My Oscar Thoughts

Before diving into this article, I just want to say that, I disagree with the concept of The Oscars in general. I do not like the idea of giving awards for art. I also think that The Oscars are completely political and care more about pleasing the crowd than actually giving the award to the deserving party. Nevertheless, I am a dutiful film critic, and therefore, I will subject myself to the popularity contest and comment on the nominees. So here we go:

I’ll begin with the films and people I believe were snubbed this year, in no particular order.

The Disaster Artist - Best Picture

Good Time - Best Picture

The Big Sick - Best Picture

Molly’s Game - Best Picture

Kathryn Bigelow - Best Director

Darren Aronofsky - Best Director

Denis Villeneuve - Best Director

Jake Gyllenhaal - Best Actor

Robert Pattinson - Best Actor

James Franco - Best Actor

Michelle Williams - Best Actress

Adam Sandler - Best Supporting Actor

Dustin Hoffman - Best Supporting Actor

The Meyerowitz Stories - Original Screenplay

Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond - Best Documentary Feature

On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have people and films that I do not believe deserved their nominations. Denzel Washington, for instance, did not deserve a nomination for Best Actor. I can name 10 actors off the top of my head who did a better job this year. This is what I call a “respect nod,” where the Academy just respects an actor or actress and their body of work so much that they toss them a nomination because it is safe. This leads me to my next gripe. Meryl Streep was nominated for best actress, which is just insulting. She did a fine job. She is a good actress but she did not exhibit anything special in The Post and I, once again, could name many actresses who gave greater performances that deserve to be nominated over this. It is another case of the “respect nod” where they have nominated her simply because of who she is and the name she carries. To be honest, I could write pages and pages about how much I disagree with very many of these choices, but before I have an aneurysm I will move on to my picks.

Remember, these are what I want to win, not what I predict will win. Here are my picks for the major categories:

Best Picture - Dunkirk

Best Director - Christopher Nolan

Best Actor - Timothée Chalamet

Best Actress - Margot Robbie

Best Supporting Actress - Allison Janney

Best Supporting Actor - Sam Rockwell

Best Original Screenplay -The Big Sick- Kumail Nanjiani & Emily V. Gordon

Best Adapted Screenplay - Molly’s Game - Aaron Sorkin

Best Cinematography - Roger Deakins- Blade Runner 2049

Now, I do not pick the winners. For whatever reason, The Oscars do not hit me up to make the tough calls. So, knowing the Academy, here is what I think will win.

Best Picture - The Shape of Water

Best Director - Guillermo Del Toro

Best Actor - Gary Oldman

Best Actress - Frances McDormand

Best Supporting Actress - Allison Janney

Best Supporting Actor - Sam Rockwell

Best Original Screenplay - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Adapted Screenplay - Call Me By Your Name

Best Cinematography - Roger Deakins - Blade Runner 2049

If you compare my picks to my predictions, you will see mostly discrepancies. That is because I know the Academy and know they will play it safe with their picks. Now, I genuinely hope that I am wrong because I want to be surprised with their picks. Even if it is not what I want, I would appreciate them making controversial choices. In terms of what movie I would like to “sweep,” Even though I am, of course, pulling for Dunkirk because I think it is a masterpiece, there are movies, like Get Out, that I would not mind taking a variety of awards. I thought that was a fantastic film that was incredibly well written and directed by the talented Jordan Peele and I would like to see it win some awards. Also, I would like to see Call Me By Your Name pull some awards, especially for Best Actor. I think that it has a good shot at winning it, too. While I am pretty sure that the Academy is going to suck up to The Shape Of Water, I hope the film does not win a lot of awards because other movies deserve the awards more.

I hope that the Oscars surprise me. That is really all I ask for. Although I often disagree with the Oscars, I give them a chance each year to prove me wrong and hopefully that this year they finally will. If you had a movie that you loved this year that did not get nominated where you wanted it to, do not worry. The Academy is not always right. Be happy with the movies from this past year that you loved, because no one can take that from you. After all, that's why we watch movies.