THE OSCARS VS. THE LALLYS

I finally got to watch The Oscars, in three parts, spread out over two days, and it was a good enough show, I thought, with choices that were good enough. But it's not what my awards would have looked like.

For Best Picture The Lally would go to THE FLORIDA PROJECT, with GET OUT and A FANTASTIC WOMAN so close it would almost be a three-way tie. All three movies are to my mind the most original and unexpected films of 2017. And because they would be my best picture picks, their directors would be my best director picks as well: Sean Baker, Jordan Peele, and Sebastian Lelio.

And Best Original Screenplay would go to the same three flicks: so Baker and Chris Bergoch for THE FLORIDA PROJECT, Jordan Peele for GET OUT (the only category The Oscars agreed with me on), and Lelio and Gonzales Maza for A FANTSTIC WOMAN.

For Best Adapted Screenplay, The Lally goes to Destin Daniel Getton and Andrew Lanham for their adaptation of the novel by Jeannette Walls for THE GLASS CASTLE (in which Woody Harrelson gave the performance he should have been nominated for, as did Ella Anderson...).

And my choice for Best Actor In A Leading Role (I no longer think we should have separate categories for two genders, since I have felt since I was a boy, and written about since I was a young man, gender is a spectrum that includes a lot more than two of anything) is Brooklyn Prince, the child actor in THE FLORIDA PROJECT who gives a performance so stunning and original and nuanced and superior she should have had her own category.

Right behind her though is Bria Vinaite, who played her mother in THE FLORIDA PROJECT, and Daniela Vega in A FANTASTIC WOMAN, best actors of 2017. As for Best Supporting Actor, The Lally goes to Betty Gabriel, who gave the most challenging moments for her conflicted character such humanity she almost single-handedly created the horror/comedy/political commentary film GET OUT's most poignant scenes.

As for Best Editing and Best Cinematography, they both go to THE FLORIDA PROJECT. So there you have it kids. That's my professional and educated and obviously also subjective personal answer to the Oscar choices.