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Oscar Battle Royale – Fox Force Five News Predicts The 2018 Academy Awards

Keven Skinner
oscars 2018 battle

The 2018 Academy Awards will take place on March 4, 2018 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. The 2nd annual Oscar Battle Royale is here and the Fox Force Five News staff are competing head to head to see who can predict the most correct wins. Check out the full list of nominees below and check out our overall projected winners. UPDATED: Results are in!

Note: Even though we are all competing – because we are bloodthirsty maniacs, trended picks will be considered our overall projected winners for every category in the process. Check out the full list of nominees below to see which staffer picked what and which nominees came out on top overall. – Keven

UPDATED WITH WINNERS AND 2018 OSCAR RESULTS!

Overall Projected Wins that we guessed correctly: 17/24 = 71% Accuracy

Winner of the 2018 Oscar Battle Royale: Sean Atkins! 17/24 = 71% Accuracy


Best picture – Projected Winner: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

The Shape of Water may have the most nominations (13), but Three Billboards won the Globe, the SAG and it’s the better film by a mile. It’s my personal favourite nominee in this category and I’d love to see the Academy honour it accordingly. “Why don’t you put that on your Good Morning Missouri fucking wake up broadcast, bitch?” – Mildred Hayes. – *Keven

The Best Picture race is pretty open, but The Shape of Water is mesmerising and captivating and is destined to be a classic. – *Michael

In year’s past, it was easier to predict the winner of Best Picture. But this year’s race is a toss-up between Dunkirk, The Shape of Water, Lady Bird, Get Out, and Three Billboards; I will not be shocked if one of those five comes away with the biggest award of the night. However, I’m sticking to my guns and am going with Three Billboards to win the most coveted golden statue in all of Hollywood. – *Sean

I think Three Billboards has gained enough traction through its festival run to have secured its place as the film to take home the big prize. But “The Shape of Water” and “Lady Bird” could give it a run for its money. – *Grant

Directing – Projected Winner: Guillermo Del Toro

Guillermo Del Toro has been a genre filmmaker for so long and he’s such a nice dude that I think every nerd who used to watch Blade 2 back in the day (aka me) is rooting for the man to take home his first Directing Oscar. Let’s just hope Natalie Portman isn’t there to kill the mood again… I get it. But this is Del Toro’s moment – don’t ruin it. – *Keven

Dunkirk features Nolan’s most clear and concise vision yet and his storytelling is unmatched. – *Michael

I’m gonna go with Gerta Gerwig’s work for Lady Bird as Best Director.  It’s a phenomenally directed film, plus a showcase of the films women can make in the changing political landscape in Hollwood. Jordan Peele and Guillermo del Toro would also be safe bets. – *Grant

Actress in a leading role – Projected Winner: Frances McDormand

I’ll provide you with another film quote from 2017’s best leading lady: “My daughter Angela was murdered 7 months ago, it seems to me the police department is too busy torturing black folk to solve actual crimes”. Frances McDormand is amazing.- *Keven

Frances McDormand – The best female performance in years, very genuine, comical, and heartfelt. – *Michael

Any other year, Saoirse Ronan would win Best Actress for her performance in Lady Bird. But not this year against Frances McDormand, who gives a career-best performance as a mother hell-bent on getting vengeance for her slain daughter. And yes, it tops her performance in Fargo, which nabbed the actress her first Oscar back in 1996. – *Sean

McDormand has been getting all the awards for her performance in ‘Three Billboards” so she is the safe bet, but I think Saoirse Ronan might be a serious competitor here. – *Grant

Actor in a leading role – Projected Winner: Gary Oldman

I love Gary Oldman. Easily one of this generation’s greatest actors and his role in Darkest Hour is just one of many amazing performances. I do feel like this category isn’t set in stone though. Timothee Chalamet and Daniel Day-Lewis are potential surprise winners too. – *Keven

Gary Oldman gives the performance of a lifetime as Winston Churchill. – *Michael

Before Franco got snubbed, this might have been a toss up.  But now there is absolutely no competition for Oldman’s portrayal of Winston Churchill. – *Grant

Writing (original screenplay) – Projected Winner: Get Out

Three Billboards – This screenplay is crafted extremely well and does a great job subtly demonstrating problems we face in the world today. – *Michael

Jordan Peele has proven himself as a first time director with “Get Out”.  Of all the nominations his film has gotten, I think Original Screenplay will be where he takes home the glory.  – *Grant

Writing (adapted screenplay) – Projected Winner: Call Me By Your Name

James Franco was snubbed in the best leading actor category for his career best performance in The Disaster Artist, so I’m hoping the film at least takes home an Oscar here although I do think that Call Me By Your Name is probably going to take it. -*Keven

The Disaster Artist – The best adapted screenplay of the year based on the worst movie of all time. I LOVE IT. – *Michael

This is a toss up for me.  “Call Me By Your Name” is absolutely beautiful, but I want “Logan” to take home the gold for breaking the mold to create one of the most striking superhero films of all time. – *Grant

Animated feature film – Projected Winner: Coco

Pixar pretty much always wins… as much as “Loving Vincent” deserves this for its impeccable animation it’s going to go to Coco.  Sidenote, it’s a crime that Lego Batman didn’t get nominated. – *Grant

Music (original song) – Projected Winner: Undecided

Forget “Coco” and “The Greatest Showman”, “Call Me By Your Name” has the greatest original songs of all time and deserves that recognition. – *Grant

Documentary (feature) – Projected Winner: Faces Places

Documentary (short subject) – Projected Winner: Heroin(e)

Foreign language film – Projected Winner: A Fantastic Woman

Actor in a supporting role – Projected Winner: Sam Rockwell

Sam Rockwell plays stupid so well it’s frightening… Then something magical happens which I won’t spoil here, but my god what an amazing character with depth that will constantly surprise you as the film unfolds. – *Keven

Rockwell does a great job with his character because you love AND hate him equally throughout the film. – *Michael

While Willem Dafoe deserves to win in this category, the momentum has swung completely in Sam Rockwell’s favor. And while Sam Rockwell is not my first choice, he’s my second choice in this category, so I won’t be mad if he winds up winning. His redemption arc in Three Billboards is one of the best things about the black comedy. – *Sean

Actress in a supporting role – Projected Winner: Allison Janney

I, Tonya was an awesome movie – rock n’ roll from start to finish. There were stellar performances from every single castmember but Allison Janney’s mother from Hell wasn’t just the best, but she may have been the most memorable actress in any movie from 2017 – leading or not. – *Keven

Janney has such a hilariously human character performance and she makes it hard to look away when she’s on screen. – *Michael

Makeup and hairstyling – Projected Winner: Darkest Hour

Gary Oldman was unrecognisable in this great biopic. – *Michael

Film editing – Projected Winner: Undecided

Telling a story that involves land, sea, and air in different points and times could be very easily confusing to the audience. With Dunkirk this is not the case as it keeps the viewer very engaged and involved. – *Michael

“Baby Driver” is great and absolutely deserves this, but I wouldn’t be surprised if ‘I, Tonya” or “Dunkirk” wins this either. – *Grant

Visual effects – Projected Winner: Blade Runner 2049

Blade Runner 2049 – The visual effects here are some of the best I’ve ever seen in a film. They added a substantial amount of style and visual appeal to this masterpiece. – *Michael

I’m going to go with my gut and say BR2049 is taking home the gold, but no one can deny just how amazing those damn apes look in “War for the Planet of the Apes.” – *Grant

Music (original score) – Projected Winner: The Shape of Water

I’m just going to go ahead and say that The Shape of Water is this year’s The Artist, a movie which Hollywood recognizes as one that honors movies from classic eras of cinema. Does that make it any better or worse? Absolutely not. And again, we have another category that The Shape of Water will win that should be going towards a more deserving movie, which in this category should be going to Jonny Greenwood for his fantastic score in Phantom Thread. Maybe I’ll be proven wrong and The Shape of Water won’t receive as many golden statues, but I doubt it. – *Sean

Short film (live action) – Projected Winner: Undecided

Short film (animated) – Projected Winner: Undecided

Sound mixing – Projected Winner: Dunkirk

Sound editing – Projected Winner: Dunkirk

Costume design – Projected Winner: Phantom Thread

Cinematography – Projected Winner: Blade Runner 2049

I might be in the minority when I say this, but I think The Shape of Water is the most overrated movie among this year’s Oscar contenders. While I think it’s good, it’s nothing more than just good. And why this movie is going to win Best Cinematography over Roger Deakins’ master work in Blade Runner 2049 completely baffles me. I hope I’m wrong and Deakins (who has now been nominated 14 times) wins Best Cinematography for Blade Runner 2049. But right now, the majority is head over heels for The Shape of Water and I’m just not okay with that. Especially for this category when Deakins deserves it more than Shape of Water or any of the other nominees. – *Sean

GIVE. DEAKINS. HIS. DAMN. OSCAR. ALREADY. – *Grant

Production design – Projected Winner: The Shape of Water

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