The Oscars are now just over a month away and I know we’ve already seen (or even ignored) all kinds of ceremonies, but the Academy Awards are the biggies, the ones they mention when you die.
 
While we thought someone would perish from the embarrassment of last year’s Best Picture snafu, we’re told six steps have been taken to make sure it doesn’t happen again. The PwC employees who were behind the envelope mix-up won’t be there (they didn’t lose their jobs, by the way) but there are several measures that will be put into place, including a rule for no phones backstage. You may recall that the man who passed off the wrong envelope had just taken and tweeted a picture of Emma Stone. Oops.
 
I’m done with trying to choose winners. Of course, by the time the Oscars roll around, we’ve seen who has taken home statues and it becomes pretty obvious who’ll likely win that big night of March 4th. We have seen two of the contenders so far, including Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. There were a few things that made this film so exceptional: the film itself, an incredible cast and seeing it with friends in nice comfy theatre recliners.
 
I can’t remember when last we took time with friends to see and then discuss a movie over a relaxed dinner afterwards. But that’s what we did with our friends Nancy and Charles, and it was almost like what I imagine a book club accomplishes: you get a chance to savour and pick apart what you’ve just experienced and you share different perspectives on meanings and revelations. There are lot to unpack in this movie about a woman whose daughter is murdered and rents out three billboards to push the cops to deepen their investigation.
 
Frances McDormand is her normal, wonderful, who-gives-a-damn self, but you’d be wrong to mistake that seeming ease for a lack of effort, talent or great depth. A revelation in this was Sam Rockwell as the ne’er-do-well cop – you’ll love his cranky mother’s character – and there’s unexpected sweetness in the form of Woody Harrelson’s sheriff and Peter Dinklage’s unrequited boyfriend character. There’s just so much to this movie that it really is no wonder people are tripping over themselves to give it accolades. I’m among them.
 
See Three Billboards with friends. I promise you’ll want to talk about it later, too. Have a great weekend and thanks so much for sharing this week with me. We saw another movie while we were in Seattle and we’ll talk about The Post here later next week in case, like us, you want to catch the Oscar contenders, too, and wonder if they’re worth your money. Take care.