Oscar Nominations 2018: Quiet Reckonings

Let the dieting commence.

Now we know. It was cool to see Andy Serkis (with Tiffany Haddish) announce the nominations. The field of nine Best Picture nominees consists of Call Me by Your Name, Darkest Hour, Dunkirk, Get Out, Lady Bird, Phantom Thread, The Post, The Shape of Water and Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri. Of those nine, Call Me by Your Name, Darkest Hour, The Post and Three Billboards failed to snag Best Director nominations, leaving Steven Spielberg out, along with Billboard's Martin McDonagh, who was considered a lock after getting both Director's Guild and Golden Globe nominations - he was presumably squeezed out by Paul Thomas Anderson for Phantom Thread. I really thought I, Tonya would get in there somehow, and I was hoping that there'd be some kind of recognition for Wind River, but it was not to be.

I'm pretty thrilled to see the strong acknowledgement for Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water, with 13 nominations. Likewise Jordan Peele, for Get Out. Hugh Jackman's Wolverine finale Logan nabbed an Adapted Screenplay nomination for Scott Frank, James Mangold and Michael Green. There was some hope that Wonder Woman might ride the empowerment tide to a Best Picture nod, but it was not to be.

It's clear this year that the Academy was paying much closer attention to acknowledging women in key roles (Greta Gerwig) and people of color (Octavia Spencer, Jordan Peele and Daniel Kaluuya) while likewise distancing themselves from anyone carrying the whiff of harassment, as James Franco discovered.

Cinematography is always my favorite category, and Rachel Morrison made history as the first female cinematographer to get an Oscar nomination for Mudbound, powerfully evoking the Depression era photography of Dorthea Lange and Walker Evans. She is about to reach a much wider audience, as she's also DP on Ryan Coogler's upcoming Black Panther. But as much as I'd love to see her win, my heart's on my sleeve for the legendary Roger Deakins, scoring his 14th nomination for his staggering work in Blade Runner 2049. He's never won, and his work is always just stunning. Their competition includes Dunkirk, The Shape of Water and Darkest Hour.

There you have it - just some initial thoughts. We'll chew the fat and see how things sort out and be back with some predictions a little closer to showtime on March 4th.