Look, it’s going to win a lot, alright.
I’ve been less enthused than normal about the Oscars this year, in part because the winner has been even more glaring obvious than usual and also because I am not as enthused about said presumptive winner as most. Even looking aside La La Land, which to me was fine but not blow away, I didn’t find myself going (Lady) gaga about much of the nominees. I’ll try and get my thoughts in order better in a post-Oscar recap but I did want to get my picks on digital paper for posterity to judge my inherent wrongness. As a rule, I’m guessing if the voters saw La La Land, that’s what they picked.
Best Picture: La La Land – Like I said above, it’s a fine movie, but it also is a movie about how wonderful movies are, something Academy voters are so very smitten with right now. It just feels frivolous right now in a time when other movies like Moonlight or Hell or High Water are trying to say something about us.
My Pick: Hell or High Water.
Best Director: Damien Chazelle, La La Land
My Pick: Same. It really is a technical triumph.
Denzel Washington, Fences
Best Actor: Denzel Washington, Fences
My Pick: This is really a two horse race between Denzel’s enunciated acting and Casey Afleck’s mopey acting. Both were top notch. I prefer Affleck but I’m not upset by Denzel.
Remember this picture for the rant about Costuming below
Best Actress: Emma Stone, La La Land
My Pick: Same. Natalie Portman is top notch in Jackie, but Stone really does possess a radiance throughout La La Land that is the highlight of the movie.
Mahershala Ali, a practitioner of Resting Sad Face
Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
My Pick: Same
True story in that I found this picture by Googling “Viola Davis Snot Fences”
Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis, Fences
My Pick: Same.
Zootopia might be the actual best movie of the year, truth be told
Best Animated Feature: Zootopia
Best Original Screenplay: Manchester by the Sea
Best Adapted Screenplay: Moonlight
Best Cinematography: La La Land
Best Costume Design: La La Land – People are freaking out about this one being the sign La La Land is overly praised but I actually really like the clothes, especially Emma Stone’s parade of pastels. The yellow dress in the poster is particularly unforgettable. Costume design doesn’t always have to go to Elizabethan-set palace movies.
Best Documentary Feature: OJ: Made in America . I have no idea honestly I am Not Your Negro feels topical (as does 13th I suppose) but everyone saw OJ and talked about OJ in some for this year.
The poster for Joe’s Violin
Documentary Short: Joe’s Violin. Too many Syria movies (3!) cancel each other out. Joe’s Violin, the story of a holocaust survivor who donates his violin to a school for at risk youth is bittersweet and hopeful, wheras the other four are numbing endurance tests of suffering.
Film Editing: La La Land
Foreign Language Film: The Salesman (Iran) – seems like a topical FU to world events, although I’ve heard people lost their minds over Toni Erdman (Germany)
Makeup and Hairstyling: Star Trek Beyond. Suicide Squad being an “Oscar Winning Film” sure would be funny, but seems unlikely. The third option is for a small foreign movie, so why not go for the one with aliens with funny ears and foreheads.
Original Score: La La Land (DUH)
Original Song: “City of Stars”, La La Land – a toughie since La La Land is nominated twice! “City of Stars” is the centerpiece number however (over Emma Stone’s solo “Audition”).
Production Design: Ooooh, this one IS hard. Is La La Land’s freeway and literal soundstage enough to overcome Hail Caesar’s old-timey soundstage? Nope. (To be fair, there is the bridge and the planetarium, right?) La La Land.
Animated Short : Piper (The Pixar one about a bird). I HATED these this year, btw. Piper however, was pleasant.
You should see the IMDB picture for this (NSFW)
Live Action Short: Silent Nights, a Danish movie about a charity worker who falls in love with an immigrant who isn’t exactly as above board as he first seems. I liked this one because it was not preachy or black-and-white in terms of its story and had some very complex character development in 20 minutes.
Sound Editing: La La Land, I guess?
Sound Mixing: Hacksaw Ridge. C’mon, war movies always do well in this category, right?
Visual Effects: La La Land. JUST KIDDING. Although I can’t believe it wasn’t nominated for the part where they literally danced into the stars. Doctor Strange.
Operation: Oscar 