Everyone, we’ve made it. Oscars weekend is upon us, and with it the time has come for me to make my final predictions of who will be winning some big, phallic gold statues come Sunday night! Lucky us.
Since my last article leading up to the nominations last month, the various guilds have all given out their awards, giving us a good idea of the winners in all of the craft categories (Dunkirk and The Shape of Water are both going to take home a handful of awards, but don’t expect anyone to clean up). The acting awards also seem to be more or less solidified, and it would be quite a surprise to see Frances McDormand, Gary Oldman, Allison Janney, or Sam Rockwell lose come Sunday night (although I’d argue all four are the second- or third-best in their category. Oh, well). Same with Guillermo Del Toro in the Best Director category – he will take home Best Director in a very belated triumph for Pan’s Labyrinth, while Christopher Nolan will just have to enjoy finally being nominated.
The widest open race right now honestly seems to be Best Picture. Three Billboards… built a ton of momentum leading up to the nominations, but remains a fairly divisive film among voters, opening the door for the much-loved The Shape of Water. It seems unlikely for Get Out to swoop in, but a split vote could open the door for it or for early favorite Lady Bird.
I’ve got threads for all 24 categories below (I’ve clumped some together, like the various sound and visual craft prizes and shorts), where I’ve made my predictions for who will win and who should win, as well as who I think should have been nominated in the categories where I have strong opinions. We’ll see how many I actually get right come Sunday night, but in the meantime, have at it, folks!