Days after Taylor J. Williams announces his first Golden Ketchups, I announce the nominations for my second Adam's Final Cut Awards (also go check him out; he's a talented dude). But before you watch "Ketchup" for the thirtieth time, let's celebrate the best and the favorite of 2018 cinema.
Again.
BEST PICTURE
Annihilation
Black Panther
First Reformed
Mary Poppins Returns
Searching
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Upgrade
Won't You Be My Neighbor?
You Were Never Really Here
BEST DIRECTOR
Ryan Coogler, Black Panther
Alfonso Cuarón, Roma
Alex Garland, Annihilation
Lynne Ramsey, You Were Never Really Here
Paul Schrader, First Reformed
BEST ACTOR
John Cho as David Kim, Searching
Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt, Mission: Impossible - Fallout
Ethan Hawke as Rev. Ernst Toller, First Reformed
Logan Marshall-Green as Grey Trace, Upgrade
Joaquin Phoenix as Joe, You Were Never Really Here
BEST ACTRESS
Yalitza Aparicio as Cleo Gutiérrez, Roma
Emily Blunt as Mary Poppins, Mary Poppins Returns
Toni Collette as Annie Graham, Hereditary
Olivia Cooke as Amanda, Thoroughbreds
Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Ava Hamilton, The Cloverfield Paradox
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian, Solo: A Star Wars Story
Michael B. Jordan as Erik "Killmonger" Stevens, Black Panther
Ben Whishaw as Michael Banks, Mary Poppins Returns
Alex Wolff as Peter Graham, Hereditary
Anton Yelchin as Tim, Thoroughbreds
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Jason Leigh as Dr. Ventress, Annihilation
Blake Lively as Emily Nelson, A Simple Favor
Thandie Newton as Val, Solo: A Star Wars Story
Millicent Simmonds as Regan Abbott, A Quiet Place
Tessa Thompson as Detroit, Sorry to Bother You
BEST SCREENPLAY, ORIGINAL OR ADAPTED
Annihilation, Alex Garland
First Reformed, Paul Schrader
Mary Poppins Returns, David Magee
Sorry to Bother You, Boots Riley
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Phil Lord & Rodney Rothman
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Annihilation, Rob Hardy
Black Panther, Rachel Morrison
Roma, Alfonso Cuarón
Upgrade, Stefan Duscio
You Were Never Really Here, Thomas Townend
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Annihilation
Aquaman
Avengers: Infinity War
Christopher Robin
Solo: A Star Wars Story
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Black Panther, Ludwig Göransson
If Beale Street Could Talk, Nicholas Britell
Mary Poppins Returns, Marc Shaiman
Solo: A Star Wars Story, John Powell
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Daniel Pemberton
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"All the Stars," Black Panther
"Ashes," Deadpool 2
"The Cover Is Not the Book," Mary Poppins Returns
"(Underneath the) Lovely London Sky," Mary Poppins Returns
"What's Up Danger?" Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
BEST ACTION FILM
Avengers: Infinity War
Black Panther
Mission: Impossible - Fallout
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Upgrade
MOST UNEXPECTED DELIGHT
A Simple Favor
I Can Only Imagine
Searching
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
... and a SPECIAL AWARD
This year sees Best Horror Film and Best Up-and-Coming Artist replaced with Best Action Film (in my opinion, the standout genre of the year), Best Cinematography, and Best Visual Effects. In lieu of "Studio of the Year," I opted for a broad special award to honor something particularly remarkable from this year's releases. And like "Remember Me," which I nominated despite not seeing Coco last year (since seeing it, I loved it), the score for If Beale Street Could Talk was nominated for being so good, even though I have not yet seen it.
And finally for you stats folks out there, Black Panther, Mary Poppins Returns, and (surprising even to me) Solo: A Star Wars Story tie for the most nominations at 7, followed close by Annihilation (6) and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (5). I'm looking forward to seeing who wins this contest, and I hope you are, too. Comment your picks below and tell me who you would've liked to see nominated!