While we’ve been keenly following the string of BAFTA winners and killer Golden Globe red carpet looks since awards season kicked off, there’s one awards ceremony that holds a very special place in our hearts - the Oscars. There's a lot going on this 2018 and wrapping your head around the nitty gritty can be a mission, so we've put together a little cheat sheet to make things a little easier...
Oscars 2018 Nominations
There’s a lot of exciting standouts nominated this year, with Guillermo del Toro’s fantasy Shape of Water dominating with a gargantuan twelve nominations. The small town epic Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri also seems like a big favourite to win, especially as far as the Best Actress category goes - Frances McDormand just won big at the BAFTAs and Golden Globes for her moving performance. Other contenders for the much lauded Best Picture award also include Dunkirk, Lady Bird and Get Out and Call Me By Your Name is proving itself the little indie film that could with multiple nominations.
RELATED: Get Out's Allison Williams On The Scariest Film You Never Saw Coming
After Natalie Portman called out the Oscars ‘all male’ Best Director category last year, Lady Bird’s Greta Gerwig has been nominated this 2018 and broken the eight year long dry spell of gender inequality for the category. (She’s also the first woman to ever be nominated for her debut film.)
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However, we still can’t quite get over the fact that Boss Baby is now officially an Oscar-nominated film. Congratulations, we guess?
Check out our full list of Oscars 2018 nominations to see if your favourites made the cut. Our Entertainment Director Josh Newis-Smith has also done the maths and come up with a conclusive Oscar award season predictions list - fingers crossed...
Oscars 2018 Date
The Oscars will be airing this Sunday, March 4 and it all kicks off at 1am here in the UK. (Better get that Monday sick day sorted.) If you’re a Sky member, then you can watch the whole red carpet and ceremony live on the Sky Cinema Oscars channel.
Oscars Controversies
It’s impossible to talk about Hollywood without standing in the shadow of the wave of sexual harassment allegations, kick-started by Ronan Farrow’s explosive Harvey Weinstein investigation and Anthony Rapp’s damning accusations against Kevin Spacey. From the Golden Globes’ all-black dress code and special guests through to the BRITs' white roses, many stars have been dressing in solidarity of Time’s Up and the #MeToo movement to fight against the systemic abuse. We’re expecting it to be a hot topic on the night and while the Academy Awards have said they don’t expect everybody to dress in black in support of the movement, we’re sure there will be at handful of Time’s Up pins and roses floating around.
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Unsurprisingly, Weinstein has been booted from the Academy and won’t be in attendance. However other actors with accusations looming over their heads will be in the vicinity, as James Franco’s The Disaster Artist has been nominated (though his name was notably absent from the Best Actor category). Kate Winslet, who has recently spoken out against her controversial Wonder Wheel director Woody Allen, was also missing from the Best Actress category presumably for similar reasons. However, Gary Oldman remains nominated as Best Actor - a move which has divided many given his history of domestic violence allegations.
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It’s a tradition that last year’s Best Actor normally presents the next year’s Best Actress award, however Casey Affleck (who has accused by multiple women of sexual harassment) has withdrawn as a presenter this year.
On a lighter note, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway will be presenting Best Picture again - despite last year’s viral Oscars mix up. Here’s hoping they get it right this year; apparently the Academy has introduced a number of new safeguards to ensure the right film gets called this time. Here’s hoping they call La La Land again.
Oscars 2018 Host
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Jimmy Kimmel of Jimmy Kimmel Live! will be resuming his post as awards show host after presenting last year’s memorable ceremony. We’ve got our fingers crossed for another moment that’ll outdo the Moonlight/La La Land Envelopegate debacle and it it turns out he is too, as he admitted in a recent interview: ‘I want it to happen again.’
Jimmy is a fantastic choice for an Oscars season that seems set to be one of the most political ever. His talk show is having something of a renaissance at the moment, as since his new string of viral, honest and emotional monologues have touched on everything from gun control through to how vital the American healthcare system was throughout the traumatic birth of his child.
Sufjan Stevens will also be performing his Oscar-nominated song Mystery Of Love which featured on Call Me By Your Name. Fingers crossed that John Travolta announces him.
Everything you need to know about the Best Picture nominees
Call Me By Your Name
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Directed by Luca Guadagnino, this gentle love story has garnered critical acclaim for its moving portrayal of a LGBT relationship. Set in Italy in the 80s, 17 year old Elio (portrayed by promising newcomer Timothee Chalamet) has his world turned upside down when a brash American exchange student named Oliver (Armie Hammer) stays with his family for one glorious summer. While Best Picture might be a bit of a stretch, we’re hoping it wins for Best Original Song - Luca somehow managed to convince the elusive Sufjan Stevens to spearhead the soundtrack.
Darkest Hour
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This historical film delves into the tense politics surrounding World War II and focuses on Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who must decide whether to negotiate with Nazi Germany or lead Great Britain into war. It’s currently nominated for six Oscars, however it’s worth noting that Gary Oldman’s Best Actor nomination is a sticking point for many due to the domestic violence allegations leveled at him.
Dunkirk
Another World War II epic, Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk has been praised for its harrowing and overwhelming portrayal of the Allied struggle against Nazi Germany. It’s more than just former One Direction member Harry Styles’ debut film however and has been hailed as a moving, sensory experience, focusing on the utter despair of war while simultaneously celebrating the strength of the human spirit.
RELATED: Dunkirk's Jack Lowden On Playing Characters 'More Interesting' Than Himself
Get Out
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Nobody quite knew what to expect when comedian Jordan Peele announced he would be directing this horror film, however he dashed all naysayers with a fantastic film that blasted through box office records. It centres on Chris (Daniel Kaluuya), an African American man who is taken to meet his white girlfriend’s family in the conservative South. As time passes however, the sugary sweet town quickly reveals itself as a waking nightmare.
Lady Bird
Saoirse Ronan is back with another emotional coming-of-age story, this time as a young American aptly called Lady Bird McPherson. Set in the early 00s in California, its heart and soul lies in the portrayal of its central mother-daughter relationship which is tested on a long road trip to scout out various universities. Its director, Greta Gerwig, has also been nominated for a Best Director Oscar and is the first woman in eight years to have made it into the category after Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker win in 2010.
RELATED: Oscar-Nominated Actress Saoirse Ronan On Starring In Lady Bird
Phantom Thread
Daniel-Day Lewis is back again as another unrecognisable character - this time as London dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock. A determined young woman named Alma (Vicky Krieps) blows into his life and their subsequent romance changes his work forever, cementing her as his muse as his career skyrockets.
The Post
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We don’t know how Steven Spielberg swung not just Tom Hanks, but also Meryl Streep for this one. Following in the vein of journalist-centric films like former Oscar winner Spotlight, The Post hones in on one of the biggest cover-ups in US history and the female-led newspaper set to unravel it despite mounting pressure.
The Shape of Water
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When Guillermo del Toro’s newest fantasy hit the silver screen, people instantly fell in love with the romance - as well as the Amphibian Man’s derriere. A young mute janitor (Sally Hawkins) working at a government facility falls in love with one of its biggest secrets, a kidnapped monster from the deep. As they forge a relationship that transcends words, external pressures from a maniacal US government officer and a Russian spy operation threaten to tear the two apart.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
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This intimate look at a small US town is based on a true story, which makes it all the more devastating. After the horrific rape and murder of Kathy Page in a town where nothing ever happens, her mother (Frances McDormand) pressures the local authorities to bring her daughter’s murderer to justice.
