Tonight is the presentation of the 90th Academy Awards in Hollywood. The prestigious ceremony will honour the best in cinema from 2017. Many categories this year are extremely competitive and difficult to predict, though most will go to movies that well deserve their upcoming honours.
One popular activity to enjoy tonight’s event are Oscar viewing parties, where people gather to watch the red carpet show and Academy Award presentation on television.
Tonight’s show begins airing on various networks at 7:00 pm EST with arrivals on the red carpet. The actual ceremony starts at 8:00 pm EST, with comedian Jimmy Kimmel hosting for his second consecutive year.
Arguably the highlight of these parties are the ballots. Guests can fill out sheets with who they think will win the Oscar in each of the 24 different categories. It can be more challenging for some viewers because it’s hard to guess winners when you haven’t seen all of the nominated movies.
Luckily, I have seen all the nominated movies this year. It’s been an equally competitive and enjoyable year at the cinema.
This is one of those years the Academy will likely give a few prizes to several movies instead of several to only one or two. Remember, predicting the Oscars isn’t about who you want to win, but who you think the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science actually voted to win.
Here are my predictions for the four movies I believe will win the most trophies at this year’s ceremony. You can use my background and predictions to help you win your Oscar ballot tonight.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best Picture
Frances McDormand for Best Actress
Sam Rockwell for Best Supporting Actor
Best Picture is definitely this year’s toughest category to predict. Three Billboards is so close to both The Shape of Water and Get Out. Three Billboards recent popularity and other wins will likely be enough to win tonight. McDormand and Rockwell’s performances, however, are near guaranteed locks.
The Shape of Water
Guillermo del Toro for Best Director
Alexandre Desplat Best Original Score
Best Production Design
This was a stunning motion picture that created stunning worlds within the real city of long-gone gothic Baltimore. Guillermo del Toro’s vision is the best contender for direction, along with its stunning production design and terrific score are likely winners.
Dunkirk
Lee Smith for Best Film Editing
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing
Christopher Nolan’s movies are well-known for winning the technical awards (like Inception and Interstellar.) Dunkirk will be no different. While this was the best film of his career, it likely won’t win anything else if only for the competition.
Darkest Hour
Gary Oldman for Best Actor
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
An interesting companion piece to the events in Dunkirk, Darkest Hour’s strongest element was the character of Winston Churchill. That was a combination of Gary Oldman’s commanding performance and the brilliant make-up design that transformed him.
For the writing nominees, Jordan Peele is the frontrunner for his original screenplay of Get Out and James Ivory will likely win for his adapted screenplay of Call Me By Your Name.
Other likely winners include Coco for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for “Remember Me”, Alison Janney in I, Tonya for Best Supporting Actress, A Fantastic Woman for Best Foreign Language Film and Faces, Places for Best Documentary Film.
If you’re interested in reading about my in-depth analysis of all 24 categories tonight, you can read and download my annual film essay here for free.
This essay contains my complete predictions for tonight’s Academy Awards. It also includes a recap of my movie watching habits and thoughts on all movies from 2017.
Otherwise, get ready for an exciting and unpredictable ceremony. With Hollywood changing how it makes and releases movies, it’s sure to be a political and possibly controversial show.
It’s anyone’s guess who might win some categories. As quoted from 1992 Best Picture winner Unforgiven, “Deserve’s got nothin’ to do with it!”
