As far as Hollywood accolades go, this may be the biggest day for the horror genre since THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS won Best Picture at the Academy Awards in 1992. The nominees for the 2018 Academy Awards were announced this morning, and two genre films got some major recognition.
Those films are Guillermo del Toro's CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON-inspired love story THE SHAPE OF WATER and Jordan Peele's "social thriller" GET OUT.
Of all the nominees, THE SHAPE OF WATER has the most nominations this year, a total of 13. A perfect number for a genre movie. It's up for
– Best Picture
– Best Director, Guillermo del Toro
– Best Actress, Sally Hawkins
– Best Original Screenplay
– Best Supporting Actress, Octavia Spencer
– Best Supporting Actor, Richard Jenkins
– Best Film Editing
– Best Original Score
– Best Production Design
– Best Cinematography
– Best Costume Design
– Best Sound Editing
– Best Sound Mixing
GET OUT earned four nominations in some major categories:
– Best Picture
– Best Director, Jordan Peele
– Best Actor, Daniel Kaluuya
– Best Original Screenplay
Regardless of whether or not these films win in their categories (although THE SHAPE OF WATER has so many nominations, it's bound to win something), it's very exciting to see two genre projects getting so much awards season love.
Another thing that makes me happy: LOGAN is nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay.