"Three Billboards" top choice for Best Picture tonight

When the beautiful teen-age daughter of Mildred, played by Frances McDormand, stormed out of her rural Ebbing, Mo., home after an argument with her mother, she headed to a girlfriend's house. She never reached her destination, being waylaid by a criminal who raped her, killed her and set her body on fire.

After local police failed to find the killer, the fiery Mildred show full passion as a mother. She paid to erect three billboards calling for police action. This is the basis for the movie, "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri," my choice for Best Picture in the Academy Awards tonight.

I base this choice on the outstanding performances by McDormand, Sam Rockwell, and  Woody Harrelson. In addition, the story by Martin McDonagh itself is superb (he said online he got the idea after driving through the southeast United States and looking at billboards, among other things.) The film's ending is, simply, classic.

Runner-up for Best Picture is "Get Out," a terrific horror film in the way of Alfred Hitchcock, the master of the genre. Directed by Jordan Peele, "Get Out" has minimal overt violence, but is full of suspense. In a key feat, viewers can't guess the ending until it is actually unveiled.

Award choices in several other categories:

Best Actor: Gary Oldman, who hit it out of the park in "Darkest Hour;" runner-up is Daniel Kaluuya, "Get Out."

Best Actress: Frances McDormand, "Three Billboards;" runner-up is Sally Hawkins, "The Shape of Water."

Supporting Actor: Sam Rockwell, "Three Billboards."

Supporting Actress: Laurie Metcalf, "Ladybird;" runner-up is Octavia Spencer, "The Shape of Water."

Best Director: Jordan Peele, "Get Out;" runner-up is Martin McDonagh, "Three Billboards."

Original Screenplay: "The Shape of Water," Guillermo deal Toro; runner-up is Martin McDonagh, "Three Billboards."

Original Score: Jonny Greenwood, "Phantom Thread;" runner-up is Hans Zimmer, "Dunkirk."

For several years I authored a blog on a daily newspaper website (healthbeat@qctimes.com). That concentrated on health and medical news, my newspaper beat for almost a decade. This blog, "Baker's Heartbeat," is on a free site, and will include news related to personal hobbies and interests.

I start with movies; I've loved motion pictures since I was a child and saw "My Fair Lady" with my family. I connected the movies I liked up with the Academy Awards a few years later, especially when the 1976 film "Rocky" won Best Picture, when I was 18 years old. This blog was written after I saw each "Best Picture" nominee in the Quad-Cities, where we have 2 movie sites: Cinemark Cinemas in Davenport, and Regal Cinemas in Moline.

(About the author: Deirdre Cox Baker enjoyed reporting and editing newspapers for nearly 40 years. She lives in rural Scott County, Iowa.)

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