LESSON #1: NEW YORK WILL HELP STUMP FOR LADY BIRD FOR ME— The New York Film Critics Circle yesterday named Lady Bird their Best Picture and Saoirse Ronan their Best Actress.   I don’t normally trust New Yorkers, but you can take this recommendation salt-free.  There is a multitude of reasons Greta Gerwig’s indie gem is finding itself a winner against larger pedigreed titans.  Go see for yourself why.

LESSON #2: 2018 CAN AND SHOULD BE THE “YEAR OF THE WOMAN” AT THE OSCARS— Patty Jenkins, Sofia Coppola, Gerwig, and Dee Rees could dominate the Best Director category if voters allowed it and, in many ways, rightfully so.  Chaz Ebert wrote an excellent column recently on RogerEbert.com examining the possibilities.  Gerwig has already broken through as the Best Director winner from the National Board of Review this week.  Let’s see the boy’s club pushed to the sidelines for a year.

LESSON #3: THE POST IS GOING TO BE THE OSCAR FRONTRUNNER WITH THE “TIMELY” LABEL ATTACHED TO IT— Each year, there is always one or two Best Picture Academy Award contenders that feels like fateful films echoing the current societal landscape.  With a headliner cast expressing topical parallel challenges in journalism between the past and the present, Steven Spielberg’s The Post is going to create and carry quite the favor with critics and public alike.   Look at its Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Actress sweep from the National Board of Review.

LESSON #4: CALL ME BY YOUR NAME WILL EARN ANOTHER “TIMELY” LABEL FOR THE WRONG REASONS AND WILL PAY FOR IT ON OSCAR BALLOTS— Paul Bois for The Daily Wire posted a sharp editorial titled “TONE DEAF: Oscar Buzz for Movie About a Romance Between 25-Year-Old Man and 17-Year-Old Boy.”  As well-acted and well-intended as it may be, the verbiage of that headline is what may doom Call Me By Your Name.  Reverborating in an industry crushed by one sex scandal after another each week, I agree with the article and wonder where the widespread support for such a questionable premise of wrongful romance is going to gain favor.

DON SHANAHAN is a Chicago-based film critic writing on his website Every Movie Has a Lesson.  As an elementary educator by day, Don writes his movie reviews with life lessons in mind, from the serious to the farcical.  As a contributor here on Feelin’ Film, he’s going to expand those lessons to current movie news and trends.  Find “Every Movie Has a Lesson” on Facebook, Twitter, Medium, and Creators Media.