And here we are at the end of the road. Oscar Season 2018 ends this weekend and we have our final predictions to present to you. Before we get into the meat of the predictions, here are some introductions written by our contributors. After you finish reading our introductions, head into the predictions and see where we stand and how you compare.
Wesley Lovell: Compared to the low suspense year that was 2016 (which ended up with one major suspenseful conclusion) and 2017’s back-and-forth races, 2018 has been comparatively a nail-biter. Even with several major categories locking into winners. Many categories, though, seem to be up in the air still, or at least seem like anyone could win even if a frontrunner is almost certain. In several races, I could have swapped first and second (and even third or fourth) place finishers with one another and still felt I had a solid prediction set. I’ve spent a lot of time writing about these categories. If you want to read my thoughts in more detail, take a look at my article Oscar Guy’s Final Thoughts to know more about what I see as this year’s best bets, runners-up, and my personal opinions.
Peter J. Patrick: I can’t recall a year in which I had no clear idea of what would win Best Picture while at the same time being sure of most of the other categories. If that’s not a good reason to stay awake until the last envelope is opened Sunday night, I don’t know what is.
Tripp Burton: The guilds have all awarded a different film this year, and things are more up in the air than any year I can remember. The show might be a disaster this year, but we are sure in for a lot of surprises, mostly because there aren’t a lot of consensus predictions going on. I could get half of these wrong and not be surprised!
Thomas La Tourrette: Having seen all but three of the nominees, it is time to put my predictions to rest. While some categories are easy, there are several including best picture, that are proving to be bears this year. Editing, documentary feature, sound mixing and editing, and costume and production design are all categories that could go one way or another. It keeps it both interesting, but also difficult. I am still second guessing some of my choices even as I get ready to send this. It has been a decent year for films, though not an exceptional one, but there are still lots of good choices in most categories. I just found that I liked more movies in 2017 than I did in 2018. I have never been on the Roma bandwagon, and I still do not know why it is the frontrunner in many categories. And many will not agree with me, but I thought Black Panther was just another Marvel film. Many of the other best picture nominees were enjoyable, but not what I would consider worthy of winning. Of the eight nominees, BlacKkKlansman and Green Book are probably my favorites, with BlacKkKlansman being the better made film. Though I doubt it could win. No film will truly dominate this year’s awards, which probably makes it harder to predict. But here are my predictions and I will call it good, though I may change my mind on a couple before Sunday night.
(more…)