For once our ORWAV Oscar nominations turned up a similar list to the Academy, suggesting that this time, maybe, they’ve recognised the right performances and films. With just a handful of underdogs creeping into the running, our writers ranked their favourites, with the winners decided on average score.

So in case tonight’s Oscar winners aren’t quite what you hoped, scroll down for an alternative list of the best in the last year of film, all courtesy of One Room With A View…

Best Actor

Get Out

Courtesy of: Universal Pictures

  1. Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out) – 4.74
  2. Daniel Day-Lewis (Phantom Thread) – 4.42
  3. Timothée Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name) – 3.68
  4. Willem Dafoe (The Florida Project) – 3.63
  5. Michael Stuhlbarg (Call Me by Your Name) – 2.58
  6. Adam Driver (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) – 2.50

It’s the kind of role that rarely gets recognised by the Academy. All about reacting and suppressing emotion rather than grandstanding and transformation. But Daniel Kaluuya fully deserves his ORWAV Oscar for one of the most subtle and powerful performances of recent years.

Hot on his heels is a swansong that couldn’t be cut from a more different cloth, with Daniel Day-Lewis creating another iconic character in Reynolds Woodcock (stop it). Chalamet, Dafoe, Stuhlbarg and Driver had their fans on the ORWAV team, but none could quite match that look of pure horror in Kaluuya’s eyes.

Best Actress

ThreeBillboardsFrancesMcDormand

Courtesy of: Fox Searchlight Pictures

  1. Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) – 6.05
  2. Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water) – 5.95
  3. Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread) – 4.63
  4. Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird) – 4.32
  5. Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread) – 4.26
  6. Kristen Stewart (Personal Shopper) – 4.06
  7. Florence Pugh (Lady Macbeth) – 3.95
  8. Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird) – 3.68

Could it be any closer? The Best Actress race comes down to the final vote, with Frances McDormand sneaking the win from under Sally Hawkins’ nose. They’re two very different but very accomplished performances, one relying on raw grief and blunt wit, the other on inner turmoil, heartbreak and longing. Three Billboards may have made a few enemies with its clumsy handling of U.S. and race politics, but it’s hard to argue with one of the best roles of McDormand’s career.

Elsewhere it’s heartening to see Vicky Krieps come in third after no Academy nomination, and although our other usurpers Florence Pugh and Kristen Stewart placed 6th and 7th, that’s nothing to be ashamed of in such a strong field.

Best Screenplay

JordanPeeleGetOut

Courtesy of: Universal Pictures

  1. Jordan Peele (Get Out) – 3.95
  2. Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird) – 3.47
  3. James Ivory (Call Me by Your Name) – 2.95
  4. Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick) – 2.68
  5. Guillermo del Toro & Vanessa Taylor (The Shape of Water) – 2.10

You’ll struggle to find a more intelligent handling of a more volatile subject than Jordan Peele’s script for Get Out. There’s a reason the film caught fire with audiences, and that reason is its implicit understanding of what millions of people have been thinking for years about race in America.

Gerwig is a deserving runner-up with her poetic collage of teenage turmoil, followed closely by Ivory’s brilliant adaptation of André Aciman’s Call me By Your Name.

Best Cinematography

BladeRunner2049Deakins

Courtesy of: Warner Bros.

  1. Roger Deakins (Blade Runner 2049) – 5.05
  2. Alexis Zabe (The Florida Project) – 3.79
  3. Paul Thomas Anderson (Phantom Thread) – 3.58
  4. Dan Laustsen (The Shape of Water) – 3.40
  5. Steve Yedlin (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) – 3.05
  6. Sean Price Williams (Good Time) – 2.81

14 nominations. And still no win? How come, Academy?

Finally, justice for Deakins as he wins the ORWAV Oscar that will soothe all the pain of 23 years of being the bridesmaid and never the bride. Arguably he’s done better work in his career, but you won’t find anyone here making that case against a legend of cinema long overdue official recognition of his genius.

Alexis Zabe takes a surprise second place against the more heavyweight names of Anderson and Laustsen, while Sean Price Williams suffers a little in last place with a quarter of our voters yet to see Good Time.

Best Director

The Shape Of Water Guillermo Del Toro

Courtesy of: Fox Searchlight Pictures

  1. Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water) – 4.20
  2. Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird) – 4.11
  3. Jordan Peele (Get Out) – 3.95
  4. Paul Thomas Anderson (Phantom Thread) – 3.74
  5. Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk) – 3.16
  6. Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049) – 2.26

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a film fan who doesn’t have a soft spot for Guillermo del Toro. We recognise one of our own; someone with a deep passion for everything the medium can do, and a rare talent for creating new masterpieces of his own. The Shape of Water is the perfect intersection of his more left-field sensibilities and his crowd-pleasing instinct for blockbuster thrills. Just like Deakins, this one feels overdue.

Apart from Villeneuve, this was a very close field, with debutants Gerwig and Peele just about besting established master Anderson for the final spots on the podium. Elsewhere Christopher Nolan must be wondering what else he has to do in order to get his hands on that little ORWAV Oscar statuette, after his most flamboyantly directed film yet…

Best Film

Get Out

Courtesy of: Universal Pictures

  1. Get Out – 4.11
  2. The Shape of Water – 3.70
  3. Phantom Thread – 3.53
  4. Lady Bird – 3.42
  5. Call Me by Your Name – 3.37
  6. The Florida Project – 3.37

After Moonlight’s success last year, thankfully, wins like this don’t feel so unlikely anymore. If an intimate indie love story featuring an all-black cast can win Best Picture, then why not a subversive horror about racism in America?

In truth, any of these films would be worthy winners for a multitude of reasons, but none of them feel quite as right as Get Out. And that’s not to say it won because of its right-on message. No, it won because of its incredible script, lean direction and its terrifying and witty cast. Oscar winners are often remembered only as pub quiz answers, but if Get Out wins tonight it will be remembered for so much more.

Check in to oneroomwithaview.com on Sunday evening to see our winners and then stick around for the annual liveblog to keep you company through the biggest night in the film year.