With the Hollywood film year about to end, Dunkirk still stays inside my head as one of the year's best (hey, definitely it will standout considering that you have watched only one of those less crappy films this year). Well, it's not a bad thing, considering its quality being comparable to some of the acclaimed films in the previous years, e.g. "A Separation", "Zero Dark Thirty", "12 Years a Slave", "Lincoln", etc. One of the reasons is that it is different from other World War II films, and it takes a different perspective when compared to the likes of "Saving Private Ryan" and "Letters from Iwo Jima". Will it win Best Picture at the Oscars? It has a high probability that it will get nominated, but I think its chances of winning is actually uncertain.
One reason is that it might be labeled as one of those bland films among the Academy voters. They might find it inglorious in the emotions department, and would rather view it as something more of a technical film; and at the end of the day, throw multiple awards in the technical department. So if a more dramatic and more emotionally satisfying film pops up at the end of the year, its chances of winning will be significantly lowered. Another reason is that it doesn't actually have a well developed "personal" viewpoint in it that will help the voters find the perspective of the characters compelling. So if a more personal and also substantially technical film comes up at the end of the year, it's then a no-win for Dunkirk. Does it really matter? I think not. Whether with an Academy win, intrinsically, I think Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk is still a film to beat in many years to come.
So how about the animated film department? Sure, "The LEGO Batman Movie" is a fun movie, and a really good one as well. However compared to last year's very competitive year for animated movies, in which many films in the lineup deserve to be considered as top animated film, it seems that it may not be as competitive this year. The upcoming "Coco" film from Disney/Pixar - with Lee Unkrich from "Toy Story 3" around - is potentially a film to beat. Otherwise, "Ferdinand" might also sneak in, together with other foreign animated films like "The Breadwinner", which has a weighty synopsis, and probably, Hiromasa Yonebayashi's "Mary and the Witch's Flower" under Studio Ponoc, which consists of almost everyone who previously worked at Studio Ghibli.
