Welcome to the biggest day in Hollywood!

In honor of the show tonight, I thought I would provide a peek into some of my predictions for this year’s awards. Disclaimer: I have an awfully bad track record for picking Oscar winners, so don’t bet anything based on what follows here!

Best Actor: Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour

My earlier post this week for Darkest Hour raved a bit about Oldman’s performance, so I probably don’t need to gush anymore here. But man, he is just so, so, so convincing.

Best Actress: Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Profundity of F-word use aside, McDormand gives a solid, memorable performance as a tormented, justice-thirsty mother in Three Billboards. She’s been winning everything this awards season, and tonight will probably not be any different.

Actor in a Supporting Role: Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

I think Best Supporting Actor is the most up-for-grabs of the acting awards this year. That being said, Rockwell’s character in Three Billboards is at times repulsive, pitiable, humble, and courageous, which is a nice achievement in acting, I think.

Actress in a Supporting Role: Allison Janney, I, Tonya

Like Oldman and McDormand, Janney has been taking home a lot of hardware this year. I haven’t seen I, Tonya yet, but from the clips I’ve viewed of Janney’s performance, she is just electric.

Animated Feature Film: Coco

No one can dispute the genius of Disney and Pixar, especially when this film was in active production for over six years. That’s dedication.

Original Score: Alexandre Desplat, The Shape of Water

I would much, much, much rather see Hans Zimmer win for Dunkirk. For all his brilliant, memorable scores (Gladiator, Inception, Pearl Harbor, The DaVinci Code, etc.), Zimmer has only won one Oscar so far in his career–for 1994’s The Lion King–so it’s about time the Academy recognizes his ingenuity again. I would also be fine with John Williams winning for the iconic Star Wars score (again); he hasn’t won since 1993’s Schindler’s List. However, I think The Shape of Water is “trending” these days, and Alexandre Desplat is not without talent either.

Original Song: “This is Me” from The Greatest Showman

Hands down, The Greatest Showman is my favorite film to come out this year, so my pick is a bit of a sentimental favorite. But, “This is Me” did win the Golden Globe in this category, so here’s hoping it will win again tonight! Keala Settle’s performance of this song at the show tonight is one of the moments I’m most looking forward to! And if you haven’t seen this film yet, it is still holding strong in theaters, so GO!!! It’s just simply a lovely, lovely movie; and any words I write here will not do its songs justice.

Adapted Screenplay: James Ivory, Call Me by Your Name

This is a consolation prize of sorts for a BP nominee that will not win the Academy’s biggest award. I ran out of time to see this one, but it has gotten some buzz, and I think it won’t go home completely empty-handed.

Original Screenplay: Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor, The Shape of Water

This is a tough one. I think any of the five nominees in this category could win. Personally, I think Get Out should win this award (although Lady Bird might sneak in and snatch it too); but if I’m correct about who wins BP tonight, I think the Academy will give this one to The Shape of Water.

Best Director: Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water

This one could also go a number of different directions. This category screams the Academy’s new mantra of diversity, so it’s a bit of a guess which way Academy voters went in their voting. That being said, The Shape of Water is so unique that that fact alone might tip voters in del Toro’s favor for this award.

Best Picture: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Here we go, the big one. I could be very wrong about this. Less than two months ago, Three Billboards had all the momentum, winning the Golden Globe for Best Drama Motion Picture, the SAG award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, and the BAFTA for Best Film. However, The Shape of Water comes into tonight with the most nominations and is more artsy and unique, so it shouldn’t be too offhandedly dismissed. Then again, if we learned anything from last year, it’s that the number of nominations doesn’t mean too much when it comes time for the night’s final award. Get Out could steal BP too; in my mind, it is a much better film than both Three Billboards and The Shape of Water; but its horror movie status may have deterred some viewers from really considering it. There is also a contingent that feels Dunkirk has a shot at BP, but I think that is a little bit of a stretch given its lack of dialogue and unknowable characters. Finally, I wouldn’t mind seeing Darkest Hour win. I think that’s even more unlikely than Dunkirk as BP, though; but it’s a nice film with a good story and solid acting. For Lady Bird, Phantom Thread, The Post, and Call Me by Your Name, I think the game is over. But you just never know with the Oscars. Stranger things have happened.

Enjoy the show, Everyone!