With 2018 Oscar nominations less than a week away, we share our wish list of those unlikely nominations we hope sneak onto the ballot next Tuesday morning.
It’s hard to believe that the Academy Awards ceremony is still over a month and a half away, especially considering so many of the awards season frontrunners already feel like such a lock. For example, Frances McDormand will surely be nominated for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. There’s seemingly no doubt that Gary Oldman’s performance in Darkest Hour will earn him his second nomination.
In other categories, Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water appears to be a lock for both picture and director. While Lady Bird and Get Out are leading contenders in the Best Original Screenplay category.
But what about those films and performances with a much smaller chance of making it onto the final Oscar ballot? There are bound to be a few surprises next Tuesday morning when the final nominees are announced. Here are 10 Oscar nominees we hope make it on the ballot this year.
Best Supporting Actor:
Michael Stuhlbarg
The fact that Stuhlbarg is on the cusp of getting snubbed in his category, when he was originally a lock, is such a shame. Not only does he appear in numerous awards contenders this season outside of the Luca Guadagnino-directed LGBT romance (The Post, The Shape of Water), what he does here is one of the singularly most empathetic monologues committed to the screen. The film is already a masterwork, but then you cap it off with this scene that puts into words the film’s profound emotional weight, well, it’s *chef’s kiss*.
Best Actress:
Vicky Krieps
Virtually unknown in Hollywood before this year, Vicky Krieps’ performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread is a sensational and thrilling turn that deserves an Oscar nomination alongside the rest of the year’s best performances.
Acting opposite Daniel Day-Lewis, widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time, is no easy feat, but Krieps does so with apparent ease. Her performance as Alma, a smart and headstrong woman that challenges the supposed genius of her male counterpart, is one of the most challenging roles in film this year yet she manages it with grace.
Phantom Thread is a film that feels like an instant classic and much of that is thanks to Krieps’ performance; she brings Alma to life, every glance and gesture feels real and purposeful. She gives the story a beating heart and it’s all the better for it. We’re hoping she can sneak into a crowded Best Actress line-up.
Best Original Screenplay:
‘Beatriz at Dinner’
There are many reasons to champion Beatriz at Dinner, from Salma Hayek’s beautifully understated performance to Miguel Arteta’s pitch-perfect direction, but most notable is the script from Mike White. The Enlightened alum (the film recycles the gorgeous score from the HBO show to great effect) strikes an incredible balance of tone throughout the film’s central dinner, from prickly confrontations to poignant pathos. It’s an incredible feat but unfortunately much too slight for the Academy to take notice. But we can always hope.
Best Cinematography:
‘Call Me by Your Name’
You may know the names of those in front of the camera in Call Me by Your Name like Timothee Chalamet and Armie Hammer, but we should all be singing the praises of the film’s cinematographer, Sayombhu Mukdeeprom.
The Best Cinematography category at the Oscars is typically filled with those big budget films with showy cinematography like Blade Runner 2049. While Roger Deakins surely deserves his nomination, Mukdeeprom’s work on Call Me by Your Name is no less deserving. His style brings a unique energy to the film that captures the searing heat of the Italian summer and the passionate romance between the two leads. Mukdeeprom’s work is deeply naturalistic and achingly beautiful. He develops a visual style that complements and enhances the love story itself. Despite how unlikely it is, we can’t help but hope his name will pop up on the list of nominees.
Best Film Editing:
‘Lady Bird’
Plenty of films gave us flashy, exciting editing this year – Dunkirk, Blade Runner 2049, Baby Driver – and Lady Bird is definitely a less obvious choice. But consider this. In a breezy 90-minute runtime, we are whisked through the entire senior year of a girl’s high school experience. Scenes fluctuate in length, from something prolonged to just a flicker, creating the film’s very specific rhythm, as if you’re watching through the lens of Lady Bird’s memories. And it even feels as if the film accelerates in its pace as it goes along, urging Lady Bird on her path to adulthood. It’s nothing short of remarkable the way editing plays such a large role in why this film has the profound effect it does.
Best Actor:
Robert Pattinson
Major awards bodies have largely overlooked Robert Pattinson’s daring performance in Good Time, but if there is any justice, his name will show up on this year’s ballot. If any doubt remained on the question of Pattinson’s talent, Good Time puts them to bed.
In the role of Connie Nikas, Pattinson reveals the depths of his talent. For someone that made his start in beloved franchises like Harry Potter and Twilight, it’s exciting to see Pattinson disappear in a role that demands he be deeply unlikeable yet darkly charismatic.
For those familiar with Pattinson’s rather shy and subdued disposition, his performance in Good Time will come as a shock; he’s caustic, manipulative, and dangerous. He leads one of the best films of the year with a performance that deserves an Oscar nomination.
Best Supporting Actress:
Tiffany Haddish
Unfortunately Haddish’s big awards season moment might’ve already come and gone with her uproarious and incredible speech at the New York Film Critics Circle dinner, but we’re still holding out hope. Comedy performances are rarely honored at the Oscars, but if Melissa McCarthy’s turn in Bridesmaids can be recognized, so can Haddish’s work in Malcom D. Lee’s Girls Trip. It is a star-making role through and through. The grapefruit scene is an all-timer and she even delivers an emotional, and still hilarious, wallop in this scene – her Oscar clip.
Best Picture:
‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’
A Star Wars film has not been nominated for Best Picture since the 1978 Oscars and this should be the year to change that. At its best, Star Wars contains the kind of raw cinematic energy that makes movies such an incredible experience and Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi epitomizes the best of what the series can be. It’s an incredible entry in the series that takes risks and isn’t afraid to challenge the franchise’s legacy. The film delivers an exhilarating story, inspiring characters, and some of the greatest set pieces and action sequences we’ve seen in the franchise.
The Last Jedi has a lot working against it; its blockbuster status and sci-fi/fantasy genre categorization are both obstacles to a nomination. However, with audiences raving and an expanded Best Picture nominee field, it’s not impossible. If any Star Wars film in recent memory deserves the nomination, it’s The Last Jedi.
Best Director:
Greta Gerwig
Following her DGA nomination, fingers crossed we don’t even need to put her on our Oscar wish list, but we’d also be remiss not to. This is how badly we want, and honestly need, this nomination to happen. A female-driven story directed by a woman. In our current climate, this is among the most important nominations that could – and should – happen. And sure, usually movies like Lady Bird aren’t recognized for their direction but rather their acting and screenplay, but what Gerwig does here should absolutely not be counted out.
Best Adapted Screenplay:
‘The Beguiled’
Adapted from a novel first published in 1966, Sofia Coppola’s adaptation of The Beguiled should absolutely be in contention for Best Adapted Screenplay. The film disappeared from the awards conversation after its release, despite the fact that Coppola won Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival.
With The Beguiled, Coppola manages to improve upon the source material, finding a balance between the thrilling drama and pulpy melodrama. She manages to infuse the story with genuine stakes, real characters, and a surprising amount of humor. It would be a welcomed surprise to see The Beguiled crop up among the Oscar nominations next week.
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