Garry Gillard > Australasian Cinema > awards > Oscars 2018
4 March 2018
I would have voted for Three Billboards for best film, Daniel Day-Lewis for best actor, and Martin McDonagh for best screenplay.
See below for Golden Globes winners (8 January)
See also below: BAFTA awards 2018 (18 February)
The Shape of Water (Guillermo del Toro, 2017) prod. J. Miles Dale, Guillermo del Toro; Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins; 13 nominations
Frances McDormand - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Martin McDonagh, 2017) 7 nominations
Gary Oldman - Darkest Hour (Joe Wright, 2017) 6 nominations
Jordan Peele - Get Out (Jordan Peele, 2017) 4 nominations
James Ivory - Call Me By Your Name (Luca Guadagnino) 4 nominations
Roger Deakins, Blade Runner 2049 (Denis Villeneuve)
Lee Smith - Dunkirk (Christopher Nolan) 8 nominations
Call Me By Your Name (Luca Guadagnino) 4 nominations
Darkest Hour (Joe Wright) 6 nominations
Dunkirk (Christopher Nolan) 8 nominations
Get Out (Jordan Peele) 4 nominations
Lady Bird (Greta Gerwig) 5 nominations
Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson) 6 nominations
Post, The (Steven Spielberg) 1 nomination (undeserved)
Shape of Water, The (Guillermo del Toro) 13 nominations
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Martin McDonagh) 7 nominations
15:17 to Paris, The (Clint Eastwood) Jenna Fischer, Judy Greer, Lillian Solange Beaudoin; American soldiers discover a terrorist plot on a Paris-bound train
All the Money in the World (Ridley Scott, 2017) Michelle Williams, Christopher Plummer, Mark Wahlberg; Kidnapping of 16-year-old John Paul Getty III and the desperate attempt by his devoted mother to convince his billionaire grandfather J. Paul Getty to pay the ransom; Michelle Williams as the mother of the kidnapped John Paul Getty III (Charlie Plummer)
Baby Driver (Edgar Wright) Ansel Elbort, Jon Bernthal, Jon Hamm; After being coerced into working for a crime boss, a young getaway driver finds himself taking part in a heist doomed to fail.
Battle of the Sexes (Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris) Emma Stone, Steve Carell; 'Stone is fully convincing as King, giving her character great charm and warmth, and managing to look athletic enough to keep audience members who may not remember the match’s outcome on the edge of their seats.'
Beguiled, The (Sofia Coppola) Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst; unexpected arrival of a wounded Union soldier at a girls school in Virginia during the American Civil War leads to jealousy and betrayal
Big Sick, The (Michael Showalter) Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter; Pakistan-born comedian Kumail Nanjiani and grad student Emily Gardner fall in love but struggle as their cultures clash.
Blade Runner 2049 (Denis Villeneuve) Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Dave Bautista, Robin Wright; A young blade runner's discovery of a long-buried secret leads him to track down former blade runner Rick Deckard, who's been missing for thirty years.
Brad’s Status (Mike White, 2017) Ben Stiller, Austin Abrams, Jenna Fischer; a father takes his son to tour colleges on the East Coast and meets up with an old friend who makes him feel inferior about his life's choices; 'features one of Ben Stiller’s richest and most bittersweet performances as a husband and father whose considerable obstacle to happiness is himself. [It is] a more nuanced, less brazenly caustic variation of the uptight, dissatisfied men he played in Greenberg and While We’re Young.
Breathe (Andy Serkis) Andrew Garfield, Claire Foy, Ed Speleers; inspiring true love story of Robin and Diana Cavendish, an adventurous couple who refuse to give up in the face of a devastating disease
Call Me By Your Name (Luca Guadagnino) prod. Emilie Georges, Luca Guadagnino, Marco Morabito, Peter Spears; Armie Hammer, Timothée Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbar; In Northern Italy in 1983, seventeen year-old Elio begins a relationship with visiting Oliver, his father's research assistant, with whom he bonds over his emerging sexuality, their Jewish heritage, and the beguiling Italian landscape. '... an intensely languorous seduction from Luca Guadagnino. ... beautiful, supremely touching performance from Chalamet which gives this surprisingly safe story its moving purity.' Nomination for Best Actor: Timothée Chalamet
Crown Heights (Matt Ruskin) Luke Forbes, Lakeith Stanfield, Adriane Lenox; When Colin Warner is wrongfully convicted of murder, his best friend Carl King devotes his life to proving Colin's innocence.
Current War, The (Alfonso Gomez-Rejon) Tom Holland, Katherine Waterston, Michael Shannon, Benedict Cumberbatch; dramatic story of cutthroat race between electricity titans Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse to determine whose electrical system would power the modern world
The Darkest Hour (Joe Wright, 2017) Gary Oldman (Winston Churchill), Kristin Scott Thomas, Ben Mendelsohn; During the early days of World War II, the fate of Western Europe hangs on the newly-appointed British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who must decide whether to negotiate with Hitler, or... ; 'Oldman ensures that every line hits home as surely as any bullet. It’s a towering performance which wavers only in one slightly contrived scene.' Nomination for Best Actor: Gary Oldman
Detroit (Kathryn Bigelow) Chris Chalk, Mason Alban, Bennett Deady; Fact-based drama set during the 1967 Detroit riots in which a group of rogue police officers respond to a complaint with retribution rather than justice on their minds'; A cauldron of anger, fear and chaos, Detroit is guided by the unbridled emotions of its imperilled characters, resulting in a drama which is at times inelegant in its rage but nonetheless produces a grim wallop. ... As the one law-enforcement officer wanting to stop him, [John] Boyega exudes stoic determination.'
Disaster Artist, The (James Franco, 2017) Dave Franco, James Franco, Seth Rogen, Ari Graynor, Alison Brie, Jacki Weaver, Paul Scheer, Zac Efron; When Greg Sestero, an aspiring film actor, meets the weird and mysterious Tommy Wiseau in an acting class, they form a unique friendship and travel to Hollywood to make their dreams come true; 'James Franco delivers an outsize performance as the mysterious maker of cult bad film The Room, Tommy Wiseau, which is deliciously broad, knock-out funny, and turns out to be deadly accurate.'
Downsizing (Alexander Payne) Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz, Hong Chau; A social satire in which a man realizes he would have a better life if he were to shrink himself to five inches tall, allowing him to live in wealth and splendor.
Dunkirk (Christopher Nolan, 2017) prod. Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan; Fionn Whitehead, Damien Bonnard, Aneurin Barnard, Mark Rylance; Allied soldiers from Belgium, the British Empire and France are surrounded by the German Army, and evacuated during a fierce battle in World War II; 'A masterful Christopher Nolan flings the viewer into the air, the sea, and that beach for Dunkirk, his tense new navigation of the war film.'
Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool (Paul McGuigan, 2017) Jamie Bell, Annette Bening, Julie Walters, Vanessa Redgrave; romance between young actor and Hollywood leading lady
First They Killed My Father (Angelina Jolie, 2017) Cambodian author and human rights activist Loung Ung recounts the horrors she suffered as a child under the rule of the deadly Khmer Rouge.
Florida Project, The (Sean Baker) prod. Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch, Kevin Chinoy, Francesca Silvestri, Shih-Ching Tsou; Brooklynn Prince, Christopher Rivera, Aiden Malik; Set over one summer, the film follows precocious six-year-old Moonee as she courts mischief and adventure with her ragtag playmates and bonds with her rebellious but caring mother, all while living in the shadows of Disney World.
Get Out (Jordan Peele) prod. Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Edward H. Hamm, Jordan Peele; Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Catherine Keener; Chris and his girlfriend Rose go upstate to visit her parents for the weekend. At first, Chris reads the family's overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter's interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined; 'Kaluuya’s engaging performance does a lot to make the mix shocks and commentary work, which bodes well for his upcoming turns in Marvel’s Black Panther and Steve McQueen’s Widows.' Nomination for Best Actor: Daniel Kaluuya
Ghost Story, A (David Lowery, 2017) Casey Affleck, Rooner Mara; In this singular exploration of legacy, love, loss, and the enormity of existence, a recently deceased, white-sheeted ghost returns to his suburban home to try to reconnect with his bereft wife.
Glass Castle, The (Destin Daniel Cretton, 2017) Woody Harrelson, Brie Larson; A young girl comes of age in a dysfunctional family of nonconformist nomads with a mother who's an eccentric artist and an alcoholic father who would stir the children's imagination with hope as a distraction to their poverty.
Goodbye, Christopher Robin (Simon Curtis, 2017) Vicki Pepperdine, Margot Robbie, Domhnall Sleeson; A behind-the-scenes look at the life of author A.A. Milne and the creation of the Winnie the Pooh stories inspired by his son C.R. Milne; Margot Robbie as Daphne de Sélincourt, wife of Winnie the Pooh author A. A. Milne (Domnhall Gleeson)
Greatest Showman, The (Michael Gracey) Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams, Zac Efron; Celebrates the birth of show business, and tells of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation; Hugh Jackman as P.T. Barnum
Hostiles (Scott Cooper, 2017) Scott Shepherd, Rosamund Pike, Ava Cooper; In 1892, a legendary Army captain reluctantly agrees to escort a Cheyenne chief and his family through dangerous territory; 'A fastidiously understated Bale is highly effective at conveying the deep waters running beneath his stern features.'
I, Tonya (Craig Gillepsie) Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney; disgraced Olympic hopeful Tonya Harding; Competitive ice skater Tonya Harding rises amongst the ranks at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, but her future in the activity is thrown into doubt when her ex-husband intervenes; 'gives Robbie the chance – her first, really – to show her full range as an actress. And she shines.' Nomination for Best Actress: Margot Robbie
Killing of a Sacred Deer, The (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2017) Nicole Kidman, Colin Farrell; Steven, a charismatic surgeon, is forced to make an unthinkable sacrifice after his life starts to fall apart, when the behavior of a teenage boy he has taken under his wing turns sinister.
Lady Bird (Greta Gerwig) prod. Eli Bush, Evelyn O’Neill, Scott Rudin; Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts; In 2002 an artistically-inclined seventeen-year-old girl comes of age in Sacramento; 'A captivating central performance from Saoirse Ronan … [her] 17-year-old Christine McPherson is the embodiment of every trapped adolescent who yearns for a life less ordinary than the one she is currently enduring.' Won Best Motion Picture (Musical/Comedy) Golden Globes 2018. Nomination for Best Actress Oscar: Saoirse Ronan
Last Flag Flying (Richard Linklater) Steve Carell, Bryan Cranston, Laurence Fishburne; Thirty years after they served together in Vietnam, a former Navy Corpsman Larry "Doc" Shepherd re-unites with his old buddies, former Marines Sal Nealon and Reverend Richard Mueller, to bury his son, a young Marine killed in the Iraq War; Steve Carell as Vietnam veteran Larry 'Doc' Shepherd
LBJ (Rob Reiner, 2016) Woody Harrelson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Bill Pullman; Woody Harrelson as President Lyndon B. Johnson; The story of U.S. President Lyndon Baines Johnson from his young days in West Texas to the White House.
Marshall (Reginald Hudlin) Chadwick Boseman, Josh Gad, Kate Hudson; Young Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court Justice, battles through one of his career-defining cases.
Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected), The (Noah Baumbach) Adam Sandler, Grace Van Patten, Dustin Hoffman; An estranged family gathers together in New York for an event celebrating the artistic work of their father.
Molly's Game (Aaron Sorkin, 2017) Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Kevin Costner; True story of Molly Bloom, an Olympic-class skier who ran the world's most exclusive high-stakes poker game and became an FBI target; 'role which is familiar territory for Chastain: like her ruthless lobbyist in Miss Sloane, Molly Bloom is a woman used to running intellectual rings around the smartest guys in the room. [She is] a near certainty for a clutch of nominations.'
Mother! (Darron Aronofsky) Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer, Brian Gleeson, Domhnall Gleeson; A couple's relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence; 'Awards play seems likely, particularly for Aronofsky’s muse Jennifer Lawrence, embodying and responding to all his considerable neuroses, fears and desires, as an artist, a lover, and a citizen of the planet.'
Mudbound (Dee Rees, 2017) Garrett Hedlund, Carey Mulligan, Jason Clarke; Two men return home from World War II to work on a farm in rural Mississippi, where they struggle to deal with racism and adjusting to life after war; 'starts with great promise, and its central setting—a waterlogged and mud-soaked farm, which struggles to yield any crops—is a fitting metaphor for the sinking hopelessness of racial harmony in the U.S.' 4 nominations
Murder on the Orient Express (Kenneth Branagh) Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench; When a murder occurs on the train he's travelling on, celebrated detective Hercule Poirot is recruited to solve the case.
Okja (Joon-ho Bong) Tilda Swinton, Sheena Kamal, Michael Mitton; A young girl risks everything to prevent a powerful, multinational company from kidnapping her best friend - a fascinating beast named Okja.
Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017) Vicky Krieps, Daniel Day-Lewis; In 1950s London, Reynolds Woodcock is a renowned dressmaker whose fastidious life is disrupted by a young, strong-willed woman, Alma, who becomes his muse and lover. Nomination for Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis
Post, The (Steven Spielberg, 2017) prod. Amy Pascal, Steven Spielberg, Kristie Macosko Krieger; Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Sarah Paulson; A cover-up that spanned four U.S. Presidents pushed the country's first female newspaper publisher and a hard-driving editor to join an unprecedented battle between journalist and government. Nomination for Best Actress: Meryl Streep
Roman J. Israel, Esq. (Dan Gilroy) Denzel Washington, Colin Farrell; Roman J. Israel, Esq., a driven, idealistic defense attorney, finds himself in a tumultuous series of events that lead to a crisis and the necessity for extreme action; Denzel Washington gives a terrifically off-kilter performance in [a] fascinating and flawed character study.' Nomination for Best Actor: Denzel Washington
Shape of Water, The (Guillermo del Toro) prod. J. Miles Dale, Guillermo del Toro; Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins; 'Guillermo del Toro channels all the streams that make him unique into The Shape Of Water, pouring his heart, soul and considerable craft into an exquisite creature fable. ... 'Sally Hawkins so intuitive and nuanced at the film’s mute centre.' Won Best Director (Motion Picture) Golden Globes 2018: Guillermo del Toro; Nomination for Best Actress Oscar: Sally Hawkins
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Disney) Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis; Rey develops her newly discovered abilities with the guidance of Luke Skywalker, who is unsettled by the strength of her powers.
Stronger (David Gordon Green) Jake Gyllenhaal, Tatiana Maslany, Miranda Richardson;inspiring real life story of Jeff Bauman, an ordinary man who captured the hearts of his city and the world to become a symbol of hope after surviving the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing
Thank You for Your Service (Jason Hall) Haley Bennett, Miles Teller, Joe Cole, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Amy Schumer; A group of U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq struggle to integrate back into family and civilian life, while living with the memory of a war that threatens to destroy them long after they've left the battlefield.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Martin McDonagh, 2017) prod. Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Martin McDonagh; Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson; A mother personally challenges the local authorities to solve her daughter's murder when they fail to catch the culprit; 'anchored by a funny, foul-mouthed performance from McDormand. ... A whimsical modern-day Western with the boiler-suited Frances McDormand playing the lone ranger in a fight for justice.' Won Best Motion Picture (Drama) Golden Globes 2018. Won Best Director Golden Globes 2018: Martin McDonagh. Won Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Drama): Frances McDormand; Nomination for Best Actress Oscar: Frances McDormand
Victoria & Abdul (Stephen Frears) Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Rim Pigott-Smith, Eddie Izzard; Queen Victoria strikes up an unlikely friendship with a young Indian clerk named Abdul Karim; 'The mix of splendour, wry chuckles and the odd tear - together with Dench’s typically rich, mischievous performance - make for imperial status at the box-office, particularly with older viewers.'
War for the Planet of the Apes (Matt Reaves) Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson; After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind.
Wife, The (Björn Runge, 2017) Christian Slater, Gleen Close, Max Irons; A wife questions her life choices as she travels to Stockholm with her husband, where he is slated to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature; 'Glenn Close’s seething but self-possessed performance could conceivably gain her entry onto this year’s awards circuit.'
Wind River (Taylor Sheridan) Kelsey Asbille, Jeremy Renner, Julia Jones; A veteran tracker with the Fish and Wildlife Service helps to investigate the murder of a young Native American woman, and uses the case as a means of seeking redemption for an earlier act of irresponsibility which ended in tragedy.
Wonder Woman (Patty Jenkins) Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen; When a pilot crashes and tells of conflict in the outside world, Diana, an Amazonian warrior in training, leaves home to fight a war, discovering her full powers and true destiny.
Wonderstruck (Todd Haynes) Millicent Simmonds, Julianne Moore, Cory Michael Smith; the story of a young boy in the Midwest is told simultaneously with a tale about a young girl in New York from fifty years ago as they both seek the same mysterious connection.
Wonder Wheel (Woody Allen, 2017) Jim Belushi, Juno Temple, Justin Timberlake, Kate Winslet; on Coney Island in the 1950s, a lifeguard's story of a middle-aged carousel operator and his beleaguered wife
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Martin McDonagh, 2017)
Call Me By Your Name (Luca Guadagnino)
Dunkirk (Christopher Nolan, 2017)
The Post (Steven Spielberg)
The Shape of Water (Guillermo del Toro)
Lady Bird (Greta Gerwig)
Disaster Artist, The (James Franco, 2017)
Get Out (Jordan Peele)
The Greatest Showman (Michael Gracey)
I, Tonya (Craig Gillepsie)
Guillermo del Toro - The Shape of Water, 2017
Martin McDonagh - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
Christopher Nolan - Dunkirk (Christopher Nolan, 2017)
Ridley Scott - All the Money in the World (Ridley Scott, 2017)
Steven Spielberg - The Post (Steven Spielberg)
Frances McDormand - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Martin McDonagh, 2017)
Jessica Chastain - Molly's Game (Aaron Sorkin, 2017)
Sally Hawkins - The Shape of Water (Guillermo del Toro)
Meryl Streep - The Post (Steven Spielberg)
Michelle Williams - All the Money in the World (Ridley Scott, 2017)
Gary Oldman - Darkest Hour (Joe Wright, 2017)
Timothee Chalamet - Call Me By Your Name (Luca Guadagnino, 2017)
Daniel Day-Lewis - Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)
Tom Hanks - The Post (Steven Spielberg, 2017)
Denzel Washington - Roman J. Israel, Esq. (Dan Gilroy)
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Martin McDonagh, 2017) - nine noms, five awards
Call Me By Your Name (Luca Guadagnino, 2017)
Darkest Hour, The (Joe Wright, 2017) - nine noms, two awards
Dunkirk (Christopher Nolan, 2017)
The Shape of Water (Guillermo del Toro, 2017) - three awards
The Handmaiden
Elle
First They Killed My Father (Angelina Jolie, 2017)
Loveless
The Salesman
Guillermo Del Toro, The Shape of Water
Denis Villeneuve, Blade Runner 2049
Luca Guadagnino, Call Me by Your Name
Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk, 2017
Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Annette Bening, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool (Paul McGuigan, 2017)
Margot Robbie, I, Tonya (Craig Gillepsie)
Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water (Guillermo del Toro)
Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird (Greta Gerwig)
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour, The (Joe Wright, 2017)
Daniel Day-Lewis,Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)
Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out (Jordan Peele)
Jamie Bell, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool (Paul McGuigan, 2017)
Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name
I Am Not a Witch – Rungano Nyoni (writer/director), Emily Morgan (Producer)
The Ghoul – Gareth Tunley (writer/director/producer), Jack Healy Guttman & Tom Meeten (producers)
Jawbone – Johnny Harris (writer/producer), Thomas Napper (director)
Kingdom of Us – Lucy Cohen (director)
Lady Macbeth – Alice Birch (writer), William Oldroyd (director), Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly (producer)
Roger Deakins, Blade Runner 2049 (Denis Villeneuve)
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Martin McDonagh, 2017)
Darkest Hour (Joe Wright, 2017)
The Death of Stalin
God’s Own Country
Lady Macbeth
Paddington 2 - one nom
Garry Gillard | New: 7 January, 2018 | Now: 30 April, 2019