Oscar Winners and Should be Winners 2018

With the 90th Academy Awards completed, some people satisfied, and the majority unsatisfied, it's time to look at the winners and what should have been. So today I'll analyze the 12 most important categories, excluding animation, documentaries, and shorts, and give my thoughts on who should have won.

So, on to the first category:

Best Film Editing

Winner: Dunkirk

Should be a Winner: Baby Driver

Dunkirk completely deserves this Oscar. I have no problems at all with Dunkirk winning. That said, Baby Driver should have won. Baby Driver went home empty-handed and deserves more recognition than it got. It was an amazing film by itself, but the film editing was something else. The beat-by-beat editing, matching the tremendous score to each step of the characters or reverse of the cars, was stunning. Edgar Wright's editors did a fantastic job and that should be honored.

Best Visual Effects

Winner: Blade Runner 2049

Should be a Winner: War for the Planet of the Apes

Blade Runner 2049 is in my opinion a better film than War, but what Matt Reeves accomplished by creating completely real and believable apes was mind-boggling. At least one of the films in this trilogy should have gotten this award, and it would make sense that the third film should get it, as the effects only get better with time. Blade Runner did a great job, but it was something we've seen before. War did something wholly innovative and put motion-capture performances in the public eye in a way never done before.

Best Cinematography

Winner: Roger Deakins

Should be a Winner: Roger Deakins

There's not much to be said here. After 14 nominations, Deakins defines the word deserves. And the best part about it is that he didn't win just on name recognition. Blade Runner 2049 defies all conventional cinematographic techniques and looks truly gorgeous.

Best Original Music Score

Winner: The Shape of Water

Should be a Winner: Phantom Thread

This was the most stacked category of the year. Any of the five films (Dunkirk, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Phantom Thread, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, or The Shape of Water) could have won. And they were all excellent. Despite that, I think Phantom Thread had a better score than Shape. It transitioned effortlessly from jazzy piano riff to a dark and claustrophobic tune, to a booming, inspirational chord.

Best Original Screenplay

Winner: Get Out

Should be a Winner: Get Out/The Big Sick

Not every category has a clearcut winner and loser. Jordan Peele's Get Out was easily the most original concept this year, and its execution was pitch perfect. However, The Big Sick, with not as original a concept was still inventive, and it was easily the funniest comedy all year. The writing was creative, and it certainly helped that the real people who experienced the movie wrote the screenplay. I was happy with Get Out and would have been equally satisfied had The Big Sick won.

Best Writing Adapted Screenplay

Winner: Call Me by Your Name

Should be a Winner: Call Me by Your Name

The Academy definitely made the right choice here. While some will be mad that Logan didn't win, it never really had a shot. It was nice a superhero film got a nod, but Logan wasn't better than any of the other noms, excluding maybe The Disaster Artist. James Ivory's screenplay was dripping with great dialogue and a smooth flow to it. It was easily the cream of the crop this year.

Best Director

Winner: Guillermo del Toro

Should be a Winner: Christopher Nolan

If it's not obvious by my logo, I love Christopher Nolan. And his directing on Dunkirk was the best directing of the year. Del Toro did an excellent job, but Nolan takes the cake. Dunkirk was so different from all the other nominees and that was mostly due to Nolan's direction. This was the category I most wanted my pick to win in, and Nolan should be a winner. Alas, there's still hope for Nolan in the future, and if he doesn't get an Oscar in the next 10 years, then I will be very disappointed with the Academy.

Best Supporting Actress

Winner: Allison Janney

Should be a Winner: Allison Janney/Laurie Metcalf

There's a reason she won all of the prerequisite award. Janney's performance is masterful. This does warrant mention, on the other hand, of Laurie Metcalf's work in Lady Bird. While a lot more subtle, it was equally as impressive. It makes sense the Academy would reward a more dramatic character, Metcalf could have won as well. Janney's character just has a little bit more theatricality, resulting in her win.

Best Supporting Actor

Winner: Sam Rockwell

Should be a Winner: Sam Rockwell

I should admit here that I haven't seen The Florida Project. From what I've heard, he should have won, but it wouldn't be fair for me to say that. People complain that Rockwell's racist cop was too sympathetic, but I think that's missing the point. It is incredibly difficult to make a character like that sympathetic, yet Rockwell did it. His sometimes over-the-top work fits his character, and he also has moments of subtlety and nuance.

Best Actress

Winner: Frances McDormand

Should be a Winner: Frances McDormand

None of the other nominees here could hold a candle to McDormand. She has a mastery over her craft and shines in Coens-esque movies. Three Billboards gave her a great script and she worked it to her full advantage, giving a layered performance.

Best Actor

Winner: Gary Oldman

Should be a Winner: Daniel Day-Lewis

Oldman deserves a win, but not for Darkest Hour. As much as I love him, he cheated a bit here. Darkest Hour is by no means his strongest work, but it's hard to go wrong with Winston Churchill. Daniel Day-Lewis, meanwhile gave one of his best renderings of a character in Reynolds Woodcock, an obsessive couturier in Phantom Thread. Day-Lewis completely vanishes in his role and convinced me his character was believable in Phantom Thread.

Best Picture

Winner: The Shape of Water

Should be a Winner: Call Me by Your Name

The Shape of Water was good, but for all the weirdness of its plot from the outside, was rather conventional and predictable. It was something special, but not as special as Call Me by Your Name. Luca Guadagnino's film was a strolling, relaxing, real, and emotional journey through the lives of two gay lovers in 1983 Italy. It has a quality of realness while also looking dream-like. The acting is top-notch (Michael Stuhlbarg deserved a nod), the script flowed from its characters perfectly, and the camera is the most interested and lazy camera of the Best Picture nominees. It wandered through this world with such purpose while also lingering during certain times. Call Me by Your Name was lush, vibrant, and emotionally complex, as well as satisfying. A surefire Best Picture winner.

Bonus: Best Host

Winner: Jimmy Kimmel

Should be a Winner: Kumail Nanjiani

Kimmel was great, but Nanjiani for 2019, please! This guy is genuinely hilarious.

#Oscars