By Rick Davis
Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards is the start of awards season and it is a good chance to see what movies have the spotlight shining on them leading up to the Academy Awards. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri looks to be a front-runner having won four Globes including Best Dramatic Picture, Best Dramatic Actress (Frances McDormand), Best Supporting Actor (Sam Rockwell) and Best Screenplay. It can still be seen at Landmark Cinemas Grand 10.
Another frontrunner is Steven Spielberg’s latest and it opens on screens in Kelowna this weekend. The Post stars Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks and is a historical drama about the unprecedented battle between journalism and government over publishing the Pentagon Papers which involved a cover-up regarding the Vietnam War that spanned four U.S. presidents. The film is centred around America’s first female newspaper publisher, Kay Graham (Streep) of the Washington Post and its hard-as-nails editor Ben Bradlee (Hanks) and was nominated for six Golden Globe Awards including Best Dramatic Picture, Best Director, Best Dramatic Actress and Best Dramatic Actor.
Another Oscar contender opening this weekend is The Shape of Water with director Guillermo del Toro walking away with a Golden Globe on Sunday. It was also nominated for Best Dramatic Picture, Best Dramatic Actress (Sally Hawkins), Best Supporting Actress (Octavia Spencer) and Best Supporting Actor (Richard Jenkins). Critics are calling it del Toro’s best since Pan’s Labyrinth and typical to his unique style, this fantastical movie is set against the backdrop of the Cold War about a lonely woman who works in a high-security government laboratory. Her life is changed forever when she discovers a secret classified experiment.
Paddington 2 is the sequel to the 2014 worldwide hit based upon the popular character created by Michael Bond. While Nicole Kidman does not return for the sequel, Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Brendan Gleeson, Julie Walters and Jim Broadbent are all back as is Ben Whishaw as the voice of the Paddington Bear. Joining the cast is Brendan Gleeson and Hugh Grant in this new adventure in which Paddington must track down the thief of a book he wanted to purchase for his aunt’s 100th birthday. It currently holds a 100 per cent Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 72 reviews and looks to be an excellent choice for the entire family to see.
Liam Neeson is back in what he has done best lately – an intense action film. The Commuter has him as an insurance salesman who is on typical daily commute home. However, it quickly becomes anything but routine when he is contacted by a mysterious stranger and suddenly becomes a life and death situation. He must uncover the identity of a hidden passenger on his train before it reaches the last stop, or his life and the lives of his fellow passengers are at risk. Also starring Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Jonathan Banks, Elizabeth McGovern and Sam Neill it is directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, who previously teamed with Neeson on Unknown, Non-Stop, Run All Night and also directed The Shallows with Blake Lively.