The big night for movie lovers is coming up this Sunday with the Academy Awards announcing their Oscar winners. I honestly find it a pretty underwhelming group with a bunch of movies I like but don’t love and won’t likely to remember long.
I am notoriously terrible at predicting the Oscars but it’s always fun to give it a try. Last year I tried to research and see what was trending and almost every time I went against my gut it failed. So this year I thought I would try a different strategy and not over-think it too much.
That said I will still give you what I think should and will win in each category.
Best Picture
Call Me By Your Name
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Get Out
Lady Bird
Phantom Thread
The Post
Shape of Water
3 Billboards
What will win- 3 Billboards unfortunately…
What should win- Get Out (it’s only one of these nominees that I love)
Best Director
Christopher Nolan for Dunkirk
Jordan Peele for Get Out
Greta Gerwig forLady Bird Review Lady Bird
Paul Thomas Anderson for Phantom Thread
Guillermo del Toro for The Shape of Water
What will win- Guillermo del Toro for The Shape of Water
What should win- Christopher Nolan for Dunkirk
Best Lead Actor
Timothee Chalamet for Call Me By Your Name
Daniel Day Lewis for Phantom Thread
Daniel Kaluuya for Get Out
Gary Oldman for Darkest Hour
Denzel Washington for Roman J Israel Esq (haven’t seen)
What will win- Gary Oldman for Darkest Hour
What should win- Daniel Day Lewis for Phantom Thread
Best Lead Actress
Sally Hawkins for The Shape of Water
Frances McDormand for 3 Billboards
Margot Robbie for I Tonya
Saoirse Ronan for Lady Bird
Meryl Streep for The Post
What will win- Frances McDormand for 3 Billboards
What should win- Sally Hawkins for Shape of Water
Best Supporting Actor
William Defoe for The Florida Project (haven’t seen)
Woody Harrelson for 3 Billboards
Richard Jenkins for The Shape of Water
Christopher Plummer for All the Money in the World
Sam Rockwell for 3 Billboards
I’m honestly not a huge fan of any of these performances but…
What will win- Sam Rockwell for 3 Billboards
What should win- Richard Jenkins for Shape of Water
Best Supporting Actress
Mary J Blige for Mudbound (haven’t seen)
Allison Janney for I Tonya
Lesley Manville for Phantom Thread
Laurie Metcalf for Lady Bird
Octavia Spencer for Shape of Water
What will win- Allison Janney for I Tonya
What should win- Laurie Metcalf for Lady Bird
Animated Feature
The Boss Baby
The Breadwinner
Coco
Ferdinand
Loving Vincent
What will win- Coco
What should win- Coco or The Breadwinner
Animated Short
Dear Basketball
Garden Party
Lou
Negative Space
Revolting Rhymes
What will win- Dear Basketball
What should win- Lou
Adapted Screenplay
Call Me By Your Name
The Disaster Artist
Logan (haven’t seen)
Molly’s Game (haven’t seen)
Mudbound (haven’t seen)
What will win- Call Me By You Name
What should win- Disaster Artist
Original Screenplay
The Big Sick
Get Out
Lady Bird
The Shape of Water
3 Billboards
What will win- Get Out
What should win- The Big Sick
Best Documentary
I’ve only seen one of these films Faces Places
Abacus
Faces Places
Icarus
Last Man in Aleppo
Strong Island
What will win- Faces Places
What should win- Faces Places
Sound Editing
Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
What will win- Dunkirk
What should win- Baby Driver
Sound Mixing
Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: the Last Jedi
What will win- Dunkirk
What should win- Dunkirk
Production Design
Beauty and the Beast
Blade Runner 2049
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water
What will win- Blade Runner 2049
What should win- Blade Runner 2049
Best Score
Dunkirk by Hans Zimmer
Phantom Thread by Jonny Greenwood
The Shape of Water by Alexandre Desplat
Star Wars: the Last Jedi by John Williams
3 Billboards by Carter Burwell
What will win- The Shape of Water by Alexandre Desplat
What should win- Phantom Thread by Jonny Greenwood
Original Song
Mighty River from Mudbound
Mystery of Love from Call Me By Your Name
Remember Me from Coco
Stand Up for Something from Marshall
This is Me from The Greatest Showman
What will win- This is Me from the Greatest Showman
What should win- Remember Me from Coco
Make Up and Hair
Darkest Hour
Victoria and Abdul
Wonder
What will win- Darkest Hour
What should win- Darkest Hour
Costume Design
Beauty and the Beast
Darkest Hour
Mark Bridges
The Shape of Water
Victoria and Abdul
What will win- Phantom Thread
What should win- Phantom Thread
Visual Effects
Blade Runner 2049
Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2
Kong: Skull Island
Star Wars: the Last Jedi
War for the Planet of the Apes
Who will win- War for the Planet of the Apes
Who should win- War for the Planet of the Apes
Cinematography
Blade Runner 2049 for Roger Deakins
Darkest Hours for Bruno Delbonnel
Dunkirk for Hoyt van Hoytema
Mudbound for Rachel Morrison
The Shape of Water for Dan Laustsen
Who will win- Roger Deakins for Blade Runner 2049
Who should win- Roger Deakins for Blade Runner 2049
Best Documentary Short
I haven’t seen the nominees but I will go with Heroin(e) for my guess for winner.
Best Live Action Short
I haven’t seen the nominees but I will go with The Silent Child for my guess for winner
Best Foreign Language Film
I haven’t seen the nominees but I will go with A Fantastic Woman for my guess for winner
So there you have it! That is my Oscar ballot. We will see how things shake out but I really don’t care that much because very few of the films I liked in 2017 are being celebrated. It’s a pretty boring, bland group of nominees if you ask me.
My friend Conrado and I did a podcast on the nominees you might find interesting