The Final Oscar Predictions

In about 12 hours, this year's Oscar nominations will be announced in Hollywood. I have some idea of what they might be and I will share my predictions with you. I will cover every category except for the short films - I have only watched one of those, so I can't have an informed opinion. In each category, I will note a number equal to the number of nominees, plus two more. We will all soon know how much are my predictions worth.

We start at the top - with the Best Picture category: The maximum number of nominees in this one is 10, although they usually are 8 or 9. There are 7 films that will most probably be there, in order of likelihood: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, The Shape of Water, Lady Bird, Dunkirk, Get Out, Call Me By Your Name, and The Post. The first two are the most likely to actually claim the award, although none of the others is out of the question. This is an open year.

I, Tonya and The Florida Project are possible candidates to join the above seven, followed by The Big Sick, Darkest Hour, and Mudbound.

Guillermo Del Toro (The Shape of Water), Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), and Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk) will compete for the Best Director award. For the remaining two places in the nominations' list, these 4 directors will battle it out: Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird), Jordan Peele (Get Out), Steven Spielberg (The Post), and Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name).

Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour), is the favorite for the Best Actor category. His main competition comes from Timothee Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name). Daniel Day-Lewis (Phantom Thread), Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out), and James Franco (The Disaster Artist) are expected to be the other nominees. Two others that also stand a chance are Tom Hanks (The Post) and Denzel Washington (Roman J. Israel, Esq.).

Frances McDormand is widely expected to get her second Best Actress Oscar for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Challenging her are Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird) and Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water). Margot Robbie (I, Tonya) and Meryl Streep (The Post) are expected to complete the quintet. It's unlikely that these five will be challenged, but, if they are, it might be from Jessica Chastain (Molly's Game) or Nicole Kidman (The Beguiled).

The Best Supporting Actor category will be a race between Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) and Willem Dafoe (The Florida Project). Richard Jenkins (The Shape of Water) will definitely be there too. There will be a hard struggle for the other two places between Armie Hammer (Call Me By Your Name), Michael Stuhlbarg (Call Me By Your Name), Christopher Plummer (All the Money in the World), and Woody Harrelson (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri).

The favorite in the Best Supporting Actress category is Allison Janney (I, Tonya). Her main competition comes from Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird). Also in the running are Holly Hunter (The Big Sick), Mary J. Blige (Mudbound), and Octavia Spencer (The Shape of Water). This will most likely be the final list. Hong Chau (Downsizing) and Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread) have a small chance of sneaking in there too.

There is no favorite in the Original Screenplay category: Three films battle it out with equal chances: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Lady Bird, and Get Out. The Shape of Water could also win. For the fifth place, three films will do their best to get in: The Big Sick, The Post, and I, Tonya.

There is, on the other hand, a clear favorite in the Adapted Screenplay category: thankfully, it's Call Me By Your Name. Competing against it, I expect to see Mudbound, Molly's Game, and The Disaster Artist. For the precious fifth place, there are three candidates: Wonder, Logan, and All the Money in the World.

These are the candidates for Best Score, in order of likelihood:

Alexandre Desplat (The Shape of Water):

Hans Zimmer (Dunkirk):

Jonny Greenwood (Phantom Thread):

John Williams (The Post):

Dario Marianelli (Darkest Hour):

Carter Burwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri):

John Williams (Star Wars: The Last Jedi):

These are the candidates for Best Song, in order of likelihood:

Remember Me, written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez and performed by Miguel featuring Natalia Lafourcade (Coco):

This Is Me, written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and performed by Keala Settle (The Greatest Showman):

The Mystery Of Love, written and performed by Sufjan Stevens (Call Me by Your Name):

Evermore, written by Alan Menken and Tim Rice and performed by Dan Stevens (Beauty And The Beast):

Stand Up for Something, written by Diane Warren and performed by Andra Day featuring Common (Marshall):

Mighty River, written by Mary J. Blige, Raphael Saadiq, and Taura Stinson and performed by Mary J. Blige (Mudbound):

You Shouldn’t Look At Me That Way, written and performed by Elvis Costello (Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool):

The Production Design nominees will probably be (in order of likelihood): The Shape of Water, Blade Runner 2049, Dunkirk, Darkest Hour, and Beauty And The Beast, with The Greatest Showman and Phantom Thread as possible spoilers.

The Costume Design nominees will probably be (in order of likelihood): Phantom Thread, Beauty And The Beast, The Greatest Showman, The Shape of Water, and Darkest Hour, with Victoria and Abdul and Murder on the Orient Express as possible spoilers.

The Cinematography nominees will probably be (in order of likelihood): Blade Runner 2049, Dunkirk, The Shape of Water, Darkest Hour, with Call Me by Your Name and Mudbound battling it out for the fifth place. The Beguiled also stands a slim chance.

The Film Editing nominees will probably be (in order of likelihood): Dunkirk, The Shape of Water, Get Out, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, with Blade Runner 2049 and Baby Driver battling it out for the fifth place. I, Tonya also stands a slim chance.

The Sound Editing nominees will probably be (in order of likelihood): Dunkirk, Blade Runner 2049, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Baby Driver, and The Shape of Water. War for the Planet of the Apes and Wonder Woman are possible spoilers.

The Sound Mixing nominees will probably be (in order of likelihood): Dunkirk, Blade Runner 2049, The Shape of Water, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and Baby Driver. The Greatest Showman and Wonder Woman are possible spoilers.

The Visual Effects nominees will probably be (in order of likelihood): War for the Planet of the Apes, Blade Runner 2049, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Dunkirk, and The Shape of Water. Okja and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 are possible spoilers.

The Makeup and Hairstyling nominees will probably be (in order of likelihood - there are only three nominees in this category): Darkest Hour, Wonder, with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and I, Tonya battling it out for the third place.

The Animated Feature nominees will probably be (in order of likelihood): Coco, The Breadwinner, Loving Vincent, The Lego Batman Movie, and Ferdinand. Mary and the Witch's Flower and Boss Baby are possible spoilers.

The Documentary Feature nominees will probably be (in order of likelihood): Jane, Faces Places, City of Ghosts, Icarus, and Last Men in Aleppo. Strong Island and LA 92 are possible spoilers.

The Foreign Language Film nominees will probably be (in order of likelihood): A Fantastic Woman (Chile), In the Fade (Germany), The Square (Sweden), Foxtrot (Israel), and Loveless (Russia). The Wound (South Africa) and The Insult (Lebanon) are possible spoilers.

In a few hours, we'll all know how well I did. If you have your own predictions, please share in the comments' section. Thanks!