Tyler Christiansen’21

Staff Writer

Fall and winter are not only the best season because of the holidays, but also because all of the best movies come out in the months of October through December. Yes, this summer had huge hits like Avengers: Infinity War, Mission Impossible: Fallout, Deadpool 2 and the sequel that we’ve only been waiting fourteen years for: Incredibles 2. While all of these movies are good in their own right, the latter half of the year brings all of the independent movies that seemingly slipped under the radar that are actually thought-provoking and worthy of going to a small theater to check them out.

2017 was one of the best years for movies in recent memory, with The Shape of Water taking home four Oscars, including Best Picture, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri with two acting wins and the year’s most surprising movie Get Out receiving the Best Original Screenplay award for first time director, Jordan Peele. Believe it or not, 2018 seems to have even steeper competition, with Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut A Star is Born, Alfonso Cuaron’s (Gravity, Prisoner of Azkaban) Roma, and Peter Farrelly’s Green Book all leading the pack for Best Picture.

While I have not yet seen Roma, I can say for sure that A Star is Born will receive a lot of attention, particularly for Bradley Cooper, as an actor and director, and the surprising Lady Gaga, who steals the show when she performs “Shallow” and “Always Remember Us This Way.” The only thing that could hurt its awards chances is the fact that this is now the fourth iteration of this movie, essentially following the same structure as its three predecessors. I think it’s a non-issue and hopefully the Academy does as well.

Green Book seems to be the movie that came out of nowhere at the Toronto Film Festival, earning high praise for its two leads, Viggo Mortensen (Lord of the Rings) and Mahershala Ali (Moonlight). The movie is essentially a “road-trip” movie, but with good dialogue and relevant themes, especially for today, the movie succeeds and deserves to be seen on the big screen.

First Man, directed by Damien Chazelle (La La Land, Whiplash) is a shoe-in for the technical categories, specifically sound mixing, sound editing, film editing, and possibly a Best Director nomination for Chazelle. While I love this movie, I feel like it will have a similar fate to Blade Runner 2049, where it will succeed in the technical categories, but will be neglected in the major ones. Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy should also be recognized for their emotionally nuanced work. 

Movies that will most likely get nominated for Best Picture:

A Star is Born

Roma

Green Book

First Man

BlackKklansman

The Favourite

If Beale Street Could Talk

Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Best Director:

Bradley Cooper (A Star is Born)

Alfonso Cuaron (Roma)

Spike Lee (BlackKlansman)

Damien Chazelle (First Man)

Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite)

Best Leading Actor:

Bradley Cooper (A Star is Born)

Ryan Gosling (First Man)

Viggo Mortensen (Green Book)

Christian Bale (Vice)

Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) 

Best Leading Actress:

Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)

Lady Gaga (A Star is Born)

Toni Collette (Hereditary) 

Olivia Colman (The Favourite) 

Yalitza Aparicio (Roma)

Original Screenplay:

Roma

The Favourite

Eighth Grade

Green Book

First Reformed