Oscar Nominees: Best Actress in a Leading Role

My predictions: 5/5
My ballot: Come back in February!
The nominees: Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water), Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Margot Robbie (I, Tonya), Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird), Meryl Streep (The Post)

This category wasn’t a surprise at all, omitting Globe and SAG nominee Judi Dench, whose film managed costume and makeup nominations, and Jessica Chastain, whose film scored in the adapted screenplay category. I wish that Vicky Krieps could have ousted Streep given how well “Phantom Thread” did, but oh well. This is Streep’s 21st nomination, and she’s the only representation of her film here besides in the Best Picture field, which shows that it really wasn’t as warmly received as expected. I’m happy about the other four, who all saw decent hauls for their films. This is a pretty good list.

My current bet to win: I don’t see anything stopping McDormand.