With the Oscars just over a week away, we've decided to take a closer look at this year's British nominees. There's no more than 8 British productions, 4 of which appear in the best film category, and 6 talents, including director Christopher Nolan amongst the nominations.
Before we delve into the Oscar predictions however, let's take a look at how the nominees have faired throughout award season. The biggest winner out of the British titles so far (taking into account the BAFTAs and Golden Globe Awards) has been 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri' with a grand total of 5 BAFTA and 4 Golden Globe wins. The production currently sits in third place with regard to number of Oscar nominations (7), with British film, 'Dunkirk' taking second place with 8 nominations. Despite high hopes for the latter production, it does not seem to have done as well as expected over the season. 'Dunkirk' was nominated 3 times at the Golden Globes and a whopping 8 times at the BAFTAs, yet the film came away with no wins at the former and only the award for best sound at the latter.
In terms of the Oscars, 'Darkest Hour' is the next British production with the highest number of nominations (6). At the BAFTAs, the film came away with 2 awards, even though it was nominated 9 times, equal to that of 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri'. The film owes one of its wins to actor Gary Oldman for his performance as former Prime Minister Winston Churchill, which gained him the title of best actor. The other award was for best hair & make-up. At the Golden Globes, 'Darkest Hour' was only nominated once, under the best actor category, a title that, again, went to Gary Oldman.
The other 5 Oscar nominated British films are, 'Blade Runner 2049' (5), 'The Post' (2), 'Victoria & Abdul' (2) and 'The Silent Child' and 'Revolting Rhymes' with one each. 'Blade Runner 2049' was nominated 8 times at the BAFTAs, yet only won the awards for best visual effects and cinematography, and received no Golden Globe nominations. Conversely, 'The Post' was snubbed by the BAFTAs, but had the second highest number of nominations at the Golden Globes (6), a ranking shared with 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri'. Unfortunately, the film didn't win any awards at either ceremony. 'Victoria & Abdul' was nominated once at each ceremony (Hair & Make-up - BAFTA and Best Actress -Golden Globes), yet won nothing. The remaining two Oscar nominees are 'The Silent Child' for the category, best live-action short and 'Revolting Rhymes' for best animated short. Neither productions made the shortlist for the BAFTAs or the Golden Globes.
The film nominations wouldn't be what they are without the talented casts behind them, and so it's only fair that we have a look at the British Screen Actor's Guild winners too. Given the actor's performance, there should've been no surprises when Gary Oldman took away the title of outstanding actor on 21st January. Brit, Daniel Kaluuya was also nominated under the same category. The British film with most wins at the SAG awards was 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri', (outstanding cast, outstanding actress & outstanding supporting actor).
The British talents who've been nominated for an Oscar this year, but we've not yet mentioned include Daniel Day-Lewis and Lesley Manville for their work on 'Phantom Thread' and Sally Hawkins for 'The Shape of Water'.
Our predictions
'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri': best picture, best actress, best supporting actor and best screenplay.
'Blade Runner 2049': best visual effects, and best cinematography.
'Darkest Hour': best actor (Gary Oldman) and best make-up
'Dunkirk': best sound
What do you think? Do our predictions seem likely?
The Oscar award ceremony is due to take place on Sunday 4th March.
