Hollywood stars share what they're excited for in upcoming Oscars

LOS ANGELES -- The world is waiting to find out which films will win at the 2018 Academy Awards, including former Oscar winners and current nominees.

When it comes to the Oscars, film historian Leonard Maltin loves the elements of surprise.

"Even the experts that I know and rely on are hedging their bets. They're not conclusive, especially about best picture - that seems to be the biggest question mark of all," he said.

At Friday night's Los Angeles Italia Film Festival, two honorees, Luca Guadagnino and Alexandre Desplat, are also Oscar nominees.

"My main joy would be to have Guillermo (del Toro) being honored and the movie ("The Shape of Water") receiving as many statuettes as possible," shared Desplat, who is nominated for best original score for the film.

In Beverly Hills, Women in Film's annual celebration of this year's female Oscar nominees brought out one of last year's Oscar winners, Viola Davis.

"What I'm most excited about seeing is what's been happening already, is the authenticity. It's always hard to balance it, you know, at these awards events. You want to fit in, but you also want to be yourself. And now I think people are saying...enough of that, I'm going to go in all my glory, whatever I feel I want to look like. I'm going to say what I want to say, and that's what I'm mostly looking forward to," she said.

Bradley Whitford of best picture-nominated film "Get Out" is looking forward to seeing his film's director enjoying the Oscars.

"I'm most excited about the prospect of Jordan (Peele) getting the recognition that he deserves because this was a miracle and, you know, I got to be there while he made it," Whitford said.

Peele is up for two other Oscars on Sunday, including best director and best screenplay for "Get Out."