OUR PREDICTIONS

Beginning at the Golden Globes and continuing on through every awards show this season, Hollywood has paid tribute to powerful women in the movies.

Sure, a lot of the commemoration has been as a result of the sexual harassment scandals which rocked the industry but 2017 was also a year in which the three top grossing movies – “Beauty and the Beast,” “Wonder Woman” and “Stars Wars: The Last Jedi” – were anchored by female leads.

This year’s Oscar telecast is sure to provide further proof that women are important both in front and behind the big screen. The three Best Picture front-runners – “Lady Bird,” “The Shape of Water” and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” – are all built around complex female characters. And Greta Gerwig, “Lady Bird’s” writer/director, landed a Best Director nod, only the fifth woman in Academy history.

When the awards are presented on March 4, there are likely to be a few surprises. Even though the acting awards are fairly easy to predict, the Best Picture prize itself could swing a number of different ways.

Over the last few years, Oscar has enjoyed spreading the wealth around. That’s a tradition that will surely continue in 2018 as a bevy of deserving movies are likely to win big.

Here are our predictions and preferences for this year’s Oscar’s show:

Best Picture

The Nominees: “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” Will Win: “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” Should Win: “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

The Rationale: The toughest category to predict could easily go to “The Shape of Water,” “Lady Bird” or even “Dunkirk.” But “Three Billboards,” with its examination of bigotry and class divide, seems to be particularly timely in Trump’s America. It has run afoul of the PC police, though, which could spell trouble. Also, its writer/ director Martin McDonagh failed to snag a Best Director nod. “Shape of Water” is such a strong contender but, in the end, watch “Three Billboards” snag the top prize.

Best Actor

The Nominees: 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.” Will Win: Oldman