Winners will be bolded as they are announced.
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
Makeup and Hair:
Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski, Lucy Sibbick, Darkest Hour
Daniel Phillips and Lou Sheppard, Victoria and Abdul
Arjen Tuiten, Wonder
Costume Design:
Jacqueline Durran, Beauty and the Beast
Jacqueline Durran, Darkest Hour
Mark Bridges, Phantom Thread
Luis Sequeira, The Shape of Water
Consolata Boyle, Victoria and Abdul
Best Documentary Feature:
Steve James, Mark Mitten, Julie Goldman, Abacus: Small Enough to Jail 1Steve James’ latest is a well made and thorough look at a misguided case against a small Chinese bank. There’s a feeling though that the film could have benefited, as one juror said about the case, from considering the case’s position within the broader context of the 2008 financial crisis, but the film seemed largely uninterested to both the film’s benefit (making it more focused and establishing a feel of an immigrant community) and detriment (removing some context) .
JR, Agnès Varda, Rosalie Varda, Faces Places
Bryan Fogel, Dan Cogan, Icarus 2A film that is great at making me care about a subject I’ve long since stopped wanting to hear anything about
Feras Fayyad, Kareem Abeed, Soren Steen Jepersen, Last Men in Aleppo 3An expansion of the subject matter in the previously nominated The White Helmets, feels far more intimate and compelling than that short in depicting those working to save lives in Syria.
Yance Ford, Joslyn Barnes, Strong Island 4About a man’s quest for truth in the death of his brother decades earlier, the film is strangely confrontational and despite a softball topic about racism and under-investigation by police into murders of unarmed black men, offers no real compelling evidence against the self-defense which the perpetrator claims. Exhibit A against self inserting into the documentary as the director is the single least interesting person in the movie, shooting himself in an arty fashion that feels misplaced here.
Sound Editing:
Julian Slater, Baby Driver 5Wasn’t as impressed with the efforts to pair songs to action as everyone else, but they did their job effectively.
Mark Mangini, Theo Green, Blade Runner 2049
Alex Gibson, Richard King, Dunkirk 6Christopher Nolan’s WWII tale about the titular invasion is an experience film and the sound in general was excellent. I don’t get the complaints about the sound in Nolan films in the past, but here it was one of many standout elements.
Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira, The Shape of Water
Ren Klyce, Matthew Wood, Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Sound Mixing:
Mary H. Ellis, Julian Slater, Tim Cavagin, Baby Driver 7Wasn’t as impressed with the efforts to pair songs to action as everyone else, but they did their job effectively.
Mac Ruth, Ron Bartlett, Doug Hephill, Blade Runner 2049
Mark Weingarten, Gregg Landaker, Gary A. Rizzo, Dunkirk 8Christopher Nolan’s WWII tale about the titular invasion is an experience film and the sound in general was excellent. I don’t get the complaints about the sound in Nolan films in the past, but here it was one of many standout elements.
Glen Gauthier, Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern, The Shape of Water
Stuart Wilson, Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick, Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Production Design:
Sarah Greenwood; Katie Spencer, Beauty and the Beast
Dennis Gassner, Alessandra Querzola, Blade Runner 2049
Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer, Darkest Hour
Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis, Dunkirk 9Well it certainly looked and felt like World War II, but I am hardly qualified to talk about actual accuracy.
Paul D. Austerberry, Jeffrey A. Melvin, Shane Vieau, The Shape of Water
Best Foreign Language Film:
A Fantastic Woman (Chile)
The Insult (Lebanon)
Loveless (Russia)
On Body and Soul (Hungary)
The Square (Sweden)
Supporting Actress:
Mary J. Blige, Mudbound 10Despite watching the movie mostly because I expected her performance to get nominated, it just didn’t stand out at all to me.
Allison Janney, I, Tonya
Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water
Glen Keane, Fuckhead Kobe Bryant, Dear Basketball
Victor Caire, Gabriel Grapperon, Garden Party
Dave Mullins, Dana Murray, Lou
Max Porter, Ru Kuwahata, Negative Space
Jakob Schuh, Jan Lachauer, Revolting Rhymes
Animated Feature:
Tom McGrath, Ramsey Ann Naito, The Boss Baby
Nora Twomey, Anthony Leo, The Breadwinner 11A good story and some nice animation make for an enjoyable if depressing film.
Lee Unkrich, Darla K. Anderson, Coco
Carlos Saldanha, Ferdinand
Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, Sean Bobbitt, Ivan Mactaggart, Hugh Welchman, Loving Vincent 12An impressive work of animation, having the entire film painted in the style of Vincent van Gogh, certain parts of it animate more naturally than others, but for sheer craft and execution (which never stops overshadowing the plot), this film deserves its attention. Clint Mansell’s score is great too.
Visual Effects:
John Nelson, Paul Lambert, Richard R. Hoover, Gerd Nefzer, Blade Runner 2049
Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Jonathan Fawkner, Dan Sudick, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Stephen Rosenbaum, Jeff White, Scott Benza, Mike Meinardus, Kong: Skull Island 13A film that’s seemingly and largely been forgotten this year among all the other big name sci-fi/fantasy titles that were released to very mixed success. This film succeeds largely because it is very much my kind of film and just so satisfying to watch. It’s so much better and better looking than Peter Jackson’s King Kong.
Ben Morris, Mike Mulholland, Chris Corbould, Neal Scanlan, Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett, Joel Whist, War for the Planet of the Apes 14Possibly the best in the series (and certainly the most fully formed) and a rebound from what I saw as a dip in quality in Dawn… The visual effects are still top notch and they should be getting the credit for any of the good ape acting performances in these films
Film Editing:
Jonathan Amos, Paul Machliss, Baby Driver 15Wasn’t as impressed with the efforts to pair songs to action as everyone else, but they did their job effectively.
Lee Smith, Dunkirk 16Christopher Nolan’s WWII tale about the titular invasion is an experience film and as I praised those before for all that they did to make it into such an epic, the effortless edits of the three stories kept the story from sinking under its own ambition or losing its audience in a haze of confusion.
Tatiana S. Riegel, I, Tonya
Sidney Wolinsky, The Shape of Water
Jon Gregory, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best Documentary Short Subject:
Laura Checkoway, Thomas Lee Wright, Edith+Eddie
Frank Stiefel, Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405
Elaine McMillion Sheldon, Kerrin Sheldon, Heroin(e)
Thomas Lennon, Knife Skills
Kate Davis, David Heilbroner, Traffic Stop
Reed Van Dyk, DeKalb Elementary
Derin Seale, Josh Lawson, The Eleven O’Clock
Kevin Wilson, Jr., My Nephew Emmett
Chris Overton, Rachel Shenton, The Silent Child
Katja Benrath, Tobias Rosen, Watu Wote/All of Us
Adapted Screenplay:
James Ivory, Call Me by Your Name
Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber, The Disaster Artist
Scott Frank & James Mangold and Michael Green, Logan 17This feels so much like one of those occasional “Best Film we can’t bring ourselves to nominate for Best Picture” nominations (see also In Bruges), but I sure am happy to see it because the script is great at balancing the darkness of the material without having it descend into silliness and it is one of the best films of the year. It’s also nice that this time out they scripted a third act.
Aaron Sorkin, Molly’s Game
Virgil Williams and Dee Rees, Mudbound 18Screenplay was not at all this film’s specialty.
Original Screenplay:
Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani, The Big Sick 19Much like the film itself, the script was fine
Jordan Peele, Get Out 20Jordan Peele’s step into horror wasn’t quite the masterpiece some made it out to be, but it was still an awesome film with its metaphorical portrayals feeling at once funny and scarily accurate.
Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor, The Shape of Water
Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Cinematography:
Roger Deakins, Blade Runner 2049
Bruno Delbonnel, Darkest Hour
Hoyte van Hoytema, Dunkirk 21Christopher Nolan’s WWII tale about the titular invasion is an experience film and as I praised those that came before for all that they did to make it into such an epic, Hoytema’s work in 70mm film was a key part of that.
Rachel Morrison, Mudbound 22Apparently, it takes making a gorgeously shot movie which is notable almost entirely for its cinematography to get the first woman to ever be nominated in this category
Dan Laustsen, The Shape of Water
Original Score:
Hans Zimmer, Dunkirk 23Christopher Nolan’s WWII tale about the titular invasion is an experience film and as I praised everyone else for their work so far for all that they did to make it into such an epic, and well, I wish I could say more, but honestly, his score for Blade Runner 2049 is the one that stood out to me this year.
Jonny Greenwood, Phantom Thread
Alexandre Desplat, The Shape of Water
John Williams, Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Carter Burwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Original Song:
Mary J. Blige, “Mighty River” from Mudbound 24Unmemorable but fine
Sufjan Stevens, “Mystery of Love” from Call Me by Your Name
Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, “Remember Me” from Coco
Diane Warren, Common, “Stand Up for Something” from Marshall 25When listening to it for the first time, it felt like a song I had listened to plenty of times before under different names. Should find a nice life in commercials.
Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, “This Is Me” from The Greatest Showman 26Should find a nice life in my personal hell
Director:
Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk 27Christopher Nolan’s WWII tale about the titular invasion is an experience film and his direction is key to that experience, epic in scope and feel without needing to endlessly pad the film.
Jordan Peele, Get Out 28Jordan Peele’s step into horror and feature directing had me cautious, and while it wasn’t quite the masterpiece some made it out to be, he managed to craft something at once funny and scarily accurate. The film felt like that of an experienced hand, not someone with 0 directing credits of any kind coming into it
Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread
Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water
Lead Actor:
Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name
Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread
Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out 29Boy do I love seeing horror films get awards attention and he turned out a great performance as the straight man to the world around him.
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq.
Lead 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
Best Picture:
Call Me by Your Name 30As a wise woman once said, “I don’t care if you are a waify gay dude, people are not lounge chairs”
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk 31Christopher Nolan’s WWII tale about the titular invasion is an experience film. Not all the stories are equal in quality, but its strength lies in the way it draws you in and naturally ties together the threads running throughout. I love war films which take an alternate take on the typical format and highlighting the bravery in retreat and certain defeat along with the purely human desperation to stay alive (yet also those brave enough to willing to go into certain danger and nearly as certain doom) is something to be praised.
Get Out 32In most years, this would probably be the defining horror title, but 2017 isn’t most years. Jordan Peele’s step into horror was another film I was cautious about and while it wasn’t quite the masterpiece some made it out to be, it was still an awesome film with its metaphorical portrayals feeling at once funny and scarily accurate (considering all the “That’s right” at the theater I went to, I don’t think I was alone in feeling that way).
Lady Bird
Phantom Thread
The Post
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri