If I Had An Oscar Ballot...

... it would look something like this. Please keep in mind that while I loved certain movies (like Instant Family and Red Sparrow, which are among my top-20 movies of 2018) it's hard to vote for them for Best Picture. These have to be somewhat REALISTIC choices, otherwise there would be no point to this exercise. Also of note: I haven't seen films such as The Hate U Give or Capernaum, and I have abstained from voting in categories which I am ill-informed about, like the sound and short film categories. Feel free to show off your own Oscar ballot in the comments section below, and thanks in advance for reading. I hope you enjoy my nominees.

Important Note: An asterisk (*) denotes my vote to WIN.

BEST PICTURE

American Animals
Beautiful Boy
Boy Erased
Green Book
Mission: Impossible - Fallout
The Old Man & the Gun
A Quiet Place
The Rider
The Sisters Brothers
A Star Is Born*

Note: Not much to add here, as my list was pretty clear-cut, but if I see any more films I truly love, Boy Erased would probably be the first cut. I just loved everything about A Star Is Born. Congrats to everyone involved! And if it should win Best Picture at the Academy Awards, you won't hear any complaints from me.

BEST DIRECTOR

Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born
Peter Farrelly, Green Book
Bart Layton, American Animals*
Christopher McQuarrie, Mission: Impossible - Fallout
Chloe Zhao, The Rider

Note: Obviously, Alfonso Cuaron did a remarkable job with Roma, but it does feel like a beautiful coffee table book at times, as I found the script lacking, which is why I'd give Cuaron an Oscar for Best Cinematography (as you'll see below) rather than a nomination for Best Director. Felix van Groeningen was another tough cut, as he did a great job with Beautiful Boy, but I couldn't overlook what McQuarrie has done for the Mission: Impossible franchise. Even still, Bart Layton directed the hell out of American Animals, blurring the line between documentary and performance. This is one of the most exciting heist movies in years, and it's about four guys stealing rare books from their college library. No easy feat, I tell ya.

BEST ACTOR

Steve Carell, Beautiful Boy

Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born*
Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody

Viggo Mortensen, Green Book
Robert Redford, The Old Man & the Gun

Note: Again, it was pretty easy to narrow this list down to five, all due respect to Hugh Jackman and Ethan Hawke. I also liked John C. Reilly and Steve Coogan in Stan & Ollie, both of Lucas Hedges' lead performances, all of Joaquin Phoenix's lead performances, plus Joe Cole in A Prayer Before Dawn, Brady Jandreau in The Rider and of course, the one and only Tom Cruise from M:I - Fallout. This would be a solid group of nominees, all of whom are very different, but Cooper stood head and shoulders above them, playing the only character who isn't based on a real person, despite what Father John Misty might think.

BEST ACTRESS

Lady Gaga, A Star Is Born*

Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Carey Mulligan, Wildlife
Rosamund Pike, A Private War

Charlize Theron, Tully

Note: This was hardest category by far, and it pains me to snub Elsie Fisher (Eighth Grade), Toni Collette (Hereditary), Nicole Kidman (Destroyer) and, yes, Jennifer Lawrence (Red Sparrow), all of whom were terrific, and all of whom are perceived as inferior contenders compared to The Favourite star Olivia Colman, to which I take exception. But Pike and Mulligan deliver two of the year's most underrated performances, and like Theron, they utterly carry their respective films. But Gaga was cinematic dynamite, and I don't care if she's simply playing herself, as some critics have said. I disagree, and think it's a lot harder for a natural singer to project fear and uncertainty than for a non-singer to project confidence. Gaga may never go on to a major film career, and this may just be a case of perfect casting, but trust me... she knocked it out of the park.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Timothee Chalamet, Beautiful Boy*
Sam Elliott, A Star Is Born
Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Michael B. Jordan, Black Panther
Ben Kingsley, Operation Finale

Note: Grant was absolutely fantastic in Can You Ever Forgive Me? but he'll have to forgive me, as Chalamet's performance as a young drug addict was too heartbreaking to ignore. Sure, that part has been played before, but Chalamet brought a certain innocence to the role that made his performance even more devastating than, say, Leonardo DiCaprio clawing at his mother's door in The Basketball Diaries. Leo just didn't have the same innocence. The Academy is quick to honor young actresses but it makes young actors wait too long, which is how Leo ended up winning his first Oscar for The Revenant, a film in which he was ultimately outshined by Tom Hardy. 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Elizabeth Debicki, Widows
Nicole Kidman, Boy Erased

Natalie Portman, Vox Lux*
Maura Tierney, Beautiful Boy
Michelle Yeoh, Crazy Rich Asians

Note: It was a weak year for this category, as I don't really think Portman delivered a necessarily Oscar-worthy turn in Vox Lux, but I don't know who else to vote for, so she wins by default. Meanwhile, are any of these performances getting serious awards consideration? No. Which is a damn shame. Instead, the three locks are Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz from The Favourite and Amy Adams from Vice. They were all fine, but c'mon...

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

American Animals
Eighth Grade

Green Book*
A Quiet Place

Tully

Note: I really like this crop of screenplays. The other nominees may be a bit more original than Green Book, which some have accused of being formulaic, but if that's the case, that is one hell of a formula.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Beautiful Boy
Boy Erased
The Old Man & the Gun
The Sisters Brothers

A Star Is Born*

Note: Sure, A Star Is Born has been done before, but not nearly as well. So what it lacks in originality, it makes up for with instantly quotable lines. "I just wanted to take another look at you." "All you gotta do is trust me. That's all you gotta do." On paper, these lines are nothing special, but they become magical when given life by actors.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Incredibles 2*
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Note: I only saw four animated movies this year (Wes Anderson's disappointing Isle of Dogs was the fourth) and to be honest, none of them really blew me away, but I went with the Pixar sequel over Spider-Man, because even though the animation wasn't quite as dynamic or original, I preferred the story and just really enjoy the Parr family and their superhero shenanigans.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Fahrenheit 11/9

Free Solo
They Fight
Three Identical Strangers
Won't You Be My Neighbor?*

Note: I've gone back and forth all year debating the merits of the Mister Rogers documentary and that of Three Identical Strangers, and while the latter film boasted an incredible true story full of wild twists, it does fall off a bit towards the end, whereas Won't You Be My Neighbor?  reaches a crescendo that invites the audience to participate in the film -- a stroke of brilliance that, frankly, went unrivaled this year. In the end, that gave it the edge.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FEATURE

22 July
The Night Comes for Us

Roma*

Note: I only saw four Oscar-eligible films in this category -- Roma, Burning, The Guilty and Cold War -- and the only one I liked was Roma, which is a beautiful film, even though I still don't think it's a masterpiece. I hope to see Capernaum, Shoplifters, Birds of Passage, El Angel, Girl and Border soon.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

First Man
If Beale Street Could Talk

Mission: Impossible - Fallout
Roma*

The Sisters Brothers

Note: Alfonso Cuaron is a shoo-in for this award. Say what you will about Roma (and God knows I have!) but the cinematography is excellent, and those gorgeous black-and-white images are unforgettable.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Black Panther
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Favourite

Mary Poppins Returns*

Vox Lux

Note: I really thought this was going to be a duel between Black Panther and The Favourite, but I really thought that some of the costumes in Mary Poppins Returns were wonderfully creative and unique. 

BEST EDITING

American Animals*
Beautiful Boy
Hereditary
A Quiet Place

A Star Is Born

Note: The editing in American Animals is masterful as the film cuts between its real-life subjects and the four actors playing them. It just cranks up the intensity to the max, resulting in one of the year's most memorable movies.

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

Destroyer
Overlord
Stan & Ollie
Vice*
Vox Lux

Note: I wasn't a big fan of Vice but the artistry it took to transform Christian Bale into Dick Cheney is simply undeniable. 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

American Animals*
Annihilation
BlacKkKlansman

First Man

If Beale Street Could Talk

Note: I don't think it was a great year for scores, but Anne Nikitin did a great job ratcheting up the tension in American Animals, and frankly, female composers don't get nearly enough recognition for their contributions. Her work tops that of Nicholas Britell and Justin Hurwitz in my book.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

"Has Ended," Suspiria
"Music to My Eyes," A Star Is Born
"Revelation," Boy Erased
"Shallow," A Star Is Born*
"Suspirium," Suspiria

Note: Is this even really a contest? Even my man Thom Yorke is no match for the pairing of Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper this year.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Beautiful Boy
The Favourite*
Mary Poppins Returns
A Quiet Place
Ready Player One

Note: As soon as I saw The Favourite, I knew it would win this fake award on my fake ballot. The production design was magnificent, like something out of a Kubrick film. Everything is just so. Hats off to Fiona Crombie.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Annihilation
Mary Poppins Returns

Mission: Impossible - Fallout*
Ready Player One
Skyscraper

Note: Sorry, but you won't find any comic book movies here. I thought the VFX in Black Panther and Aquaman were underwhelming, and the Ant-Man sequel paled in comparison to the original. Mission: Impossible put all of these superhero movies to shame.

BEST ENSEMBLE (not an actual award)

Black Panther*
Crazy Rich Asians
Hereditary
The Old Man & the Gun

The Sisters Brothers

Note: Okay, so I've been tough on comic book movies throughout this column, but here's a category where one actually deserves to win. One of the problems I had with Black Panther was T'Challa himself, as Chadwick Boseman felt a bit overshadowed in his own movie. However, the right way to look at that peculiar situation is that he was surrounded by a top-notch supporting cast. I mean, I was barely familiar with Letitia Wright and Winston Duke before this film, and now they're on the covers of magazines. Ryan Coogler assembled an incredible cast that helped Black Panther become a cultural phenomenon, so I must give credit where it's due, and with apologies to the similarly impressive cast of Crazy Rich Asians.

FINAL TALLY (out of 20):

A Star Is Born - 5 (Picture, Actor, Actress, Adapted Screenplay, Original Song)
American Animals - 3 (Director, Editing, Original Score)
Roma - 2 (Foreign Language Feature, Cinematography)
Beautiful Boy - 1 (Supporting Actor)
Black Panther - 1 (Ensemble)
The Favourite - 1 (Production Design)
Green Book - 1 (Original Screenplay)
Incredibles 2 - 1 (Animated Feature)
Mary Poppins Returns - 1 (Costume Design)
Mission: Impossible - Fallout - 1 (Visual Effects)
Vice - 1 (Makeup and Hairstyling)
Vox Lux - 1 (Supporting Actress)
Won't You Be My Neighbor - 1 (Documentary Feature)