Julian Tack
Staff Writer
JTack.express@gmail.com
The Oscars is an awards show that is supposed to celebrate the best films, actors, and filmmakers for their performances during the year. While there are many films that are deserving of such high praise, there are some that go unnoticed or are otherwise snubbed from any awards or nominations. This year, we have a variety of films that have been nominated but there are still some movies that many believe deserve more recognition. Here are my thoughts on some of the nominees as well as who I think should win, who will most likely win, and who deserved a nomination.
Best Director
Movies that are nominated for best director are Get Out, Lady Bird, The Shape of Water, Dunkirk, and Phantom Thread. Although this is a great group of directors, Logan and Disaster Artist should replace Dunkirk and Phantom Thread. Although Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk is a great movie, it is definitely not one of Nolan’s most memorable films. Logan on the other hand is one of director James Mangold’s best movies and is arguably one of the best in its respective franchise. Disaster Artist should be among the group because of its extremely accurate and odd true the story of Tommy Wisaeu on which the movie is based on. Phantom Thread has gone under many moviegoers radar, while Disaster Artist turned out to be a surprise hit. Either Del Toro (The Shape of Water) or Gerwig (Lady Bird) deserve the Oscar for best director. Del Toro or Peele should win because I’m a fan of their work and I enjoyed their latest movies the most.
Best Actor
Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out), Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour), Timothee Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name), Denzel Washington (Roman J. Israel, Esq.), and Jeremy Irons (Phantom Thread) are up for best actor. Two actors who were snubbed for an Oscar nomination for this category were Hugh Jackman for either Logan or The Greatest Showman and James Franco for Disaster Artist. They should have replaced Washington and Irons simply because they elevated their movies in a much more impactful and meaningful way than the other two actors. Oldman did such a fantastic job in the Darkest Hour and is long overdue for an Oscar award. He is unrecognizable not just because of the makeup, but because his performance was believable. Daniel Kaluuya should win the best actor award because of his his performance in Get Out.
Best Actress
The best actress nominees include Saiorse Ronan (Lady Bird), Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water) Margot Robbie (I, Tonya), Frances McDormand (Three Billboard Outside Ebbing, Missouri) and Meryl Streep (The Post). For this category, all the actresses deserved a spot in this category as they all did a fantastic job in each of their films. However, Ronan or McDormand are most likely going to take the award due to their incredible performances, as well as having a couple of nominations in the past but no wins (except McDormand). Robbie and Hawkins should win the best actress award for the acting talent they brought to their movies in comparison to the other actresses. Robbie as Tonya Harding was so believable and spot on, she reminded me of Oldman’s portrayal of Churchill but taken the extra mile. Hawkins’s character dealt with being a mute and the character arc from someone feeling incomplete to someone who realizes she was not missing anything at all which was a touching subject.
Best Supporting Actor
Supporting actor nominees are Willem Dafoe (The Florida Project), Woody Harrelson (Three Billboards), Richard Jenkins (The Shape of Water), Christopher Plummer (All The Money In The World) and Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards). For this category, I can’t replace the nominees with actors who were snubbed simply because there are a lot more supporting actors to choose from in so few slots. Actors who deserved a spot here are Michael Shannon (The Shape of Water), Sebastian Stan (I, Tonya), Patrick Stewart (Logan), Dave Franco (Disaster Artist), and Armie Hammer (Call Me By Your Name). Similar to the best actor category, all the snubbed supporting actors contributed a lot more to their perspective films. Rockwell will probably win the best supporting actor award, since he did a great job and it is probably his last chance to win an award. Harrelson should win the award because he is long overdue for an Oscar.
Best Supporting Actress
Octavia Spencer (The Shape of Water), Mary J. Blige (Mudbound), Allison Janney (I, Tonya), Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread) and Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird) are up for best supporting actress. Ana de Armas deserved a nomination for Blade Runner 2049, as she was one of the best inclusions to that movie and brought more emotion and backstory to the main protagonist. The actress who is most likely going to win and absolutely deserves it is Janney due to being the standout performance in I, Tonya.
Best Picture
Lastly, the nominees for best picture are; Call Me By Your Name, Dunkirk, Get Out, Darkest Hour, Lady Bird, The Post, Phantom Thread, Three Billboards and The Shape of Water. Like I’ve stated before, Logan and Disaster Artist could be up here as well but this is a good list of nominees. My prediction is that Three Billboards, The Shape of Water or Lady Bird will win. I enjoyed all three of the movies, but the front runner seems to be Three Billboards which contains an all star cast.
These are some of my thoughts on The Academy Awards 2018. The movies that are nominated are great films with a diverse cast and crew behind and in front of the cameras, and 2017 was a fantastic year for films regardless of the results. There will always be movies that are underappreciated but lets appreciate the amazing effort and hard work everyone put into their respective vision.