The 2017 Brickwall Film Awards

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by

Sam Kench

in

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The Oscars get it wrong pretty often. In fact, they rarely get it right. To set the record straight (and really just for a bit of fun), I’m looking back at past years and re-picking the nominees and winners for the major Oscars categories and a couple of new categories of my own. This time we’re looking at the films of 2017.

A couple of up front notes:

  • I don’t distinguish between adapted and original screenplays and instead have only one best screenplay category.
  • I don’t consider it right to cordon off foreign language films into a separate category and instead include them more directly in the running for all categories.
  • I don’t think it makes sense to separate actors by gender. However, I am still include separate best actor and actress categories purely because it allows for more great performances to be recognized.
  • For best music, I consider the usage of pre-existing music alongside original compositions.
  • The new categories that I’m adding are best horror and best action, two genres historically underrepresented at the Academy Awards.
  • Since the Academy allows up to 10 nominations in the best picture category, I will allow up to 10 nominations in ALL categories if there are enough great candidates to justify it.

Best supporting actor

Who the Academy picked:

  • ***Sam Rockwell – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri***
  • Willem Dafoe – The Florida Project
  • Woody Harrelson – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
  • Richard Jenkins – The Shape of Water
  • Christopher Plummer – All the Money in the World

My picks:

  • Willem Dafoe – The Florida Project
  • Sam Rockwell – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri
  • Tracy Letts – Lady Bird
  • Simon Russell Beale – The Death of Stalin
  • Steve Zahn – Lean on Pete
  • Will Poulter – Detroit
  • Benny Safdie – Good Time
  • Barry Keoghan – The Killing of a Sacred Deer
  • Terry Notary – The Square
  • ***Kôji Yakusho – The Third Murder***

Best Supporting Actress

Who the Academy picked:

  • ***Allison Janney – I, Tonya***
  • Mary J. Blige – Mudbound
  • Lesley Manville – Phantom Thread
  • Laurie Metcalf – Lady Bird 
  • Octavia Spencer – The Shape of Water

My picks:

  • Jennifer Carpenter – Brawl in Cell Block 99
  • Beanie Feldstein – Lady Bird
  • Chloë Sevigny – Lean on Pete
  • Hong Chau – Downsizing
  • Bridget Everett – Patti Cake$
  • ***Laurie Metcalf – Lady Bird***

best lead actor

Who the Academy picked:

  • ***Gary Oldman – Darkest Hour***
  • Timothée Chalamet – Call Me by Your Name
  • Daniel Day-Lewis – Phantom Thread
  • Daniel Kaluuya – Get Out
  • Denzel Washington – Roman J. Israel, Esq.

My picks:

  • Timothée Chalamet – Call Me By Your Name
  • Sol Kyung-gu – Memoir of a Murderer
  • Masaharu Fukuyama – The Third Murder
  • Vince Vaugn – Brawl in Cell Block 99
  • Song Kang-ho – A Taxi Driver
  • Colin Farrell – The Killing of a Sacred Deer
  • Joaquin Phoenix – You Were Never Really Here
  • Harry Dean Stanton – Lucky
  • Robert Pattinson – Good Time
  • ***Ethan Hawk – First Reformed***

best lead actress

Who the Academy picked:

  • ***Frances McDormand – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri***
  • Sally Hawkins – The Shape of Water
  • Margot Robbie – I, Tonya
  • Saoirse Ronan – Lady Bird
  • Meryl Streep – The Post

My picks:

  • Carla Gugino – Gerald’s Game
  • Jessica Chastain – Molly’s Game
  • Bria Vinaite – The Florida Project
  • Nicole Kidman – The Killing of a Sacred Deer
  • McKenna Grace – Gifted
  • Danielle Macdonald – Patti Cake$
  • Rooney Mara – A Ghost Story
  • Melanie Lynskey – I Don’t Feel At home In This World Anymore
  • Margot Robbie – I, Tonya
  • ***Frances McDormand – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri***

best editing

What the Academy picked:

  • ***Dunkirk – Lee Smith***
  • Baby Driver – Paul Machliss and Jonathan Amos
  • I, Tonya – Tatiana S. Riegel
  • The Shape of Water – Sidney Wolinsky
  • Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – Jon Gregory

My picks:

  • Dunkirk – Lee Smith
  • Baby Driver – Paul Machliss and Jonathan Amos
  • The Third Murder – Hirokazu Koreeda
  • Mother! – Andrew Weisblum
  • First Reformed – Ben Rodriguez Jr.
  • Good Time – Ronald Bronstein and Benny Safdie
  • The Florida Project – Sean Baker
  • The Rider – Alex O’Flinn
  • John Wick: Chapter 2 – Evan Schiff
  • ***Finding Frances – Andrew Fitzgerald, Adam Locke-Norton, and Eric Notarnicola***

best music

What the Academy picked:

  • ***The Shape of Water – Alexandre Desplat***
  • Dunkirk – Hans Zimmer
  • Phantom Thread – Jonny Greenwood
  • Star Wars: The Last Jedi – John Williams
  • Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – Carter Burwell

My picks:

  • Dunkirk – Hans Zimmer
  • Mother! – Jóhann Jóhannsson
  • Patti Cake$ – Geremy Jasper and Jason Binnick
  • Wind River – Nick Cave and Warren Ellis
  • ***Good Time – Oneohtrix Point Never***

best cinematography

What the Academy picked:

  • ***Blade Runner 2049 – Roger Deakins***
  • Darkest Hour – Bruno Delbonnel
  • Dunkirk – Hoyte van Hoytema
  • Mudbound – Rachel Morrison
  • The Shape of Water – Dan Laustsen

My picks:

  • Phantom Thread – Paul Thomas Anderson
  • Mother! – Matthew Libatique
  • First Reformed – Alexander Dynan
  • Good Time – Sean Price Williams
  • The Killing of a Sacred Deer – Thimios Bakatakis
  • The Villainess – Park Jung-hun
  • The Rider – Joshua James Richards
  • The Square – Fredrik Wenzel
  • November – Mart Taniel
  • ***Blade Runner 2049 – Roger Deakins***

best screenplay

What the Academy picked:

  • ***Call Me by Your Name – James Ivory***
  • The Disaster Artist – Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber
  • Logan – Scott Frank, James Mangold and Michael Green
  • Molly’s Game – Aaron Sorkin
  • Mudbound – Virgil Williams and Dee Rees
  • ***Get Out – Jordan Peele***
  • The Big Sick – Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani
  • Lady Bird – Greta Gerwig
  • The Shape of Water – Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor
  • Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – Martin McDonagh

My picks:

  • Molly’s Game – Aaron Sorkin
  • Lady Bird – Greta Gerwig
  • Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – Martin McDonagh
  • The Death of Stalin – Fabien Nury, Armando Iannucci, David Schneider, and Ian Martin
  • Brawl in Cell Block 99 – S. Craig Zahler
  • First Reformed – Paul Schrader
  • Good Time – Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie
  • The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) – Noah Baumbach
  • The Killing of a Sacred Deer – Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthymis Filippou
  • ***The Square – Ruben Östlund***

best director

  • ***Guillermo del Toro – The Shape of Water ***
  • Christopher Nolan – Dunkirk
  • Jordan Peele – Get Out
  • Greta Gerwig – Lady Bird
  • Paul Thomas Anderson – Phantom Thread

My picks:

  • Greta Gerwig – Lady Bird
  • One Cut of the Dead – Shinichiro Ueda
  • Hirokazu Koreeda – The Third Murder
  • Sean Baker – The Florida Project
  • S. Craig Zahler – Brawl in Cell Block 99
  • Paul Schrader – First Reformed
  • Josh and Benny Safdie – Good Time
  • Yorgos Lanthimos – The Killing of a Sacred Deer
  • Nathan Fielder – Finding Frances
  • ***Chloe Zhao – The Rider***

Best action

My picks:

  • The Foreigner
  • Brawl in Cell Block 99
  • The Villainess
  • You Were Never Really Here
  • Blade of the Immortal
  • Baby Driver
  • Logan
  • ***John Wick: Chapter 2***

Best horror

My picks:

  • Tigers Are Not Afraid
  • Gerald’s Game
  • Mother!
  • Thelma
  • The Killing of a Sacred Deer
  • The Evil Within
  • November
  • ***One Cut of the Dead***

best picture

What the Academy picked:

  • ***The Shape of Water ***
  • Call Me by Your Name
  • Darkest Hour
  • Dunkirk 
  • Get Out
  • Lady Bird 
  • Phantom Thread
  • The Post 
  • Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

My picks:

  • Lady Bird
  • Blade Runner 2049
  • One Cut of the Dead
  • The Third Murder
  • Brawl in Cell Block 99
  • First Reformed
  • Good Time
  • The Florida Project
  • The Killing of a Sacred Deer
  • ***Finding Frances***

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