‘Three Billboards’ for best picture? Get out!

I cannot remember the last time I so strongly disliked a film that was a frontrunner for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Had I reviewed “Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri,” I would have been very critical of it. I certainly didn’t have an ax to grind with the film going into an advance screening in mid-November, shortly before its Northeast Ohio release. (I didn’t review it because I couldn’t find the time given there were several other films coming out that week about which I already had committed to writing.) I respect the work of writerdirector Martin McDonagh (“In Bruges,” “Seven Psychopaths”), and I found appealing the premise: A woman (Frances McDormand) frustrated that her daughter’s murder has gone unsolved by the local authorities pays to have messages put on some unused billboards designed to pressure them to get back to working on the case.

Look, McDormand is terrific, and I’ll have no complaints if (when) she wins the best-actress Oscar March 4. I’ll be less thrilled if Rockwell, the favorite for the best-supporting-actor statuette, wins — I tend to find his work overrated in general — but fine.

But “Three Billboards” was far from the best picture of the year.

The honor should — and may — go to “The Shape of Water.” In a year without a truly great film, writer-director Guillermo del Toro’s “Creature From the Black Lagoon”-inspired monster movie-romance was the finest execution of an artistic vision last year.

Is it perfect? No, but no film was.

It was, however, another really enjoyable year at the movies, a year that gave cinephiles reason to cheer, celebrate, cry and, perhaps most importantly, argue with each other.

The year has reminded me just how subjective film appraisal is.

So many people see a brilliance in “Three Billboard” that I simply do not.

Remember the moment when the character portrayed by “Game of Thrones” star Peter Dinklage — who has a form of dwarfism — tells McDormand’s character while on a date that he needs to use “the little boys’ room”? Such a cheap joke — I wanted to throw something at the screen!

I do not want to spoil anything for anyone who has yet to see “Three Billboards,” but once a major character exits the proceedings, it all falls apart for me. From that point on, McDonagh’s tale is a congealed mess of half-baked ideas and character arcs. The “little boys room” gag is just the best illustration of how overrated the writing is.

But, hey, we all like what we like.

If you look at my accompanying top-10 list, you’ll see other best-picture nominees — “Phantom Thread,” “Darkest Hour” and “Blade Runner 2049” to name just a few — but also movies likely not given much consideration by Oscar voters when choosing the nominees.

To that point, next to its writer-director, Darren Aronofsky, and female lead, Jennifer Lawrence, I may be the world’s biggest fan of the ambitious and highly allegorical “Mother!” I gave it three stars out of four when I reviewed it — and I liked it even more when I saw it a second time a week and a half later with a friend I half-dragged to the theater.

Well, while the movie itself isn’t up for a Razzie award — given to that deemed the worst cinematic work of the year — Aronofsky and Lawrence are nominees. (Ridiculous, I say!)

You may also note that missing from my list is “Get Out,” the smart-andfunny horror-comedy film from writer-director Jordan Peele sitting just outside 10 for me.

Unlike “Billboards,” that is a film I very much liked — and, as with “Mother!,” a little more on a second viewing — so I won’t have any beef if it were to sneak in there and snatch a the coveted bestpicture prize. I don’t remotely see it as best-picture material, but a win for it certainly would be a cool story, especially given the subject matter of “Get Out.”

While we can disagree on the best films of 2017, hopefully we can agree there were some nicely written parts for women — strong female characters — portrayed with excellence by talented actresses.

From “The Shape of Water” and the greatly underrated “Phantom Thread” to “The Post and, yes, “Three Billboards,” women ruled in 2017. Keep it up, ladies. Well, I’ll see you all at the movies.

We can disagree afterward.

LAURIE SPARHAM — FOCUS FEATURES VIA AP Vicky Krieps, left, and Daniel Day-Lewis appear in a scene from “Phantom Thread.” The film was nominated for an Oscar for best picture and Jonny Greenwood was nominated for original score. The 90th Oscars will air live on ABC on Sunday, March 4.