And so another Oscars has come and gone. It was one the most predictable Oscars in recent memory with the favourite winning in most categories. I only managed 14 out of 24 which is a poor result compared to others but that’s because I was hoping for a few upsets that never eventuated. It was great to see Jordan Peele win best original screenplay for Get Out but sadly there wasn’t enough love for the film to carry it over the line for best picture. It was The Shape of Water (a weaker movie in my opinion) which took the honours. The Academy made the wrong choice but I say that every year.
The major winners were:
Best picture – The Shape of Water
Best director – Guillermo Del Toro (The Shape of Water)
Best actor – Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour)
Best actress – Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
Best supporting actor – Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
Best supporting actress – Allison Janney (I, Tonya)
Best original screenplay – Get Out
Best adapted screenplay – Call Me by Your Name
Thank you to everyone who entered by 18th Annual Pick the Oscars competition. I always pick tough categories and this year there was just one lucky person who managed 6 out of 6 – Jordan Bastian. Those with 5 out of 6 were Jamie Jensen, Lisa Malouf, Sarah Ward, Brady Duncan, Nigel Middlebrook, Prue Knox and Sam Dagan. It seems the hardest category to predict amongst the entrants was best picture.
I didn’t manage to win any money on this year’s Oscars but I came out even thanks to a tidy win on Frances McDormand. It’s ironic that I backed her to win 21 years ago and she’s come through for me both times. As I like to keep a record of my ups and downs over the years, here’s the updated table of my Oscars punting…
1996 – profit of $750 – won on Susan Sarandon
1997 – profit of $300 (cumulative profit $1,050) – won on Frances McDormand
1998 – loss of $250 (cumulative profit $800)
1999 – loss of $250 (cumulative profit $550)
2000 – profit of $620 (cumulative profit $1,170) – won on Kevin Spacey and Michael Caine
2001 – loss of $190 (cumulative profit $980) – won on director Steven Soderbergh
2002 – profit of $480 (cumulative profit $1,460) – won on Halle Berry
2003 – profit of $275 (cumulative profit $1,735) – won on Catherine Zeta-Jones and Adrian Brody
2004 – profit of $150 (cumulative profit $1,875) – won on Sean Penn
2005 – profit of $214 (cumulative profit $2,089) – won on Hilary Swank
2006 – profit of $350 (cumulative profit $2,439) – won on Reese Witherspoon
2007 – profit of $1,463 (cumulative profit $3,912) – won on Eddie Murphy at Globes, Alan Arkin & West Bank Story at Oscars
2008 – profit of $268 (cumulative profit of $4,280) – won on Tilda Swinton and the Coen brothers
2009 – profit of $253 (cumulative profit of $4,533) – won on Mickey Rourke & Kate Winslet at Globes, Kate Winslet at Oscars
2010 – loss of $830 (cumulative profit of $3,703)
2011 – profit of $30 (cumulative profit of $3,733) – won on Social Network at Globes, Tom Hooper & King’s Speech at Oscars
2012 – loss of $640 (cumulative profit of $3,093) – won on Jean Dujardin at Oscars
2013 – loss of $850 (cumulative profit of $2,243) – won on Ang Lee at Oscars
2014 – loss of $72 (cumulative profit of $2,171) – won on Matthew McConaughey at Globes and Oscars
2015 – loss of $50 (cumulative profit of $2,121) – won on Eddie Redmayne at Oscars
2016 – profit of $1,325 (cumulative profit of $3,446) – won on Mark Rylance and Spotlight at Oscars
2017 – profit of $870 (cumulative profit of $4,316) – won on Damien Chazelle, Casey Affleck, Emma Stone and Mahershala Ali at Oscars
2018 – profit of $330 (cumulative profit of $4,646) – won on Frances McDormand and Three Billboards at Globes and Frances McDormand at Oscars
It’s been such a wild race in terms of best picture. Hopefully next year can offer up something just as exciting.