89th Academy Awards

[Mafwanix]

It's that time of year again.
89th Academy Awards Nominations:

Best Picture:
Arrival
Fences
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
Hidden Figures
La La Land
Lion
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight

Lead Actor:
Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea
Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge
Ryan Gosling, La La Land
Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic
Denzel Washington, Fences

Lead Actress:
Isabelle Huppert, Elle
Ruth Negga, Loving
Natalie Portman, Jackie
Emma Stone, La La Land
Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins

Supporting Actor:
Mahershala Ali, “Moonlight
Jeff Bridges, “Hell or High Water
Lucas Hedges, “Manchester by the Sea
Dev Patel, “Lion
Michael Shannon, “Nocturnal Animals

Supporting Actress:
Viola Davis, “Fences
Naomie Harris, “Moonlight
Nicole Kidman, “Lion
Octavia Spencer, “Hidden Figures
Michelle Williams, “Manchester by the Sea

Best Director:
La La Land, Damien Chazelle
Hacksaw Ridge, Mel Gibson
Moonlight, Barry Jenkins
Manchester by the Sea, Kenneth Lonergan
Arrival, Denis Villeneuve

Animated Feature:
Kubo and the Two Strings, Travis Knight and Arianne Sutner
Moana, John Musker, Ron Clements and Osnat Shurer
My Life as a Zucchini, Claude Barras and Max Karli
The Red Turtle, Michael Dudok de Wit and Toshio Suzuki
Zootopia, Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Clark Spencer

Animated Short:
Blind Vaysha, Theodore Ushev
Borrowed Time, Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj
Pear Cider and Cigarettes, Robert Valley and Cara Speller
Pearl, Patrick Osborne
Piper, Alan Barillaro and Marc Sondheimer

Adapted Screenplay:
Arrival, Eric Heisserer
Fences, August Wilson
Hidden Figures, Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi
Lion, Luke Davies
Moonlight, Barry Jenkins; Story by Tarell Alvin McCraney

Original Screenplay:
20th Century Women, Mike Mills
Hell or High Water, Taylor Sheridan
La La Land, Damien Chazelle
The Lobster, Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthimis Filippou
Manchester by the Sea, Kenneth Lonergan

Cinematography:
Arrival, Bradford Young
La La Land, Linus Sandgren
Lion, Greig Fraser
Moonlight, James Laxton
Silence, Rodrigo Prieto

Best Documentary Feature:
13th, Ava DuVernay, Spencer Averick and Howard Barish
Fire at Sea, Gianfranco Rosi and Donatella Palermo
I Am Not Your Negro, Raoul Peck, Remi Grellety and Hebert Peck
Life, Animated, Roger Ross Williams and Julie Goldman
O.J.: Made in America, Ezra Edelman and Caroline Waterlow

Best Documentary Short Subject:
4.1 Miles, Daphne Matziaraki
Extremis, Dan Krauss
Joe’s Violin, Kahane Cooperman and Raphaela Neihausen
Watani: My Homeland, Marcel Mettelsiefen and Stephen Ellis
The White Helmets, Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara

Best Live Action Short Film:
Ennemis Interieurs, Selim Azzazi
La Femme et le TGV, Timo von Gunten and Giacun Caduff
Silent Nights, Aske Bang and Kim Magnusson
Sing, Kristof Deak and Anna Udvardy
Timecode, Juanjo Gimenez

Best Foreign language film:
A Man Called Ove, Sweden
Land of Mine, Denmark
Tanna, Australia
The Salesman, Iran
Toni Erdmann, Germany

Film Editing:
Arrival, Joe Walker
Hacksaw Ridge, John Gilbert
Hell or High Water, Jake Roberts
La La Land, Tom Cross
Moonlight, Nat Sanders and Joi McMillon

Sound Editing:
Arrival, Sylvain Bellemare
Deep Water Horizon, Wylie Stateman and Renee Tondelli
Hacksaw Ridge, Robert Mackenzie and Andy Wright
La La Land, Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan
Sully, Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman

Sound Mixing:
Arrival, Bernard Gariepy Strobl and Claude La Haye
Hacksaw Ridge, Kevin O’Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie and Peter Grace
La La Land, Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee and Steve A. Morrow
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, David Parker, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Mac Ruth

Production Design:
Arrival, Patrice Vermette, Paul Hotte
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Stuart Craig, Anna Pinnock
Hail, Caesar!, Jess Gonchor, Nancy Haigh
La La Land, David Wasco, Sandy Reynolds-Wasco
Passengers, Guy Hendrix Dyas, Gene Serdena

Original Score:
Jackie, Mica Levi
La La Land, Justin Hurwitz
Lion, Dustin O’Halloran and Hauschka
Moonlight, Nicholas Britell
Passengers, Thomas Newman

Original Song:
Audition (The Fools Who Dream), “La La Land — Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
Can’t Stop the Feeling, “Trolls — Music and Lyric by Justin Timberlake, Max Martin and Karl Johan Schuster
City of Stars, “La La Land — Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
The Empty Chair, “Jim: The James Foley Stor — Music and Lyric by J. Ralph and Sting
How Far I’ll Go, “Moana — Music and Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda

Makeup and Hair:
A Man Called Ove, Eva von Bahr and Love Larson
Star Trek Beyond, Joel Harlow and Richard Alonzo
Suicide Squad, Alessandro Bertolazzi, Giorgio Gregorini and Christopher Nelson

Costume Design:
Allied, Joanna Johnston
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Colleen Atwood
Florence Foster Jenkins, Consolata Boyle
Jackie, Madeline Fontaine
La La Land, Mary Zophres

Visual Effects:
Deepwater Horizon, Craig Hammack, Jason Snell, Jason Billington and Burt Dalton
Doctor Strange, Stephane Ceretti, Richard Bluff, Vincent Cirelli and Paul Corbould
The Jungle Book, Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Dan Lemmon
Kubo and the Two Strings, Steve Emerson, Oliver Jones, Brian McLean and Brad Schiff
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, John Knoll, Mohen Leo, Hal Hickel and Neil Corbould

[eobversion1]

Great stuff Mafwanix, very solid set of nominations all around. Delighted for Ruth Negga, she has had a sensational year and is a wonderful talent.

Disappointed that there was no original score nomination for Abel Korzeniowski's work on Nocturnal Animals. An exquisitely arranged throughout, I can't fathom why it was snubbed in favour of more tepid selections. The overpraise for Hacksaw Ridge is another thing that leaves me scratching my head over.

It looks like La La Land is poised to sweep up a lot of awards. A tidal wave of momentum.

Would like to see Manchester by the Sea win screenplay, that was an expertly written movie that allowed the performances to shine which is something you don't see often.

[Big slim]

I'm pulling for both Hidden Figures and Fences. I think Viola Davis will finally get the gold dude this year, but knowing how the Academy can be, the 3 black actresses could split the vote and end up giving the win to Michelle Williams or Nicole Kidman.

Zootopia should pick up the Best Animated trophy, although I still have to check it out. I wouldn't hate Moana getting the win either.

The Best Actor race should be interesting. Ryan Gosling and Casey Affleck would be my front runners, but after the last 2 years I wouldn't be stunned if they gave Denzel another win.

Mahershala Ali and Michael Shannon are who I'm pulling for in the Supporting actor race, but I feel Jeff Bridges might get it.

[eobversion1]

I'm fairly certain Viola Davis & Mahershala Ali will win supporting and Casey Affleck will win best actor. Moonlight could nab cinematography and Manchester by the Sea could win screenplay, other than that I'd say we could be in for a La La Land sweep.

[Mafwanix]

As usual, I have yet to see most all these films.
Historically, the academy loves musicals (remember Chicago?), so a sweep by La La Land may be likely.

[eobversion1]

La La Land is so incredibly in a different league to musicals that have been rewarded in the past like Chicago and The Artist, but you're right historically they do go for the movie that's more in the vein of a celebration of artists and La La Land is very much that movie so I would expect them to swoon hard for it.

[BioticZombie]

La La Land is easily nabbing a lot of awards this year. It's such a big spectacle to behold on the big screen, I can't recommend it enough to anyone who hasn't seen it. That being said, I feel like its biggest competitor is easily Moonlight.

I think Ryan Gosling wins Best Actor against Casey Affleck. Manchester by the Sea is brutal, but nobody else in that film holds a candle to Michelle Williams' performance. Haven't seen much else for the Oscars but those are my predictions so far.

[eobversion1]

Yeah, to each their own, I think Manchester by the Sea is a lock for Casey Affleck and possibly screenplay. I thought it was just great. Mahershala Ali will likely win supporting actor, after that it's a matter of how many awards La La Land will take home.

[BioticZombie]

Don't get me wrong. Affleck's performance was easily better than Goslings, so he was my frontrunner but he has some media scrutiny right now that would probably have the Academy resist from awarding him.

I want Gosling to win, because he really is just my favorite actor on the list, but I'm thinking he'll win with La La Land's momentum and whatever holds Affleck back.

[eobversion1]

I see, the court of public opinion is weird in that regard. Affleck's case isn't as cut and dry as a Roman Polanski or a Mel Gibson but I still think that the art should be judged and not the artist, they're independent of each other but at the same time the man himself will receive the award, so there's that.

As for who gets it, I don't really mind, both men did good work on their respective films, everything else is irrelevant.

[stigsyv1]

Andrew Garfield for best actor and either Ruth negga or emma stone for best actress

[eobversion1]

Aye, it seems Denzel has possibly become the frontrunner in best actor with his SAG award win last night.

[BioticZombie]

I saw Moonlight last Saturday, and at first the bold choices this film takes to show a different narrative didn't satisfy me at first. But after some days, the film definitely has resonated with me. It's well shot, it's well acted (2/3's of this movie has child actors too) and the overall message of the film really just sticks.

Definitely deserves two viewings if you decide to check this one out. I think Moonlight is La La Land's biggest challenger to Best Picture winner.

I want to throw my opinion here on the animation. Last year it was easy to see the Academy does not take animation too seriously seeing as Inside Out was chosen over a brilliant and depressing Charlie Kaufman written story in Anomalisa. But Zootopia is obviously going to take the win this year. I have no reason to watch Zootopia twice, but I appreciated what I watched the first time. Moana is also solid, but the one "good" film people probably slept on was Kubo and the Two Strings.

If you know Laika (studio responsible for the likes Coraline, Paranorman) you can probably expect beautiful animation and I just want to say Kubo and the Two Strings is their most stunning work so far. The story really lacks though, and I can't really recommend this one beyond the crazy visuals. I haven't seen My Life as a Zucchini but from the trailer it looks like the opposite Kubo: a way more grounded story but with boring visuals.

[eobversion1]

I really liked Kubo too, a wonderfully designed and unique piece of animation.

I loved Moonlight up until the third act when I felt that everything it had going for it stopped in it's tracks. That last shot, though.

[Big slim]

Denzel winning would anger me in the least. I have to find a way to see Kubo soon, it looked amazing and I've heard tons of praise for it.

[stigsyv1]

I don't know wether it's me over thinking or reading into the nominations but the whole list this year looks very ethnic compared to last few years.

[eobversion1]

That's what it's about having a diversity of choice in quality cinema offerings. I just wish that every one of these films weren't released in the same December/January window. Would give Academy members more time to make considered choices and would give cinema goers more of a choice during the year.

[Big slim]

True, but people do have short memories. MatPat from Film Theory (and the guy behind Game Theory) actually did a pretty interesting video about the voting habits and such for Academy members come award season and one last year on predicting the acting winners. Pretty good and interesting watches.

[Mafwanix]

A quick look at the Best Picture nominees:

[eobversion1]

Nice video, Honest Trailers definitely aren't what they used to be but they're an ok watch every now and then. I feel the same about Red Letter Media. It's fun for a while but inevitably they lose touch with what made them popular in the first place.