By: Katie Percha

Going to the movies has been a favorite American pastime since the late 1880s, and the time has come again for those always-entertaining blockbuster flicks of the year to be put to the test in the annual tradition of the Academy Awards. The Academy Awards are a prestigious night that, every year, gets plenty of media coverage and press, and this year’s lineup of movies – from the tri-lingual, barrier breaking rom-com Call Me By Your Name to the thrilling, edge-of-your-seat Get Out – is one for the books.

This year, there are nine films nominated for Best Picture, which is the most coveted award of the night. Last year, as many movie buffs will remember, there was a switch up between the winners of Best Picture. It was announced that La La Land had won, when Moonlight was truly the flick to take home the Oscar. This year, hopefully the same will not happen, and many are looking forward to this tight competition. Harper’s Bazaar writer Emma Dibdin predicts that The Shape of Water will reign supreme, saying “The Shape of Water feels likely to take the big prize given its number of nominations (13, the most of any movie this year) and general momentum.”

Many of the other categories, such as Best Actor/Actress and Best Director are a surefire sign of success for an industry member. In these categories, there are more than ten first-time nominees, including Margot Robbie, who has starred in Suicide Squad and The Wolf of Wall Street, but is now nominated for I, Tonya. As riveting as Robbie’s performance was, Vanity Fair’s Katey Rich says, “Frances McDormand is the current favorite to win this category, thanks to her fierce turn as the Dirty Harry of grieving mothers…”
The students of Walled Lake Central are all gearing up for this exciting night in Hollywood, and with each film’s close-to-perfected two hours of viewing time, there are plenty of things for students to be abuzz about. “Lady Bird and Call Me By Your Name deserve to win everything,” said senior Sophia Colvin. “They were my favorites this year.”