She might have been pseudo-dead, but at this point we definitely know she's not for-real dead.

I should probably watch that movie at some point for completeness' sake. I think I went "whatever" at that time because the second movie was such a let-down. I mean, John Woo! Thandie Newton looking so breathtaking that I could barely look upon her face straight-on! But the villain was so boring, ugh. But #4 and #5 were great and this one doesn't look too shabby.

I can't believe the damn thing has been going on for 20+ years.

Henry Cavill looking debonair in suits and having fight scenes would be enough to make me put up with Crazy Tom Cruise jumping out of airplanes or off couches, but Angela Bassett seals the deal.

And the stunt where Tom Cruise broke his ankle is in the trailer.

Henry Cavill's mustache was posting to his Instagram on Sunday night - it may be the breakout star of the whole show.

Finally got through the best picture nominees. I liked The Post more than I thought I would, which seems to be a running theme with the last few stragglers.

My personal ranking of all nine would probably be something like:
Lady Bird
Get Out
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Darkest Hour
Phantom Thread
The Post
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water
Call Me By Your Name

With the top three and bottom three being pretty clear cut and the middle three being fairly flexible on any given day.

I just got back from seeing Phantom Thread... man, was that a twisted ending. Very good throughout though, and excellent performances by all involved. And it has to have the Costume Design Oscar in the bag, right? (Though when I saw the first dress, my immediate thought was "where's the black wimple and poison apple?")

And it has to have the Costume Design Oscar in the bag, right?

One would think. My guess is that it won't win any "big" awards but will nap Costume Design and Best Original Score, with Shape of Water the only one presenting real challenge for both awards. SoW will almost certainly win the Best Director for Del Toro (and I wouldn't be surprised if it gets Best Film, honestly) so it'll all shake out evenly, I think.

I could see Daniel Day Lewis winning as a dark horse candidate what with the public announcement of this being his last film. Though maybe the Academy would instead go for a special Lifetime Achievement award down the line.

I think Gary Oldman has that category in the bag. He's good and a dominating force in The Darkest Hour and the Academy loves biopics. Phantom Thread is more of a three-header, plus DDL already has like 3 Best Actor Oscars at home. :) That said, upsets are always possible. I would place my odds at something like 80% Oldman, 10% Timonthee Chalamet, and 10% DDL. I don't think there is any chance that Daniel Kaluuya or Denzel would cause an upset.

The more I think of it, the more I'm astounded by how many noms Phantom Thread got. It's such a weird film. I guess it does have all the surface trappings of a prestige pic.

It had a feel that kind of reminded me of Shadowlands. If C.S. Lewis were a fussbudget dressmaker and Joy Davidman had won his heart by poisoning him instead of coming down with cancer herself, I guess.