Posted by: John S Kiernan

Oscar turns 90 in 2018. And like many seniors who came of age in a different era, this golden guy has had a tough time adapting. Hollywood’s biggest bugaboos – racial and gender equality – are far from resolved. But the movie industry’s stars say time’s up, and the nominations for the 90th Academy Awards include a record number of women and minorities.

The best director category includes both a woman and a black man for the second time, with each group being represented for just the fifth time. And Jordan Peele is the first black person nominated for directing, writing and producing in the same year.

Whom Oscar goes home with remains to be seen, of course. The same also goes for whether PricewaterhouseCoopers’ 84th time tallying the votes will produce another Moonlight-esque switcheroo. But you don’t have to wait to get in the Oscars spirit. There are lots of great movies to catch up on, plus plenty of interesting Oscars stats to dig into.

To help you get psyched for Hollywood’s biggest night, WalletHub did our homework on everything from box office sales and Rotten Tomatoes ratings for the Best Picture nominees to the price of awards-season lobbying. You can find all of these awesome Oscars fun facts in the infographic below. And that’s followed by a Q&A on the state of the film industry with a panel of entertainment experts. Enjoy the show!

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Ask the Experts: Taking Oscar’s Pulse

For a closer look at a variety of issues related to the Academy Awards, from demographics to dollars and cents, we posed the following questions to a panel of leading business and entertainment experts. You can check out their bios and responses below.

1. How will the #metoo or Time’s Up movement affect this year’s Oscars?
2. Do you believe the current system of nominating films is a fair and transparent one? How can this process be improved?
3. Who is going to win the award for Best Actor? Actress? Director? Motion Picture?

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• Steven J. Ross Professor of Film & Video Production in the Department of Communication at the University of Memphis
• Teddy Champion Program Director of Media & Film Studies at Birmingham-Southern College
• Jamsheed Akrami Professor of Media Studies and Production in the Department of Communication at William Paterson University
• David Pierson Professor of Media Studies at the University of Southern Maine
• Patrick D. Anderson Gibney Distinguished Professor in the Humanities Department at Colby-Sawyer College
• Joan Braderman President of No More Nice Girls Productions & Professor Emerita of Video, Film and Media Studies at Hampshire College
• Philip Lewis Professor and Associate Director in School of Film, Media and Theatre at Georgia State University
• Julie Grossman Association of Adaptation Studies Trustee, Professor of English & Communication and Film Studies, and Director of the Film Studies Program at Le Moyne College
• Luisela Alvaray Associate Professor in the College of Communication at DePaul University

Steven J. Ross Professor of Film & Video Production in the Department of Communication at the University of Memphis

How will the #metoo or Time’s Up movement affect this year’s Oscars?

The movement actually didn't have a very obvious, tangible influence. Greta Gerwig and “Lady Bird” were probably the most obvious beneficiary. But it is also a well-reviewed, likable little film -- and usually, there is room for one or two of those. I think her best director nomination most directly benefitted, more than the best picture nomination.

Big surprise, regarding your question, was “Wonder Woman” being shut out. Very popular, very well-reviewed, and a huge logistical job for its not-nominated female director.

Do you believe the current system of nominating films is a fair and transparent one? How can this process be improved?

The current system is about as fair and transparent as any awards given by an industry for that industry. It has been far worse in the past. Look at the original “Dr. Doolittle:” terrible reviews, lost a ton of money, but 20th Century Fox employees all voted for it -- corporate loyalty and worries about job cuts if the film continued to bleed money.

Who is going to win the award for Best Actor? Actress? Director? Motion Picture?

Winners will be: Gary Oldman, Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell, Allison Janney, Guillermo Del Toro and “The Shape of Water” as best motion picture.

Two final thoughts. “Get Out” would have been nominated without the movement. Overall, I think the movement is having a big impact, even if this list does not really show overwhelming tangible evidence of such.

Teddy Champion Program Director of Media & Film Studies at Birmingham-Southern College

How will the #metoo or Time’s Up movement affect this year’s Oscars?

If you are asking about the show, I am sure the host and many presenters will use the event as a platform to address the incidents of sexual misconduct that have gotten publicity over the past few months. The Golden Globes ceremony in January set the tone, but the Oscars ceremony is a bigger stage.

If you are asking about the selection of nominees and winners, the movement may have already affected James Franco, who many critics predicted would get a Best Actor nomination for “The Disaster Artist.” We don’t know for sure, but allegations against him surfaced before the nominees were announced, and he was not on the list, despite winning a Golden Globe. The movement certainly affected Kevin Spacey, whose replacement in “All the Money in the World,” Christopher Plummer, received a Best Supporting Actor nomination.

Do you believe the current system of nominating films is a fair and transparent one? How can this process be improved?

The Academy’s current system for nominating films could use improvements by adding more women and people of color to the list of voters. There has been a very public attempt to do just that in recent years, but we still have a discrepancy. Regarding transparency, I can understand the desire for some voters to keep their selections secret, because they have their own careers to consider, and no one wants to offend people they may work with in the future. Selecting the best among many great films and performances is highly subjective, and if voters feel exposed, then many would likely abstain.

Who is going to win the award for Best Actor? Actress? Director? Motion Picture?

My predictions:

• Best Actor -- Gary Oldman in “Darkest Hour;”
• Best Actress -- Frances McDormand in “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (although I personally might vote for Saoirse Ronan in “Lady Bird”);
• Best Director -- Guillermo Del Toro for “The Shape of Water” (although I would prefer Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird);
• Best Picture – “The Shape of Water” (although I prefer “Get Out”).

Jamsheed Akrami Professor of Media Studies and Production in the Department of Communication at William Paterson University

How will the #metoo or Time’s Up movement affect this year’s Oscars?

Yes, I expect the movements to have an impact, mostly within the context of the awards ceremony, as we’ve already seen in similar awards shows. It might even impact the process of voting, though it’s hard to predict how exactly. Hollywood, as a mostly liberal community, has always been sensitive to current events, and tried to respond to them in a politically correct manner.

Do you believe the current system of nominating films is a fair and transparent one? How can this process be improved?

I don’t think any system of nomination could ever be one hundred percent fair, because we are talking about judging artistic merits, which is something so subjective. But I like the fact that a few thousand industry professionals take part in the nominations process, and many more would vote to decide on the winners, unlike in most film festivals, where you have a jury of only five or seven people voting. The large volume of voters adds to the fairness of the process.

I would like to see more of a global emphasis in the nominations. Academy Awards were originally conceived as a celebration of quality work in Hollywood, and now in independent films, as well. But the awards are followed globally, and I think it’s about time for the awards to extend their reach and include more nominations from foreign films. Of course, there’s been a category for foreign-language films, but it’s been a marginalized category and doesn’t generate the kind of attention foreign films and non-American artists deserve.

Who is going to win the award for Best Actor? Actress? Director? Motion Picture?

• Best Lead Actor: Gary Oldman;
• Best Lead Actress: Frances McDormand;
• Best Supporting Actor: Sam Rockwell;
• Best Supporting Actress: Allison Janney.

For best director, I don't give Greta Gerwig and Jordan Peele much of a chance, since they are first-time directors and the voters historically haven't been too kind to first-time directors. “Phantom Thread” is not one of Paul Thomas Anderson's best movies. So, it comes down to Guillermo del Toro and Christopher Nolan. I pick Guillermo del Toro.

David Pierson Professor of Media Studies at the University of Southern Maine

How will the #metoo or Time’s Up movement affect this year’s Oscars?

Yes, I do believe the Time's Up movement will impact this year's Academy Awards ceremony. Award presenters will be wearing the Time's Up pin and will be addressing issues of sexual harassment and wage inequality in the film industry. These issues, of course, go way beyond the film industry, as the #metoo and Time's Up movements have become national and are picking up a full head of steam.

Do you believe the current system of nominating films is a fair and transparent one? How can this process be improved?

On the whole, I do believe the academy nominating process is fair and transparent. The continuing lack of women and minorities in many of the categories, especially the technical ones, has to do with the industry or studios themselves, which are still predominantly managed by white males. The academy has made a few changes to increase diversity in its awards categories, such as granting academy members a membership limit of ten years in which they must remain active in the film industry. Although some academy members have complained about losing the lifetime membership, this change should guarantee that the members remain active and engaged in the industry.

Who is going to win the award for Best Actor? Actress? Director? Motion Picture?

The best picture race seems to be between “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” and “The Shape of Water.” My preference would be Guillermo Del Toro's beautiful, Cold War era reimagined "beauty and the beast" tale “The Shape of Water,” though “Three Billboards” will probably win because of its topicality contending with entrenched racism in small-town America. Best director should go to Del Toro. Best actor award will go to Gary Oldman for his amazing performance as Sir Winston Churchill in “Darkest Hour,” and Frances McDormand for best actress “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.”

Patrick D. Anderson Gibney Distinguished Professor in the Humanities Department at Colby-Sawyer College

How will the #metoo or Time’s Up movement affect this year’s Oscars?

Movements such as #metoo and Time’s Up -- not to mention #OscarsSoWhite of two years ago -- have clearly affected the Oscars, as seen in this year’s nominations. Four of the Best Picture nominees -- “Lady Bird,” “The Post,” “The Shape of Water” and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” -- are focused on women, and one of these will most likely win. For only the fifth time in Oscar history, a woman has been nominated for Best Director -- Greta Gerwig, whose original screenplay for “Lady Bird” was also nominated. Dee Rees became the first African-American woman to be nominated for an adapted screenplay -- for “Mudbound,” a film she also directed -- and Rachel Morrison became the first woman to be nominated for cinematography, for the same film. Jordan Peele is the first African-American ever to be up for Best Director, Screenplay and Picture in the same year -- for “Get Out,” his very first film no less. Finally, four of the five nominees for Best Director made their way into this category for the first time, including one female and one black.

Do you believe the current system of nominating films is a fair and transparent one? How can this process be improved?

The system of nominating and voting for films falls to members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences who, for most of its history, have been overwhelmingly white and male. This began to change after 2016’s #OscarsSoWhite, when the MPAA announced it would be doubling its women and minority members by 2020. In 2017 alone, 774 new members were inducted, with 39 percent of them being women, and 30 percent people of color. This has resulted in greater diversity in many of the categories. Instead of perennial nominees Steven Spielberg in the directing category and Tom Hanks in the acting category (for “The Post”), “Get Out” director Jordan Peele is up for Best Director and Daniel Kaluuya for Best Actor. With more women, minorities and first-time nominees being recognized for their work both behind and in front of the camera, one can hope that Hollywood will recognize the potential for Oscar gold in telling a variety of stories from widely divergent points of view.

Who is going to win the award for Best Actor? Actress? Director? Motion Picture?

If the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards are any predictor, it looks like Gary Oldman, in “Darkest Hour,” and Frances McDormand, in “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” have the top acting awards all sewn up, though I would be delighted to see Timothée Chalamet, for “Call Me by Your Name,” and Saoirse Ronan, for “Lady Bird,” pull off the upsets for their remarkable performances in two unconventional coming-of-age narratives.

Until the nominations were revealed, I was leaning toward “Three Billboards” as Best Picture; its director, Martin McDonough, however, was left off the Best Director list -- though voters often split their votes when it comes to these two categories. I think Guillermo del Toro will win Best Director for “The Shape of Water;” for Best Picture, it comes down to del Toro’s film or McDonough’s. A recent backlash regarding the way “Three Billboards” treats race has arisen, so Academy voters may feel more comfortable recognizing “The Shape of Water,” which is the film I’d vote for if I had one. There is always at least one surprise at the Oscars (as we saw in the “Moonlight” and “La La Land” confusion last year), so if, say, “Lady Bird” provides some upsets, we’ll know that #metoo has definitely made its mark.

Joan Braderman President of No More Nice Girls Productions & Professor Emerita of Video, Film and Media Studies at Hampshire College

How will the #metoo or Time’s Up movement affect this year’s Oscars?

Of course, the #metoo movement will affect this year's Oscars. The voters are members of the industry who want to appear to be progressive, hence there will be certain women pushed higher up on their list for winning.

Do you believe the current system of nominating films is a fair and transparent one? How can this process be improved?

The current system of nominating films is not the least bit transparent. For one thing, you have to have plenty of money and contacts to rent a theater in which to show your film to qualify. The films are nominated by the insiders who are familiar only with major commercial films, unless their niece made a nice little documentary about people with sad diseases. The process should be wide open. There should be a small pre-screening group to winnow down the applications, and then a group composed of both Hollywood and non-Hollywood film people to make the final selections.

Philip Lewis Professor and Associate Director in School of Film, Media and Theatre at Georgia State University

How will the #metoo or Time’s Up movement affect this year’s Oscars?

I don't think the #metoo or Time's Up movement is going to change the way the Oscars are handled, however, I feel they may change the film culture in general. Pay inequality, sexual harassment, and general recognition for women in my industry has been a plague that just won't go away. I am glad we are having a conversation about it now, and I hope that future Oscars will reflect a changed industry that stands as beacon for all industries across the nation.

Do you believe the current system of nominating films is a fair and transparent one? How can this process be improved?

No, it only seems fair to those who win. It is not transparent, but it is difficult to be both transparent and mostly secretive at the same time. I don't think it is a broken system, and it works for what it is.

Who is going to win the award for Best Actor? Actress? Director? Motion Picture?

• Best Actor? Gary Oldman for “Darkest Hour.” He was Winston.
• Best Actress? While I would love Frances to win for that stellar performance, I believe it will be Sally Hawkins for “The Shape of Water.”
• Director? I am going to go out on a limb and say, I hope it is Greta Gerwig. We need that this year.
• Best Picture? It will be “The Shape of Water.”

Julie Grossman Association of Adaptation Studies Trustee, Professor of English & Communication and Film Studies, and Director of the Film Studies Program at Le Moyne College

How will the #metoo or Time’s Up movement affect this year’s Oscars?

As we saw at The Golden Globes with Oprah's rousing speech, the Oscars will likely be another opportunity to promote the values of fairness and equality that are being emphasized in the #metoo and Time's Up movements. Female award winners will feel empowered in a community of other women, most of whom know exactly why there is such urgency to #metoo. When our major political figures fail miserably at being role models, demonstrating virtue and respect for others, actors and actresses feel more responsible to use their celebrity to express commitment to changing an exploitative sex-and-gender culture that has had an impact, to be sure, on every woman working in Hollywood (not to mention other institutions) in one way or another.

I noted recently that a number of the films nominated for the Academy Award deal with issues of empathy -- certainly “Three Billboards” and “The Shape of Water” do -- and to the extent that “Phantom Thread” deconstructs a set of relationships defined by personal obsessions and a need to control, this film is also about connection among beings, and the profound difficulty of relating meaningfully with others. “The Shape of Water,” in particular, argues for a kind of openness that is pitched directly against the narrow and exclusionary attitudes that have come to define the Hollywood power structure.

Do you believe the current system of nominating films is a fair and transparent one? How can this process be improved?

As in all institutions in a capitalist economy, the Academy and Hollywood generally have long histories that privilege those with money and power. As we all understand, most of those individuals are white men, and so it's hard to change the institutional biases that often, as in many organizations, result in choosers nominating films and performers that mirror themselves. I think there have been efforts to change things to expand the voting population for more diversity, but to the extent that it's still the case that those who have great success and make the most money are the ones invited to become members (and who then have a say in who is nominated in their categories), these shifts may take longer than seems fair or right. The system doesn't seem to allow for a dramatic shift in inviting women and people of color into the fray, so that they might make perhaps different choices that will extend the influence of diverse voices and individuals.

Who is going to win the award for Best Actor? Actress? Director? Motion Picture?

The front runner for best actor is surely Gary Oldman. I think Frances McDormand will win for best actress; her performance in “Three Billboards” is simply superb. Best director and best picture? My guess is that these will go to “The Shape of Water,” because it's a lovely film whose values stand against some of the brutal exclusionary discourse that has influenced politics and culture in contemporary America. That said, for myself, I would love to see the brilliant “Get Out” win the award; I think it's the best picture of the year.

Luisela Alvaray Associate Professor in the College of Communication at DePaul University

Do you believe the current system of nominating films is a fair and transparent one? How can this process be improved? How will the #metoo or Time’s Up movement affect this year’s Oscars?

In 2017, the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite was a protest responding to the lack of diversity in the list of nominees. The criticism was not new; the under-representation of women, international and minority groups had been a constant for quite a while. For the second year in a row, the total of 20 nominees in the performing categories were white. But because of social media, the reactions at large became stronger than ever. The pressure in and outside of the Academy became very public. As a consequence, the leaders of the Academy responded positively by inviting a record of more than 770 new members, of which 39 percent were women, 30 percent were people of color, and 57 countries were represented. There is a perceivable difference this year in the group of nominees. In the leading actor category, for instance, the list includes Denzel Washington and Daniel Kaluuya.

Also, this year, after the sexual abuse allegations that have come to light with the Harvey Weinstein scandal and its aftermath, the #metoo and #Time’sUp movements are certainly going to leave a mark in the awards ceremony. The entertainment industry needs to up its game. They are in a privileged position to raise awareness about these issues, and I would go as far as to say that it is part of their social responsibility to do so. Hollywood can generate important discussions and influence public opinions in unique ways. We certainly need a more inclusive, just and democratic industry, in which people’s talents are recognized fairly and compensated as such. We need an industry in which people’s rights are respected. We need it to be a beacon of equality -- a value that at this moment, more than ever, needs to permeate our democracy at every level.

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