My 2018 Oscars Predictions

Tomorrow is my version of yuletide. When I get up early in the morning, woozy with excitement and I wait for abstraction after a year’s worth of anticipation. Will I get what I want? or Will my heart shatter into pieces?

2017 has been such a roller-coaster of a year to me, personally and professionally. Loved certain films and mostly, enjoyed them at the theatres. Oscars, may not be only defining terms for a good film, but winning the most coveted awards, is definitely an honour for many.

With many of the technical and acting categories already locked up, never there has been a Best Picture race quite like this. Monday’s Academy Awards will really be about two different Oscars ~ Best Picture and 23 other categories. That’s due to the preferential ballot for Best Picture category. Usually, there’s a tough fight between two films, but this year there are nearly four top contenders (The Shape of Water, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, Get out and Lady Bird). And Best Picture wins by the 7,800 Oscar voters preference and not by the clear majority of votes like the other categories. Means even if Shape of Water is 10 members first preference and Get Out is 20 members second preference, Get Out can win it. 

With that knowledge out in the open, here are my Oscar predictions for the 24 categories. (Yet to watch 6 nominated films from the final list) : Fingers Crossed:

Best Picture:

Prediction: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri (Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, and Martin McDonagh)
Preference: The Shape of Water (Guillermo del Toro and J. Miles Dale)

Best Director:

Prediction: The Shape Of Water (Guillermo Del Toro)
Preference: Jordan Peele (Get Out)

Actor in a Leading Role:

Prediction: Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour)
Preference: Timothee Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name)

Actress in a Leading Role:

Prediction: Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri)
Preference: Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water)

Actor In a Supporting Role:

Prediction: William Dafoe (The Florida Project)
Preference: Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Missouri)

Actress In a Supporting Role:

Prediction & Preference: Allison Janney (I Tonya)

Writing (Adapted Screenplay):

Prediction & Preference: Call Me By Your Name (James Ivory)

Writing (Original Screenplay):

My second most contentious category this year. :Hush:

Prediction: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri (Martin Mcdonagh)
Preference: Get Out (Jordan Peele)

Animated Feature Film:

Prediction & Preference: Coco (Lee Unkrich & Darla K Anderson)

Cinematography:

First things first, Congrats Rachel Morrison (Mudbound) ~ First Woman ever to be nominated for Best Cinematography in Oscars. 

Prediction: Blade Runner 2049 (Roger A Deakins)
Preference: Hoyte Van Hoytema (Dunkirk)

Film Editing:

Prediction: Dunkirk (Lee Smith)
Preference: Baby Driver (Paul Machliss and Jonathan Amos)

Production Design:

Prediction: Blade Runner (Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Alessandra Querzola)
Preference: The Shape of Water (Paul Denham Austerberry; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau and Jeffrey A. Melvin)

Costume Design:

Prediction: Phantom Thread (Mark Bridges)
Preference: Beauty and The Beast (Jacqueline Durran)

Music (Original Score):

Prediction: The Shape of Water (Alexandre Desplat)
Preference: Dunkirk (Hans Zimmer)

Music (Original Song):

Prediction: Remember Me – Coco (Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez)
Preference: This Is Me – The Greatest Showman (Benj Pasek and Justin Paul)

Sound Editing:

Prediction: Dunkirk (Richard King and Alex Gibson)
Preference: Blade Runner (Mark Mangini and Theo Green)

Sound Mixing:

Prediction: Dunkirk (Gregg Landaker, Gary A. Rizzo, and Mark Weingarten)
Preference: Baby Driver (Julian Slater, Tim Cavagin, and Mary H. Ellis)

Visual Effects:

Prediction: Blade Runner 2049 (John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert and Richard R. Hoover)
Preference: War of the Planet of the Apes (Joe Letteri, Daniel Barrett, Dan Lemmon and Joel Whist)

Makeup & Styling:

Prediction & Preference: Darkest Hour (Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski, and Lucy Sibbick)

Documentary Feature:

Prediction: Icarus (Bryan Fogel and Dan Cogan)

Preference: Faces Places (Agnès Varda, JR, and Rosalie Varda)

Foreign Language Film:

92 nations have submitted a film for consideration as Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards 2018 ~ the highest number to date.

Prediction: A Fantastic Woman (Chile)
Preference: On Body and Soul (Hungary)

Short Film (Animated):

Prediction: Dear Basketball (Glen Keane and Kobe Bryant)
Preference: Lou (Dave Mullins and Dana Murray)

Documentary (Short Subject):

Prediction: Heroin(E) (Elaine McMillion Sheldon and Kerrin Sheldon)
Preference: Edith + Eddie (Laura Checkoway and Thomas Lee Wright)

Short Film (Live Action):

Prediction: Dekalb Elementary (Reed Van Dyk)
Preference: The Silent Child (Chris Overton and Rachel Shenton)

These are my predictions and educated guesses, I do annually. Let’s all discuss and see who gets most right. Thank you and here are my favourites of 2017.