Nominations 2017: A Postmortem

This year's batch of nominees marks nine long decades of the Academy Awards. With that in mind, it's interesting to view these nominees in terms of how they represent the incremental changes to Oscar's palette over the years. There are of course, certain preferences of his to which he continues to hold on to tightly, but overall, I'd say that there's much to be pleased with here. So herein lies some of my first impressions to Oscar's Best of 2017:

Final Predictions: 2017

It's Oscar Nominations 2018 y'all!

Montgomery Clift, A Place in the Sun

Montgomery Clift has a face that was meant to be gazed at. As if by the grace of God, his matinee idol looks pull you in, commanding you to pay attention.

The camera knows this. The opening seconds of A Place in the Sun is that of an opening long shot of Monty, his back to us. His turn to the camera is accompanied with a swell in the score, as if we've experienced some sort of dramatic reveal. It then closes in on Monty's face, very close. Too close? This happens on a number of occasions throughout the film, the camera encroaching rather tightly into Monty's personal space and lingering its focus on that mug of his for our collective gaze.