OSCARS 2018 | Big Predictions for the 90th Academy Awards
A Few of the Possible Winners in the Major Categories
2017 was a good year for moving pictures. With few clear winners to choose from in any of this year's major categories, here are some predictions for who Popdust might expect up on stage to deliver an acceptance speech come March 4th.
Best Picture:
Candidates: Get Out, The Phantom Thread, Dunkirk, Call Me By Your Name, The Post, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, The Shape of Water, Lady Bird
Winner: Lady Bird
Lady Bird is not Oscar bait, it is not historic nor complex, but it is universally adored. Since arguably every film on this list (sans The Post, and if you ask me, The Shape of Water) deserves to compete with every other, it'll come down to what little, sticky memories of films gone by will compel Oscar voters to check off one box instead of the next. The character of Lady Bird might just be that stick.
Or: Call Me By Your Name
Don't sleep on this one. Did you know that Call Me By Your Name received the longest ever standing ovation at New York Film Festival? 10 minutes, straight clapping. Call Me would be one of the smaller pictures to ever win, but I wouldn't underestimate the Academy's aversion to choosing Golden Globes winners. In a field without a clear favorite, it may well be possible for many of the strong competitors with broad appeal to split the vote, leaving room for a focused, niche film to rise to the top.
Lead Actor:
Candidates: Daniel Day-Lewis, Daniel Kaluuya, Timothee Chalamet, Gary Oldman, Denzel Washington
Winner: Gary Oldman
You could watch The Darkest Hour full through and not realize it's Gary Oldman under all that makeup. Few would've pegged Oldman as the man for the job, yet he totally disappears into the character, and The Darkest Hour lives only by the strength of his performance.
Or: Daniel Day-Lewis
Daniel Day-Lewis is the person to have won three lead actor Oscars in his lifetime (for lead actress, Katharine Hepburn had actually won four). Every performance of his is subject to Oscar buzz, and The Phantom Thread is one of his finest. There's also the emotional element, that Day-Lewis has announced his retirement from the business following this last of his performances. One more trophy could be a nice send-off for the greatest actor of his generation.