BEST ACTRESS

Will Win: Frances McDormand, THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

Look, McDormand gave a great performance in THREE BILLBOARDS. Sure, I find the movie to be reprehensible and irresponsible but none of that is a reflection on the work McDormand did. She gave a top notch performance like she always does and managed to make an unlikable character in an unlikable movie kinda endearing at certain points. So I won’t be mad if she wins but I would rather not see this dreadful movie rewarded so damn much.

Should Win: Sally Hawkins, THE SHAPE OF WATER

Sally Hawkins gave a more emotionally resonant, expressive performance while playing a mute woman than the rest of her nominees did with hundreds of lines of dialog. Hawkins was luminous and she made the outlandish fairy tale love story between a sheltered mute woman and humanoid fish god from The Amazon more realistic than anything else I saw on a screen all last year.

Got Snubbed: Jessica Chastain, MOLLY’S GAME

This snub really makes no sense to me. For one thing, Jessica Chastain is a legit ‘Hollywood Star; secondly, MOLLY’S GAME was a damn good movie; and third of all, Chastain gave a classic Best Actress performance. She was amazing in the role, she filled up the screen in every scene she was in and after watching the movie I had zero doubt that she would be contending for a Best Actress award. Not really sure what the Academy voters were thinking.