After much speculation and many ticket purchases, Oscar nominations have been revealed. Nominations for the 90th annual awards were announced this morning in Beverly Hills, California.
Leading the way is Guillermo Del Toro’s The Shape of Water with 13 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, and Best Director. Another Best Picture favorite, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, follows with nine nominations and Christopher Nolan’s war drama Dunkirk with seven.
In the major awards, here are the list of nominations:
Best Picture
Call Me by Your Name
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Get Out
Lady Bird
Phantom Thread
The Post
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best Actor
Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name
Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread
Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq.
Best Actress
Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Margot Robbie, I, Tonya
Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
Meryl Streep, The Post
Supporting Actor
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
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Supporting Actress
Mary J. Blige, Mudbound
Allison Janney, I, Tonya
Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water
Best Director
Dunkirk, Christopher Nolan
Get Out, Jordan Peele
Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig
Phantom Thread, Paul Thomas Anderson
The Shape of Water, Guillermo del Toro
Best Animated Feature
The Boss Baby, Tom McGrath, Ramsey Ann Naito
The Breadwinner, Nora Twomey, Anthony Leo
Coco, Lee Unkrich, Darla K. Anderson
Ferdinand, Carlos Saldanha
Loving Vincent, Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, Sean Bobbitt, Ivan Mactaggart, Hugh Welchman
Original Screenplay
The Big Sick, Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani
Get Out, Jordan Peele
Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig
The Shape of Water, Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Martin McDonagh
Adapted Screenplay
Call Me by Your Name, James Ivory
The Disaster Artist, Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber
Logan, Scott Frank & James Mangold and Michael Green
Molly’s Game, Aaron Sorkin
Mudbound, Virgil Williams and Dee Rees
The full list of nominations can be found on Variety.
Looking over the list and seeing majority of the films that were nominated for Best Picture, most recently The Post, I would still give the edge to The Shape of Water as of right now. It stands out as one of my favorite movies of the year and you can read my review if you haven’t already. I’ve heard a lot about Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and, judging from the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild awards it has won, this is a film worth looking at. I’m also proud of the Academy for recognizing excellent films such as Get Out and Lady Bird, adding diversity into the Best Director nominee field with Jordan Peele and Greta Gerwig, respectively.
Unfortunately, in this process, there is another side to the coin. There are those films, actors/actresses, directors, and screenplays that get snubbed. And this year, I’d have to say that there are quite a few. Here are a few that I noticed:
Wonder Woman shut out
To my surprise and I’m sure a lot of others, the DC Comics box office juggernaut did not earn a single nomination, even missing out on the technical categories. While I’m sure director Patty Jenkins is proud of the nominations of a female director and strong female leads in Lady Bird and Three Billboards, her superhero solo film deserved a nomination.
The Big Sick snubbed for Best Picture
Amazon Pictures, which already has an Oscar winning movie under their belt with Manchester By the Sea, missed out on the Best Picture nomination in 2018 with its brilliant box office rom-com starring Kumali Nanjiani. It was, however, nominated for screenplay. Despite missing out on the nomination, the previous win proves that streaming movies have the potential to compete with theatrical releases.
James Franco, The Disaster Artist
With winning a Golden Globe award for Best Actor – Musical or Comedy and nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor, you’d think James Franco would have made the cut for a Best Actor Oscar nomination. However, a report published by the Los Angeles Times during the end of Oscars voting, detailing inappropriate sexual conduct by the actor, could have been the factor that derailed his chances. With the current climate in Hollywood, detailing men accused of sexual abuse, it seems that the Academy has drawn a line in the sand.
Steven Spielberg, The Post
After viewing the drama about the Washington Post and its decision to publish the Pentagon Papers in the 70’s, I thought Spielberg would be a lock for a Best Director nomination. Unfortunately, it missed the cut. But the film still earned two nominations: for best picture and best actress Meryl Streep.
What do you all think? Do you think there are films that should be on this list? Any performances that were left behind? Leave a comment!
One Scene at A Time 