Oscars 2018 is here!
The 90th Academy Awards should be an interesting one, considering the cloud of controversy that has followed Hollywood over the last year – and for good reason.
While the speeches will likely be heartfelt at times, some promise to be more edgy, surrounding a lot of the major topics in our country today.
Either way, visitors to The Wife Hates Sports know that this is a sports site with a tendency to dabble in the entertainment world from time to time.
And nothing symbolizes Hollywood more than the Oscars, which is why yours truly will go head-to-head against THE WIFE in hopes to achieve bragging rights for one evening.
That and maybe a bet surrounding dishwashing or cat litter scooping.
While this year’s Oscars may yield some interesting prop bets, The Wife Hates Sports will solely focus on the key awards and make the standard predictions that we make every year.
Feel free to chime in with your own picks, thoughts and opinions. Heck, your prognostication is likely to be better than ours, especially if you have seen most of the movies.
Oscars 2018: KP and the WIFE go head-to-head predicting the major awards
Oscars 2018: Predictions for the 90th Annual Academy Awards
Music (Original Song)
The Nominees Are:
“Mighty River” from Mudbound (Music and Lyric by Mary J. Blige, Raphael Saadiq and Taura Stinson)
“Mystery Of Love” from Call Me By Your Name (Music and Lyric by Sufjan Stevens)
“Remember Me” from Coco (Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez)
“Stand Up For Something” from Marshall (Music by Diane Warren; Lyric by Lonnie R. Lynn and Diane Warren)
“This Is Me” from The Greatest Showman (Music and Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul)
KP’s Prediction: “This Is Me” from The Greatest Showman (Music and Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul)
The Wife’s Prediction: “This Is Me” from The Greatest Showman (Music and Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul)
KP’s Take: The WIFE mentioned that the entire soundtrack for the ‘The Greatest Showman’ is getting rave reviews from critics and the song “This Is Me” is powerful and quite honestly the type of song that typically brings home the hardware. Expect the same during Oscars 2018.
Music (Original Score)
The Nominees Are:
Dunkirk (Hans Zimmer)
Phantom Thread (Jonny Greenwood)
The Shape of Water (Alexandre Desplat)
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (John Williams)
Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri (Carter Burwell)
KP’s Prediction: The Shape of Water (Alexandre Desplat)
The Wife’s Prediction: Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri (Carter Burwell)
KP’s Take: I listened to snippets from each of the nominated scores on YouTube, with ‘The Shape of Water’ jumping out at me the most. Desplat’s score pulls you in and musically makes you feel like you are underwater, if that makes any sense. It does in my head, anyway.
Directing
The Nominees Are:
Dunkirk (Christopher Nolan)
Get Out (Jordan Peele)
Lady Bird (Greta Gerwig)
Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson)
The Shape of Water (Guillermo del Toro)
KP’s Prediction: The Shape of Water (Guillermo del Toro)
The Wife’s Prediction: The Shape of Water (Guillermo del Toro)
KP’s Take: I’ll be rooting for Jordan Peele here, after what he accomplished and how he took on a different career spin and nailed it with ‘Get Out’. However, my gut says that Guillermo del Toro brings leaves Oscars 2018 a winner for best director.
Costume Design
The Nominees Are:
Beauty and the Beast (Jacqueline Durran)
Darkest Hour (Jacqueline Durran)
Phantom Thread (Mark Bridges)
The Shape of Water (Luis Sequeira)
Victoria & Abdul (Consolata Boyle)
KP’s Prediction: Phantom Thread (Mark Bridges)
The Wife’s Prediction: Darkest Hour (Jacqueline Durran)
KP’s Take: The unique period pieces almost always win in this category, and as always, there are numerous options to choose from. This wasn’t an easy choice for me this time around, but in the end, my gut said to go with ‘Phantom Thread’.
Cinematography
The Nominees Are:
Blade Runner 2049 (Roger A. Deakins)
Darkest Hour (Bruno Delbonnel)
Dunkirk (Hoyte van Hoytema)
Mudbound (Rachel Morrison)
The Shape of Water (Dan Laustsen)
KP’s Prediction: Dunkirk (Hoyte van Hoytema)
The Wife’s Prediction: The Shape of Water (Dan Laustsen)
KP’s Take: This was a tough one for me, like many this year. In the end, Christopher Nolan always finds a way to pull you into his story, making it feel like you are there. That’s why I have ‘Dunkirk’ landing the golden hardware.
Animated Feature Film
The Nominees Are:
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 and Lori Forte)
Loving Vincent (Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman and Ivan Mactaggart)
KP’s Prediction: Coco (Lee Unkrich and Darla K. Anderson)
The Wife’s Prediction: Ferdinand (Carlos Saldanha and Lori Forte)
KP’s Take: Pixar films almost never lose. Decision made – cue the emotions.
Actress in a Supporting Role
The Nominees Are:
Mary J. Blige (Mudbound)
Allison Janney (I, Tonya)
Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread)
Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird)
Octavia Spencer (The Shape of Water)
KP’s Prediction: Allison Janney (I, Tonya)
The Wife’s Prediction: Octavia Spencer (The Shape of Water)
KP’s Take: Spencer has become a regular nominee and while she had a strong performance, I think Janney – who landed a Golden Globe victory – takes this one. Her performance pops out of the screen, even during the trailer for ‘I, Tonya’.
Actor in a Supporting Role
The Nominees Are:
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)
KP’s Prediction: Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri)
The Wife’s Prediction: Christopher Plummer (All the Money in the World)
KP’s Take: This may have been the toughest category to choose from, so I’m looking to Rockwell’s edgy performance in the movie that I have winning best picture. The WIFE, on the other hand, had to go with Plummer because of the story, where he took over the role on such short notice. For those not aware, Plummer’s role originally was in the hands of Kevin Spacey, or as the WIFE chose to call him, “Slimy Man”.
Actress in a Leading Role
The Nominees Are:
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)
KP’s Prediction: Frances McDormand (Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri)
The Wife’s Prediction: Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water)
KP’s Take: I think this one comes down to Hawkins and McDormand and I give the slight edge to McDormand, simply because of the storyline and edgy transformation that her character had to undertake in ‘Three Billboards’.
Actor in a Leading Role
The Nominees Are:
Timothee Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name)
Daniel Day-Lewis (Phantom Thread)
Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out)
Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour)
Denzel Washington (Roman J. Israel, Esq.)
KP’s Prediction: Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour)
The Wife’s Prediction: Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out)
KP’s Take: Gary Oldman’s powerful performance jumps out even in the trailer, so it’s not like you even have to see the entire film to see that he put on an Oscar winning performance.
Best Picture
The Nominees Are:
Call Me by Your Name (Peter Spears, Luca Guadagnino, Emilie Georges and Marco Morabito)
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)
KP’s Prediction: Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
The Wife’s Prediction: Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
KP’s Take: We are at the point in our lives where we are not seeing very many movies, so this was a bit of a tough one. I guess, in the end, let’s hope they pull the right card on the first try and we are going with ‘Three Billboards’ because it is similar (in a lot of ways) to a number of past Oscar winners for Best Picture.
Enjoy Oscars 2018!
It was good to see first-timers like Janney, Rockwell and Oldman land Oscars.
I didn’t check out Vegas odds pre-awards show but I heard there weren’t all that many surprises.