This piece was updated after publication with more information.
The 2018 awards season has been defined by a peculiar field and the emergence of several unexpected front-runners (what up, Three Billboards and The Shape of Water?). On Tuesday morning, Oscar nominations were announced, and despite a few surprising (and welcome) inclusions, most of the films and actors to pick up nominations were ones we’ve come to expect, after their wins at other ceremonies. Unfortunately, Girls Trip breakout star and host of the Oscar nominations show, Tiffany Haddish—who was somehow chipper at 5 a.m. on the West Coast— was not among the nominees, though her presentation was Oscar-worthy in and of itself. (After seeing the unnecessarily intricate short film the Academy produced for the production design category, Haddish quipped: “Do you think they can install a steam shower in my house?”)
But on to the nominations. The nine Best Picture nominees included the two presumptive front-runners in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Shape of Water, which led all films with 13 nominations. Perhaps the most surprising Best Picture inclusions were Darkest Hour—whose Oscar hopes seemed to begin and end with Gary Oldman for Best Actor—and Phantom Thread, Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest that doubles as propaganda for delicious breakfasts. Phantom Thread was largely ignored this awards season, earning just two Golden Globe nods, so anything more than a Daniel Day-Lewis nomination for Best Actor (which also happened) is, as Reynolds Woodcock might put it, the butter on the toast.
Anderson was also a surprise nominee in what is a crowded Best Director race, joined by Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk), Jordan Peele (Get Out), Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird), and Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water). Yes, that means both Steven Spielberg (The Post) and Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards) were snubbed, though that shouldn’t hurt Three Billboards’ chances in other big categories—remember, Ben Affleck’s Argo won Best Picture after he was excluded from the director’s race back in 2013. Still, it’s great to see both Peele and Gerwig—talented young directors helming their first big projects—recognized after not receiving nominations at this year’s Golden Globes.
Meanwhile, James Franco (The Disaster Artist) wasn’t nominated for Best Actor after winning Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical at the Golden Globes. Franco’s inclusion would’ve put the Academy in an uncomfortable spot, given that five women accused the actor of sexually inappropriate behavior following his Globes win. The beneficiary of Franco’s absence is Denzel Washington, who was nominated for his performance in Roman J. Israel, Esq.
Elsewhere, The Boss Baby is now an Oscar-nominated movie after picking up a Best Animated Feature nod. I will be thinking about that for the rest of my life. In other good news, Mudbound cinematographer Rachel Morrison became the first woman nominated for cinematography in the Oscars’ 90-year history. That is a drought everyone should be happy to see end. Morrison is the one to root for in that category, though if 14-time nominee Roger Deakins is finally recognized for his sumptuous work in Blade Runner 2049, we won’t be mad, either.
Here’s a list of the nominees of the major categories at the 2018 Academy Awards.
Best Picture
Call Me by Your Name
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Get Out
Lady Bird
Phantom Thread
The Post
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best Director
Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk
Jordan Peele, Get Out
Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread
Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name
Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread
Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq.
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Margot Robbie, I, Tonya
Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
Meryl Streep, The Post
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Mary J. Blige, Mudbound
Allison Janney, I, Tonya
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water
Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water
Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best Documentary Feature
Abacus: Small Enough to Jail
Faces Places
Icarus
Last Men in Aleppo
Strong Island
Best Foreign Language Film
A Fantastic Woman
The Insult
Loveless
On Body and Soul
The Square
Best Animated Feature
The Boss Baby
The Breadwinner
Coco
Ferdinand
Loving Vincent
Best Original Screenplay
The Big Sick, Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani
Get Out, Jordan Peele
Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig
The Shape of Water, Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Martin McDonagh
Best Adapted Screenplay
Call Me by Your Name, James Ivory
The Disaster Artist, Michael H. Weber and Scott Neustadter
Logan, Scott Frank, James Mangold, and Michael Green
Molly’s Game, Aaron Sorkin
Mudbound, Virgil Williams and Dee Rees
Cinematography
Blade Runner 2049, Roger Deakins
Darkest Hour, Bruno Delbonnel
Dunkirk, Hoyte van Hoytema
Mudbound, Rachel Morrison
The Shape of Water, Dan Laustsen
To see a full list of nominees, click here.
