Dunkirk, Darkest Hour, and Call Me By Your Name: More Movies that didn't win Best Picture

So I'm a little late, but it's time for me to review the remaining 5 movies that were nominated for Best Picture at this year's Oscars.  None of these movies won (that honor went to The Shape of Water), but a couple of them (only a couple) are still worth seeing.  First up are Dunkirk, Darkest Hour, and Call Me By Your Name.

1.  Dunkirk and Darkest Hour: I'm lumping these two together because they are basically about the exact same thing, and neither of them are very good.  Dunkirk tells the story of French and American soldiers stranded at Dunkirk Beach, France in 1940 during one of the darkest periods of World War II for the Allies.  After multiple air raids and bombings of the beach, British civilians use their private boats to rescue most of the soldiers (cue the swell of triumphant music).  This movie is full of stunning cinematography and things blowing up, but there really wasn't much of an actual plot.  There's no point in describing any of the characters, because they all kind of blended together onscreen.  Pop star Harry Styles played one of the soldiers in an okay but unremarkable performance, but the viewers didn't learn any sort of backstory about him or anyone else.  It is possible to make a war movie where viewers get to know and care about the characters (see Saving Private Ryan), but this movie definitely wasn't that.  It was all flash and no substance. 

Darkest Hour, meanwhile, followed the Dunkirk crisis from the perspective of newly elected British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Gary Oldman).  Oldman plays Churchill as a fussy but brilliant old man, in a showy but unremarkable give-me-my-Oscar-now performance (it worked, he won).  John Lithgow gives a much more nuanced Churchill performance in the Netflix show The Crown; I would definitely check that out before seeking out this movie.  Rounding out the main cast of Darkest Hour are Lily James as Churchill's private secretary Elizabeth Layton and Kristin Scott Thomas as his wife Clementine.  Both are fine, but this is really the Gary Oldman show.  Darkest Hour is superior to Dunkirk in that it at least has a plot, but it's a typical fussy British period piece: fine but not memorable in the least.

2.  Call Me By Your Name: This film would have been my pick for Best Picture.  It's the type of movie that sticks with you long after leaving the theater.  The main character and protagonist is Elio (Timothee Chalamet), the 17-year-old son of an archaeologist living in a small Italian town in 1983.  His father's assistant Oliver (Armie Hammer) arrives for the summer, and the two young men soon form a deep friendship that develops into something more.  The most refreshing part of this movie is the support that Elio receives for his new relationship from his family.  Rather than the typical forbidden gay love story, this is just a love story.  Elio is at first uncomfortable about the romance, but he soon comes into his own and falls head-first in love.  As with any other love story, this comes with a deep sense of despair when Oliver leaves at the end of the summer and Elio later learns that he's engaged to someone else.  Refreshingly, the film also doesn't define any of its characters as gay or straight.  Elio also briefly dates and has sex with a young local girl named Marzia, and Oliver is attracted to another girl named Chiara.  All 4 characters dance to the 80's hit "Love My Way" in one memorable scene, an expression of pure joy that the viewer gets sucked up into.  Hammer is good in his role as a masculine young guy that just happens to love another guy, but Chalamet is the real revelation here.  He imbues Elio with depth and heart, with mostly just his expressive eyes rather than extensive dialogue.  We feel his joy in the dance scene and in his love scenes with Oliver, and we also feel his deep sense of loss when Oliver leaves his life.  Chalamet also appeared in Lady Bird (another Best Picture nominee this year) in a small role, but in that movie we didn't get a sense of his true talent.  After this role (and his Oscar nomination) I expect his film career to continue for many years to come.  It should also be noted that this movie is rather graphic in its depictions of sex and nudity, but these only add to the story and aren't gratuitious in the least.  One scene involving a peach is kind of weird and icky, but I went with it because by that point I was fully invested in the characters.  This is a small independent film that didn't make much money at the box office, but I would suggest seeking it out.  As long as you're not a homophobe, you won't be disappointed.