Oscar® Nominations: 2018

It is time for one of the most prestigious film awards of the year: the list of Oscar®-nominated films has been announced! There are both surprises and expected additions, as well as some insane snubs (How The Greatest Showman got only one nomination is beyond me, and no mention of Girls Trip at all? Come on…). There will be plenty of Oscars® content to come before the award ceremony on March 4, but for now, you can form your own opinions on what will and will not take home that golden statue. To see Reeltalk’s take on nominated films, follow the links at the bottom of the page.

Trivia: The Shape of Water leads for most nominations at 13 (the same as last year’s La La Land).

The Greatest Showman is a Cinematic Musical at its Finest

This entire film is summed up best by one of its more background characters – the critic, James Gordon Bennett, looks P.T. Barnum in the face and says, “I wouldn’t call this art, but perhaps a celebration of humanity.” This film is not art, at least not in the sense that it is perfect – it does get very close with wonderfully uplifting songs, spectacular dances, and the sort of magic that is the ultimate culmination of theater and film – but it also doesn’t aim to be art. The Greatest Showman draws us in with an extremely arrogant title and the promise of a musical unlike anything we’ve ever seen before (and yes, it was a musical, I want to emphasize that for everyone in the back who will complain that they didn’t know it was a musical when they bought the ticket), but it’s not about being a musical we’ve never seen before – it’s about reminding us how magical a musical can be. This movie was in production for seven years because it was a musical and studios worried about backing an original musical, even one that starred Hugh Jackman and was centered on a circus, and you can see that in all of the work that went into creating it. As far as story goes, it’s a little bland, but as far as magic goes? It reminds us of why we love movies, theater, and the circus in the first place.