All the Oscar Shortlists
Monday, December 17, 2018 at 7:31PM 
BREAKING: We don't like this new system of announcing ALL the finalist lists (in the categories that get finalist lists, that is) on the same day as it doesn't give you time to individually think about each list and write multiple thorough articles. So we'll have to investigate more deeply over the next few days. But for those who are okay with just the quick take list format you can see the lists and a few gut reactions right after the jump. Every Oscar chart will be updated this week to reflect recent awards season madness and these new lists.
Without further ado, the finalist lists before the nominations are announced on January 22nd....
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FINALISTS
- Charm City
- Communion
- Crime + Punishment
- Dark Money
- The Distant Barking of Dogs
- Free Solo
- Hale County This Morning, This Evening
- Minding the Gap
- Of Fathers and Sons
- On Her Shoulders
- RBG
- Shirkers
- The Silence of Others
- Three Identical Strangers
- Won't You Be My Neighbor?
very quick take: all of this year's eight-figure grossing docs are here which means they went very populist this year. High profile docs dropped: The Sentence, Maria by Callas, Whitney, The Gospel According to Andre, Jane Fonda in Five Acts, and McQueen. Critical darlings that were eliminated: Bisbee 17, Matangi/Maya/M.I.A., Monrovia Indiana
DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
- Black Sheep
- End Game
- Lifeboat
- Los Commandos
- My Dead Dad's Porno Tapes
- A Night at the End of the Garden
- Period. End of Sentence.
- '63 Boycott
- Women of the Gulag
- Zion
ANIMATED SHORT FILM
- Age of Sail
- Animal Behaviour
- Bao
- Bilby
- Bird Karma
- Late Afternoon
- Lost & Found
- One Small Step
- Pépé le Morse
- Weekends
LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
- Caroline
- Chuchotage
- Detainment
- Fauve
- Icare
- Marguerite
- May Day
- Mother
- Skin
- Wale
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
OSCAR PREDICTION CHART HAS BEEN UPDATED
AYKA is the lowest-profile finalist (probably due to the lack of a US release date) but maybe it shouldn't be since it already won Best Actress at Cannes
- Colombia, Birds of Passage
- Denmark, The Guilty
- Germany, Never Look Away
- Japan, Shoplifters - INTERVIEW
- Kazakhstan, Ayka
- Lebanon, Capernaum - *INTERVIEW COMING SOON*
- Mexico, Roma
- Poland, Cold War - *INTERVIEW COMING SOON*
- South Korea, Burning - *this would be South Korea's first nomination if nominated - the other countries in the finalist list have all been nominated previously*
very quick take: most of the expected titles are here so Roma has tremendous viable competition, despite its probable cake walk to win given the publicity and buzz. High profile pics that were dropped: Belgium's Girl, Sweden's Border, Italy's Dogman. Box office hits dropped:Israel's The Cakemaker, Personal beloved dropped: Iceland's Woman at War (just opened for a Jodie Foster remake), Critical darlings / Award winners dropped: United Kingdom's I Am Not a Witch, Paraguay's The Heiresses, Turkey's The Wild Pear Tree
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
OSCAR PREDICTION CHART HAS BEEN UPDATED
Yay for Stan & Ollie making the finals. The fatsuit on Reilly is very convincing.
- Black Panther
- Bohemian Rhapsody
- Border
- Mary Queen of Scots
- Stan & Ollie
- Suspiria
- Vice
very quick take: This list is always strange as each year we struggle to see what the Makeup artist are looking for (they're very inconsistent!). Films with very noticeable hair or makeup department work which are not reflected in this finalist list are: BlacKkKlansman, At Eternity's Gate, Destroyer, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, The Favourite, Alpha, Aquaman, Deadpool 2, Mary Poppins Returns, Mortal Engines, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Vox Lux, and A Wrinkle in Time.
ORIGINAL SCORE
OSCAR PREDICTION CHART HAS BEEN UPDATED
Alan Silvestri ("Infinity War" and "Ready Player One") is one of only two composers in the finals with two scores. The other is Nicholas Britell ("If Beale Street" and "Vice")
- Annihilation (Barrow & Salisbury)
- Avengers: Infinity War (Silvestri)
- The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Burwell)
- Black Panther (Goransson)
- BlacKkKlansman (Blanchard)
- Crazy Rich Asians (Tyler)
- Death of Stalin (Willis)
- Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (Howard)
- First Man (Hurwitz) *INTERVIEW COMING SOON*
- If Beale Street Could Talk (Britell)
- Isle of Dogs (Desplat)
- Mary Poppins Returns (Shaiman)
- A Quiet Place (Beltrami)
- Ready Player One (Silvestri)
- Vice (Britell)
very quick take: noticeably missing scores include Max Richter's Hollywood Music Award Best Score winner Mary Queen of Scots, Alan Silvestri's Welcome to Marwen, Thom Yorke's Suspiria, and music branch favorite Alexandre Desplat's Sister Brothers. Neither of Daniel Pemberton's scores for Into the Spider-Verse or Oceans Eight made it.
ORIGINAL SONG
OSCAR PREDICTION CHART HAS BEEN UPDATED
The music branch is not immune to the charms of comic relief songs, so might "Slaughter Race" surprise with a nomination?
- “When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
- “Treasure” from Beautiful Boy
- “All The Stars” from Black Panther
- “Revelation” from Boy Erased
- “Girl In The Movies” from Dumplin’
- “We Won’t Move” from The Hate U Give
- “The Place Where Lost Things Go” from Mary Poppins Returns
- “Trip A Little Light Fantastic” from Mary Poppins Returns
- “Keep Reachin’” from Quincy
- “I’ll Fight” from RBG
- “A Place Called Slaughter Race” from Ralph Breaks the Internet
- “OYAHYTT” from Sorry to Bother You
- “Shallow” from A Star Is Born
- “Suspirium” from Suspiria
- “The Big Unknown” from Widows
very quick take: WE DO NOT LIKE this new format where you can't see the list of 70+ eligible songs and only finalists. We do not like. Noticeably absent songs: "Hearts Beat Loud" from Hearts Beat Loud, "Gravity" from Free Solo, "Flower in the Universe" from A Wrinkle in Time, "Ashes" from Deadpool 2, "Love Lies" from Love Simon, and Golden-Globe-nominated "Requiem for A Private War" from A Private War.
VISUAL EFFECTS
OSCAR PREDICTION CHART HAS BEEN UPDATED
We don't see a way for Ant-Man and the Wasp to get around its higher profile studio mates to snag this nomination but it would be wondrous since it has the most fun visual fx of the three marvel films in the mix
- Ant-Man and the Wasp
- Avengers: Infinity War
- Black Panther
- Christopher Robin
- First Man
- Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
- Mary Poppins Returns
- Ready Player One
- Solo: A Star Wars Story
- Welcome to Marwen
what they eliminated in this round: Aquaman, Bumblebee, Fantastic Beasts 2, Mission Impossible Fallout (BOO... that shoulda stayed in), Mortal Engines, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, A Quiet Place as well as most of the animated / semi-animated titles Incredibles 2, Isle of Dogs, and Paddington 2 (sniffle). And of course they'd previously eliminated Annihilation which we think an insane choice to toss aside so quickly.
Reader Comments (44)
The Hearts Beat Loud erasure hurts me the most.
Do they still only have three nominees for Make-Up and Hairstyling? I don't get it. Every movie uses make-up, even if it's not obvious.
Only one song from A STAR IS BORN eligible???
Correct me if I'm wrong but weren't multiple eligible back in the day? I seem to remember THE BODYGUARD having like 3 nominated?
Was The Cakemaker a hit? I mean, by foreign film standards? I don't recall seeing it in theaters. We just watched it a week ago and found it to be an intriguing, strange but ultimately enjoyable film. The protagonist was just a very, very strange person to center a film around.
Other high profile docs missing the list: Aretha Franklin concert doc “Amazing Grace” and music biodoc “Quincy.”
@DAVID: the music branch did change the rules a few years back so that only a max of 2 songs from one movie can be nominated for Best Original Song, but I believe that there’s no limit on the number of songs that are eligible. In A Star is Born’s case, the studio chose to only submit “Shallow,” presumably so as not to split votes with other songs from the movie.
I was looking the short lists from 2006 till this year, and since 2014, they really made the homework and besides two/ three movies, the lists are perfect!
This year I would change Denmark, Germany and Poland for Sweden,Turkey and Iceland.
But, I am really glad of the towering level of the foreign films short-listeds. As a non-USA born, I love strong no-English language film year!
Love the fact of Suspiria remembered in Song and Makeup.
Love the fact of Fantastic Beasts remembered in Score.
I do know the studio ONLY submitted "Shallow" for consideration which I think is B.S. since I thought "I'll Never Love Again" is a better song.
A Quiet Place gets a finalist spot for Original Score? Really?
The Internet seems happy with these shortlist, but I'm not. I miss Callas, Dogman and Always Remember Us This Way.
DJ Deeday -- it made almost a million dollars in theaters. It was the 20th highest grossing foreign film this year in America.
David& JDJD -- yeah, you have have multiple eligible but only 2 can be nominated. I respect Mary Poppins for going for it in this regard. I have no idea why A star is born didn't because I think they had a great shot at holding 40% of the category.
non-internet -- been complaining about that for years. More movies use makeup and hairstyling than use visual effects or songwriters or animation and all of those fields get 5 nominees.
I would have submitted Heal Me from ASIB.
Are you telling me that they didn't submit Always Remember Us This Way? I don't get the world.
Agree with Irvin!
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE is on track to receive zero nominations this year. I don't get why they won't give that franchise *any* nominations. Ever. Almost wish they had an Achievement in Popular Film category... ha ha.
That Song shortlist is heavily dominated by year-end films, which is a bit disappointing. I'd be happy to see All the Stars, Shallow, Girl in the Movies, Trip a Little Light Fantastic and - less likely - Suspirium nominated. The only one on this list I've not heard yet is OYAHYTT. I preferred Sade's WIDOWS song to her A WRINKLE IN TIME effort, so I'm pleased they got that right.
Nicholas Britell is the only composer with two Score finalists!
Very happy that BURNING and THE GUILTY got through, as this increases my chance of getting to see them in Australia eventually.
It's a huge shame that Warner have only submited "Shallow" for Original Song. It's gonna be so sad to loose maybe one of the most iconical and historical performances that Oscars could ever have: Lady Gaga singing "I'll Never Love Again".
No more original song long list at all? That's crushing. Now we have to assume that they just ignored Anna and the Apocalypse rather than be able to confirm it was eligible and ignored. It was a long shot, but I don't like my hopes dashed so early in the season.
@Steve G Not quite, Alan Silvestri also has two finalists with AVENGERS and READY PLAYER ONE, even though neither were quite notable imo.
what a miseed opportunity for "A Star is Born"
@Steve G: THE GUILTY is scheduled for a February 28 Australia release, and BURNING is undated, but Palace Films say they will give it a 2019 release, and they are always reliable.
Sad for I AM NOT A WITCH and BORDER missing the Best Foreign shortlist, but there are no glaring WTF nominations in that list I can complain about (and BORDER is still in for Makeup, so OK).
@ Kevin - Oops, missed that one.
@Travis C - great news, though it's frustrating that Palace often sit on films for ages. I'd rather see BURNING released in January - while it's got awards heat (ahem) - instead of LORO, for example.
Designate my dear, it's team experience now! You've come along way, don't be disingenuous, own your success. :)
The Cakemaker was creepy. Happy it got shut out.
I'm so glad One Small Step made it onto the Best Animated Short shortlist, and "A Place Called Slaughter Race" made the Best Original Song shortlist!
WB ONLY submitted Shallow for consideration. I agreed had they submitted I'll Never Love Again n Always Rem Us This Way, these two will get in too.
They r probably concentrating on ONE song so as not to split the votes among the ASiB fans.
Sidenote:its exciting n interesting to see tt Queen Olivia n Toni Collette r splitting the lion shares o critics wins, evenly between them!! 😁
So if either combination of Shoplifters, Cold War, Burning, The Guilty, Capernaum, Never Look Away and Roma are nominated, all FIVE best foreign picture nominees will be better than ANY of the (maximum) TEN best picture nominees, with expection of The Favourite,. In that case they should award the best foreign picture just pior to the last award of the night to emphasize that.
Is "ASIB" TRYING to lose Best Song?!??!
I just saw "Shoplifters" and am going back to read the review and listen to the podcast - I have so many thoughts! I stood in the theatre debating what was best for children and families (amongst a bunch of folks who are educators and social workers) - which hasn't often happened.
A shame about I Am Not A Witch, which is such an interesting, unique movie.
I'm surprised that Hailee Steinfeld's mid-tempo bop, Capital Letters from Fifty Shades Freed, didn't make the longlist. And it's not like the music branch is adverse to nominating that franchise here!
It is a shame we'll only be getting one Lady Gaga performance on the telecast instead of two...😪😪😪
Not submitting Always remember us this way was really stupid. It was the best song in the movie.
“Enchanted” and “Dreamgirls” changed the way studios submit songs. Three nominations, including a frontrunner to win, but vote-splitting arguably caused both films to lose. Even though La La Land submitted more than one song, most studios will rather take their chances on one song if they have a frontrunner, to avoid vote-splitting with themselves. Having two songs nominated from A Star Is Born would put them in danger of losing. That’s why Disney also just submit one songs from their animated musicals now if the have a chance of winning (like “Let It Go”, which was the only song submitted from Frozen). So they have to make a choice: Do they want more total nominations or more wins?
So Johnny Greenwood's score for You Were Never Really Here is not shortlisted? Absolute nonsense.
I don't like Deadpool, but I was hoping for an Ashes nomination
Border is on my top ten list for the year, so that's my major disappointment here.
As a no-USA born or citizen, I am surprised to see all the love for not English films this year!
I have seen some English spoken films of 2018, and none of them (till now) sound me "the best".
I didn't see yet The Favourite, If Beale Street Could Talk, At eternity's gate or Suspiria. But, all the others seems to me just "ok. try harder next time." And Yorgos is Greek and Luca is Italian. So, I only have two options of USA born directors.
But ROMA, Burning, Shoplifters, Custody, Wild Pear Tree, Border, Capernaum, Woman at war, Birds of Passage, Never Look Away, Sunset all look outstanding to me!
I really like to someone point this at the oscars!
I get the studio's thinking, but Shallow is such a huge pop hit that it's virtually a sure win. I really don't think trying for a second nominee would have been much of a risk. And I agree--I wanted to see Lady Gaga sing twice as long.
Nothing would have been "split" with more than "Shallow" submitted. Did Queen Latifah take any votes away from Catherine Zeta-Jones? No she fucking didn't. They needlessly threw away a nomination for "I'll Never Love Again." Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Agree with above - not nominating "Love Again" is a shame! Gaga would have made that an iconic performance! Not a dry eye in the house. Shame!
Solution: Gaga should perform "I'll Never Love Again" for the In Memoriam. That or "SNL."
;-)
Obviously so much to talk about here but I'm super stoked to see the score for "Death of Stalin" on the shortlist. I would love to see it nominated-- it is so fabulous, perfect for the film, captures the absurdity and the characteristics of music of that era incredibly well. Woo!
@Forever1267 Maybe they ARE trying to lose best song so academy voters feel more likely to reward Gaga in the best actress category. No chance to give the oscar to Remember us this way or I'll never love again? We'll give it to the actor who performed it.
Robert;
Maybe adding a screenplay nod to it as well? One of the best films of the year.
The songs in A Star Is Born are good. Never Love Again is good on the piano, less when it's finished. Shallow is legitimately very good.
Will you be updating the animation and documentary sections as well?
I don't think "Ashes" was submitted, it wasn't on the FYC site the last time I looked. Frustrating that they didn't release the complete list of songs. "Hearts Beat Loud" waz robbed.