The 90th Academy Awards are going down next Sunday night, so here’s my uneducated predictions for the non-acting awards. I have seen a couple of these movies, so I will still mostly be going on gut feel and word of mouth with just a little bit of personal experience.
Best Original Screenplay
Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani, The Big Sick
Jordan Peele, Get Out
Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor, The Shape Of Water
Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
I’ve actually seen three of these films, and, while I would love for Emily and Kumail to win, my money is going on Jordan Peele for Get Out.
Best Adapted Screenplay
James Ivory, Call Me By Your Name
Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, The Disaster Artist
Scott Frank, James Mangold, and Michael Green, Logan
Aaron Sorkin, Molly’s Game
Virgil Williams and Dee Rees, Mudbound
I’ve only seen one of these, but my guess is that the legend behind the story of The Disaster Artist will earn it the nod.
Best Animated Feature
The Boss Baby
The Breadwinner
Coco
Ferdinand
Loving Vincent
I’ve only heard of two of these, one of which is from the good folks at Pixar, so I’ll go with that.
Best Cinematography
Roger A. Deakins, Blade Runner 2049
Bruno Delbonnel, Darkest Hour
Hoyte van Hoytema, Dunkirk
Rachel Morrison, Mudbound
Dan Laustsen, The Shape Of Water
Well, again I’ve seen none of these, so I will go with the war epic Dunkirk.
Best Costume Design
Jacqueline Durran, Beauty And The Beast
Jacqueline Durran, Darkest Hour
Mark Bridges, Phantom Thread
Luis Sequeira, The Shape Of Water
Consolata Boyle, Victoria & Abdul
Another category where I’m at a loss, so I’ll go with the live action Disney hit.
A couple of upsets make up my first bracket, with the #2 seed, the Bearcats of Cincinnati, being my pick to advance to the Final Four.
After some late season stumbles, Purdue winds up as the #2 seed. Villanova is the early favorite to win the whole thing, and, using my head instead of my heart, I’m picking them to come out of the East.