They Nominated What?!

Each year at CineSnob.net, we set our alarm clocks for way too early and watch the Oscar nominations live, like the film nerds we are. We then stumble to our computers and in blind outrage and pure jubilation, give some quick reactionary thoughts on the nominees. Let’s dive into the major categories, shall we?

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

“The Big Sick,” Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani
“Get Out,” Jordan Peele
“Lady Bird,” Greta Gerwig
“The Shape of Water,” Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Martin McDonagh

CODY: Most of these nominations were expected, except for “The Big Sick,” which much to my personal delight makes the cut. This award is very likely to go to Martin McDonagh, who missed out on best director.

KIKO: If I had a vote, I would’ve given a nom to Paul Thomas Anderson for “Phantom Thread,” but nothing happened out of the ordinary in this category. Glad to see Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon get a nod for putting their real-life on display for “The Big Sick.”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

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

CODY: Hot damn, “Logan” gets rewarded in a completely unexpected nomination. It’s certainly well-deserved, but it is always a huge surprise to see comic book fare wind up on the nomination list. This category also sees the lone nomination for “The Disaster Artist” (more on that later). “Call Me By Your Name” should win this pretty easily.

KIKO: “Logan” getting this nomination is HUGE. Well deserved, since, in my opinion, it’s the best superhero movie ever made. I wasn’t big on “Mudbound” at all, so I would’ve rather have seen that nom go to anything else.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Mary J. Blige, “Mudbound”
Allison Janney, “I, Tonya”
Lesley Manville, “Phantom Thread”
Laurie Metcalf, “Lady Bird”
Octavia Spencer, “The Shape of Water”

CODY: The 5th spot was always going to be a toss up between Holly Hunter and Lesley Manville and the Academy went with Manville in a morning that trended upward for “Phantom Thread” as a whole. This category was once a battle between Allison Janney and Laurie Metcalf, but Janney seems to be running away with it.

KIKO: Not too many people saw Lesley Manville getting an Oscar nomination for “Phantom Thread,” but I was one of the few who had her in my final five. The Mary J. Blige nomination boggles my mind. That space should’ve gone to Holly Hunter for “The Big Sick.” And very happy that the cringe-worthy performance by Hong Chau in “Downsizing” was forgotten.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

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”

CODY: Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell each get a nomination for “Three Billboards” which is very well deserved, as it was once thought that they may split votes. Willem Dafoe gets the days lone nomination for “The Florida Project,” and Christopher Plummer gets nominated for nine days of work, replacing Kevin Spacey in “All The Money in the World.” I would have much rather seen either Armie Hammer and Michael Stuhlbarg here instead of Plummer, but oh well. Expect Rockwell to continue his mad dash towards the Oscar.

KIKO: I agree with Cody. I would rather have seen Michael Stuhlbarg for “Call Me By Your Name” get this nomination over Plummer. Actually, I would rather have seen Patrick Stewart get the nom for “Logan,” but that wasn’t going to happen. I really want Dafoe to win this, but Rockwell is winning everything!

BEST ACTRESS

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”

CODY: As we’ve learned in previous years, never, ever, ever bet against Meryl Streep. This top 5 had been cemented for a while, so no surprises here. Frances McDormand has very well deservedly been taking home the prize at virtually every award show. I don’t expect that to change.

KIKO: No surprises here. This was the easiest category to predict even though Jessica Chastain was peeking in from the sixth spot to see if Streep was going to trip up at the last minute. But, come on, it’s Streep. She’s the one Idiot in Chief Trump called “overrated” last year. Hahaha. Don’t ever doubt Streep.

BEST ACTOR

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.”

CODY: The controversy surrounding James Franco broke close to the end of final voting for Oscar nominations and many people wondered if it would sink his chances. He was once seen as a pretty strong lock for a nomination and is now left out of a nomination. As a result, Daniel Kaluuya sneaks in, as does Denzel Washington in a movie that very few people liked. The most exciting inclusion is that of Timothee Chalamet, who was fantastic in “Call Me By Your Name.” Regardless of all this, Gary Oldman is your 100% iron clad lock of the night.

KIKO: Washington for “Roman,” really? Looks like the Franco controversy caught up to him. Doesn’t matter. Oldman is going home with the Oscar this year. And he really, really, really wants it.

BEST DIRECTOR

“Dunkirk,” Christopher Nolan
“Get Out,” Jordan Peele
“Lady Bird,” Greta Gerwig
“Phantom Thread,” Paul Thomas Anderson
“The Shape of Water,” Guillermo del Toro

CODY: Christopher Nolan finally breaks through! Very well-deserved. The biggest surprise here by far is the inclusion of Paul Thomas Anderson for “Phantom Thread,” which comes from out of nowhere and leap frogs some other strong contenders. Greta Gerwig also becomes only the 5th woman to be nominated for best director. In earlier years, when best picture/best director were completely interlocked, this may have spelled disaster for “Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri.” But the times have changed, and the film could go the way of Ben Affleck/”Argo,” winning best picture without a best director nomination. This category will be a true toss up on Oscar night, but my early money is on Guillermo del Toro for “The Shape of Water.”

KIKO: Paul Thomas Anderson is my God. Paul Thomas Anderson is my God. Paul Thomas Anderson is my God. Paul Thomas Anderson is my God. Paul Thomas Anderson is my God. With that said, the best directed film this year was “Dunkirk,” so it’s great to see Nolan finally make it in.

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”

CODY: We get nine out of a possible ten nominees here, with a few surprises. “Get Out” subverts genre expectations and is nominated for best picture. “Darkest Hour,” a film with a tepid, yet solid response gets rewarded, and “Phantom Thread” sneaks in as well. This category is also a toss up, though at this point feels like a two horse race between “Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri” and “The Shape of Water.” Early lead to “Three Billboards.”

KIKO: “Get Out” is the first “horror” film to get nominated for Best Picture since “The Silence of the Lambs,” which won the award in 1991. I really have a sneaky suspicion that it could win, too. But “Three Billboards,” even without a director’s nom, and “The Shape of Water” seem poised to do some damage. And would you look at at that – “Phantom Thread.” Paul Thomas Anderson is my God.

Cody’s final thoughts:

The biggest winners of the day are “The Shape of Water” and “Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri,” which seem to be in a showdown for best picture. A lot of credit should also go to “Get Out” and “Lady Bird,” for pulling out some big nominations. Big days were also had by a few unexpected films like “Darkest Hour” and “Phantom Thread” which the Academy turned out to like a lot more than many people thought. The nominations are diverse, which is a pleasant surprise given some of the controversy from previous years. “The Florida Project” had a pretty bad day, only getting a nomination for Dafoe. Not really sure what the Academy didn’t like, but this film really faded fast, despite love from critics groups. There weren’t a ton of huge surprises and I can’t really think of anyone who was completely snubbed, which is staggering for Oscar morning. There were a lot of weak categories and obvious choices, and the stars seem to be aligning for a lot of categories.

Kiko’s final thoughts:

I hate the word “snub” but the biggest snub of the day was probably James Franco not getting nominated for “The Disaster Artist.” Who knows how the controversy factored in, but my guess is that whichever Oscar voters waited till the last minute to turn in their ballot probably scratched him off pretty quickly once news hit that there were allegations of sexual misconduct against him. Visit Oscars.com for a list of all the nominees. A quick few last thoughts about some of those:

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