Why Phantom Thread Will Win Best Picture
Tis the week before the Oscars, and 9 films are ramping up their campaigns in a last-minute push for the top prize of them all, Best Picture. The biggest award has the potential to be either one of the most anticlimactic or most surprising result in recent years. The former is true, because really only two films have won any of the prizes on the awards circuit, and one of those [Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water] is a notable step ahead in the sweepstakes. However, neither frontrunner is a traditional winner, nor is without controversy; those facts, as well as the Oscars' less predictable preferential voting system means that no nominee can be counted out of the race. Birdman's and Spotlight's upsets in 2015 and 16, and Moonlight's stunner last year taught us to expect the unexpected, so we're here to give fans of all 9 nominees reason to believe on Sunday.
I’ll have to try and keep my bias out of this because Phantom Thread is my favorite of the nine films nominated, but I just have to break it down and tell you why this instant Paul Thomas Anderson classic has a chance at bringing home the gold this Sunday. Phantom Thread was a surprise nomination. To be sure, Best Costume Design, Best Original Score, Best Director and Actor nominations were nice (and deserved), but most of those were to be expected. For a movie that saw a small release on Christmas Day and not much traction sense, being a contender for the top honor is unexpected. For what it's worth, the film Twitter and film nerd community is gaga for Phantom Thread attending live orchestral screenings seeing it upwards of three times:
But why should the Academy care about what the fans think? The Academy is obsessed with Daniel Day Lewis, and-- especially since it’s his self-proclaimed final film before retiring --I can definitely see them handing him the Best Actor statue. Buuuuut since it’ll probably go to alleged abuser Gary Oldman, I imagine they'll pay their respects in another way. Okay- a far off theory, but more realistically, in a politically charged world and in recognition of an increasingly politically charged medium, the Academy (even though riddled with new members) might just play it safe. No award to fish sex, peach sex, or white people that kill or control black people. Phantom Thread is potentially the least “political” film, and is a beautiful one at that. If the Academy is filled with a bunch of hungry boys that love to see their sexual fantasies played out by two people slowly destroying each other in order to become the best version of themselves, then this is the winner for them. Paul Thomas Anderson has been shafted by the Academy before with There WIll Be Blood; is this his time to shine? In his strongest, most delicate, beautifully nuanced film it could be time. Objectively, (YEAH OBJECTIVELY!) Phantom Thread is the best completed project of all nine films, and that is no argument. Every second, every millisecond is perfectly calculated and yet flawlessly executed. Academy, take note.