My 2018 Oscar Picks
I've already given you the list of my 10 favorite films that came out in 2017. Now I'm going to go one step further and pick my personal favorites for each category in the 2018 Academy Awards. This is not my attempt at predicting which films The Academy will actually reward. Instead, if the Oscars were completely up to me, this is how they would shake out. Nominees which appear in bold are my choice for the winner of that category. If a category has an asterisk next to it, that means that I saw an admittedly low number of the films in that category. In such situations, I fill out the nominations based upon the films that have previously been nominated in the various critics awards that have already taken place. However, if there is no asterisk next to the category, that means I have personally seen each nominee as well as others that would compete in that category. In all categories, nominees appearing in bold (my picks for winners) represent films that I have personally seen.
Best Original Song
"Mighty River" - Mudbound
"It Ain't Fair" - Detroit
"Rewrite the Stars" - The Greatest Showman
"A Million Dreams" - The Greatest Showman
"I Get Overwhelmed" - A Ghost Story
Best Animated Feature*
The Star
Coco
The Boss Baby
Loving Vincent
The Breadwinner
Best Foreign Language Film*
First They Killed My Father
The Square
BPM (Beats Per Minute)
Foxtrot
In the Fade
Best Documentary Feature*
City of Ghosts
Faces Places
Jane
Jim and Andy: The Great Beyond
Ex Libris: The New York Public Library
Best Animated Short*
Fox and the Whale
Lou
Dear Basketball
Cradle
Negative Space
Best Documentary Short*
Heroin(e)
116 Cameras
Ten Meter Tower
Alone
Edith+Eddie
Best Live Action Short*
Lost Face
DeKalb Elementary
The Eleven O'Clock
Icebox
The Silent Child
Best Makeup & Hairstyling
Wonder
Darkest Hour
I, Tonya
Best Costume Design
Phantom Thread
Blade Runner 2049
Mudbound
A Quiet Passion
Wonder Woman
Best Production Design
Blade Runner 2049
Phantom Thread
The Shape of Water
Columbus
Mudbound
Best Visual Effects
Blade Runner 2049
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Wonder Woman
Okja
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Best Sound Mixing
Dunkirk
Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Wonder Woman
Best Sound Editing
Baby Driver
Dunkirk
Blade Runner 2049
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
A Ghost Story
Best Original Score
Phantom Thread (Jonny Greenwood)
Blade Runner 2049 (Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch)
The Shape of Water (Alexandre Desplat)
The Greatest Showman (John Debney, Benj Pasek, Justin Paul)
A Ghost Story (Daniel Hart)
Best Cinematography
Blade Runner 2049 (Roger Deakins)
Columbus (Elisha Christian)
The Shape of Water (Dan Laustsen)
Mudbound (Rachel Morrison)
A Ghost Story (Andrew Droz Palermo)
Best Film Editing
Phantom Thread
Baby Driver
Dunkirk
The Florida Project
Columbus
Best Adapted Screenplay
Virgil Williams and Dee Rees - Mudbound
Aaron Sorkin - Molly's Game
Hampton Fancher and Michael Green - Blade Runner 2049
Angelina Jolie and Loung Ung - First They Killed My Father
Jack Thorne, Steve Conrad, Stephen Chbosky - Wonder
Best Original Screenplay
Greta Gerwig - Lady Bird
Paul Thomas Anderson - Phantom Thread
Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon - The Big Sick
Jordan Peele - Get Out
Steven Rogers - I, Tonya
Best Supporting Actor
Willem Dafoe - The Florida Project
Jason Mitchell - Mudbound
Richard Jenkins - The Shape of Water
Sam Rockwell - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Idris Elba - Molly's Game
Best Supporting Actress
Allison Janney - I, Tonya
Holly Hunter - The Big Sick
Laurie Metcalf - Lady Bird
Lesley Manville - Phantom Thread
Mary J. Blige - Mudbound
Best Director
Dee Rees - Mudbound
Paul Thomas Anderson - Phantom Thread
Greta Gerwig - Lady Bird
Sean Baker - The Florida Project
Jordan Peele - Get Out
Best Actor
Gary Oldman - Darkest Hour
Daniel Day-Lewis - Phantom Thread
Daniel Kaluuya - Get Out
Adam Sandler - The Meyerowitz Stories: New and Selected
John Cho - Columbus
Best Actress
Vicky Krieps - Phantom Thread
Saoirse Ronan - Lady Bird
Frances McDormand - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Margot Robbie - I, Tonya
Jessica Chastain - Molly's Game
Best Picture
Phantom Thread
Blade Runner 2049
Mudbound
Lady Bird
Columbus
A Ghost Story
The Florida Project
I, Tonya
Molly's Game
The Big Sick
Most Nominations
Phantom Thread - 10
Blade Runner 2049 - 9
Mudbound - 9
Lady Bird - 5
Columbus - 5
A Ghost Story - 5
The Florida Project - 5
I, Tonya - 5
Molly's Game - 4
The Shape of Water - 4
Most Wins
Phantom Thread - 5
Blade Runner 2049 - 3
Mudbound - 3
Lady Bird - 1
The Florida Project - 1
I, Tonya - 1
Baby Driver - 1
Wonder - 1
Darkest Hour - 1
Dunkirk - 1
First They Killed My Father - 1
The Star - 1
Fox and the Whale - 1
Heroin(e) - 1
Lost Face - 1
City of Ghosts - 1
Honorable Mentions - Every year when the real Oscar nominations are announced, focus usually turns to those who were "snubbed." With any list of nominations like this, there will always be deserving artists that get left off. Even in these personal nominations, it's impossible for me to reward everyone who is deserving. I could do this for every category, but that might get a bit tedious. So, instead, below you will find a list of a few of the artists who very nearly made it on my nominations. I want to recognize them in some way, so consider this my list of honorable mentions.
Kogonada (Columbus) - Director
Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water) - Actress
Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman) - Director
Alexis Zabe (The Florida Project) - Cinematography
Ray Romano (The Big Sick) - Supporting Actor
Cynthia Nixon (A Quiet Passion) - Actress
Haley Lu Richardson (Columbus) - Actress
Robert Pattinson (Good Time) - Actor
Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk) - Director
Molly's Game - Production Design
Meryl Streep (The Post) - Actress
Sylvia Hoeks (Blade Runner 2049) - Supporting Actress
Toby Oliver (Get Out) - Cinematography
A Ghost Story - Film Editing
Noah Baumbach (The Meyerowitz Stories: New and Selected): Original Screenplay
Catherine Keener (Get Out) - Supporting Actress
Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water) - Director
Patrick Stewart (Logan) - Supporting Actor
David Lowery (A Ghost Story) - Original Screenplay
"This is Me" (The Greatest Showman) - Original Song
Bruno Delbonnel (Darkest Hour) - Cinematography
Scott Frank, James Mangold and Michael Green (Logan) - Adapted Screenplay
David Lowery (A Ghost Story) - Director
Carter Burwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) - Original Score
This post was updated on March 4, 2018 to include nominations for The Shape of Water after I watched it prior to the 90th Academy Awards.