So many great movies have been getting plenty of attention during the current awards cycle, and now it's time to see which movies are making their way to the big show. This morning the nominations for the 90th annual Academy Awards were announced by Tiffany Hadish (GIRL'S TRIP) and Andy Serkis (WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES), and many of major players had a big presence. SHAPE OF WATER won the morning, as expected, with 13 nominations, including in most of the major categories. Next is DUNKIRK with 8 nominations, with Christopher Nolan FINALLY getting a nomination for Best Director. Other favorites like LADY BIRD, GET OUT and THREE BILLBOARDS (my guess to take home the big prize) got several nominations, with a big shout out going to BLADE RUNNER 2049 as one of the most nominated films of the morning. There were a few surprises as well, as there often is on Oscar morning. For instance, there's Christopher Plummer getting in for ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD and LOGAN getting nominated for Adapted Screenplay. But this year people will be talking about the snubs, and there are several.
For starters, fan favorite WONDER WOMAN got completely shut out of all categories, including the tech ones, which is surprising seeing as how many people in the industry embraced it, to the point where many thought it could snag a surprise Best Picture nominations. Another one is James Franco not getting in for his wonderful performances as Tommy Wiseau in THE DISASTER ARTIST. Next is THE BIG SICK, which did snag a screenplay nomination, but should've gotten some attention for Holly Hunter in Best Supporting Actress, and for Best Picture as well. Instead, it got fewer nominations than VICTORIA AND ABDUL and BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. And who do the LEGO people have to hump to get a Best Animated Feature nomination?!
Best Picture
- CALL ME BY YOUR NAME – Peter Spears, Luca Guadagnino, Emilie Georges and Marco Morabito
- THE DARKEST HOUR – Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony McCarten and Douglas Urbanski
- DUNKIRK – Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan
- GET OUT – Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Edward H. Hamm Jr. and Jordan Peele
- LADY BIRD – Scott Rudin, Eli Bush and Evelyn O'Neill
- PHANTOM THREAD – JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson, Megan Ellison and Daniel Lupi
- THE POST – Amy Pascal, Steven Spielberg and Kristie Macosko Krieger
- THE SHAPE OF WATER – Guillermo del Toro and J. Miles Dale
- THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI – Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh
Best Director
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Original Screenplay
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Original Score
- DUNKIRK – Hans Zimmer
- PHANTOM THREAD – Johnny Greenwood
- THE SHAPE OF WATER – Alexandre Desplat
- STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI – John Williams
- THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI – Carter Burwell
Best Original Song
- Mystery of Love – CALL ME BY YOUR NAME
- Remember Me – COCO
- Stand Up for Something – MARSHALL
- Mighty River – MUDBOUND
- This is Me – THE GREATEST SHOWMAN
Best Cinematography
- BLADE RUNNER 2049 – Roger Deakins
- THE DARKEST HOUR – Bruno Delbonnel
- DUNKIRK – Hoyte van Hoytema
- MUDBOUND – Rachel Morrison
- THE SHAPE OF WATER – Dan Laustsen
Best Production Design
- BEAUTY AND THE BEAST – Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
- BLADE RUNNER 2049 – Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Alessandra Querzola
- THE DARKEST HOUR – Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
- DUNKIRK – Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
- THE SHAPE OF WATER – Production Design: Paul Denham Austerberry; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau and Jeff Melvin
Best Costume Design
- BEAUTY AND THE BEAST – Jacqueline Durran
- THE DARKEST HOUR – Jacqueline Durran
- PHANTOM THREAD – Mark Bridges
- THE SHAPE OF WATER – Luis Sequeira
- VICTORIA AND ABDUL – Consolata Boyle
Best Editing
- BABY DRIVER – Jonathan Amos & Paul Machliss
- DUNKIRK – Lee Smith
- I, TONYA – Tatiana S. Riegel
- THE SHAPE OF WATER- Sidney Wolinsky
- THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE, EBBING MISSOURI – Jon Gregory
Best Sound Editing
- BABY DRIVER – Julian Slater
- STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI – Matthew Wood and Ren Klyce
- DUNKIRK – Richard King and Alex Gibson
- BLADE RUNNER 2049 – Mark Mangini and Theo Green
- THE SHAPE OF WATER – Nathan Robitaille and Nelson Ferreira
Best Sound Mixing
- BABY DRIVER – Julian Slater, Tim Cavagin and Mary H. Ellis
- BLADE RUNNER 2049 – Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill and Mac Ruth
- DUNKIRK – Mark Weingarten, Gregg Landaker and Gary A. Rizzo
- THE SHAPE OF WATER – Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern and Glen Gauthier
- STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI – David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Stuart Wilson
Best Visual Effects
- BLADE RUNNER 2049 – John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert and Richard R. Hoover
- GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 – Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Jonathan Fawkner and Dan Sudick
- KONG: SKULL ISLAND, Stephen Rosenbaum – Jeff White, Scott Benza and Mike Meinardus
- STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI – Ben Morris, Mike Mulholland, Neal Scanlan and Chris Corbould
- WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES – Joe Letteri, Daniel Barrett, Dan Lemmon and Joel Whist
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
- THE DARKEST HOUR – Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski and Lucy Sibbick
- VICTORIA AND ABDUL – Daniel Phillips and Lou Sheppard
- WONDER – Arjen Tuiten
Best Foreign Language Film
- A FANTASTIC WOMAN, Chile
- THE INSULT, Lebanon
- LOVELESS, Russia
- ON BODY AND SOUL, Hungary
- THE SQUARE, Sweden
Best Animated Movie
- THE BOSS BABY – Tom McGrath and Ramsey Naito
- THE BREADWINNER – Nora Twomey and Anthony Leo
- COCO – Lee Unkrich and Darla K. Anderson
- FERDINAND – Carlos Saldanha
- LOVING VINCENT – Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman and Ivan Mactaggart
Best Documentary
- FACES PLACES – Agnes Varda, JR and Rosalie Varda
- ICARUS – Bryan Fogel and Dan Cogan
- LAST MEN IN ALEPPO – Feras Fayyad, Kareem Abeed and Soren Steen Jespersen
- STRONG ISLAND – Yance Ford and Joslyn Barnes
- ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL – Steve James, Mark Mitten and Julie Goldman
Best Animated Short
- DEAR BASKETBALL – Glen Keane and Kobe Bryant
- GARDEN PARTY – Victor Caire and Gabriel Grapperon
- LOU – Dave Mullins and Dana Murray
- NEGATIVE SPACE – Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata
- REVOLTING RHYMES – Jakob Schuh and Jan Lachauer
Best Live-Action Short
- DEKALB ELEMENTARY – Reed Van Dyk
- THE ELEVEN O'CLOCK – Derin Seale and Josh Lawson
- MY NEPHEW EMMET – Kevin Wilson, Jr.
- THE SILENT CHILD – Chris Overton and Rachel Shenton
- WATU WOTE/ALL OF US – Katja Benrath and Tobias Rosen
Best Documentary Short
- EDITH+EDDIE – Laura Checkoway and Thomas Lee Wright
- HEAVEN IS A TRAFFIC JAM ON THE 405 – Frank Stiefel
- HEROIN(E) – Elaine McMillion Sheldon and Kerrin Sheldon
- KNIFE SKILLS – Thomas Lennon
- TRAFFIC STOP – Kate Davis and David Heilbroner
Overall, this is a nice batch. There aren't a ton of movies out there that I think got completely snubbed (WONDER WOMAN), with a few surprises thrown in. I didn't expect THE DARKEST HOUR to be such a hit, getting 6 nominations including Best Picture. It has the trimmings of a classic Best Picture contender, but I felt this year's awards wouldn't be embracing such traditional movies. The biggest shout-outs go to nominees like Jordan Peele and Greta Gerwig, both of whom hit major milestones. Peele is the first African American man to be nominated for writing, directing and producing all in the same year, and Gerwig has become only the fifth woman to be nominated for Best Director. The nomination for LOGAN is also huge, becoming the first comic book movie to get a screenplay nomination (something even THE DARK KNIGHT didn't do). I would've loved to see Patrick Stewart and Hugh Jackman get nods, but the genre has had a tough time breaking through in these awards. Perhaps movies like LOGAN can prove these kinds of movies deserve all the accolades of usual Oscar flicks. But, hey, baby steps.
Watch the Oscars live on NBC on March 4 with host Jimmy Kimmel.