The big night is almost here, you guys!
The 90th Academy Awards is just around the corner, as the most prestigious film awards event will be taking place at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday night (Monday noon in Nepal).
A lot of predictions and speculations have already started; and I am not here to do the same. I would, however, list the names of nominees that I would like to see winning the Oscars this year. I really can’t predict who is gonna win, but I definitely know who I want to win. So, here you go.
Call Me By Your Name, Darkest Hour, Dunkirk, Get Out, Lady Bird, Phantom Thread, The Post, The Shape of Water, and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri are competing for the Best Picture award this year. Hmm. This is a tough one. I have enjoyed and loved all of these films. But if I really have to choose one among them, it will have to be Get Out, directed by Jordan Peele.
For the best Actor in a Leading Role award, Timothee Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name), Daniel Day-Lewis (Phantom Thread), Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out), Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour) and Denzel Washington (Roman J. ISrael, Esq.) are the five contenders. I really, really, really wanna give this one to Timothee as he was wonderful in Call Me (and also in Lady Bird); but, I will have to give it to Gary Oldman for his fantastic performance as the former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour. He definitely deserves it.
Between Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water), Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Margot Robbie (I, Tonya), Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird) and Meryl Streep (The Post); I will give the Best Actress in a Leading Role award to Frances. I love Saoirse – who, at 23, already has received three Oscar nominations – and I would love to see her win her first Oscar, but not this year. And I know, she will walk away with an Academy Award for sure someday.
What have we got next? Oh, Best Actor in a Supporting Role; and the nominees are Willem Dafoe (The Florida Project), Woody Harrelson (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Richard Jenkins (The Shape of Water), Christopher Plummer (All the Money in the World) and Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri). Alright, so the winner for me is Willem Dafoe.
Mary J. Blige (Mudbound) should win the Best Actress in a Supporting Role award, for which she is competing with Allison Janney (I, Tonya), Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread), Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird) and Octavia Spencer (The Shape of Water).
Coco, hands down, should win the Best Animated Feature Film award. I liked The Breadwinner as well, while The Boss Baby, Ferdinand and Loving Vincent were just kinda okay for me. So yeah, Coco it should be.
Christopher Nolan should win the award for Best Director for Dunkirk. I think the film should also win the Best Cinematography award. For Best Costume Design, Jacqueline Durran should be the one for her work in Beauty and the Beast. David Malinowski and Lucy Sibbick should win the Best Makeup and Hairstyling award for their work in Darkest Hour over Victoria & Abdul and Wonder.
Baby Driver was slick and it should win the Best Film Editing and also the sound related awards like Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing. But the Best Music (Original Score) should go to Hans Zimmer for Dunkirk. That guy is an absolute genius. ‘Mystery of Love’, the Call Me By Your Name soundtrack, should win the Best Original Song award.
It’s a tough one between Blade Runner 2049, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Kong: Skull Island, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and War for the Planet of the Apes for Best Visual Effects. I think I’ll give it away to Blade Runner 2049. Yeah, that one and also the Best Production Design – it should also go to Blade Runner 2049.
The awards for writing now: I will choose Virgil Williams and Dee Rees – the screen writers behind Mudbound – over Call Me by Your Name, The Disaster Artist, Logan and Molly’s Game for the Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) award. It would be Jordan Peele for Get Out over The Big Sick, Lady Bird, The Shape of Water and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri for the Best Writing (Original Screenplay).
I was cheering for White Sun, Nepal’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Film, but it didn’t make it to the nominations. Also, the other films that I watched that were competing – India’s ‘Newton’, S. Korea’s ‘A Taxi Driver’, and Cambodia’s ‘First They Killed My Father’ didn’t make it. And honesty, I haven’t seen any of the five films – A Fantastic Woman (Chile), The Insult (Lebanon), Loveless (Russia), On Body and Soul (Hungary), The Square (Sweden) – nominated for the award, so I’ll pass this one.
Also, I am not talking about the nominees for Best Documentary (Feature), Best Documentary (Short Subject), Best Short Film (Animated) and Best Short Film (Live Action) for the same reason – I haven’t seen any of these films.
That’s it. These are the nominees I want to win the Oscars this year. Who are you cheering for? Comment below.
[UPDATE]
Oscars2018: The complete list of winners:
Best supporting actor
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best makeup and hair
Darkest Hour
Best costume design
Phantom Thread
Best documentary
Icarus
Best sound editing
Dunkirk
Best sound mixing
Dunkirk
Best production design
The Shape of Water
Best foreign language film
A Fantastic Woman
Best supporting actress
Allison Janney, I, Tonya
Best animated short
Dear Basketball
Best animated film
Coco
Best visual effects
Blade Runner 2049
Best editing
Dunkirk
Best documentary short
Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405
Best live action short
The Silent Child
Best adapted screenplay
Call Me by Your Name
Best original screenplay
Get Out – WINNER!
Best cinematography
Blade Runner 2049
Best score
The Shape of Water
Best song
Remember Me, Coco
Best director
Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water
Best actor
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Best actress
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best picture
The Shape of Water
