my 2017 Oscar picks
If you didn't know, I saw lots of movies in 2016. I wrote a ton of reviews/musings on all the movies I saw in theaters, and have been continuing to do so throughout 2017. One of my goals was to see as many Oscar-nominated films as I could, since I tried to do the same thing last year, and I saw all the Best Picture nominees before the nominations were announced! These aren't my personal choices or favorites, rather what I think will win at the 2017 Oscars. If you want to see what films were my personal favorites, check out those links on the right side there! I'm only going to focus on the major categories or the categories that I've seen a majority of. Do you agree or disagree with my choices? Comment here or on my Facebook post of this article, then check back after Oscar Sunday, and laugh at how inaccurate I might be. So without further ado, here are my picks for the 2017 Oscars, and feel free to click on a category to instantly scroll down there!
Best Film Editing
HACKSAW RIDGE
HELL OR HIGH WATER
ARRIVAL takes the cake for reasons that would be
spoilers. Check out my thoughts on it here!
Best Cinematography
Bradford Young - ARRIVAL
Linus Sandgren - LA LA LAND
Greig Fraser - LION
James Laxton - MOONLIGHT
Rodrigo Prieto - SILENCE
Sandgren's stunning long takes and beautiful shot
compositions make him a sure winner here.
Best Original Song
"The Empty Chair" - JIM: THE JAMES FOLEY STORY
"Audition (The Fools Who Dream)" - LA LA LAND
"City Of Stars" - LA LA LAND
"How Far I’ll Go" - MOANA
"Can’t Stop The Feeling" - TROLLS
Even though the actual best song, "A Lovely Night",
wasn't nominated, a LA LA LAND will probably
win. "City of Stars" has the most chance, since
it's the most accessible and memorable themes.
Best Animated Film
KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS
MOANA
MY LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI
ZOOTOPIA
Taking the ZOOTOPes for this. Lovely, cute film that manages
to fit in a lot of interesting, mature themes for the kiddos!
Best Adapted Screenplay
LA LA LAND is going to be called up to the stage
a lot, but I think this is one of the chances for
MOONLIGHT to come out ahead, and with good reason.
Best Original Screenplay
HELL OR HIGH WATER
THE LOBSTER
HELL OR HIGH WATER has the better screenplay
and story, I wish 20TH CENTURY WOMEN would win,
but the LA LA LAND train will probably keep rolling.
Best Supporting Actress
Viola Davis - FENCES
Naomie Harris - MOONLIGHT
Nicole Kidman - LION
Octavia Spencer - HIDDEN FIGURES
Michelle Williams - MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
Viola Davis probably should have been in the Best Actress
category, but since she's allowed to be in this one, she's taking
it. Naomie Harris deserves it, though.
Best Supporting Actor
Mahershala Ali - MOONLIGHT
Jeff Bridges - HELL OR HIGH WATER
Lucas Hedges - MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
Dev Patel - LION
Michael Shannon - NOCTURNAL ANIMALS
This should be a no-brainer, but any of the other
four nominees can steal it away from the
award-season-long frontrunner, Mahershala Ali.
Best Actress
Isabelle Huppert - ELLE
Ruth Negga - LOVING
Natalie Portman - JACKIE
Emma Stone - LA LA LAND
Meryl Streep - FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS
That audition scene pretty much locks in Emma
Stone's win. I can see Huppert sneaking in
the foreign vote, but this is Emma's to lose.
Best Actor
Casey Affleck - MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
Andrew Garfield - HACKSAW RIDGE
Ryan Gosling - LA LA LAND
Viggo Mortensen - CAPTAIN FANTASTIC
Denzel Washington - FENCES
Denzel is absolutely magnetic, and I think he
steals this one from Casey Affleck. Affleck's role
is much more subtle, but powerful, while Denzel
is incredibly showy and bombastic, but it looks
like the Academy might be leaning toward Denzel.
Best Director
Denis Villenueve - ARRIVAL
Mel Gibson - HACKSAW RIDGE
Damien Chazelle - LA LA LAND
Kenneth Lonergan - MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
Barry Jenkins - MOONLIGHT
Certainly the most flashy choice out there,
and one of the best directors working today.
LA-ck it in! (No apologies for that horrible pun.)
Best Picture
HACKSAW RIDGE
HELL OR HIGH WATER
This is the most definite winner here tonight. The voting body of the Academy is made up of actors and dreamers, and they probably relate to some aspect of this film. So unless MOONLIGHT pulls off a huge upset in response to #OscarsSoWhite last year or because it absolutely deserves the win, LA LA LAND will take home the big prize of the night!
Thank you very much for reading my picks! Be sure to click through those links to see my reviews/musings of all them movies, or some other features down here:
The 1st Annual Marzon-Yeah! Awards - Part 1
The 1st Annual Marzon-Yeah! Awards - Part 2
The Eh and Worst Movies of 2016
See ya next year!