The Nominees for the 90th Annual Academy Awards Are...
The nominees have finally been announced, and I've gotta say, this is a pretty exciting race this year! Like every year, there are some surprising nominations and a few snubs, but I'm thoroughly satisfied with the majority of these nominations. It's hard to believe some of these nominees being recognized five years ago, but I'm hoping this means the diversifying membership base is working and that future ceremonies will continue to have exciting and worthwhile nominees.
My original predictions:
'Call Me By Your Name'
'Dunkirk'
'Get Out'
'Lady Bird'
'The Post'
'The Shape of Water'
'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri'
'The Florida Project'
I originally predicted eight nominees, but this year ended up with nine! It doesn't really matter to me how well I predict the nominations, but I'm glad most of my predictions were correct because films that don't usually get recognized for Best Picture were nominated - we have a horror film ('Get Out'), a fantasy film ('The Shape of Water'), and yes, it's a war film, but Christopher Nolan's films are usually shut out of the awards seasons besides technical awards, so 'Dunkirk' being nominated is so exciting!
The biggest surprise is how ‘Phantom Thread’ managed to impact the race by scoring big nominations like Best Picture and Director. Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson’s precious two films were pretty much shunned from the Oscars, and ‘Phantom Thread’ arrived so late in the year many assumed it was under-seen. But it looks like the members who watched it and loved it - really loved it.
My original predictions:
Christopher Nolan ('Dunkirk')
Greta Gerwig ('Lady Bird')
Martin McDonagh ('Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri')
Jordan Peele (Get Out')
Guillermo del Toro ('The Shape of Water')
I guessed four out of five correct, and even though I really like Martin McDonagh, I'm glad he was the one left out instead of the other four because we ended up with a diverse pool: two people of color and a woman make up more than half of the nominees! After all these years, Christopher Nolan finally got a directing nomination. Jordan Peele and Greta Gerwig's outstanding debuts got themselves recognized, but it's not apparent more than ever that Guillermo del Toro will win this award on Oscar night - making it the fourth time out of the last five ceremonies in which a Mexican director has won.
My original predictions:
Timothee Chalamet ('Call Me By Your Name'
James Franco ('The Disaster Artist')
Daniel Day-Lewis ('Phantom Thread')
Daniel Kaluuya ('Get Out')
Gary Oldman ('Darkest Hour')
It looks like James Franco didn't manage a nomination after all. We'll never know for sure if the sexual misconduct allegations affected his chances - especially since it happened so late in the nomination process - but this is a very solid group of nominees. I'm really happy to see Timothee Chalamet and Daniel Kaluuya get their first Oscar nominations. But alas, this is an award that is fated to go to Gary Oldman.
My original predictions:
Sally Hawkins ('The Shape of Water')
Frances MacDormand ('Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri')
Margot Robbie ('I, Tonya')
Saoirse Ronan ('Lady Bird')
Meryl Streep ('The Post')
Yay, I finally guessed all the nominees in a category correct! This seems to be a two-way race between MacDormand and Ronan, with my gut saying MacDormand will win.
My original predictions:
Willem Dafoe ('The Florida Project')
Armie Hammer ('Call Me By Your Name')
Christopher Plummer ('All the Money in the World')
Sam Rockwell ('Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri')
Michael Stuhlbarg ('Call Me By Your Name')
I was betting on two nominees from the same film ('Call Me By Your Name'), which is a rare occurrence, but it ended up being no nominees from that film and instead, two nominees from 'Three Billboards'. I have a feeling it's a two-way race between Plummer and Rockwell, with Plummer ultimately winning.
My original prediction:
Mary J. Blige ('Mudbound')
Hong Chau ('Downsizing')
Holly Hunter ('The Big Sick')
Allison Janney ('I, Tonya')
Laurie Metcalf ('Lady Bird')
I was hoping Hong Chau would manage a nod here for her breakout performance in the not-as-loved 'Downsizing' - and become the first Vietnamese-American actress nominated - but alas, it wasn't meant to be. This is still an excellent group of nominees. I think Allison Janney will end up winning.
My original prediction:
'Dunkirk' - Christopher Nolan
'Get Out' - Jordan Peele
'Lady Bird' - Greta Gerwig
'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri') - Martin McDonagh
'The Shape of Water' - Guillermo del Toro & Vanessa Taylor
You know, I should have know 'Dunkirk' wouldn't be a strong contender in this category considering there's not much dialogue in the film. But I'll happily accept the lack of its nomination in favor of 'The Big Sick' being recognized! These screenplays are all so strong I really don't have a strong guess which one will win. However, if I had to pick the top three contenders it'd probably be (in alphabetical order) 'Get Out', 'The Shape of Water', and 'Three Billboards'.
My original prediction:
'All the Money in the World' - David Scarpa
'Call Me By Your Name' - James Ivory
'The Disaster Artist' - Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber
'Molly's Game' - Aaron Sorkin
'Mudbound' - Dee Rees & Virgil Williams
Wow, 'Logan' got a writing nomination? I think it's the first superhero film to receive one at the Oscars! But I should've paid more attention to the Writers Guild awards, as there's a lot of cross over between the two. Once the Screen Writers Guild Awards are presented we'll get a clearer idea of who'll win the Oscar, but for now I feel like it's anyone's game besides 'Logan'.
My original prediction:
'Coco'
'Despicable Me 3'
'The LEGO Batman Movie'
'Mary and the Witch's Flower'
Despite how terrible Dreamworks' films are, it's usually expected they'll get a nomination here. 'The Boss Baby' and 'Ferdinand' are not impressive nominees, and they definitely won't win. As for 'The Breadwinner' and 'Loving Vincent', I don't know enough about them to really say much. But seeing that Pixar is a powerhouse, I'm confident 'Coco' will win.
My original prediction:
"Remember Me" ('Coco')
"This Is Me" ('The Greatest Showman')
I still need to watch the other three films and listen to their respective songs, but as of now I think "This Is Me" will win. It's a great song.
My original prediction:
'Coco' - Michael Giacchino
'Dunkirk' - Hans Zimmer
'The Post' - John Williams
'The Shape of Water' - Alexandre Desplat
'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri') - Carter Burwell
Whoa. I'm very surprised the score for 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' was nominated, but maybe there was a sign considering 'The Force Awakens' was also nominated in the same category two years ago. I believe this will be another two-way race between Desplat and Burwell, with Desplat inching out the win.
My original prediction:
'Baby Driver' - Paul Machliss
'Dunkirk' - Lee Smith
'Get Out' - Gregory Plotkin
'The Shape of Water' - Sidney Wolinsky
'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri' - Jon Gregory
When the nominations were originally announced I thought the lack of an editing nod for 'Get Out' meant it might not get a Best Picture nomination. Thankfully the film did end up getting nominated for Best Picture, but the lack of its nomination here probably means it won't end up winning the top prize. The winner of Best Picture almost always has at least a nomination for Best Film Editing. Right now I'm going to guess 'Dunkirk' will win due to its excellent time-bending style.
My original prediction:
'Blade Runner 2049' - Roger Deakins
'Dunkirk' - Hoyte van Hoytema
'Mudbound' - Rachel Morrison
'The Post' - Janusz Kaminski
'The Shape of Water' - Dan Laustsen
Roger Deakins just received his 14th nomination in this category. He truly deserves to win after so many years - decades, even - of outstanding work. Rachel Morrison is the first female cinematographer to be nominated for an Oscar!
Check out the full list of nominees!
