BEST PICTURE

The Big Sick

Call Me by Your Name

Darkest Hour

Dunkirk

The Florida Project

Get Out

Lady Bird

The Post

The Shape of Water

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

BEST ACTOR

Timothée Chalamet – Call Me by Your Name

James Franco – The Disaster Artist

Jake Gyllenhaal – Stronger

Tom Hanks – The Post

Daniel Kaluuya – Get Out

Daniel Day-Lewis – Phantom Thread

Gary Oldman – Darkest Hour

BEST ACTRESS

Jessica Chastain – Molly’s Game

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 SUPPORTING ACTOR

Willem Dafoe – The Florida Project

Armie Hammer – Call Me By Your Name

Richard Jenkins – The Shape of Water

Sam Rockwell – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Patrick Stewart – Logan

Michael Stuhlbarg – Call Me by Your Name

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Mary J. Blige – Mudbound

Hong Chau – Downsizing

Tiffany Haddish – Girls Trip

Holly Hunter – The Big Sick

Allison Janney – I, Tonya

Laurie Metcalf – Lady Bird

Octavia Spencer – The Shape of Water

 

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS

Mckenna Grace – Gifted

Dafne Keen – Logan

Brooklynn Prince – The Florida Project

Millicent Simmonds – Wonderstruck

Jacob Tremblay – Wonder

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE

Dunkirk

Lady Bird

Mudbound

The Post

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

BEST DIRECTOR

Guillermo del Toro – The Shape of Water

Greta Gerwig – Lady Bird

Martin McDonagh – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Christopher Nolan – Dunkirk

Luca Guadagnino – Call Me By Your Name

Jordan Peele – Get Out

Steven Spielberg – The Post

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor – The Shape of Water

Greta Gerwig – Lady Bird

Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani – The Big Sick

Liz Hannah and Josh Singer – The Post

Martin McDonagh – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Jordan Peele – Get Out

 

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

James Ivory – Call Me by Your Name

Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber – The Disaster Artist

Dee Rees and Virgil Williams – Mudbound

Aaron Sorkin – Molly’s Game

Jack Thorne, Steve Conrad, Stephen Chbosky – Wonder

 

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Roger Deakins – Blade Runner 2049

Hoyte van Hoytema – Dunkirk

Dan Laustsen – The Shape of Water

Rachel Morrison – Mudbound

Sayombhu Mukdeeprom – Call Me By Your Name

 

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Paul Denham Austerberry, Shane Vieau, Jeff Melvin – The Shape of Water

Jim Clay, Rebecca Alleway – Murder on the Orient Express

Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis – Dunkirk

Dennis Gassner, Alessandra Querzola – Blade Runner 2049

Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer – Beauty and the Beast

Mark Tildesley, Véronique Melery – Phantom Thread

 

BEST EDITING

Michael Kahn, Sarah Broshar – The Post

Paul Machliss, Jonathan Amos – Baby Driver

Lee Smith – Dunkirk

Joe Walker – Blade Runner 2049

Sidney Wolinsky – The Shape of Water

 

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Renée April – Blade Runner 2049

Mark Bridges – Phantom Thread

Jacqueline Durran – Beauty and the Beast

Lindy Hemming – Wonder Woman

Luis Sequeira – The Shape of Water

 

BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP

Beauty and the Beast

Darkest Hour

I, Tonya

The Shape of Water

Wonder

 

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Blade Runner 2049

Dunkirk

The Shape of Water

Thor: Ragnarok

War for the Planet of the Apes

Wonder Woman

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

The Breadwinner

Coco

Despicable Me 3

The LEGO Batman Movie

Loving Vincent

BEST ACTION MOVIE

Baby Driver

Logan

Thor: Ragnarok

War for the Planet of the Apes

Wonder Woman

BEST COMEDY

The Big Sick

The Disaster Artist

Girls Trip

I, Tonya

Lady Bird

 

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY

Steve Carell – Battle of the Sexes

James Franco – The Disaster Artist

Chris Hemsworth – Thor: Ragnarok

Kumail Nanjiani – The Big Sick

Adam Sandler – The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)

 

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY

Tiffany Haddish – Girls Trip

Zoe Kazan – The Big Sick

Margot Robbie – I, Tonya

Saoirse Ronan – Lady Bird

Emma Stone – Battle of the Sexes

 

BEST SCI-FI OR HORROR MOVIE

Blade Runner 2049

Get Out

It

The Shape of Water

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

BPM (Beats Per Minute)

A Fantastic Woman

First They Killed My Father

In the Fade

The Square

Thelma

 

BEST SONG

Evermore – Beauty and the Beast

Mystery of Love – Call Me By Your Name

Remember Me – Coco

Stand Up for Something – Marshall

This Is Me – The Greatest Showman

BEST SCORE

Alexandre Desplat – The Shape of Water

Jonny Greenwood – Phantom Thread

Dario Marianelli – Darkest Hour

Benjamin Wallfisch and Hans Zimmer – Blade Runner 2049

John Williams – The Post

Hans Zimmer – Dunkirk

Steven Spielberg shot “The Post,” about how the Washington Post bucked Richard Nixon and published the Pentagon Papers, in just a couple of months. He started in July, and here it is, ready for release and the Oscars. It was a killer shoot but it was worth it.

The minute Meryl Streep comes onto the screen as publisher Katharine Graham, you feel bad for the other actresses who are so good this season and have been getting so much attention. That’s because Streep somehow does it again, she embodies a person we only knew publicly to the point where you’re sure it’s that person– it’s Graham herself mourning her husband (who committed suicide) and her father (who gave running of the paper to the husband, not to her, because she was a woman). And you see Graham’s story arc clearly from silenced and mousy to brave and defiant. It’s wonderful.

Tom Hanks is sensational as Ben Bradlee, the editor of the Post who a year after this story ended had to confront an even bigger one with Watergate. Hanks makes everything look easy but make no mistake– his Bradlee is a real construct, built from the editor’s brashness and determination. Hanks started this work on Broadway a couple of years ago as Mike McAlary in Nora Ephron’s “Lucky Guy.” He’s got the temperament of throwback newsmen on all the right notes.

“The Post” should be a big hit simply because Spielberg has made it a rallying cry against Fake News. It’s an endorsement of the Press as the watchdog of Washington, and shows the mechanism that brings a story like the Pentagon Papers to life. If you don’t already, in sum: Robert McNamara (played here by Bruce Greenwood just brilliantly) commissioned a study on the history of the Vietnam War and why we were still in it, in 1971. From the study he knew were losing the war, that it was unwinnable, but lied to the country that we were making progress.

Daniel Ellsberg (Matthew Rhys, excellent) was the whistleblower who turned the study over the to New York Times. They published it and Richard Nixon retaliated by getting an injunction against them. Ellsberg got more of the papers to the Post, and they defied Nixon’s White House. At the time, Graham was taking the Post public on the American Stock Exchange, and there was fear that the scandal of butting heads with Nixon would kill the deal. The paper, as the movie states, was near insolvency.

Of course, it’s easy to look back and say it all worked out. But in real time, then, things were not so clear. Nixon, like Trump, was a tyrant. Spielberg has the luxury now of using the real Nixon tapes so we can hear his plotting with cronies to destroy press freedoms. But when it really happened, we were scared– no one knew what Nixon was doing, or what the outcome would be. These (mostly) men and women put their careers on the line to get the truth about Vietnam to the people.

And then Watergate happened, which figures in this movie very cleverly. In many ways “The Post” is the prequel to “All the President’s Men.” Its ending is a little like Princess Leia at the end of “Rogue Nation,” handing off the plans to the Death Star.

Well, I really love “Dunkirk” and “Lady Bird” and “Phantom Thread,” “The Shape of Things,” etc. But the Best Picture is the movie with the Big Idea. “The Post” is that Big Idea. It gets a standing ovation.

PS Special mention to Bob Odenkirk, who’s wonderful as Ben Bagdikian, who pushed the story along at the paper. Also Michael Stulhbarg as Abe Rosenthal, and all the other well cast supporting parts. Greenwood has really become Benjamin Button. He’s top notch as McNamara, whose friendship with Graham gives texture and (information) to the film.

The “Gotti” movie again sleeps with the fishes.

Lions Gate has sold the John Travolta biopic directed by Kevin Connolly back to its producers and investors. The movie lists 38 names as producers of various levels.

Last week Lions Gate dropped “Gotti” from the December schedule. It’s said to be quite awful.  Travolta’s wife, Kelly Preston, and daughter, Ella Bleu Travolta, co-star with him.

Emmett Furla/Oasis, Highland Pictures and Fiore Films are the listed companies. Marc Fiore, an ex con with ties to the mob, runs the latter outfit. The movie is his labor of love. His brother, Thomas Fiore, indicted years ago with connections to the Bonnano family, is also a producer. So is Fay Devlin.

“Gotti” has a long and colorful history that includes gypsies, tramps and thieves, so to speak. One former player in it gave me a long interview in 2011, then was was indicted for fraud in a $4.6 million money laundering scheme. (As they say, doesn’t make him a bad guy!) Will we ever see it? Maybe on VOD. Or if someone makes us an offer we can’t refuse!

 

Lots going on this morning…

Danny Masterson, a lifetime Scientologist from a family of Scientologists, is best known for being on “That 70s Show.” Now he’s on Netflix’s “The Ranch” with “70s” pal Ashton Kutcher. But this morning, Masterson is fired from “The Ranch” and being written out as rape accusations pile up around him.

This is especially disturbing since Masterson is married to Bijou Phillips, the troubled youngest daughter of late Mamas and Papas founder John Phillips, and is plugged into LA’s tech world.

But Masterson has been accused of sexual assault by four different women. At the same time, the “Churh” of Scientology has gone to great lengths to protect him from prosecution, according to reports.

The breaking point with Netflix came apparently when one of Masterson’s accusers approached a Netflix exec after hours at a kids’ soccer game. She didn’t say she was an accuser, but asked the exec about Masterson. Andy Yeatman told the woman he didn’t believe the accusations. The story went viral quickly.

No one really watches “The Ranch” or knows what it is, so replacing Masterson isn’t a big deal. But Netflix finally taking action against him is, and the Scientology component doesn’t help since there have been many reports of violence against women in that cult….

MURDOCHS GETTING OUT OF MOVIE AND TV BUSINESS…

Seems from reports that Rupert Murdoch is finally getting of the movie and TV business. CNBC is reporting that negotiations are moving forward for Disney to buy Fox, or at least the entertainment part. When it’s done, the Murdochs will just be left with Fox News, Business and Sports. All the rest of it– your local Fox 5 channel, plus the “X Men” and even the current Oscar front runner, “The Post,” will be part of the Mouse House. Unclear how this affects the Fox lot in Century City, a very prime piece of real estate, since Disney has its own lot in Burbank…For Marvel, this will mean the repatriating of “X Men” to the fold. Fox also has its animation studio. Yesterday, the studio announced it was shutting down Fox International. Fox’s Stacey Snider could be out of a job, but she could also be heading to Disney for a bigger one…

 

Director Bryan Singer– sued and publicly shamed in the past with charges of pedophilia and sexual misconduct– is off the 20th Century Fox lot for good. He cleared out his offices this week after disappearing from the London set of “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

Singer claims he returned to the US to take care of an ailing parent. He says Fox knew this and wouldn’t give him the time. This doesn’t ring true.

Singer has made four blockbusters for Fox since 2003, all  “X Men” movies. Worldwide they grossed almost $2 billion. If he’d needed time off for a family emergency, the studio would have agreed.

But that’s not it, is it? Singer was already involved in a high profile sexual harassment case in 2014. Although it was withdrawn and dismissed, the stench lingers on. Singer is also the subject of what we call a Hollywood legend from the movie “The Usual Suspects.” Now actor Gabriel Byrne has alluded to trouble on that set because of star Kevin Spacey’s misconduct. The dots are all about to connect.

Singer and Spacey aren’t alone. More stories are coming and they won’t be pretty. Some, like theirs, are hiding in plain sight. It’s just a matter of time. Hollywood, as a friend says, is eating itself. And it won’t be done until everything has been vomited up. It’s going to be a long winter. Even Wolverine won’t be able to help.

Thanks to Steve Zeitchik of the Washington Post and others who are down at an anniversary screening of Barry Levinson’s “Wag the Dog.” This is happening in NY right now at the Tribeca Film Center.

At a panel discussion moderated by John Oliver with Levinson, Robert DeNiro and Dustin Hoffman, Oliver has apparently broken the conversation to attack Hoffman over sexual misconduct charges. It sounds wild. Zeitchik and some others are Tweeting out the extraordinary story as it unravels in real time.

Newest:

Oliver cited Hoffman’s response to an accuser that his behavior on set was “not reflective” of who Hoffman is. “It’s that kind of statement that pisses me off,” Oliver said. “It’s ‘not reflective of who I am.’ But it IS reflective of who you were.”

— Steven Zeitchik (@ZeitchikWaPo) December 5, 2017

All hell has now broken loose on this Wag The Dog panel. The subject seemed over after seven minutes but Hoffman brought it up again, saying Oliver is not keeping an “open mind” and is unquestionably believing accusers, and a testy five minutes followed.

— Steven Zeitchik (@ZeitchikWaPo) December 5, 2017

Oliver just asked people to stop recording his argument with Hoffman on their phone. “That’s what I hate about the Internet.” But i mean, isn’t that why he brought it up? To have a public conversation?

— Steven Zeitchik (@ZeitchikWaPo) December 5, 2017

“You’ve made this incredible assumption about me, sir.” Hoffman said to Oliver. Oliver says it’s something he had to bring it up before we watch the film #wagthedog

— Laura Podesta (@LauraPodestaTV) December 5, 2017

UPDATE Singer issued a statement saying he was treating an ill parent and that they wouldn’t give him time off. Doesn’t sound right since Singer had made millions for Fox with “X Men” movies. Something else is going on. Here’s his statement:
“With fewer than three weeks to shoot remaining, I asked Fox for some time off so I could return to the U.S. to deal with pressing health matters concerning one of my parents. This was a very taxing experience, which ultimately took a serious toll on my own health. Unfortunately, the studio was unwilling to accommodate me and terminated my services. This was not my decision and it was beyond my control,” Singer said in the statement. “Rumors that my unexpected departure from the film was sparked by a dispute I had with Rami Malek are not true. While, at times, we did have creative differences on set, Rami and I successfully put those differences behind us and continued to work on the film together until just prior to Thanksgiving. I wanted nothing more than to be able to finish this project and help honor the legacy of Freddie Mercury and Queen, but Fox would not permit me to do so because I needed to temporarily put my health, and the health of my loved ones, first.”

EARLIER Where oh where is Bryan Singer? Is he trolling junior high schools for pals? He’s certainly not in London directing “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the Fox film about Freddie Mercury and Queen.

No, Singer has gone AWOL and Fox has fired him. That’s it. Two weeks before finish, Singer– who has still not shown up with an explanation — is out. His cinematographer, Thomas Newton Sigel, has been filling in for him.

Singer– who’s made plenty of movies– is telling someone that he has PTSD from the stress of shooting a movie about rockers and fat bottomed ladies. My guess is he’s given the people on set PTSD.

The word around town is that one of the major publications– Times, Post, Variety, etc– is about to spring a big story about Singer’s sexual malfeasance. He’s been the subject of lawsuits and stories in the past.

For Fox to fire him is a big deal since Singer is closely associated with their “X Men” movies. But enough’s enough. Someone will replace him immediately. The Directors Guild will have to come in and see what’s going on and who gets final credit.

“Bohemian Rhapsody” stars Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury and Anthony Scaramucci– no just kidding.