Woof. Movies. amiright?

Awards season is usually a disaster but this year feels extra apocalyptic, especially since the year prior felt… good? Like a step forward at least. In terms of not just representation, but movies that people actually giving a shit about receiving recognition. The nominees got weirder in a fun way. And Guillermo Del Toro took home Best Picture so hell yeah. This year felt like leaps backwards, with the occasional surprising picks. Some were even deserved! Whatever, the people currently in charge of the Academy are among the lowest quality of dumbassery. So I’ll just share my picks.

Here’s a rundown of my 25 favorite 2018 movies.

Here are 50 of my favorites from 2018

And below are the contenders for the Diego Not-Oscars-But-Still-Awards:

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

  • Aquaman
  • Annihilation
  • First Man
  • Solo: A Star Wars Story

BEST SOUND MIXING

  • The Other Side of the Wind
  • Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
  • First Man
  • Mandy

BEST SOUND EDITING

  • The Other Side of the Wind
  • The Night Comes for Us
  • If Beale Street Could Talk
  • Mandy

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

  • Black Panther
  • The Favourite
  • Solo: A Star Wars STory
  • Mandy

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIR-STYLING

  • Black Panther
  • The Favourite
  • Solo: A Star Wars Story
  • The Predator

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

  • Black Panther
  • Mandy
  • Solo: A Star Wars Story
  • Aquaman

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

  • Gary Graver – The Other Side of the Wind
  • Joshua James Richards – The Rider
  • Benoît Delhomme – At Eternity’s Gate
  • Hong Kyung-pyo – Burning
  • Bruno Delbonnel – The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

  • “All the Stars” – Kendrick Lamar, Black Panther
  • “I’ll Never Love Again” – Lady Gaga, A Star is Born
  • “What’s Up Danger” – Blackway & Black Caviar, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
  • “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings” – Ballad of Buster Scruggs

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

  • Jóhann Jóhannsson – Mandy
  • Daniel Pemberton – Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
  • Nathan Halpern – The Rider
  • Ben Salisbury, Geoff Barrow – Annihilation
  • Nicholas Britell – If Beale Street Could Talk

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

  • Lee Chang-dong, Oh Jung-mi – Burning
  • Ryan Coogler, Joe Robert Cole – Black Panther
  • Phil Lord, Ryan Rothman – Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
  • Paul King, Simon Farnaby – Paddington 2
  • Alex Garland – Annihilation

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

  • Chloé Zhao – The Rider
  • Panos Cosmatos – Mandy
  • Orson Welles, Oja Kodar – The Other Side of the Wind
  • Andrew Bujalski – Support the Girls

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

  • Haley Lu Richardson – Support the Girls
  • Regina King – If Beale Street Could Talk
  • Cynthia Erivo – Bad Times at the El Royale
  • Rachel Weisz – The Favourite
  • Andrea Riseborough – Mandy

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

  • Michael B. Jordan – Black Panther
  • Peter Bodganovich – The Other Side of the Wind
  • Tim Blake Nelson – Ballad of Buster Scruggs
  • Hugh Grant – Paddington 2
  • Jesse Plemons – Game Night

BEST ACTRESS

  • KiKi Layne – If Beale Street Could Talk
  • Lady Gaga – A Star is Born
  • Yalitza Aparicio – Roma
  • Claire Foy – Unsane
  • Joanna Kulig – Cold War

BEST ACTOR

  • Bradley Cooper – A Star is Born
  • John Huston – The Other Side of the Wind
  • Stephen James – If Beale Street Could Talk
  • Brady Jandreau – The Rider
  • Ben Whishaw – Paddington 2

BEST DIRECTOR

  • Orson Welles – The Other Side of the Wind
  • Peter Ramsey, Bob Persichetti and Rodney Rothman – Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
  • Chloé Zhao – The Rider
  • Lee Chang-dong – Burning
  • Barry Jenkins – If Beale Street Could Talk

BEST PICTURE

  • The Other Side of the Wind
  • Annihilation
  • Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
  • Paddington 2
  • Burning
  • Unsane
  • Black Panther
  • The Rider
  • Support the Girls
  • If Beale Street Could Talk

The winners are… all of them! Because I am just a nerd with a computer who likes a lot of shit. So go watch all of these movies. I think they’re worth our time. Maybe you don’t even like the ones I mentioned. That’s okay too! Share the love and admiration you have for other movies! Don’t put up with half-assed award shows that are only interested in selling you shit.

Okay, next post I promise will have real writing. Until then, remember kids, Dick Cheney made money off the Iraq War.