WARNING: ALL THESE MOVIES ARE RATED. PLEASE FOLLOW PARENTAL GUIDELINES BEFORE WATCHING.  

The Oscars are finally upon us and once again the world watches to see which movies take home the coveted titles of best picture, actress, actor ,and director. For film fanatics, this year’s nominees were widely expected and predicted but for everyone else the movies this year were widely unknown.

The nine movies nominated for Best Picture this year were The Shape of Water, Darkest Hour, Dunkirk, Phantom Thread, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, Get Out, The Post, Call Me By Your Name and Lady Bird. However, the only real contenders were Three Billboards, Get Out, Lady Bird and Shape of Water. Leading up to The Oscars Awards given out from different shows went back and forth between these four incredible movies. In the end, Shape of Water directed by Guillermo Del Toro came out victorious.

The Best Actor Category had some more recognizable names, with acting legends Daniel Day-Lewis, Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman being nominated. However, there were two new faces; Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya and Call Me By Your Name star Timothee Chalamet. Gary Oldman had won all the awards leading up to The Oscars for his phenomenal performance as Winston Churchill in the Darkest Hour. Timothee Chalamet could have provided an upset, but in the end Gary Oldman walked away with his first ever academy award.

One of the other big categories is Best Original Screenplay. Here the winner was more uncertain with no clear winner as the award could have gone to anyone. The nominees were, Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor for The Shape of Water, Jordan Peele for Get Out, Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird, Martin McDonagh for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, and Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon for The Big Sick. The academy award went to first time Oscar nominee Jordan Peele for his revolutionary screenplay for Get Out.

The next award spans decades, being awarded to those such as Katherine Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, and Meryl Streep. Best Actress at this year’s Oscars ceremony was a tight race, as many of the nominees had previously gained awards this season for their outstanding performances. With the #MeToo movement, and the Time’s Up organization, this category not only resembles fine acting, but the unprecedented power of women. This year’s nominees were Margot Robbie (I, Tonya), Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird), Meryl Streep (The Post), Frances Mcdormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri), and Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water). When the Golden Envelope was opened, Frances Mcdormand was the lucky lady, taking home her second Oscar, the first she won for her leading role in Fargo.

A Best Supporting Actor, or Actress, often subtly leads a story with their mesmerizing ability and groundbreaking power. This year, both the nominees and winners did just that. Here are the nominees for both categories: 

ACTOR- Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri), Woody Harrelson (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri), Willem Dafoe (The Florida Project), Christopher Plummer (All The Money In The World), Richard Jenkins (The Shape of Water).

ACTRESS- Allison Janney (I, Tonya), Mary J. Blige (Mudbound), Octavia Spencer (The Shape of Water), Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird), Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread). Those who accepted the awards, for both Actor and Actress, were Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri), and Allison Janney (I, Tonya). Both were absolutely superb in their defining yet provocative roles.

An Adapted Screenplay is most often one of the hardest awards of the night. Adapting an entire screenplay from another source material is difficult, time consuming, and riveting. This year’s nominees proved that down to the last sentence, letter, and period. The nominees were Call Me by Your Name, The Disaster Artist, Logan, Molly’s Game, and Mudbound. While all deserved the award, Call Me by Your Name won The Oscar. Call Me by Your Name, a smaller film that was more localized, depicts a gay coming of age film with grace, beauty, love, and most importantly, acceptance.

This category, often being dominated by Pixar or Disney, is Animated Feature Film. The nominees were The Boss Baby, The Breadwinner, Coco, Ferdinand, and Loving Vincent. Keeping up their streak, Disney Pixar’s Coco won, edging out the other competition in an otherwise competitive field of nominees. Coco, a story about a young Mexican boy, crosses over to the land of the dead in order to embrace heritage, the future, and a open-minded world.

The other winners from The Oscars are available on The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Website. If you wish to view them, view the citation below and access the website.

Movies, Disney. “Coco.” Disney Movies, Disney, 2018, movies.disney.com/coco

Donnelly, Jim. “OSCAR WINNERS 2018: SEE THE FULL LIST.” Oscar.go.com, The Academy

of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 5 Mar. 2018, oscar.go.com/news/2018/oscar-winners-2018-see-the-full-list.