I, Tonya

With the Academy Award season now but a distant memory (still ecstatic that del Toro and The Shape of Water won what they did) it's time to play catch up. While I was pretty happy with having seen most of the heavy hitters from this year's picks, there are still several films floating around that I couldn't quite fit in before the Big Night and also didn't get the wider recognition that they quite deserved. One of them is I, Tonya. Which is a bit a shame because it's well worth your time.

The film covers what is potentially one of the oddest incidents in the history of professional sport. Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie) was a controversial figure skater who became the first American woman to complete the incredibly tricky Triple Axel manoeuvre during a competition. After overcoming various obstacles, Harding made it through to America's Winter Olympic Team in 1994. However, her world came crashing down when, through a bizarre series of circumstances, Harding's husband, Jeff Gillooy (Stan Sebastian) ended up becoming the instigator of a successful attack on fellow US figure skating competitor Nancy Kerrigan. This all but dashed any chance of Harding had of continuing professionally in the sport. Harding instantly become one of the most reviled figures in sport ... and I, Tonya seeks to explore who this woman actually was and where she came from.

I, Tonya is a great little film that give plenty of opportunities for its great cast to shine

One thing that does really work in the film's favour is the heightened sense of unreality. This is clearly a glossy, ficitonalised take on the proceedings and the film doesn't shy away from this. In true Martin Scorsese-style fashion, we are treated to fake interviews after the fact, characters directly breaking the fourth wall to explain things to the audience, quick pan cinematography, even quicker edits and the ever so slightly cartoonish speed of the figure skating action, sprinkled with dashes of delicious black comedy. For a story with plenty of contradicting elements and heresay, going for a style and narrative that is borderline unreliable is probably the smartest move director Craig Gillespie could make. And for the most part, the whole thing works really well. The narrative rockets along at a satisfying pace, hitting all the key moments of Harding's life. The ice skating routines themselves are thrilling and expertly handled. You will believe that Margot Robbie can ice skate like a champion! Speaking of which, and it goes without saying, Margot Robbie is just excellent as Tonya. She successfully rides the line of making Tonya a very flawed, but still very rootable, human being. No easy feat to pull off. She has a lot to deal with - abusive husband and mother, her own hang-ups with anger issues, judgement from the wider figure skating world for her "white trash upbringing"; all this though doesn't stop her drive to be a champion. 

Alison Janney plays Tonya's mother LaVona, in a well-deserved Oscar winning turn that is just terrific. Being somewhat at the centre of many of Tonya's hang up and neurosis, LaVona is a very complicated and an often cruel woman but argues that this is what made her daughter into a champion pushing her into the sport at the very early age after understanding her natural talent. Vicious and abusive, Janney is just engrossing in her performance. And it's the relationship between Robbie and Janney that serves as the crux of the film. I guess this and Lady Bird marks 2018 as the year of destructive mother / daughter relationships! 

Rounding off the main cast is Sebstain Stan as Jeff Gillooy, the man who, through some levels of stupidity, ended up orchestrating the attack on Kerrigan. The warning signs are there pretty early on with him levelling some fairly brutal forms of abuse lat Tonya. Stan, probably most famous at the moment for playing Bucky Barnes i.e. the Winter Solider in the Marvel films, displays varying degrees of sophistication in his performance as Gillooly and is almost unrecognisable in the retrospective interviews. He is somewhat of a walking contradiction, and Stan just gets lost in the character. 

Alison Janney gives an Oscar winning performance as Tonya's cruel mother, LaVona

With a great cast in tow, the film just glides from excellent scene to excellent scene at a breakneck pace, quickly covering the complete arc of Tonya's early life, leading up to the "incident", as the film dubs it. I do think the film loses a bit of steam around this middle point, ironically when it starts to show the machinations about how the "incident" came into play. The scenes are fine, it just loses some of the drive and central focus. When we shift back to Tonya and how it starts to affect her career, it becomes all engrossing again. It's not that it's bad or anything, I just didn't find Paul Walter Hauser's Shawn, who has self-appointed himself as Tonya's largely useless body guard, all that funny and wished the focus would shift back to the titular character.

Overall though, I, Tonya is a terrific blast of energy that trips up only a couple of times towards its big finish finale. Robbie and Janney give some all time great performances that highlight the complexities of trying to succeed in a world out to get you.  The film's zippy pace and black comedy make it an entertaining ride but it also doesn't shy away from the more tragic elements. The credits treat you to authentic footage of the real Tonya Harding ice skating, along with interviews from the real people involved, and it all becomes abundantly clear. Yes, this strange and kind of sad tale was real. This actually happened. So if you're in need of an underappreciated little gem from this year's Oscar season, I, Tonya will more than scratch that itch. And maybe get you interested in figure skating. Maybe.

Studio Ghibli: A Retrospective, Part Eleven - Whisper of the Heart

The meta-narrative of Whisper of the Heart is the story of the film's director, Yoshifumi Kondo. Kondo served as much a key part of the Studio Ghibli narrative as Miyazaki, Takahata or Suzuki. Born in 1950, Kondo became associated with Miyazaki and Takahata early on, working on TV projects such as Future Boy Conan and Anne of Green Gables. He was eventually promoted to character designer on the TV series Sherlock Hound in 1980. Following a spate of inactivity in the mid-1980s, due to recovering from pneumonia, Kondo re-joined his former animation comrades at Studio Ghibli in 1987 where he was quickly promoted to animation director on Kiki's Delivery Service, Only Yesterday and, eventually, Princess Mononoke. While a huge chunk of the gorgeous animation can be attributed to the visions of Miyazaki and Takahata, Kondo had to actually execute this vision. A hugely important role. The studio's faith was so strong in Kondo, that they gave him a project of his own to direct, Whisper of the Heart, released in 1995. The 1990s was period when Ghibli really began to consider their legacy for the first time. Kondo was expected to become one of the top directors at Studio Ghibli and, eventually, Miyazaki and Takahata's successor. However, following the conclusion of production on Princess Mononoke in 1997, Kondo died the following year of aortic dissection. His death is said to have been caused by excessive work and contributed in part to Miyazaki deciding to retire from filmmaking in the late 90s. While he would eventually return to the studio for Spirited Away, Kondo's death was the catalyst to work at a more relaxed pace at Ghibli. This leaves Whisper of the Heart as the only film in Kondo's filmography, a bittersweet epitaph to a clear animation genius. 

Yoshifumi Kondo 1950-1998

So how does Kondo's only film hold? Pretty well actually. While it's a bit slight in places and takes a while to get going, Whisper of the Heart slowly builds into a lovely film about the teenage experience, yearning, learning to take responsibility, overcoming depression and, ultimately, working towards attaining one's aspirations. Based on the manga series Mimi o Sumaseba, by noted shojo author Aoi Hiiragi, it is a great encapsulation of  where Studio Ghibli were in the 1990s, telling a subtle story placed very much in the real world, with only hints of the fantasy elements that distinguish their previous works, along with a very mature art design and approach to the animation.

Shizuku is a sullen 14 year old struggling with many of the usual teenage problems - family life is a bore, with both parents busy pursuing a career in education and a sister away at college, the pressures of school life and exams encroaching with her every step, hanging out with her friends and trying to avoid that one really obnoxious boy she can't stand. Hormones have hit Shizuku hard and her only solace is her books. She also seems to enjoy writing. Her school friends take great delight in her translated version of the John Denver classic Take Me Home, Country Roads, which is reinterpreted to be about her feelings being, basically, depressed (she has, however, done a more comical version called Concrete Roads, poking fun at the urban diaspora of Tokyo). But there's something ... missing in her life. She admits that even reading doesn't make as happy as it once did. Hrm. 

Honestly, what saves the slow moving first act of Whisper of the Heart is the characterisation of Shizuku. She might be the most nuanced of all the Ghibli heroines. She's a bit lazy, unambitious and is battling with her hormones but she is kind, understanding and sweet. She can be somewhat selfish at times but she is ultimately more intelligent than she realises. Shizuku eventually uses her daydreaming to her advantage, when she starts to draw this into her writing. It does soon become apparent that Shizuku has some form of depression that comes from a yearning to complete ... something. 

Whisper of the Heart is a great addition to the Ghibli canon. Whilst not a personal favourite, it has so much going for it  that it definitely warrants multiple watches

Things start to change when Shizuku notices that every book she borrows from the library has the same name on the check-out card - Seiji Omasawa. Getting swept up in one of her fantasies, she almost imagines this idealised young man in her head. Her yearning for adventure leads her to following a cat across town she seemingly seems to be egging her on (almost lie Alice following the White Rabbit). The trail eventually finishes at an old antique shop. She meets the shop proprietor, an old man, who owns a variety of trinkets including a statue of a cat character named the Baron. She eventually realises that the old man's grandson, the obnoxious boy she keeps running into who I mentioned earlier, is in fact Seiji Omasawa. To be brutally honest, I do find the opening 45 mins or so painfully slow. There doesn't seem to be any clear goal, at least not until our lock in with the story. When it's revealed who Seiji Omasawa is, the film peaks up in interest. Seiji, as it turns out, has a rather unconventional hobby - he builds violins and dreams of studying with the greats in Italy. The revitalised narrative begins with Seiji showing off his violin playing skills by playing Country Roads. She fumbles along, trying to sing the lyrics and they are soon joined by Seiji's grandfather and friends, which turns into a musical extravaganza. Honestly, this might be one of my all-time favourite Ghibli scenes. 

The famous Country Roads scene - easily in my top 10 favourite Ghibli scenes

However, things take a sad turn. Just as Shizuku and Seiji begin to defrost their previously icy relationship and become very close, the violin maker announces that he is moving to Italy for a year to study with the masters of the craft. After finally finding the One, Shizuku faces the prospect of being alone once again. Shizuku decides to funnel her depression and loneliness into writing a novel. Seiji and his grandfather provided her with the inspiration to write a story, now she just has to complete it. This is where the wonderful fantasy sequences come into play. Shizuku imagines herself as the heroine in a wind-swept realm, accompanying the Baron on a grand adventure, as a visualisation of her laying about the narrative framework for her novel. Shizuku decides to turn the statue of the Baron into the main hero of her story, much to the delight of Seiji's grandfather, who actually has something of a sad backstory of how it fell into his posession. These fantasy sequences are just stunning, especially in the sophisticated world building and how they reflect what is happening in Shizuku's life. Invariably, her new focus takes her away from her studies and her grades at school begin to slip. Her parents offer an ultimatum - get on with your studies or finish the book. 

The brilliant fantasy sequences help to visual Shizuku laying out the track for the narrative of her novel and experience her emotions

The conclusion is sweet. On a foggy Tokyo morning, after finishing the first draft of her book, Seiji, out of the blue, returns to Japan and goes to see Shizuku. The two rush up to the top of a nearby hill to watch the dawn break. The realism of the animation here is truly breath-taking. Shizuku admits that she is not a perfect person and that there's a lot she needs to do to make her into the best version of her. The two ultimately make an unbreakable bond to support each in all their future endevours. Thus caps off Whisper of the Heart. It's not a perfect film and I certainly wouldn't recommend it for those just getting acquainted with Ghibli. However, there is a profound sense of maturity to the story-telling and animation. It's stripped back, for sure, and the first act is very slow moving but Whisper of the Heart manages to pull it back with a very emotionally gripping narrative arc. I think it's the honest sentimentality of the teenage experience that really holds it all together. Shizuku is a great addition to the pantheon of Ghibli heroes and her struggles navigating teenage life are all too relatable. At the end of the day, the film is subtle and quietly moving. As usual, every aspect of the art design and animation is perfect, with the animators clearly pouring their real life experiences of living in Tokyo and similar urban diaspora into every frame. Basically, this is the film that Ocean Waves should have been. The underrated score by Yuji Nomi is also fairly wonderfully, lending a fairy tale like sense of wonder to the proceedings. And as a debut film, it is incredibly assured. It just makes me a bit sad that Kondo was never able to follow up on this film. He was certainly a great talent and had the spark of an animation genius. 

Some quick notes on the dub and it's just a-ok. Brittany Snow is spot on as Shizuku adding a vulnerability whilst retaining her slightly more brattish but ultimately sweet tendencies. David Gallagher voices Seiji in his trademark Riku voice (yes, that's Riku of Kingdom Hearts fame, making this something of a mini reunion for the voice actors of this video game series, as Snow voiced Namine in the second instalment). Cary Elwes voices the Baron in the fantasy sequences and the rest of the cast is rounded off by established and respected TV actors, such as Jean Smart; plus Ashley Tisdale as Shizuku's best friend - because this was a dub produced by Disney in the mid-2000s!  

After four years away, Miyazaki finally unleashes her magnum opus - next time we talk about what is probably my all-time favourite film - Princess Mononoke.

Oscars 2018 - What I Want To Win and What Will Win

The 90th Academy awards show is happening...well, tonight! While the whole thing is a phoney industry-trade award show, designed to pat itself on the back, the Oscars in 2018 have certainly produced one of the most varied line-ups in years. And how the Academy is going to vote following one of the most tumultuous years in Hollywood history has been the source of debate, controversy and internal politics.

So just for a bit of fun (well, until I get to Best Picture), I'm going to go through the major awards and talk about what I think will win and what I want to win.

But first, a few things:

Not going to go through the technical awards. I want Blade Runner 2049 to win as much of them as possible, but if I was to pick just one award I hope it gets Best Cinematography. The Best Animated Film section is a joke this year. Coco will win, of course. But The Boss Baby as a nominee? Really?? No nod for The Handmaiden for Best Foreign Language Film. What the hell. I want my lad Jonny Greenwood from Radiohead to win Best Score for Phantom Thread. Original Song, I would be happy with Remember Me from Coco, since it's catchy and an integral part of the film. Adapted Screenplay, I really want The Disaster Artist to win. Not because it's the best in that category (I do kinda want Logan to win...comic book/genre fanboy here) but more for the chance of Tommy Wiseau storming the stage...

Here's a picture of Tommy. Why not?

Anyway, let's get on and see how right I am!

Best Supporting Actress

Who I Want To Win: Laurie Metcalf - Lady Bird

This is a just a brilliant, soulful and genuine performance. A key cornerstone of making Lady Bird work as a film.

Paddy Power Bet: 4/1

Who Will Win: Alison Janney - I, Tonya

Haven't seen I, Tonya yet but the press are widely praising Janney's performance and this is one everyone seems to agree on is a dead cert to win.

Paddy Power Bet: 1/8

Best Supporting Actor

Who I Want To Win: Willem Dafoe - The Florida Project

I haven't seen The Florida Project yet so this is more because I've loved the weird, quirky and over-the-top performances of Willem Dafoe for years, so it's about time he got some recognition. He's like Christopher Walken. Is he a good actor? Not too sure. Is he memorable in all of his roles? Hell yes. I have heard though that his turn in The Florida Project is quite brilliant, so it seems deserved.

Paddy Power Bet: 5/1

Who Will Win: Sam Rockwell - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Rockwell has always been an unappreciated character actor and Three Billboards has finally given him a platform to be recognised. It's a problematic role, one that will no doubt cause a wave of controversy on social media, but most of the press are in agreements that Rockwell has the strongest shot of winning.

Paddy Power Bet: 1/10

Best Actress

Who I Want To Win: Saoirse Ronan - Lady Bird

Really hard one to choose. I loved Sally Hawkins in The Shape of Water and I found both performances charming and brilliant in their own ways. However, Saoirse Ronan was something of a revelation to me for Lady Bird. I always knew Sally Hawkins was brilliant but Ronan was a genuine surprise.

Paddy Power Bet: 12/1

Who Will Win: Frances McDormand - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Tricky one to call, but I just having a feeling. The character herself is quite problematic but channels the rage of the #MeToo movement and the voice for silenced women. Plus, she gets all the big speeches and scenery chewing the Academy tends to like.

Paddy Power Bet: 1/20

Best Actor

Who I Want To Win: Daniel Kaluuya - Get Out

Has the image of Daniel Kaluuya crying already become one of the iconic images of horror? Like up there with the twin girls in The Shining? Reagan spewing vomit in The Exorcist? Carrie covered in pig's blood? I'm pretty sure it is and this powerful image was used as a key part of the film's marketing. And Kaluuya is excellent in the film. I was tempted to put Daniel Day Lewis for his brilliant turn in Phantom Thread but so rarely is a performance like Kaluuya's nominated you simply have to give with him in an instantly iconic performance.

Paddy Power Bet: 16/1

Who Will Win: Gary Oldman - Darkest Hour

No question - he has this in the bag. Darkest Hour is one of the few films I have not seen from the line-up this year but the accolades speak for themselves and are around expected. Ok film, brilliant central Gary Oldman performance. He's been working for decades and has not had his Oscar yet. Now is the time.

Paddy Power Bet: 1/25

Best Director

Who I Want To Win: Guillermo del Toro

I've talked at length before how del Toro's projects just never seem to take off making any that do come out a mini-miracle. He's been working in the industry for years, is a brilliant, creative and smart individual and I think it's about time he gets some mainstream recognition for his years of work in the fantasy/horror genre. Plus, I would a fellow genre geek to take the award home. My mind says Paul Thomas Anderson but my heart says Guillermo.

Paddy Power Bet: 1/14

Who Will Win: Guillermo del Toro

Yeah, for the reasons I have outlined above, I think del Toro will win this year. I don't think The Shape of Water will win Best Picture though (it's a bit too weird for the Academy, even though it evokes tropes from classic Hollywood romance and horror films - i.e. the kind of thing the Academy loves). Might be wrong but I have a feeling. But as a runner-up prize, and because audiences and critics loved that film, they will recognise del Toro for his years of service to the film industry by awarding him best director. Then again, I used the same logic for George Miller when he was nominated for Mad Max: Fury Road and was supremely disappointed when he didn't win. Still the biggest crime in Oscar history.

Paddy Power Bet: As Above

Best Film

What I Want To Win: Get Out

OK, Get Out is not my favourite film from the line up - that goes to either Lady Bird or The Shape of Water. But Get Out is the film of the now. There's a reason this film connected the way it did and I would love for a genre film to take home the award. The fact that some Academy voters have refused to see the film is quite baffling and a sign of who ultimately has a say in what takes home - old, white men. It won't win for precisely that reason. A big part of that film is a holding a mirror up the elite white men in the story and how they silence the experiences of ethnic minority groups. Maybe a bit too close to home for the Academy?

Paddy Power Bet: 11/2

What I Think Will Win: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Quick run through why I think the other nominees won't win (ignoring Darkest Hour and Call Me By Your Name, since I've haven't seen them yet). Phantom Thread is too weird. The Shape of Water is also a little too weird - plus it's a sci-fi film (though it has a higher chance than the other films listed here). The Post is the obvious "Oscar" choice but they don't want to seem out of touch so they won't vote for it. Dunkirk was a technical marvel but that's about it. Get Out is a little too politically charged for the reasons I outlined above - plus it's a horror film. Remember this isn't a comment on the quality of the film - far from it. The Academy just likes certain kinds of films. And they traditionally don't vote for genre films.

I think it will be Three Billboards or Lady Bird. I have argued before that in the year of #MeToo, the Academy will give this ultimate award for Best Picture to a female centric film. Remember, these awards are often backed by political reasons and trying to make Hollywood look like a great place (side note - it isn't). And after the fallout from Harvey Weinstein, it makes sense to sweep all the issues Hollywood have with women (unequal pay, casting coaches etc.) under the carpet by giving the award to a film like Lady Bird. But then I got to thinking that Three Billboards may just swing it.

Consider this. The film centres on a wronged woman raging against the system in place to try and get justice for a horrible event that has traumatised her and her family, that informs all of her actions and ultimately taps in the furious divide in modern America in the era of populism and Donald Trump. Think of that from an Academy perspective. They want to make themselves look good and relevant but they have that nagging Weinstein issue...The Academy has a history of co-opting films to suit their current political agenda. Are we in any doubt that the Academy picked Moonlight not because it was the best film of that year (though, it probably was) but because, after the #OscarSoWhite controversy of the previous year, they wanted to give the gong to a film with a predominantly African-American cast? So, Three Billboards seems to tick the necessary boxes of this year - it does deal with a wronged woman, tapping into the #MeToo controversy, but ultimately diverts attention away from Hollywood's inherent problems by blaming the system in place. After all, everyone can get behind hating Donald Trump. Let's just sweep the rape, sexism and misogyny under the carpet by kind of acknowledging it but not really dealing with it... Sad? Hell yes. Cynical? Definitely. Tactical? Most certainly. And it would be even more sickening considering the decades of emotional and physical abuse that has happened.

I want to be wrong. I want a genuinely wonderful film like Lady Bird to win or even Three Billboards just for being a great film but the Academy winners nearly always follow a line of thinking that tries to make them look good. I might be seeking a conspiracy theory but this is just the way the Academy works...always remember. Old, white men vote for these things....

Paddy Power Bet: 11/10

Anyway this was fun to write, though this article will only be relevant for a few more hours...

Lady Bird

2018 might possibly be one of the most exciting line-ups of Best Picture nominees in years. Not that any of this really matters (at the end of the day it is, and always has been, an industry trade show that pats itself on the back) but if we are going to award a single film Best Picture, I'm glad there's at least a diverse and interesting selection of films to pick from. In the past few weeks, I have seen some films that I do think will go down as genuine classics and perhaps the most quietly revolutionary is Greta Gerwig's (she of Frances Ha) Lady Bird, an excellent coming-of-age film shot through the tender loving eyes of experience. There has never been a teen drama quite like Lady Bird to the point where others have a bit of catching up to do.

It's 2002 and we're in Sacramento, California, described by the titular character as the "Mid-West" of the state. This is just one of the many opinions held by the outspoken 17-year old teen Christine McPherson (Saoirse Ronan), though she prefers (well, more demands) to be called "Lady Bird". She is senior at a Catholic high school and suddenly the prospect of the "future" is on the near horizon. She has clear(ish) plans though - she wants to go to an art college on the East coast and escape the drabness of Sacramento. And the fractious relationship with her mother Marion (Laurie Metcalf). Finances are tight and it looks like her parents can only afford local city colleges. Not if Lady Bird has anything to say about it...

Now if that plot summary sounds a bit familiar then ... yes, I guess it somewhat is. Lady Bird doesn't shy away from the fact it is a coming-of-age tale but Gerwig tells it in the most unconventional way possible. We get the usual right-of-passage moments expected from this type of film - first boyfriend, break-up, swooning after the cool kid, dumping best friend, going to the prom etc. However, Gerwig is more interested in fleshing these elements out via a feminist point-of-view that never veers into cliche. Everything is shot through the lense of nostalgia. The setting sun of the west coast and the grainy cinematography all evoke the sense of a memory, a polaroid picture in an old photo album. In fact I was convinced this was shot on film but it was, indeed, digital. Go figure. The pacing is absolutely perfect as we float across a year in the life of this character, cutting from event to event.

Lady Bird is an all-round perfect film, that is a sensitive and funny look at the teenage experience

In terms of the characterisation, Gerwig and Ronan, somehow, never make Lady Bird unlikeable. This is absolutely key to the film. She does some pretty nasty things, that I don't think the film excuses her from, but it's all wrapped up in the shell of an angry, frustrated and often quite charming 17 year old. And Lord knows we've all been there. A huge amount of cudos to Ronan. She completely envelops this character to the point where you forget your watching Saoirse Ronan. And this is something of a coming of age for her as an actor. In the past, I've somewhat underestimated her, maybe because of the films she's been in, but here she is absolute brilliant. The rawness and tenderness of being that age just oozes from the performance, pimples and all (Ronan wanted to show teenage skin for what it usually is, as opposed to the glamorous Hollywood interpretation of being teen). This is an all time great character.

The film's core though is the relationship between Lady Bird and her mother. Originally wanting to call the film Mothers and Daughters, Gerwig never shies away from this hurtful but ultimately deeply loving bond the two characters have. Metcalf is absolutely brilliant as Marion, a kind of OCD riddled yet open-hearted woman trying to keep her family together under tight finance restrictions and mental health issues. Like Lady Bird, Metcalf never makes her unlikable. She is the ultimate authoritarian figure in the story but all of her actions come from a very real place. It is the space between the two that informs pretty much most of Lady Bird's actions and the film, quite rightly, uses Metcalf sparingly for maximum effect. When the two do find some common ground, we do see how there is room for these characters to relate and really get on but this is only fleeting. We open with both getting emotional over the powerful words of John Steinbeck on an audio book of Grapes of Wrath but soon explodes into argument about having the radio on or not following the novel's conclusion. This just makes it more tragic that the two revert to defensive stances with each other. It's a complex relationship but the film makes us understand it completely.

At the centre of the film is the complex relationship between a mother and a daughter 

Lady Bird rounds off with a stellar set of supporting characters. Beanie Feldstein is pitch perfect as Lady Bird's best friend, Julianne. She might be the most quietly feminist element of this film. This character type is often played up for laughs - the overweight, slightly dim best friend. But she is never played to be the butt of jokes. Feldstein's performance is incredibly funny but it comes from a genuine place and never at the expense of her. Lucas Hedges is just as sweet as Lady Bird's first boyfriend, Danny. Again, this character also never veers into cliche and their break up comes from a very interesting place that morphs their relationship in unexpected ways. It's really unanticipated and quite authentic. And it's the little details that fill out the rest of the figures in this world. Tracy Letts as Lady Bird's quietly suffering father. The down-to-earth nun. The charming math teacher. The odd relationship between Lady Bird's brother and his beau. Timothee Chalamet as the too-cool-for-school-but-not-really-that-cool-guy-in-a-band. Stephen McKinley Henderson as the kind and loving Father Leviatch, who heads up the drama club but is secretly suffering from depression. With a brilliant and funny script (and it is funny), the world of Lady Bird just feels lived in and honest.

Lady Bird is probably one of the most confident and self-assured debut films from a director I can think of (she collaborated with Joe Swanberg on Nights and Weekends, so Lady Bird is Gerwig's debut single credit film). The whole thing is so wonderfully effortless that is emotionally raw, incredibly funny and beautifully made. The film finished in the blink of an eye and I was just left wanting more. Gerwig has promised three further unrelated films set in-and-around Sacramento and I can hardly wait to see where her talent takes her. The bar has certainly been raised higher for teen coming-of-age films. In its own way, Lady Bird is revolutionary in its feminist reinterpretation of the material. I loved, loved, loved every moment of this film. It's about as perfect of a film as you could think of.

And this is a somewhat tough call for the Oscar this year. Having seen 7 out of the 9 nominees, I do think this is one of the strongest, and toughest to call, line ups in years.