On Tuesday, January 23rd, film fans woke up with a twinkle in their eyes. As cinephiles eagerly awaited, there was a buzzy excitement among the community and social media users waiting for one of the year’s biggest announcements: The 2018 Oscar Nominees.
The list was live streamed on YouTube at 5 AM PST (or 8 AM EST for us East Coasters) and it became the talk of the Twitterverse. This year brought about a lot of surprises (and very few snubs), and quickly became the main point of conversation on social channels as our team sipped our morning coffees and snacked on bagels and bananas.
In a not-so-surprising sweep, The Shape of Water took the most nominations, clocking in at a whopping total of 13 nominations. These include some of the most prestigious titles, such as Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Director. This is Guillermo del Toro’s first Best Director nomination; he was previously nominated in 2007 for the equally disturbing (and magical) film, Pan’s Labyrinth.
Dunkirk was next with eight nominations (including Best Picture and Best Director), followed closely by a fan-favorite, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which was rightfully nominated for Best Picture and Best Actress. If you haven’t seen it, Frances McDormand will make you laugh and cry, and then cry, and then cry even more.
The Best Animated Feature category held some of the biggest surprises of the year. Upset animated film fans were quick to point out on social media that standard blockbuster releases such as Boss Baby and Ferdinand were nominated over other, more indie releases.
The most exciting nominations by far were those that made history. Jordan Peele’s horror masterpiece, Get Out, received four nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Actor. This marks the first time in history that a black director has received all three of these nominations. In addition, Greta Gerwig’s nomination for Best Director for Lady Bird (which, like Three Billboards, will likely make you cry) marks the fifth time a woman has been nominated in this category. With the two nominated side by side, this is the second time in history that a black director and a female director have both been nominated in this category.
As the show draws closer, the Socialfly team is scrambling to see as many of the films as possible. There are many questions that need answering on the big night — March 4th. Which speeches will spark trending hashtags? What will win Best Picture? Who will receive the honor of Best Director? Will there be a Moonlight/La La Land-level mistake this year? Are the stars going to make a statement speaking out against harassment in the industry similar to the #TimesUp movement at the Golden Globes? Can Oprah make another speech on par with her last one? Please? It was truly a work of art and dominated the conversations on social media for days.
All we know for now is that this year has an impressive list of nominees. You can view the full list on Oscar’s website here, and you can see most of them in theaters (shout out to MoviePass, for making it possible to see them all for $10 a month).
We’re looking forward to March 4th – will you be watching? Tweet us with your predictions!
