Tuesday, January 23, 2018

My Reactions to the 90th Academy Awards Nominations

by
Julien Faddoul

Below is the full list of nominees for the 90th Academy Awards with my written reactions.


A few notes:

Didn’t do so well in predicting as I did in the past two years…my average was 4/5 correct this year.

Nomination Tally:
13 (The Shape of Water),
8 (Dunkirk),
7 (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri),
6 (Darkest Hour, Phantom Thread),
5 (Ladybird, Blade Runner 2049),
4 (Call Me by Your Name, Get Out, Mudbound, Star Wars: The Last Jedi),
3 (Baby Driver, I, Tonya)
2 (The Post, Beauty and the Beast, Coco, Victoria and Abdul)

Over-performers this year include Darkest Hour and Phantom Thread, while the under-performers include I, Tonya, The Florida Project, The Big Sick and, despite making it into the top category, The Post, which only snagged two nominations…

The Shape of Water did even better than I thought it would, appearing in categories that were totally unnecessary like Supporting Actress and Original Screenplay.


  

BEST PICTURE

Call Me by Your Name
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Get Out
Ladybird
Phantom Thread
The Post
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

8/9 correct, missing Phantom Thread for I, Tonya.

I was feeling 7 or 8 nominees this year but they went with the typical 9.

The Post’s thrashing can be attributed to multiple factors: the film’s release was rushed and people probably assumed other branches were supporting it. Also, perhaps peer group voters found it to be genuinely undeserving…






DIRECTOR

Dunkirk – Christopher Nolan
Get Out – Jordan Peele
Ladybird – Greta Gerwig
Phantom Thread – Paul Thomas Anderson
The Shape of Water – Guillermo Del Toro

4/5, missing PT Anderson for Martin McDonagh

Now this was an upset: McDonagh had appeared in every precursor while Anderson wasn’t honoured by any. Unlike Best Picture, the Director’s branch is much smaller and far more insular and one often sees more personal choices than the frontrunner options (eg. Mel Gibson last year or Lenny Abrahamson the year before).



ACTOR

Call Me by Your Name – Timothee Chalamat
Darkest Hour – Gary Oldman
Get Out – Daniel Kaluuya
Phantom Thread – Daniel Day-Lewis
Roman J. Israel ESQ – Denzel Washington
  
4/5 correct, missing Washington for James Franco.

I made my case yesterday for why Franco was iffy but I chickened out. I should've also remembered that AMPAS probably still hates him for ruining their ceremony when he hosted 7 years ago.



ACTRESS

I, Tonya – Margot Robbie
Ladybird – Saoirse Ronan
The Post – Meryl Streep
The Shape of Water – Sally Hawkins
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – Frances McDormand

5/5 correct.

The expected five, though one assumes that Streep just barely made it.



SUPPORTING ACTOR

All the Money in the World – Christopher Plummer
The Florida Project – Willem Dafoe
The Shape of Water – Richard Jenkins
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – Woody Harrelson
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – Sam Rockwell

4/5, missing Plummer for Michael Stuhlbarg.

Ugh! UUUUUUUGH! Of all the likely scenarios they went with the worst one. Poor Michael Stuhlbarg.

Fun fact: Plummer breaks the record for oldest acting nominee, previously held by Gloria Stuart (TITANIC).



SUPPORTING ACTRESS

I, Tonya – Allison Janney
Ladybird – Laurie Metcalf
Mudbound – Mary J. Blige
Phantom Thread – Lesley Manville
The Shape of Water – Octavia Spencer

4/5 correct, missing Manville for Hong Chau.

Many people were sensing Manville as a possibility. It’s a shame it had to be at the expensive of Chau but AMPAS rarely nominates Asian actors for some reason.



ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The Big Sick – Emily Gordon, Kumail Nanjiani
Get Out – Jordan Peele
Ladybird – Greta Gerwig
The Shape of Water – Guillermo Del Toro, Vanessa Taylor
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – Martin McDonagh

4/5, missing Del Toro and Taylor for I, Tonya.

I can’t believe in such a competitive category this year that that stupid script that steals from everything from Creature from the Black Lagoon to The Iron Giant made it in! Who likes that screenplay? Who?! You guys, I really didn’t like The Shape of Water.



ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Call Me by Your Name – James Ivory
The Disaster Artist – Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber
Logan – Scott Frank, James Mangold, Michael Green
Molly’s Game – Aaron Sorkin
Mudbound – Dee Rees, Virgil Williams

5/5 correct.

Well, well, well. They all made fun of me for predicting Logan…who’s laughing now!



ANIMATED FILM

The Boss Baby
The Breadwinner
Coco
Ferdinand
Loving Vincent

4/5, missing Ferdinand for Despicable Me 3.

I was right that they’d go with 3 blockbusters and 2 indies, but…Ferdinand? Really? Despicable Me 3 made a billion dollars! Whatever, they’re both bad movies.



FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM

A Fantastic Woman – Chile
The Insult – Lebanon
Loveless – Russia
On Body and Soul – Hungary
The Square – Sweden

4/5, missing On Body and Soul for Foxtrot.

This’ll be an interesting race toward Oscar night.



CINEMATOGRAPHY

Blade Runner 2049 – Roger Deakins
Darkest Hour – Bruno Delbonnell
Dunkirk – Hoyte van Hoytema
Mudbound – Rachel Morrison
The Shape of Water – Dan Laustsen

5/5 correct.

Rachel Morrison becomes the first female nominated for the award. Is this finally Deakins’ year?



PRODUCTION DESIGN

Beauty and the Beast – Sarah Greenwood
Blade Runner 2049 – Dennis Gassner
Darkest Hour – Sarah Greenwood
Dunkirk – Nathan Crowley
The Shape of Water – Paul Austerberry

4/5 correct, missing Beauty and the Beast for The Post.

Sorry Sarah, Beauty and the Beast was designed by Brian McEntee back in 1991 but what-fucking-ever.



COSTUME DESIGN

Beauty and the Beast – Jacqueline Durran
Darkest Hour – Jacqueline Durran
Phantom Thread – Mark Bridges
The Shape of Water – Luis Sequeira
Victoria and Abdul – Consolata Boyle

4/5 correct, missing Darkest Hour for The Post.

Uh…yeah all those politicians’ suits were really vivid….yeah…we should definitely nominate her twice…



FILM EDITING

Baby Driver – Jonathan Amos, Paul Machliss
Dunkirk – Lee Smith
I, Tonya – Tatiana S. Riegel
The Shape of Water – Sidney Wolinsky
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – Jon Gregory

4/5 correct, missing I, Tonya for Get Out.

I have to say I’m kinda flabbergasted that Get Out missed here, not because it’s so great or anything but because it is the kind of film that the editing branch usually honours perennially. Also, it’s strange for I, Tonya to be recognized here but not in Picture or Screenplay…?



ORIGINAL SCORE

Dunkirk – Hans Zimmer
Phantom Thread – Johnny Greenwood
The Shape of Water – Alexandre Desplat
Star Wars: The Last Jedi – John Williams
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – Carter Burwell

3/5 correct, missing Burwell and Williams for Dario Marianelli (Darkest Hour) and Williams (The Post).

I don’t get the Jedi nom here at all, sorry. Yay for Johnny Greenwood!



SOUND

Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi

4/5 correct, missing Baby Driver for Get Out.




SOUND EDITING

Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi

5/5 correct.



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

4/5 correct, missing Kong: Skull Island for Okja.

Kong: Skull Island? Really?



MAKEUP

Darkest Hour
Victoria and Abdul
Wonder

2/3 correct, missing Victoria and Abdul for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

They usually have at least one creature-type film in there. Not this year.



ORIGINAL SONG

Call Me by Your Name – “Mystery of Love”
Coco – “Remember Me”
The Greatest Showman – “This is Me”
Marshall – “Standing Up for Something”
Mudbound– “Mighty River”

4/5 correct, missing Marshall for The Star.

Should’ve figured Marshall would get in because they loooove nominating Dianne Warren.



DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail
Faces Places
Icarus
Last Men in Aleppo
Strong Island

3/5 correct.



DOCUMENTARY SHORT

Edith+Eddie
Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405
Heroin(e)
Knife Skills
Traffic Stop



ANIMATED SHORT

Dear Basketball
Garden Party
Lou
Negative Space
Revolting Rhymes



LIVE-ACTION SHORT

DeKalb Elementary
The Eleven O’Clock
My Nephew Emmett
The Silent Child
Watu Wote/All of Us





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