'The Shape of Water' gains Oscar momentum with major wins at 2018 Critics' Choice Awards

After last year's brief experiment in which the Critics' Choice Awards were handed out in December, making them the earliest awards show on the circuit, the Broadcast Film Critics Association returned their annual show to January for the 23rd edition. In the aftermath of the Golden Globes, the Oscar race is beginning to take shape (no pun intended), as multiple films cement their front-runner status. Last night's Critics' Choice Awards did little to shake things up, and I think we have a good idea of where this year's race is heading. But more on that in a second- first, check out the winners at this year's Critics' Choice Awards!

Best Picture- The Shape of Water

Best Actor- Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour 

Best Actress- Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Supporting Actor- Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Supporting Actress- Allison Janney, I, Tonya

Best Young Actor/Actress- Brooklynn Prince, The Florida Project

Best Acting Ensemble- Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Director- Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water

Best Original Screenplay- Jordan Peele, Get Out

Best Adapted Screenplay- James Ivory, Call Me By Your Name

Best Cinematography- Roger Deakins, Blade Runner 2049

Best Production Design- Paul Denham Austerberry, Shane Vieau, and Jeff Melvin, The Shape of Water

Best Editing- TIE- Lee Smith, Dunkirk, and Paul Machliss and Jonathan Amos, Baby Driver 

Best Costume Design- Mark Bridges, Phantom Thread

Best Hair and Makeup- Darkest Hour

Best Visual Effects- War for the Planet of the Apes

Best Animated Feature- Coco

Best Action Movie- Wonder Woman

Best Comedy- The Big Sick

Best Actor in a Comedy- James Franco, The Disaster Artist

Best Actress in a Comedy- Margot Robbie, I, Tonya

Best Sci-Fi or Horror Movie- Get Out

Best Foreign Language Film- In the Fade

Best Song- "Remember Me" from Coco

Best Score- Alexandre Desplat, The Shape of Water

I've always liked the fact that the Critics' Choice Awards has categories specific to certain genres, allowing films like The Big Sick and Wonder Woman to be awarded a kind of Best Picture prize. These awards are generally meaningless, but it's a nice sentiment. Anyways, now to the question that's probably on your mind- how did these awards change the Oscar race? Well, they really didn't- they just served as confirmation of what we already suspected coming out of the Golden Globes. While Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water wasn't awarded Best Picture by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, it had a good enough showing on Sunday night that awards prognosticators finally recognized it as a major player. Its win here only solidifies the fact that it's one of our two current front-runners, along with Martin McDonagh's Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which took home Best Ensemble, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actor yesterday. Right now- those are the two movies to beat. The Three Billboards backlash is already in full swing, but expect the campaign against Shape to begin any minute now.

In related news, Guillermo del Toro is now the odds-on favorite to win Best Director. Sorry, Christopher Nolan, maybe next time- I just can't see it happening this year. Jordan Peele and James Ivory will likely take those Best Screenplay wins all the way to the Dolby Theatre, and all four acting winners are in great shape heading into the SAG Awards. But in all honesty, it was a night almost entirely devoid of surprises. Yesterday did little to shake up the awards race- the Globes set the stage for the next round of pre-cursor shows, and it's currently a fight between two vastly different contenders. Should be interesting to watch.

Next up is the SAG Awards, which will be announced on January 21.

Images courtesy of Fox Searchlight, Sony, Fox, and Lionsgate
Other Images: Universal and Sony Classics/IMDb