My Oscar Predictions List

As above, this is my list of Oscar (2017) predictions. I will give you a 'Most Likely to Win' as well as a 'Hope Will Win' from the nominations.

Here we go, now I will say I didn't see ALL of the films that were nominated however I have seen 7 of 9 best picture nominees. I'm not going to jump to conclusions on the ones I haven't seen and I will only give my professional opinion.

I am only going to do the:

'Best Picture' / 'Best Actor' / 'Best Actress' / 'Best Cinematography' / 'Best Director' / 'Best Score/Original Song' /

and maybe one or two more, depending on how long it takes me to get through the majority of this list.

'BEST PICTURE'

And the nominees are... Arrival / Fences / Hacksaw Ridge / Hell or High Water / Hidden Figures / La La Land / Lion / Manchester by the Sea / Moonlight.

The film or films that are most likely to win I believe is between 'Fences' (I really hope doesn't win) 'Moonlight (I'm in the middle of honestly, Oscar bait but I don't think worthy of the title of Best Picture) and 'Manchester by the Sea' (Very slow, but the academy loves these types of films.)

The film I hope wins it is 'Arrival' or 'La La Land' these were both excellent in story as well as cast. I think Arrival deserves it more considering the director Dennis Villeneuve who to me is one of the best working directors out there right now, his work on 2013's 'Prisoners' makes one of my favorite films ever made, his follow up big feature 'Sicario' was another tense thought provoking thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. HOWEVER... When you are against an original film musical directed by the director of Whiplash... That's a really tough fight.

BEST ACTOR

The nominees are...

Casey Affleck, “Manchester by the Sea” / Andrew Garfield, “Hacksaw Ridge” / Ryan Gosling, “La La Land” / Viggo Mortensen, “Captain Fantastic” / Denzel Washington, “Fences”

I really really hope Denzel doesn't win... Honestly I didn't like Fences one bit other than Viola Davis.. I was supremely let down...

Most likely to win... Casey Affleck. His performance was dark, depressing, and mysterious, An average guy who has seen a lot of dark times. He is the biggest reason to watch this film, and honestly I think he's a much better actor that his older brother, even though I love Ben Affleck. However Andrew Garfield is absolutely astounding in 'Hacksaw Ridge'.

Most hopeful to win... Viggo Mortensen. This guy is unrealistically wonderful in this film. I am so happy this film even got this nomination considering how independent it is. He is a highlight in a film full of highlights, it's hard to carry a film and he does it even when he doesn't have to. Seriously if he wins I will be cheering.

BEST ACTRESS

The Nominees... Isabelle Huppert, “Elle" / Ruth Negga, “Loving” / Natalie Portman, “Jackie” / Emma Stone, “La La Land” / Meryl Streep, “Florence Foster Jenkins”

Most likely to win... Please for the love of God... No Meryl Streep again.. She's supremely talented but she is so over-rated. I love her and she's amazing, but not again. Also Natalie Portman. OUTSTANDING.

Most hopeful... EMMA STONE. I loved her so much in 'La La Land' and she played such a real character. If anyone deserves to win after this role, her singing, and her skills alone... My favor goes to Emma Stone.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

'Arrival' Bradford Young / 'La La Land' Linus Sandgren / 'Lion' Greig Fraser / 'Moonlight' James Laxton / 'Silence' Rodrigo Prieto

This is one of my favorite categories... Duh. I've been rooting for Roger Deakins to win for years, but of course the year he's not really filmed anything is the same year that Emmanuel Lubezki isn't in the running either (His biggest competition). So I won't feel bad for who I want to win this year...

Most likely to win... Rodrigo Prieto for 'Silence' this martin scorsese film is a definite art piece and he's probably super pissed it wasn't nominated for Best Picture... but it wasn't that good... But the cinematography is some of the most beautiful I've ever seen captured. The landscapes, the naturalistic lighting, it worked wonders.

My hopeful winner... Bradford Young for his work on 'Arrival' this is what happens when your director asks for you to mimic the workings of Roger Deakins... Honestly the style is so much like Deakins it's unreal, which I maybe should be upset with... But I'm not, people borrow other people's style for shooting all the time. Maybe this guy will win the oscar instead of just a nomination.

BEST SCORE

And the nominees are.... Just kidding lets get this over with and give it to 'La La Land'. or 'Moonlight' maybe... and 'Original Song' yeah 'City of Stars' definitely deserves the statue.

BEST DIRECTOR

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

Okay... so we should change things up here.

Most likely to win... It's a toss up honestly between Barry Jenkins, Damien Chazelle, and Kenneth Lonergan.

However.. Based on difficulty alone.. This comes down to Denis Villeneuve, Damien Chazelle, and Mel Gibson. There's been a TON of films made just like 'Moonlight' / 'Manchester by the Sea'. Just happy to not see Denzel's name on this list for literally going verbatim from the stage play.

I hope to see a win for Denis Villeneuve, he's done such amazing work in the last couple years, it's just nice to see him noticed for a change. But I won't be the least bit upset if Damien Chazelle wins the award he had a really tough job putting that screenplay on screen.

So there it is, a list of a few of the awards I'll be watching carefully on the 89th Oscar night, February 26th 2017. Tune in on whatever station it's on.

Thanks for reading and I hope you liked it!