2018 Oscar Nominations Prove The Times Really Are Changing (Ever So Slowly)

Do the Oscar Nominations carry a narrative? Or are we just squinting really hard to see one?

The movie-biz’s annual orgy of vainglorious backpatting is a cultural barometer, whether it should be or not. It’s an annual glimpse of Hollywood gazing into the mirror; cast a reflection that usually say more about how it wants to be seen than what it really is. And with the industry-rattling detonation of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, the obvious narrative for the list of nominees for the 90th Academy Awards must surely be seen through the prism of #MeToo.

And, so, the thinking goes, the absence of James Franco from the Best Actor list is a sure sign of the times, even though the voting deadline for the Oscars was the day after accusations of sexual misconduct against Franco were made public. The nomination of All The Money In The World’s Christopher Plummer for a role in which he replaced Kevin Spacey after the film was finished —both digitally spliced in and in costly reshoots— is surely a reminder of scandal, but hardly seems like a rebuke of a long industry history of abuses of power. Taken to its long-bow-drawing extreme, this narrative even has people wondering if the Weinstein-produced Wind River (AKA: Jeremy Renner Mansplaining In The Snow For 2 Hours) and Woody fuckin’ Allen’s Wonder Wheel (which is awful) were somehow the victims of backlash.

As it is, this year’s nominations may or may not actually say anything about contemporary times and social movements. The far-and-away leader in nominations — The Shape Of Water, with 13 — is a sumptuous period-piece full of love for Hollywood past (albeit one in which a woman fucks a fish-man). The biggest ‘surprise’ was the six nominations for Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread, a sumptuous period-piece full of love for Hollywood past (albeit a genuinely-strange film that is, in its own way, a mockery of the myth of the Male Genius Artist). Dee Rees’ sweeping Deep South melodrama Mudbound dispelled the notion that there’s a Netflix stigma, the streaming-service title earning four nominations. But it, too, is a sumptuous period-piece.

Over 1500 voters have recently been added to the Academy; president Cheryl Boone Isaacs out to shake up the voting body, make it less the provence of old, white men. After the #OscarsSoWhite controversy of 2016, the fact that Jordan Peele’s socio-satirical race-relations horror-movie earnt Best Picture/Director/Screenplay nominations —as well as an acting nom for its fantastic lead, Daniel Kaluuya— could be seen as a sign of the times. Of course, with the presence of Dunkirk and Darkest Hour, there are also 14 combined nominations for fussy English films about the same event in World War II.

So, y’know, #Oscars2018: new blood + business-as-usual.

Rachel Morrison becomes the first woman even nominated for cinematography, for her work on Mudbound (Morrison also shot the upcoming Black Panther, meaning she had a great year). Get Out mastermind Peele became the first African-American to be nominated for writing, directing, and producing in the one year. Lady Bird’s Greta Gerwig became just the fifth female ever to be nominated for Best Director (and the third this century, which is... progress, I guess?).

Strong Island, the sprawling cine-memoir by Yance Ford, became the first Oscar-nominated film helmed by a transgender director; and Sebastián Lelio’s glorious A Fantastic Woman, which has a trans character front-and-centre, earnt a Best Foreign Language Film nom. In the same category, Ziad Doueiri’s The Insult became the first Lebanese film to ever receive an Academy Award nomination. Logan became the first superhero movie to get nominated for its script, not just technical proficiency. Kobe Bryant became —for real— the first-ever NBA player to turn Oscar nominee, for his Live Action Short Film, Dear Basketball. And Margot Robbie followed Russell Crowe’s unlikely Neighbours-to-Oscars path, nominated for her great leading turn in I, Tonya.

For all those historic nominations and notable ‘firsts’ —and the gradual social shifts they show— there’s also plenty of evidence that not that much is changing. Meryl Streep is here, of course, earning her 21st nomination for her sterling work in Steven Spielberg’s so-so The Post (her co-star Tom Hanks, however, missed out). Denzel Washington is back, again; scoring his ninth nomination for propping up Roman J. Israel, Esq. Roger Deakins received his 14th Best Cinematography nomination for his masterful imagery in Blade Runner 2049; though holding out hope he may actually win isn’t too wise (he’s 0/13 thus far). And the all-time Oscar staple, John Williams, just keeps on keeping on: garnering his 51st nomination for his score for Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Williams is 85, but he’s not the oldest Oscar nom this year. Plummer, at 88 years old, is the oldest-ever nominee in any acting category; after he was already the oldest-ever acting winner six years ago, for his turn in Mike Mills’ Beginners. James Ivory, nominated for adapting André Aciman’s queer coming-of-age novel Call Me By Your Name, is 89. A month older than Ivory is Agnès Varda. The nouvelle vague legend already received an Honorary Oscar this year, but now her latest documentary, Faces Places, earnt its own nomination. At the other end of the spectrum, at 22, Call Me By Your Name lead Timothée Chalamet is the youngest Best Actor nominee since Mickey Rooney in 1940, and third-youngest ever.

The fact that the nomination of a 22-year-old male is such a historical anomaly does suggest an Oscar narrative; one about a long history, and how this year maybe does mark a change. Jennifer Lawrence was 22 when she won an Oscar for Silver Linings Playbook; hell, Anna Paquin was 11 when she won for The Piano. Year after year, fresh-face ‘it girls’ —Keira Knightley and Isabelle Adjani at 20, Kate Winslet at 22, Angelina Jolie and Goldie Hawn at 24, Alicia Vikander at 27— are nominated in the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress categories, whilst the male acting nominations are the province of greying men. This is, of course, indicative of the historical dearth of interesting, leading roles for women over 40; the film industry’s long-standing Weinstein/Woody-esque love of narratives matching middle-aged men to hot young women.

But the favourites for this year’s Actress nominations buck that century-long trend. Frances McDormand, who tears through Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri in a rage of righteous profanity, is 60. Allison Janney, who may swear even more in her scene-stealing I, Tonya turn, is 58. Laurie Metcalf, likely Best Supporting Actress favourite, is 62. Lesley Manville, whose arch, ironic, multi-layered performance in Phantom Thread is every bit as good as Daniel Day-Lewis’s work therein, is 61 years old. Hawkins, at 41, is allowed sexual agency, pleasure, and even self-pleasure in The Shape Of Water. And Streep, powerful as ever, commands every scene she’s in in The Post, at 68.

If there’s a #MeToo narrative to be found, it isn’t the absence of Weinstein or Woody, but a long-overdue sign that actresses, after an eternity resigned to rote sexual objectification on the screen and red carpet both, are finally finding worthy roles, and recognition for them.

The 90th Academy Awards take place at LA's Dolby Theatre on 4 March.

best picture

Call Me By Your Name

Darkest Hour

Dunkirk

Get Out

Lady Bird

Phantom Thread

The Post

The Shape Of Water

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

best actor

Timothée Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name)

Daniel Day-Lewis (Phantom Thread)

Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out)

Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour)

Denzel Washington (Roman J. Israel, Esq.)

best actress

Sally Hawkins (The Shape Of Water)

Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)

Margot Robbie (I, Tonya)

Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird)

Meryl Streep (The Post)

best supporting actor

Willem Dafoe (The Florida Project)

Woody Harrelson (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)

Richard Jenkins (The Shape Of Water)

Christopher Plummer (All The Money In The World)

Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)

best supporting actress

Mary J. Blige (Mudbound)

Allison Janney (I, Tonya)

Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread)

Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird)

Octavia Spencer (The Shape Of Water)

best director

Paul Thomas Anderson (Phantom Thread)

Guillermo del Toro (The Shape Of Water)

Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird)

Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk)

Jordan Peele (Get Out)

best cinematography

Roger Deakins (Blade Runner 2049)

Bruno Delbonnel (Darkest Hour)

Dan Laustsen (The Shape Of Water)

Rachel Morrison (Mudbound)

Hoyte Van Hoytema (Dunkirk)

best original screenplay

Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor (The Shape Of Water)

Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird)

Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)

Kumail Nanjiani, Emily V. Gordon (The Big Sick)

Jordan Peele (Get Out)

best adapted screenplay

Scott Frank, James Mangold, Michael Green (Logan)

James Ivory (Call Me By Your Name)

Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber (The Disaster Artist)

Dee Rees, Virgil Williams (Mudbound)

Aaron Sorkin (Molly’s Game)

best documentary

Abacus: Small Enough To Jail

Faces Places

Icarus

Last Men In Aleppo

Strong Island

best animated film

The Boss Baby

The Breadwinner

Coco

Ferdinand

Loving Vincent

best foreign language film

A Fantastic Woman

Loveless

On Body And Soul

The Insult

The Square