Hollywood’s night of nights is finally upon us after a year of fantastic films and performances across all genres. This is shaping up to be an exciting night as there are a number of awards that could go any direction as I suspect there could be some surprises on the horizon. Guillermo Del Toro’s The Shape of Water leads the way with 13 nominations, Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk has secured 8, and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is not far behind with 7. Here I will be giving my predictions for who will take home the Academy Awards, I won’t be covering all of the categories but I will be going into the main ones that I can actually comment on, 16 in total.

So you know how this works, my prediction will be highlighted in RED, whereas who I personally would like to see win the most will be highlighted in GREEN.

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

This is quite possibly the most exciting award of the night and not only because it’s the biggest, rather the diversity in the nominees is the most exciting part for me. Yes you have your Oscar Bait such as The Post and Phantom Thread but then you have more genre specific films such as The Shape of Water, Dunkirk, and quite possibly the most thrilling inclusion; Get Out. To see the Academy recognising a range of films and seeing that the list isn’t made up entirely of cookie-cutter dramas is very refreshing and something I would never have seen happening a few years ago. As for who will take home the gold my prediction is also the film I would love to see win the most and that is The Shape Of Water. This is gothic romance love story that blew me away and secured a 10/10 score for me totally deserves the award but it isn’t the only film I can see winning. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri has a very strong chance and I wouldn’t be surprised if its name is called, and the one I can see having an outside shot is Get Out. Get Out is my #2 choice for who I would like to see take home the award and if it does it will be a huge statement on behalf of the Academy to recognise such a different and unique film.

There are two films missing off this list that either should have or could have been on here and they are Blade Runner 2049 and The Disaster Artist. Blade Runner 2049 I think personally 100% should have been nominated but maybe the Academy voters just aren’t ready to recognise a heavy Sci-Fi film on the same level as The Post, but we’re getting there. The Disaster Artist on the other hand is only nominated for a single award and that is very obviously due to the recent James Franco controversy which I don’t think should have been taken into consideration during the voting process. I believe in keeping someone’s personal life and their art seperate and that’s what should have been done here.

Director

Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk

Jordan Peele, Get Out

Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird

Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread

Guillermo Del Toro,The Shape of Water

Behind Best Picture this is probably the next exciting award category for a number of reasons because it’s not really a shoe-in for anyone and also because of the progressiveness the Academy is showing in its nominations. There are some very interesting facts to take in about the following nominations. Believe it or not, this is Christopher Nolan’s first directing nomination at the Oscars EVER, I think he does have an outside shot at winning but unfortunately this probably won’t be his year. No matter who wins this award, all eyes will be on Jordan Peele and Greta Gerwig as this is a big win for diversity at the Academy Awards which was in recent years criticised for being “all white”. Both nominees are first time directors, which is big to see the Academy recognising new creative talent as well as the “Spielbergs” of the industry. Jordan Peele’s nomination makes him only the fifth black director in history to be up for the award, and Greta Gerwig’s nomination makes her only the fifth female to be in the running. Personally I think that going hand-in-hand with Best Picture, Guillermo Del Toro will take home the award but I wouldn’t be surprised if either Peele or Gerwig snatch it from him as they are both very deserving of the honour.

I might start to sound like a broken record soon but again…. Denis Villeneuve is absent for Blade Runner 2049 and that’s about as large of a crime as any this year.

Actress In A Leading Role

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

This is an award that is really down to a two-horse race between Sally Hawkins and Frances McDormand, both of whom definitely deserve to take home the Oscar. Personally I really, really want Sally Hawkins to take it home as she does an incredible amount with her performance without being able to utter a single word. She brings an insane level of emotion and heart to the film and all of it is conveyed visually which is an incredibly difficult feat. She has about as good of a shot as Frances McDormand does but I feel that Frances might snatch the award by a small percentage of votes. The rest of the nominees I guess have an outside shot but I don’t see them overtaking the top two. We should highlight though, that Meryl Streep (who is Oscars royalty at this point) is nominated for Best Actress for the 21st time in her career. As much as you might not agree with some of her nominations in the past it’s an impressive feat that not many other people in the industry will ever be able to compete with.

Actor In A Leading Role

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.

This an one award that seems to be a definitive shoe-in but also could turn out to be a pretty close two-horse race. Timothée Chalamet and Gary Oldman to me both put in phenomenal performances and were mesmerising to watch in their respective films. Both of these actors I feel equally deserve to take home the award and I can barely pick between the two for who I want to win the most. I will however go with Oldman for who I want to win the most as Chalamet will have many more opportunities in his future as he is an immensely talented young actor. Now when it comes to my prediction I’m also going for Oldman because I feel that the Academy will side with the body of work if they’re going back and forth over the two. The man hasn’t won an Oscar in the Best Actor category so I feel that this will be his year. Now there are some complaints saying Oldman doesn’t deserve it just because he was “wearing a fat suit” but I entirely disagree. If someone put me, you, or any actor in a tonne of makeup and said to be Winston Churchill, there is no fucken way anyone is putting in a performance as strong and convincing as what Oldman did. He absolutely deserves the honour and will probably be on that stage come Oscar Sunday.

Missing from this list is James Franco and where I don’t feel that he would have won if he was nominated I still feel like his performance was good enough to warrant a spot in this list over someone like Daniel Kaluuya. And let’s be honest…. you hadn’t even heard of Denzel Washington’s film let alone seen it so if he takes home the award it’ll be a surprise to all.

Actress In A Supporting Role

Mary J. Blige, Mudbound

Allison Janney, I, Tonya

Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread

Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird

Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water

This is another award that is almost definitely already decided. Allison Janney is the clear frontrunner and for very good reason because she is incredible in I, Tonya as the mother who you will love to hate. She just about steals the scenes she is in and personality-wise completely disappears into her role. She will take home the award and I feel does deserve it the most. But I very recently caught Lady Bird, and Laurie Metcalf I believe has an outside shot and could steal it from Janney’s grasp if she’s lucky. As much as I would like for her to win it too, I can’t see it going her way though. As for the other nominees I haven’t heard a tonne of buzz for any of them so I feel like their as good as out of the race.

Actor In A Supporting Role

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

This is a very interesting category and one that might be quite difficult to predict as it could go a couple of ways. The favourite to win is Sam Rockwell, he is my pick and odds are he will take home the statue, however there are times in the past where having two nominees from the same film has resulted in their votes being split and neither taking home the award. That being said, IT could result in Richard Jenkins coming out on top as he is great in The Shape of Water or even Willem Dafoe as I’ve heard nothing but good things about his performance in The Florida Project. One thing I’m sure of is that I don’t think Christopher Plummer should take home the award, hell I’m not even sure about his nomination. I haven’t actually seen his film so I can’t comment on the performance itself but I believe his nomination is purely the Academy making a political statement against Kevin Spacey. Plummer winning this award is just about the worst thing I can see happening at the ceremony so let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. I mean it’d be good for Plummer I guess but the factors behind his hiring and nomination make it hard for me to get behind.

One notable absence from this list is Michael Shannon for his performance in The Shape of Water which was a very strong villainous role and I would have liked to see it on here. The biggest missing person here is absolutely Michael Stuhlbarg who had roles in three Oscar-nominated films; The Shape of Water, The Post, and his most impressive work this year in Call Me by Your Name. I think this is absolutely a snub because not only should he have been nominated but he should have won this award. Stuhlbarg has one of the top 3 scenes of the year with his monologue towards the end of Call Me by Your Name that will bring you to tears.

Original Screenplay

The Big Sick

Get Out

Lady Bird

The Shape of Water

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Wow, how about yet another tough category that I can honestly see going to any of these five films. This is possibly the toughest category to predict this time around. There really is no clear frontrunner, all five of the nominees have a very good shot and I wouldn’t be opposed to any of them winning. The Big Sick is the one film in here I missed but I’ve heard very good things about the screenplay and character development within that. As for who I would like to see win I’m going with Get Out because I want to see this genre film walk away with some accolades and especially one highlighting Jordan Peele’s screenwriting achievement would be great to see. Lady Bird also has a very strong chance as the way Greta Gerwig tells this amazing coming-of-age story is brilliant and should be recognised. The Shape of Water as incredible as it is I feel might miss out on this one as the Academy might want to share the awards around and that makes total sense. So as much as I’d be happy no matter who wins here I’m going with Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri as my prediction as because I don’t think it will take home the biggest award of the night I believe it will be recognised here for its great screenplay.

Adapted Screenplay

Call Me by Your Name

The Disaster Artist

Logan

Molly’s Game

Mudbound

Adapted Screenplay is another slightly difficult one because it could go to something like Call Me by Your Name but then the Academy might shockingly actually give the award to Logan which is representing the superhero genre. If you asked me only 2 years ago whether I thought a superhero film would be nominated for a non-technical Oscar I’d have said no with absolute certainty. Not because one wouldn’t deserve it but because the Academy has never showed an interest in recognising mainstream genre films…. until now. This is another big step forward for the Oscars as with Logan getting a nomination it opens the doors even wider than before for more mainstream big-budget films to be recognised. But anyway, lets be real…. us much as I don’t agree with this, there is no way The Disaster Artist is winning this category. Considering its absence in every other category it was lucky to even secure this spot. That would be my personal pick for what I think should win but as it’s a first for the superhero genre I’m going to go with Logan here. But as for my prediction I’m going to stick with Call Me By Your Name as it’s the strongest of the nominees that I’ve seen in this category.

Animated Feature

The Boss Baby

The Breadwinner

Coco

Ferdinand

Loving Vincent

At this point the Animated Feature category might as well be renamed the Disney category because there really is nothing that comes out each year to rival whatever Disney or Disney Pixar pushes out. Coco is the favourite and for very good reason, it’s a fantastic film with a great, meaningful story, a powerful message, and loveable characters. Some have questioned the existence of this category and that animated films should just be lumped in with the other live-action films as there aren’t enough viable competitors that come out each year. I do get that argument although in order to ensure the best animated film of the year does get recognised I say the category should say. I’d like to see the two film types be united but then it would be incredibly difficult for animated films to show up at the Oscars at all. I mean, the lack of competition is shown when something like The Boss Baby is nominated…. I didn’t hate the movie but it is far from the best animated film of the year.

This also marks another year where the new Lego movie doesn’t appear on the list. It started when The Lego Movie failed to get a nomination back in 2014 and now The Lego Batman Movie has been criminally overlooked. How it misses out on a spot over The Boss Baby or even Ferdinand I’m completely lost by.

Original Score

Dunkirk

Phantom Thread

The Shape of Water

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

There were some great scores this year and from big names such as John Williams, Hans Zimmer, and Alexandre Desplat, so this is a tough competition right here. Personally I think The Shape of Water should walk away with the award as Desplat’s score is truly magical and mysterious and captures the tone of every scene magnificently. And I also think it will walk away with it despite both Dunkirk and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri both containing incredibly affecting scores. John Williams’ Star Wars: The Last Jedi score is very good but doesn’t stand up to the other nominees I feel. It’s also interesting to note that this is John Williams’ 51st Oscar nomination, beating his own record for the most nominations by a living person and the second most living or dead. That is an incredible achievement whether he wins here or not. Williams’ score for The Post was also great so maybe the Academy considers both of his scores and has that trump the others but I son’t think that’ll be the case.

Original Song

“Mighty River”, Mudbound

“Mystery of Love”, Call Me by Your Name

“Remember Me”, Coco

“Stand Up for Something”, Marshall

“This Is Me”, The Greatest Showman

This is another category that is only a two-horse race with Coco going up against The Greatest Showman for the gold. I haven’t heard the songs from Marshall or Mudbound so I can’t comment of the likelihood of them winning. “Mystery of Love” from Call Me by Your Name is a beautiful song and when paired with the tone of the film fits brilliantly. But it isn’t a song that stands out from everything else in the film as much as some of the other nominations do so because of that I don’t feel like it will have a shot. This really is between “Remember Me” and “This Is Me” and my prediction is also the one I think should win which is “This Is Me”. I’m not a big fan of “Remember Me” and that’s why I don’t think it should win as there’s better songs out there. There are like 3 or 4 songs in The Greatest Showman that top “Remember Me”…. hell, it isn’t even the best song in Coco. This will probably be a tough competition but it should be a clear winner.

Sound Editing

Baby Driver

Blade Runner 2049

Dunkirk

The Shape of Water

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Now we get into the technical awards which is where finally Blade Runner 2049 starts to make appearances and where I would love to see it take away this award as I feel it deserves it the most, but I’m going to go with Baby Driver for my prediction. Blade Runner 2049, Dunkirk, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi all feature exceptional sound editing so any of these films winning will make me very happy. As Blade Runner 2049 was my favourite movie of the year there’s no doubt it is what I think should win but I don’t think the Academy will recognise it here as much as they should. Seeing Baby Driver get some recognition in the more technical awards is great to see as it’s a very fun action film that featured incredible sound design.

Sound Mixing

Baby Driver

Blade Runner 2049

Dunkirk

The Shape of Water

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Now as much as I loved Blade Runner 2049 there is no doubting that the sound mixing in Dunkirk was astounding the whole way through. The way the more intense sequences utilise mixing to balance the dialogue with the explosions and gunfire is phenomenally executed. Even the less action packed sequences are just as tense due to the way sound immerses you in the events and places you in the boots of these soldiers. Again, if something like Baby Driver or Blade Runner 2049 did manage to win this award I’d still think it should have gone to Dunkirk but I won’t really be against it.

Cinematography

Blade Runner 2049

Darkest Hour

Dunkirk

Mudbound

The Shape of Water

This category is one of my top 3 categories at the Oscars every year as there’s something about a film with impeccable cinematography that immerses me and has me fall in love with the piece of art even more. There is no doubt in the world that Blade Runner 2049 features some of the best cinematography that I have ever seen in a film to this day. As incredible as the cinematography was in Dunkirk and even in The Shape of Water, Blade Runner 2049 is on a whole other level that nothing else even comes close to. This is the award that I believe will secure legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins his Oscar after 14 nominations with no luck. The guy is one of the best cinematographers the industry has seen so to see him finally get an Oscar for his work will be fantastic. If and when he wins his award a definite standing ovation should be waiting as if anyone deserves it it’s this guy. It’s also key to note that this years Oscars will make history as being the first time a female cinematographer has ever been nominated as Rachel Morrison is nominated for her work on Mudbound. This is yet another big step forward and if she does manage to win for her work on that film it would be big…. however this year probably won’t be hers as it’s probably Deakins’.

Film Editing

Baby Driver

Dunkirk

I, Tonya

The Shape of Water

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Again the films of 2017 make this category a difficult one as all of these films exhibit some damn exceptional and creative uses of editing techniques. I feel like the frontrunners here are Baby Driver and Dunkirk with I, Tonya and The Shape of Water having an outside shot and I wouldn’t be surprised if the latter two win it. I’m going to go ahead and predict that Dunkirk walks away with the win with my pick for what I would most like to win being Baby Driver. Both Dunkirk and Baby Driver I feel did something more with the editing by having it integrated into the film in unique ways no other film this past year has done.

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

This is a very tough one for me to pick as I love the visual effects in all of these films but the strongest are absolutely found in War for the Planet of the Apes and Blade Runner 2049. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Kong: Skull Island have very good visual effects but they don’t stand a chance compared to the other nominees. Star Wars: The Last Jedi has an outside shot as Star Wars is always incredible when it comes to the visual effects…. however it never actually wins (aside from A New Hope) so that could be an indication it won’t win here. Now I was campaigning heavily for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes to take this award in the lead up to the 2015 Oscars but it never did. So what I believe will happen is that if Blade Runner 2049 doesn’t manage to take it, that War for the Planet of the Apes will bring it home for both itself and Dawn. It’s tough for me to pick who I would want to win it most because Blade Runner 2049‘s visual effects are beyond exceptional, but at the same time what Andy Serkis accomplishes with performance capture in War for the Planet of the Apes is unreal. I mean, look at those apes and tell you can tell they aren’t real apes without lying…… impossible. And Serkis is probably never going to win a Oscar for his performance capture work so this is as close as he will get to that and I hope he gets it.