Production Design - Blade Runner 2049 or The Shape of Water.
I wasn't big on The Shape of Water as a whole, but boy was it pretty to look at. The apartment/movie theater in particular is gorgeous and a wonderfully imaginative concept. There's a timeless quality to the sets and their style, and I definitely appreciated it.
Blade Runner 2049 is set in the world of Blade Runner, so naturally the production design was breathtaking. One of my favorites aspects of the film was how they added to the world while also honoring the original movie, which meant adding things like giant hologram ladies, but also keeping the Pan Am and Atari buildings. It's definitely a movie more people need to see.
Animated Feature Film - Coco, though I've only seen Coco. I'm sure Loving Vincent is great, just like I'm sure The Boss Baby is great, I just didn't get around to seeing them. But I liked Coco.
Foreign Film - I've only seen The Square and didn't think it was that great, though I certainly didn't think it was terrible. On Body and Soul is on Netflix so I'll probably check that out at some point, but there's a solid chance I won't get to it for a while.
Documentary Feature - Where's Jim and Andy? Seriously? Was it disqualified for some reason? Or was The Academy just not big on it? It was one of my favorite films of the year, so I'm curious as to why it didn't receive a nomination. I didn't see any of the other nominated documentaries.
Documentary Short - I didn't see them, nor have many other people, so I'd love to see how distributors could get people more excited or interested in these short documentaries that have been ignored for so long. For one thing, just looking at the run times, they're all around 40 minutes, which might be a tad long for someone who's just looking for something short and informative. There are some talented people on YouTube that cover both current and historical events that do a very good job of exploring their subjects in under 30 minutes. Of course, if the Academy was going to branch out to counting YouTube videos, it would mean having to watch hundreds if not thousands of videos, so there'd probably need to be some kind of regulation for nominees, though I'm not sure what that would entail.
Live Action Short - Same with documentary short, I think it would be good to perhaps count rising names in YouTube or Vimeo. I looked at some of the plot summaries for the nominated films and The Eleven O'Clock is very similar to a terrible short story I wrote for a college application, so I'd be pretty bitter if that one won.
Animated Short - I did not see any of these, including Lou, which apparently was a Pixar short. Was this a replacement for the Frozen one? I thought maybe they'd just replace it with half an hour of a blank screen and silence.
Original Score - Phantom Thread
While I think all of the nominated films have great scores (though I can't actually think of any tunes from John Williams' Last Jedi score), Phantom Thread is a definite favorite for me. Jonny Greenwood brilliant and deserving of an award for all of his Paul Thomas Anderson film scores, but this is his best work so far. It's timeless, rich, haunting, seductive, and memorable, just like the film itself. I adore it completely.
Original Song - "Mystery of Love" by Sufjan Stevens
Though I did prefer "Visions of Gideon", the final song in Call Me By Your Name, especially because of how it was used in the film, "Mystery of Love" is both wonderful and put to good use as a falling-in-love-montage-song.
Best Makeup - Darkest Hour
I mean, come on.
Visual Effects - Blade Runner 2049
I din't see War for the Planet of the Apes or Kong: Skull Island, which I'm sure both had wonderful animated apes, and while I loved Guardians Vol. 2 (and think Rocket Racoon is a phenomenal achievement in visual effects), there were some things like the creature in the opening that looked a little too cartoon-y, same with The Last Jedi. Blade Runner 2049, on the other hand, used its CGI both sparingly and subtly, and more miraculously, used it to great emotional effect. Ryan Gosling's hologram girlfriend is a heartbreaking character, and the moment with the giant hologram woman is in some ways unnecessary but also strangely moving. Everything that's really supposed to be there in the movie looks and feels like it really is, and everything that's supposed to be fake is memorable and serves a purpose.
Sound Editing - Dunkirk
I believe sound mixing refers to the actual sounds that were made for the film, where as sound editing is how those sounds were utilized. The strongest and most talked-about aspect of Dunkirk is its use of sound to build tension. It's all about that ticking clock, baby.
Film Editing - Baby Driver
I'm admittedly biased as an avid Edgar Wright fan, but I think the editing of Baby Driver is superb. In many ways it's what heightens it to a truly special and unique kind of action film, because it's so adeptly and specifically choreographed to the wonderful soundtrack. Let Edgar Wright have an Oscar winning film!
Sound Mixing - Blade Runner 2049
The sounds in this film are actually memorable, which alone makes it Oscar-worthy. I can still feel how heavy those gunshot effects felt when I saw it in IMAX. It's powerful stuff.
Costume Design - Phantom Thread
I mean, come on.
Cinematography - Blade Runner 2049
I still haven't seen Mudbound, but Roger Deakins not having an Oscar after all of these years is actually absurd.
Adapted Screenplay - Call Me By Your Name
I would never guess that multiple screenwriters were behind this film because it feels so personal, genuine, intimate, and novelistic. A fantastic adaptation. And Stuhlbarg's monologue.
Original Screenplay - Lady Bird
Greta Gerwig had to cut this screenplay down from its original 350 pages, and I think she found the best way to go about it, which is by constantly tricking you into thinking it's going to be about one thing, but then moving onto something else entirely. High school's never been better represented.
Directing - Paul Thomas Anderson or Greta Gerwig
I know everyone's saying this is Del Toro's year, and he'll probably get it as a makeup for Pan's Labyrinth, but to me Shape of Water is no match for the richness of Phantom Thread or the authenticity of Lady Bird. The brilliant performances from both films are because of the collaborative and trusting environment that both of the directors provided for their actors, and the same goes for the dialogue and filmmaking aspects.
Supporting Actress - Laurie Metcalf
It's between her and Janney, but I think Metcalf gives the more grounded, earned performance.
Supporting Actor - Sam Rockwell
Dixon is the most controversial character of the year, but it's Rockwell's performance that provides the hopeful, sympathetic side to him that was so very needed.
Lead Actress - Frances McDormand
While Sally Hawkins was brilliant without talking, and Saoirse Ronan was so present, McDormand took a very interesting, flawed character and turned her into something that'll be talked about for years to come.
Lead Actor - Timothee Chalamet
This is very tough, but it's gotta be Chalamet because not only was it a breathtaking, heartbreaking performance, it was the most natural and present of any of the nominees. There simply wasn't a second where I felt he was acting.
Best Picture - Uhhhh
Okay, I would not call any of this films perfect, nor would any of them be included among a list of favorites for me personally, but I'd say it comes down to a fight between Phantom Thread, Lady Bird, and Call Me By Your Name for me. Three Billboards was initially in the lead for me, but there have been some excellent points made against the film that I agree with and would therefore require another viewing before talking more about it. I think Phantom Thread wins for filmmaking, Lady Bird for charisma and authenticity, and Call Me By Your Name for originality in style.
That's about all I got. Let's see what happens!
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