While the 90^th Academy certainly didn’t offer many surprises, there were still a few categories that I felt were incorrectly chosen in addition to those that were not. I’ll debate until the day I die that the Academy definitely missed my favorite category, Best Score, and stole two Oscars away from one of the best blockbusters of all time, Baby Driver. However, I still felt a lot of the right people were awarded that night, specifically the actors.

THE RIGHT

ACTING AWARDS

There were no real surprises in this category, as everyone pretty much knew that the acting races were wrapped up. Frances McDormand was sealed in for her hilarious and strong representation of Mildred Hayes, and Allison Janney’s wonderful representation of Tonya Harding’s mother had locked up her Oscar as well.

Gary Oldman getting lost in the role of Winston Churchill helped secure him his first Oscar, and Sam Rockwell’s nice portrayal of a dirty cop who turns good helped secure his. All of these actors deserved the awards they received, and you’ll see no complaints from me about this.

COSTUME DESIGN

Mark Bridges from Phantom Thread ended up taking home, not just the Oscar for Achievement in Costume Design, but also the bright green jet ski that Jimmy Kimmel offered for the shortest acceptance speech! Phantom Thread’s costumes are exquisite and just leap off the screen.

In a film that featured a dress designer as the main protagonist, I would hope that the costuming is excellent! Bridges earned this award, and I couldn’t see it going anywhere else.

BEST PICTURE

Even though I felt Phantom Thread was the best film of 2017, I was definitely not disappointed by the choice to give it to The Shape of Water.Shape was very carefully crafted by Guillermo Del Toro and has a very redeeming message that I think many people can relate to.

One thing that Guillermo was especially proud of is that the “beast” in this film didn’t have to change to find love, unlike other “Beauty and the Beast” type films. The film was shot well, scored well, designed well, and certainly was deserving of the Best Picture win, even though I felt another film was better.

THE WRONG

BEST SCORE

I can’t even begin to explain how upset I am that Jonny Greenwood’s phenomenal score for Phantom Thread was not given the Oscar for Best Original Score, especially after he was disqualified for borrowing themes that were similar back in 2008 for his score in There Will Be Blood.

What I fail to understand about this ruling is that they continually nominate John Williams for his Star Wars scores, which all feature the main theme. In fact, the score for The Last Jedi that was nominated this year featured a reprise of The Emperor’s Theme. Why wasn’t Williams’ score disqualified?

Because of this (and the fact that Greenwood’s use of simplistic but daring themes evoke the exact emotion that compliments the themes and images presented within the film,) I fail to understand why the Academy decided not to make up for their past iniquities. My favorite piece from the score has to be Phantom Thread III, but there are so many great pieces in this soundtrack such as The Hem and House of Woodcock.

Now, don’t get me wrong; Alexandre Desplat’s score for The Shape of Water is excellent and beautiful, especially the opening theme, but I feel that the sound of the film was primarily driven by older pieces written by other people. The most memorable pieces are the openers “You’ll Never Know” and “I Know Why,” two of which are written by other people.

Overall, I can’t believe the Academy once again screwed Jonny Greenwood over, and I just hope that Greenwood can keep creating masterful works that the Academy will one day recognize.

On the Phantom Threadsubreddit, there was a post about how someone had an extra ticket to Phantom Thread Live, which is a screening of the movie with the music being performed live. If only I could live in California…

Right after the Academy tweeted that Shape had won Best Score, I immediately replied, sharing my feelings about the injustice, and it actually got a few sympathizers:

SOUND EDITING AND MIXING

How Baby Driver didn’t win this award, I don’t know. Driver was such a joy to see in the theaters simply because of the sound and how effectively it’s used, not only to impress the audience, but to weave within the plot.

I’ll admit that Dunkirk is also excellently edited, but quite simply, Baby Driver is a masterclass in editing and can’t be touched by any other film in 2017. My theory is that the Academy didn’t know what award to give to Dunkirk, but wanted to give it something. Because of this, Baby Driver got the shaft in terms of the sound categories.