“There are a lot of great movies that have won the Academy Award, and a lot of great movies that haven’t. You just do the best you can.” – Clint Eastwood, Best Director, Million Dollar Baby, 2004

ItÔÇÖs Oscars time! The marmite of the festival season; you either love it or hate it. Known for its particular criteria and controversy for its snubs and #OscarsSoWhite, the 2018 Academy Awards are upon us.

Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, we have been assured to hear plenty of jokes about ÔÇÿEnvelopegateÔÇÖ and that it wonÔÇÖt get too politicalÔǪbut with how the rest of the awards season has gone – a bit of political drama is almost guaranteed. Even if we donÔÇÖt hear any #MeToo or #TimesUp from Kimmel, we most certainly we will be hearing political feels from tonightÔÇÖs winners.

Aside from all the possible drama, the most anticipated question is who will win?

Best Picture

Prediction: The Shape of Water.

This artsy film certainly stands out among the rest.

Best Director

Prediction: Guillermo del Toro or Jordan Peele

Torn between the two, both have received praise for the completely different directing styles. Guillermo del Toro, the classic idea of Oscar directing, artsy and really gives the audience something to think about. However, Jordan Peele is certainly the underdog and has presented a new idea of what Oscar films can be.

Best Actor/Actress

Gary Oldman / Undecided

Gary Oldman is prenominal as Churchill. While makeup contributes to his Churchill-esque appearance, his acting is spot on and is probably the best portrayal of Churchill that I have ever seen.

The competition for Best Actress is a hard one to decide. While Frances McDormand has been sweeping up the awards early this year, I still think that Sally Hawkins and Saoirse Ronan have a shot at that golden man. Unfortunately, I have seen much better performances from Margot Robbie and Meryl Streep, which pains me, to say as Robbie is bae and Streep is Queen!

Best Supporting Actor/Actress

Woody Harrelson or Sam Rockwell / Allison Janney or Octavia Spencer

Whether its Woody Harrelson or Sam Rockwell, either one definitely deserves to take home the Supporting Oscar. Both presented stellar performances.

Allison Janney was brilliant in I, Tonya. She really stole the show and overshadowed Robbie at times. Playing such a horrible character, yet still makes the audience feel for her, is always a win in my book! I would also like to see Octavia Spencer take home another Oscar for Best Supporting. She has constantly demonstrated her skills as an actress and once again, in The Shape of Water, she deserves to be recognized for her work.

Best Original Screenplay/Best Adapted Screenplay

Prediction: Lady Bird or Get Out/ The Disaster Artist

Both Lady Bird and Get Out have brilliant screenplays. One comedy and one horror, its hard to compare the two but both are equally clear and clever.

And The Disaster ArtistI really dont feel like I need to explain this one. If you havent seen it, you should.

While I could go on and explain my predictions for the remaining categories, we donÔÇÖt want this going on for as long as the Oscars themselves. I will give a special mention to the Best Live Action Short category.

Best Live Action Short 

Prediction: The Silent Child

While this is a very moving short film about a young deaf girl who learns to communicate through sign-language thanks to a social worker, young actress Maisie Sly is from my hometown, so in good Swindon spirit, I will be keeping my fingers crossed for this win. A short film worth checking out!

While I would love to see some of my predictions pan out, you never know with the Oscars. With the past few years, they have become harder and harder to predict, but IÔÇÖll be hoping that I get a least one prediction right! Although, by the time the Oscars will finish at 5:30am (UK time) I will be glad just to get to bed!

See below for the rest of my predictions!

Best Animated Feature Film – Coco

Best Foreign Language Film ÔÇô A Fantastic Woman

Best Documentary ÔÇô Feature ÔÇô Strong Island

Best Documentary ÔÇô Short Subject ÔÇô Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405

Best Animated Short Film – Lou

Best Original Score ÔÇô Dunkirk

Best Original Song ÔÇô ÔÇ£Mighty RiverÔÇØ (Mudbound) or ÔÇ£This Is MeÔÇØ (The Greatest Showman)

Best Sound Editing ÔÇô Baby Driver

Best Sound Mixing ÔÇô Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Best Production Design ÔÇô The Shape of Water

Best Cinematography ÔÇô The Shape of Water

Best Makeup and Hairstyling ÔÇô Darkest Hour

Best Costume Design ÔÇô Beauty and the Beast

Best Film Editing ÔÇô Baby Driver

Best Visual Effects ÔÇô Star Wars: The Last Jedi

By Elizabeth Beckett