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    Awards Season

    CultureMap film critic's guide to the 9 Best Picture Oscar nominees

    Alex Bentley
    Jan 23, 2018 | 5:51 pm

    The nominations for the 2018 Academy Awards have been revealed, with nine films garnering nods for Best Picture. But are all of them deserving? Take a look back at what CultureMap's film critic, Alex Bentley, had to say about each of the nine nominees when they were originally released. The Oscars will be handed out on March 4.

     

     Call Me By Your Name
    The structure and slow pace of Call Me by Your Name make it a bit of a test, but the reward of the central relationship make every minute of the film worth your time. The performances of Armie Hammer and the Oscar-nominated Timothee Chalamet make the movie what it is, along with the Oscar-nominated script by 89-year-old James Ivory.

     

     Darkest Hour
    The biggest reason for the film’s success is the incredible performance by Gary Oldman, one of the most fully realized performances of a historical figure in recent memory. He and the film’s makeup crew are the clear front runners in their Oscar categories. It also makes for an interesting double feature with the next nominated film, Dunkirk.

     

     Dunkirk
    There are certain movies that must be seen in as big a format as possible, and Dunkirk is one of them. Nominated director Christopher Nolan and his team paid extra attention to every possible audio and visual detail, making the film that much more immersive. Hans Zimmer’s propulsive and foreboding (and now, Oscar-nominated) score is essentially a main character, making up for when dialogue is sometimes unintelligible.

     

     Get Out
    A social commentary disguised as a genre movie, Get Out rises far above its horror movie trappings. Anchored by an Oscar-nominated performance by Daniel Kaluuya and an insightful Oscar-nominated script by writer/director Jordan Peele (who's also nominated as a director), the film educates even as it fills you with dread.

     

     Lady Bird
    My personal No. 1 movie of the year, writer/director Greta Gerwig (nominated in both categories) brings new life to the coming-of-age story by mining her personal history of growing up in Sacramento. Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf, both Oscar nominees, give lived-in performances as daughter and mother, making every moment resonate deeply.

     

     Phantom Thread
    A latecomer to the awards season party, Phantom Thread earned a surprise six nominations thanks to another stellar Daniel Day-Lewis performance, a scene-stealing role by Lesley Manville, and direction by Paul Thomas Anderson that brings out the best in everybody involved. Anderson did not get a screenwriting nod, but he deserved it for a film that was often wickedly funny.

     

     The Post
    There's no more relevant movie this year than The Post, which used a nearly 50-year old story as a way of making comparisons to the current presidential administration. Tom Hanks (unjustly snubbed) and Meryl Streep (as always, deservedly nominated) headline the Steven Spielberg-directed film that inadvertently became a prime example of why women deserve more opportunities than they're often given.

     

     The Shape of Water
    Some have dismissed this film, which which has a leading 13 nominations, as merely a creature feature, but Sally Hawkins' wordless, Oscar-nominated performance elevates the movie. Director Guillermo del Toro was nominated for his unique sense of style, getting you to believe a romance between a mute woman and an Amphibian Man is as interesting as any normal human relationship.

     

     Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
    One of the leading contenders after winning at the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards, the film features three nuanced, Oscar-nominated performances by Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell, and Woody Harrelson. What makes the film especially different is that it offers no easy answers. It uses violent means toward emotional ends, and winds up being the richer for it.

    Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Actress for Frances McDormand.

    Frances McDormand in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
      
    Photo by Merrick Morton
    Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Actress for Frances McDormand.
    movies
    news/entertainment

    Books News

    Indie Bird's Bookstore to open store & cafe at Preston Royal Dallas

    Alex Gonzalez
    Jul 9, 2025 | 3:55 pm
    Stack of books and coffee cup.
    Getty Images
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    Brick-and-mortar bookstores continue their thrilling comeback, with a new one coming to a prominent North Dallas corner: Called Bird’s Bookstore, it's an independently-owned store opening in the Preston Royal shopping center at 6025 Royal Ln. #207, in a former massage place next to Eatzi's, where it will debut in August.

    Bird's Bookstore promises to be a unique retail destination incorporating elements of Scandinavian, Japanese, and mid-century modern design with books, magazines, and artisanal products.

    Owners Drew and Emily Dawson are a young couple inspired by design, history, and travel. Drew previously worked in the nonprofit sector to private equity before pursuing this decade-long dream. Emily is a former graphic designer who founded Emily by Design, a wardrobe consultation company in 2022.

    The couple first conceptualized the idea when they began dating 11 years ago while students at the University of Texas at Austin.

    “Initially, it was an idea that we wanted to execute towards retirement age,” Drew says. "But as I saw Emily follow her passion and open her own vintage clothing styling business a year and a half ago, I said, 'It's time for me too. I want to follow my passion and open this bookstore.' There's really no time like the present."

    Drew estimates that the shop will carry about 3500 adult fiction and nonfiction books at at time, along with 2500 kids and young adult books.

    “I like everything,” Drew says. “I like incredibly thick history books, memoirs, biographies, horror — all of it. We’ll be selling everything, including self-help and kids' books, since the area has a ton of families, and Emily and I have our own little one on the way."

     Emily and Drew Dawson Emily and Drew DawsonCourtesy

    While Drew handles the bulk of the book selection, Emily will oversee coffee table books, design books, and magazines.

    “We're going to have a strong selection of about 20 magazines covering the design and creative fashion industries, like Neptune, The Gentlewoman, and L’Etiquette," Emily says. "I'm anticipating there will be a draw for that because — other than certain shops in New York — there's not a place where you can buy these titles in person."

    Bird’s will also sell stationery and paper goods from European and Japanese vendors, as well as plates and bowls from Marcello Ortega of Marcello Andres Ceramics.

    The store will also house a small cafe serving coffee from Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters and baked goods from acclaimed Bresnan Bread and Pastry in McKinney.

    The couple keep their eyes on current reading trends, using sites like TikTok’s “BookTok” community, as well as literary social media outlets like Goodreads. Emily credits these platforms — as well as book clubs by celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, and Jenna Bush Hager — for keeping bookstores alive.

    Dallas-Fort Worth is witnessing a small independent bookstore revival with Interabang Books nearby, plus Wild Detectives and Poets Bookshop, which just opened a second outpost in Deep Ellum.

    With the opening of Bird’s Bookstore, they hope to not only cultivate a space for those passionate about books, but also eliminate the burnout that comes from being attached to screens all day.

    “I think there's a fatigue of everything being online,” says Emily. “And I think there's a yearning for a community space that is beautiful, and feels like a second home — a place where you can get amazing customer service. We're excited to hopefully be that place for some people.”

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