against it, as I get what Martin McDonagh does/is trying to do, but it still wasn't my "oh-my-god-so-good-#1-pick!" And I don't care for The Shape of Water (as I've mentioned on many, many other Days of Oscars) despite my recognition of Guillermo del Toro realizing his vision, and I hated Phantom Thread. Really, though. Ugh. But Call Me By Your Name  was lush and engrossing and pretty and full of intellectual people who like to read and be in different countries and have fun and even though it was male, it achieves a stunning brilliance during a certain emotional monologue delivered by Michael Stuhlbarg that I could just watch forever on an endless loop.

And so there you have it.  Picks: I'm on Team Call Me By Your Name.  But I think something else will win. If it's The Shape of Water I will want to throw things (though it's a bit late in the night by then for throwing things,  the ceremony ending) so I'm just going to stick with my theory that Get Out is the second or third favorite of everyone who doesn't have it as their top pick so through preferential voting it will triumph. Maybe.
Foreign: I want Loveless. It might be A Fantastic Woman, ugh ugh ugh.

But I want to know what YOU  think! What's going to win?
What's your pick for Best Pic?
Or any other category?
Did you join an Oscar pool? Are you confident in your choices?

OSCARS DAY IS HERE!!!