Movie Notes

The Shape of Water up for 13 Academy Awards as Meryl Streep posts record 21st Oscar nomination

by Charlie Smith on January 23rd, 2018 at 7:35 AM
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      It's that time of year again when Hollywood film buffs can start their Academy Award betting pools.

      That's because this year's Oscar nominations were announced this morning, and leading the pack is The Shape of Water.

      Guillermo Del Toro's film is set at a 1950s research facility where a janitor forms a bond with a strange, amphibious creature being held in captivity.

      It garnered 13 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress in a Leading Role (Sally Hawkins), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Octavia Spencer), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Richard Jenkins), Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Original Score, and Costume Design.

      Dunkirk collected eight nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director (Christopher Nolan), and Original Score.

      Others up for Best Picture are Call Me By Your Name; Darkest Hour; Get Out; Lady Bird; Phantom Thread; The Post; and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

      Richard Jenkins and Sally Hawkins have each been nominated for Oscars in Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water, which centres around an amphibious creature.

      Meryl Streep broke her record for most Oscar nominations when she was named as a finalist for the 21st time this year for her role as publisher Katharine Graham in The Post.

      In addition to Hawkins, she's also up against Frances McDormand (who won the Golden Globe for her role in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Margot Robbie (I, Tonya), and Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird) for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

      The nominees for Best Actor in a Leading Role are Timothée Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name), Daniel Day-Lewis (Phantom Thread), Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out), Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour), and Denzel Washington (Roman J. Israel, Esq.). Oldman won the Golden Globe in this category.

      Greta Gerwig has become the fifth woman to be nominated for Best Director, which came for Lady Bird. The others were Lina Wertmuller (Seven Beauties), Jane Campion (The Piano), Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation), and Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker). Bigelow is the only woman to have won.

      In addition to del Toro and Nolan, the other nominees for Best Director are Jordan Peele (Get Out) and Paul Thomas Anderson (Phantom Thread). The winner of the Golden Globe was del Toro.

      The complete list of this year's Oscar nominees is available here.

      The big show will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel on March 4.

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