It’s my favourite time of the year again: Oscar time!
I have just finished reviewing all nine Best Picture nominees for 2017, so it’s time to roll out some predictions. As expected, La La Land leads the way with 14 nominations and is likely to be the big winner of the night, including Best Picture, Best Director for Damien Chazelle and Best Actress for Emma Stone. That said, things aren’t exactly as cut and dried now as they were probably a month or two ago, as there has been significant backlash against La La Land for the usual stupid political reasons and because people just like to criticise. The same thing goes for the Best Actor category, which most pundits believed was a lock for Casey Affleck until unproven sexual harassment allegations from years ago came back to haunt him. I guess we’ll see.
Without further ado, here are my guesses for who will win tomorrow and who should.
Best Picture
Nominees: Arrival, Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, La La Land, Lion, Manchester by the Sea, Moonlight
Will win: La La Land
Despite the backlash, I think La La Land has enough goodwill left to hold off late charges from Moonlight and Hidden Figures. Knowing the way Hollywood is and the demographic of Academy voters, it will be a bit of a shock if either movie with predominantly black actors ends up topping one with predominantly white actors. Just sayin’.
Should win: La La Land
For the first time in forever, my feeling is that the movie that will most likely win Best Picture at the Oscars is the most deserving one. I never thought it was possible, but I absolutely adored La La Land and think it deserves all the accolades it has been getting. Sure, the singing and dancing is not at Broadway level and the story is seemingly generic, but this film just gave me a magical feeling I seldom experience. By the way, if not for La La Land, my vote would have gone to Arrival.
Best Director
Nominees: Damien Chazelle (La La Land), Mel Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge), Barry Jenkins (Moonlight), Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea), Denis Villeneuve (Arrival)
Will win: Damien Chazelle (La La Land)
Chazelle was tipped as a future heavyweight after Whiplash, and now he will be crowned the top director of 2017. Well-deserved too. Jenkins has an outside chance, but it will be a stunner if Chazelle doesn’t take home the gong.
Should win: Damien Chazelle (La La Land)
All great directors and great films, but Chazelle pulled off one of the most difficult genres (musical) with spectacular results and got the best performances of out of his leads.
Best Actor
Nominees: Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea), Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge), Ryan Gosling (La La Land), Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic), Denzel Washington (Fences)
Will win: Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)
I think Affleck, unlike Nate Parker (Birth of a Nation), will escape from his scandal with the acting Oscar his older brother Ben will never get. Affleck’s nuanced performance in Manchester by the Sea was a stab in the heart, and he made audiences shed tears without shedding tears himself on screen, a true testament to his performance
Should win: Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)
See above, but I wouldn’t mind if Denzel took home the award either. I actually wished Garfield could have gotten nominated for Silence instead, and I think he would have been a deserving winner for that too.
Best Actress
Nominees: Isabelle Huppert (Elle), Ruth Negga (Loving), Natalie Portman (Jackie), Emma Stone (La La Land), Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins)
Will win: Emma Stone (La La Land)
The stars are aligned this year for Emma Stone, who should sing, dance and act her way to her first Oscar. She is facing tough competition, with Huppert being touted as a serious contender rather than a dark horse. And of course, you can never count out Meryl Streep.
Should win: Emma Stone (La La Land)
Unfortunately, Stone and Portman’s performances are the only ones I’ve seen so far. Portman was good Jackie, but I think Stone blows her out of the water here.
Best Supporting Actor
Nominees: Mahershala Ali (Moonlight), Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water), Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea), Dev Patel (Lion), Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals)
Will win: Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)
A small role that only lasts the first third of the film, but Ali is the odds on favourite to win the award. He was very, very good in limited screen time.
Should win: Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea)
This is quite a weird category in that there is no clear standout. As I said above, Ali is great in the role, but he’s not in the film much. Jeff Bridges delivers a performance I feel like I’ve seen a few times already (True Grit?), and Dev Patel really should be in the Best Actor category for Lion, while I personally think Aaron Taylor-Johnson would have been a better pick than Michael Shannon in Nocturnal Animals. So that leaves by default Lucas Hedges, who kind of came out of nowhere to deliver a very powerful performance that boosted Casey Affleck’s.
Best Supporting Actress
Nominees: Viola Davis (Fences), Naomie Harris (Moonlight), Nicole Kidman (Lion), Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures), Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea)
Will win: Viola Davis (Fences)
Easiest pick of the acting categories. Viola Davis was dynamite in Fences, and though she should have been in the Best Actress category, there’s no denying that she’s absolutely deserving of an Oscar.
Should win: Viola Davis (Fences)
All great performances, but Davis’s stands out head and shoulders above the rest. She gave me the chills.
Best Original Screenplay
Nominees: Hell or High Water, La La Land, The Lobster, Manchester by the Sea, 20th Century Women
Will win: La La Land
This is La La’s night, so I’m assuming the big awards are going to all go its way.
Should win: Hell or High Water
I loved Hell or High Water, and the dialogue is huge part of it. The film just felt authentic and managed to flesh out the characters really well.
Best Adapted Screenplay
Nominees: Arrival, Fences, Hidden Figures, Lion, Moonlight
Will win: Moonlight
Moonlight is such a lauded film, one which many think is the best film of the year, and so it should take home at least a few awards in which La La Land has not been nominated.
Should win: Arrival
Have you seen Arrival? Amazing story, insanely good adaptation consider the difficulty of the material.
Best Animated Film
Nominees: Kubo and the Two Strings, Moana, My Life as a Zucchini, The Red Turtle, Zootopia
Will win: Zootopia
Haven’t seen it yet but the bookmakers seem to have this one ahead.
Should win: Moana
I’ve seen Kubo and Moana, and both are great animated films in their own right. If I were forced to choose, however, I’d go with Moana. Though it doesn’t have the same stunning stop-motion animation, I felt the story and characters were stronger. And the songs are catchy!
Visual Effects
Nominees: Deepwater Horizon, Doctor Strange, The Jungle Book, Kubo and the Two Strings, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Will win: Jungle Book
All fantastic effects this year, with Doctor Strange and The Jungle Book vying for the award. I would be very annoyed in The Jungle Book didn’t win. This was the first time shot entirely in a studio that made me believe everything was real, down to the talking animals.
Should win: Jungle Book
Every nominee had great special effects, but only The Jungle Book‘s was revolutionary.
Cinematography
Nominees: Arrival, La La Land, Lion, Moonlight, Silence
Will win: Arrival
Tempted to go with La La again but I’m guessing that it can’t win everything it’s nominated for. If there’s one category it’s in danger of missing out on, this could be it. Arrival‘s cinematography is breathtakingly good too, and I hope it at least takes home something.
Should win: Silence
Silence should have been nominated for way more categories, including Best Picture, so it’s a travesty that it only has this one nomination to show for it. But this is not a pity vote from me because the cinematography in this movie is absolutely beautiful.
Costume Design
Nominees: Allied, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Florence Foster Jenkins, Jackie, La La Land
Will win: La La Land
No comment.
Should win: Jackie
Recreating all the classic pieces must have been a lot of work.
Editing
Nominees: Arrival, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, La La Land, Moonlight
Will win: Moonlight
Another one of those categories where La La might not reign supreme. Just a hunch.
Should win: Hacksaw Ridge
With all those flying limbs and exploding skulls it must have been a difficult task editing this film.
Make-up and Hair
Nominees: A Man Called Ove, Star Trek Beyond, Suicide Squad
Will win: Star Trek Beyond
I just can’t imagine Suicide Squad winning anything, and A Man Called Ove might not have been seen by enough voters?
Should win: Star Trek Beyond
I just can’t imagine Suicide Squad winning anything
Best Original Score
Nominees: Jackie, La La Land Lion Moonlight Passengers
Will win: La La Land
The best musical absolutely has to win best music right? In all seriousness, I loved the music in this movie and still listen to it regularly.
Should win: La La Land
No brainer.
Best Original Song
Nominees:
“Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” from La La Land
“Can’t Stop The Feeling” from Trolls
“City Of Stars” from La La Land
“The Empty Chair” from Jim: The James Foley Story
“How Far I’ll Go” from Moana
Will win: “City Of Stars” from La La Land
Actually think “Audition” is the better song, but the title “City of Stars” is probably enough to sway the voters. Just wonder if the two songs will end up splitting the votes and another film will end up coming out on top.
Should win: “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana
I actually like some of the other songs in La La Land more, but of the songs nominated, I liked “How Far I’ll Go” the most.
Production Design
Nominees: Arrival, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Hail, Caesar! La La Land, Passengers
Will win: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
JK Rowling should get some love. Fantastic Beasts does have a lot of nice looking sets.
Should win: Arrival
Have you seen Arrival? Those alien ships were mind-blowing. Actually, Passengers wasn’t all that bad either, it’s just that the film was not very well received, so I don’t expect much love from voters.
Sound Editing
Nominees: Arrival, Deepwater Horizon, Hacksaw Ridge, La La Land, Sully
Will win: Arrival
Have you seeeeeen Arrival?
Should win: Arrival
Have you seeeeeeeeeen Arrival? Those alien ship sounds! They should have dubbed Amy Adams’ Mandarin though.
Sound Mixing
Nominees: Arrival, Hacksaw Ridge, La La Land, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
Should win: Hacksaw Ridge
Loads of bombs and explosions is all I can remember. Must have been exhausting work,
Will win: Hacksaw Ridge
Yada yada yada.
Note: The rest of the categories are going to be mostly guesses, and I’m assuming no one really cares about them (sorry), so for the sake of brevity it’s just going to be the nominees plus my pick in bold.
Documentary Feature
Fire at Sea, I Am Not Your Negro, Life, Animated, O.J.: Made in America, 13th
The only one I’ve seen, and given this is OJ’s year, so to speak, my guess is that it will win. The bigger question is: Can a doco with 4 parts and clocking in at around 7 hours be a “film”?
Documentary Short
Extremis, 4.1 Miles, Joe’s Violin, Watani: My Homeland, The White Helmets
Pure speculation.
Foreign Language Film
Land of Mine, A Man Called Ove, The Salesman, Tanna, Toni Erdmann
Land of Mine has gotten a bit of buzz around here, so I’m sticking with it.
Short Film (Live Action)
Ennemis Intérieurs, La Femme et le TGV, Silent Nights, Sing Timecode
Like I would have a clue.
Short Film (Animated)
Blind Vaysha, Borrowed Time, Pear, Cider and Cigarettes, Pearl Piper
Sounds like a winning title.
The post Oscar Predictions 2017 appeared first on Spoiler-Free Movie Reviews.