'Three Billboards' leads BAFTA Awards as Oscar season heads into the home stretch

This Oscar season has caused me to have something of an existential crisis. If you've followed my site over the years (back in the days of The Movie Guru's Blog), you know that I devote a large chunk of my time to covering the annual awards race. And I've always mostly enjoyed it. Certain years I feel more invested than others, but it's always a fun little game to play. This year, I just feel exhausted. For starters, the Academy Awards are operating on a later schedule than ever in 2018. The ceremony is still two weeks away, and the nominations were revealed towards the very end of January. I know that the Winter Olympics would take away viewers and everything, but c'mon guys, this season is still long enough. And if you wanna throw a second factor in the mix, I feel like we've been talking about some of these movies forever. The festival circuit ensures that the conversation around many of these films starts in late August and early September, but the Oscar race started even earlier this time around. Call Me By Your Name premiered at Sundance 2017. Get Out was released last February. Dunkirk arrived in the summer. As much as I love all of these films, I feel like there's nothing left to discuss.

Anyways, the British Academy of Film and Television Awards announced their picks for the best of the year. With the Oscars looming, awards prognosticators were watching closely for last night's awards. Check out the list below!

Best Film- Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Director- Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water

Best Original Screenplay- Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

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

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

Best Leading Actor- Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour

Best Supporting Actress- Allison Janney, I, Tonya

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

Best Original Music- Alexandre Desplat, The Shape of Water

Best Cinematography- Roger Deakins, Blade Runner 2049

Best Editing- Jonathan Amos and Paul Machliss, Baby Driver

Best Production Design- The Shape of Water

Best Costume Design- Mark Bridges, Phantom Thread

Best Makeup and Hair- Darkest Hour

Best Special Visual Effects- Blade Runner 2049

Best Sound- Dunkirk

Outstanding British Film- Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer- I Am Not a Witch

Best Animated Film- Coco

Best Film Not in the English Language- The Handmaiden

Best Documentary- I Am Not Your Negro 

Best British Short Animation- Poles Apart

Best British Short Film- Cowboy Dave

Just as it seemed like Three Billboards had no shot left in the Best Picture race, the BAFTAs come along to give it one last fighting chance. Some have speculated that the big wins for Martin McDonagh's film are due to its outsider (aka British) perspective on American culture, while I'm personally curious about the timetable of BAFTA voting. Billboards has faded in recent weeks, so maybe the BAFTAs serve as the final hurrah for the dark comedy.

It's kind of amazing that the Best Picture race is still so wide open, especially when you consider that all the other categories seem completely locked up. Guillermo del Toro, Frances McDormand, Gary Oldman, Allison Janney, and Sam Rockwell are on their way to Oscars, and the only other major category with any real suspense is Best Original Screenplay. As for Best Picture, it could be a multitude of films- Vanity Fair's Little Gold Men podcast presented a convincing case for Dunkirk, the buzz around Twitter seems to leaning towards Get Out, and of course, The Shape of Water has a formidable array of nominations. Even though I'm burned out by this Oscar season, it's going to be an interesting finish.