The nominations for the 2018 Academy Awards have been released this morning, and you can see the full list below along with our picks to win. The show will be hosted once again by Jimmy Kimmel and take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Who would have thought a year ago that GET OUT would be up for an Academy Award?! One very noticeable difference this year is in people of color being represented in several categories, particularly Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress (twice), Best Director, Best Song and Best Adapted Screenplay! This is a direct result of 2016’s #OscarsSoWhite controversy, and perhaps 2017’s Best Picture win for MOONLIGHT opened a few eyes as well, though in my opinion it has more to do with the much improved film selections this year than anything else. This is also the first time a woman has ever been nominated for Best Cinematography… historic! Hollywood also seems to be embracing Guillermo del Toro this year, as his movie THE SHAPE OF WATER is nominated for Best Picture, and he’s nominated for Best Director, plus there are noms for the film in Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Score and many more. But in the wake of sexual assault allegations, James Franco was snubbed for THE DISASTER ARTIST, with the exception of Best Adapted Screenplay… many expected this would happen, despite him already winning multiple awards from other shows. Some great choices this time around, who would you pick to win? Will THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI sweep? Maybe THE POST or LADY BIRD? Will Gary Oldman finally get his well-deserved Best Actor Oscar?? ABC will broadcast the show live on Sunday, March 4.
I always note, for what it’s worth, the picks defined below of what we think will win are not necessarily what we think should win, rather what we expect will win…
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 – our pick to WIN!
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 – our pick to WIN!
Denzel Washington – Roman J. Israel, Esq.
Actress in a Leading Role
Sally Hawkins – The Shape of Water
Frances McDormand – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – our pick to WIN!
Margot Robbie – I, Tonya
Saoirse Ronan – Lady Bird
Meryl Streep – The Post
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 – our pick to WIN!
Actress in a Supporting Role
Mary J. Blige – Mudbound
Allison Janney – I, Tonya – our pick to WIN!
Lesley Manville – Phantom Thread
Laurie Metcalf – Lady Bird
Octavia Spencer – The Shape of Water
Animated Feature Film
The Boss Baby
The Breadwinner
Coco – our pick to WIN!
Ferdinand
Loving Vincent
Cinematography
Blade Runner 2049
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Mudbound
The Shape of Water – our pick to WIN!
Costume Design
Beauty and the Beast
Darkest Hour
Phantom Thread
The Shape of Water
Victoria and Abdul – our pick to WIN!
Directing
Paul Thomas Anderson – Phantom Thread
Greta Gerwig – Lady Bird
Guillermo del Toro – The Shape of Water – our pick to WIN!
Christopher Nolan – Dunkirk
Jordan Peele – Get Out
Documentary Feature
Abacus: Small Enough to Jail
Faces Places
Icarus
Strong Island
Last Men in Aleppo – our pick to WIN!
Documentary Short Subject
Edith+Eddie
Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405
Heroin(e) – our pick to WIN!
Knife Skills
Traffic Stop
Film Editing
Baby Driver
Dunkirk – our pick to WIN!
I, Tonya
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Foreign Language Film
A Fantastic Woman (Chile)
The Insult, Ziad Doueiri (Lebanon)
Loveless, Andrey Zvyagintsev (Russia)
On Body and Soul (Hungary)
The Square (Sweden) – our pick to WIN!
Makeup and Hairstyling
Darkest Hour
Victoria and Abdul – our pick to WIN!
Wonder
Original Score
Dunkirk
Phantom Thread
The Shape of Water – our pick to WIN!
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
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 – our pick to WIN!
Production Design
Beauty and the Beast
Blade Runner 2049
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water – our pick to WIN!
Animated Short Film
Dear Basketball
Garden Party
Lou – our pick to WIN!
Negative Space
Revolting Rhymes
Live Action Short Film
Dekalb Elementary
The Eleven O’Clock
My Nephew Emmett
The Silent Child
Watu Wote/All of Us
Sound Editing
Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi – our pick to WIN!
Sound Mixing
Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk – our pick to WIN!
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
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 – our pick to WIN!
Adapted Screenplay
Call Me By Your Name
The Disaster Artist
Logan
Molly’s Game – our pick to WIN!
Mudbound
Original Screenplay
The Big Sick
Get Out
Lady Bird – our pick to WIN!
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Agree with our picks? Disagree? Let us know in the comments below. The 2018 Academy Awards will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. ABC will broadcast the show live on Sunday, March 4, 2018.
Born and raised in Dallas, Mark has been a movie critic since 1994, with reviews featured in print, radio and National TV. In 2001 he started the Entertainment section of the Herorealm website, where he contributed film reviews and celebrity interviews until 2004. After three years of service there, he started Bigfanboy.com, which has become one of the Dallas film community's leading information websites. Bigfanboy hosts several movie screenings in the Texas area, and works closely with film and TV studios and promotional partners to host exciting events and contests. The site also features a variety of rare celebrity and filmmaker interviews, and Bigfanboy.com regularly covers the film festival circuit as well. In addition to Hollywood reporting, Mark has worked for many years as an advertising and sci-fi/comic book artist. Clients have included Lucasfilm Ltd., Topps Trading Cards, The Dallas Mavericks and The Dallas Stars. From 2002 until 2015 he managed the Dallas Comic Con, Sci-Fi Expo and Fan Days events in the DFW area. He currently catalogs rare comic books and movie memorabilia for Heritage Auctions, and runs the Dallas Comic Show conventions, but remains an avid moviegoer and cinema buff. 
In reference to this category:
Live Action Short Film
Dekalb Elementary
The Eleven O’Clock
My Nephew Emmett
The Silent Child
Watu Wote/All of Us
I think it’s a toss up between DeKalb Elementary, who’s intense subject matter had me on the edge of my seat, yet The Silent Child touched my heart so much.
I’d love Call Me By Your Name to receive one of its four nominations, but then again, I’m a sentimentalist, so I’m rooting for all four categories it’s been nominated for this year.