![\"\"](\"http:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/academy-awards.jpg\" "\\"academy-awards\\"")
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The nominations for the 89th<\/sup> Academy Awards were announced this past Tuesday. I was reasonably happy with them, though I wish the Academy would have shown some love to Martin Scorsese\u2019s underappreciated \u201cSilence.\u201d Here are my thoughts on ten major categories, who I want to win, who I think will win, and in some cases who\u2019s so sure to win that a lot of analysis isn\u2019t necessary. Sadly, that\u2019s true of many of the major categories, and it\u2019s the lesser ones that inspire the most debate.<\/p>\n(Note: I tried to see as many of these movies as I could, but a few slipped through my fingers. Those films are marked with a star, though I don\u2019t think any of them have enough momentum to be taken seriously in their respective categories)<\/p>\n
Best Picture<\/p>\n
\u201cArrival\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFences\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHacksaw Ridge\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHell or High Water\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHidden Figures\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLa La Land\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLion\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cManchester by the Sea\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMoonlight\u201d<\/p>\n
The Academy didn\u2019t nominate \u201cLa La Land\u201d for 14 awards just so they could give Best Picture to something else. It\u2019s sure to win.<\/p>\n
Best Director<\/p>\n
Denis Villeneuve, \u201cArrival\u201d<\/p>\n
Mel Gibson, \u201cHacksaw Ridge\u201d<\/p>\n
Damien Chazelle, \u201cLa La Land\u201d<\/p>\n
Kenneth Lonergan, \u201cManchester by the Sea\u201d<\/p>\n
Barry Jenkins, \u201cMoonlight\u201d<\/p>\n
If I had my way, Best Picture and Best Director would always match up. It doesn\u2019t always work out that way, but I still expect Chazelle to win.<\/p>\n
Best Actor<\/p>\n
Casey Affleck, \u201cManchester by the Sea\u201d<\/p>\n
Andrew Garfield, \u201cHacksaw Ridge\u201d<\/p>\n
Ryan Gosling, \u201cLa La Land\u201d<\/p>\n
Viggo Mortensen, \u201cCaptain Fantastic\u201d<\/p>\n
Denzel Washington, \u201cFences\u201d<\/p>\n
If there\u2019s one award that\u2019s locked up tighter than \u201cLa La Land\u201d for Best Picture, it\u2019s Casey Affleck winning Best Actor for playing possibly the most haunted character in cinematic history.<\/p>\n
Best Actress<\/p>\n
Isabelle Huppert, \u201cElle\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruth Negga, \u201cLoving\u201d<\/p>\n
Natalie Portman, \u201cJackie\u201d<\/p>\n
Emma Stone, \u201cLa La Land\u201d<\/p>\n
Meryl Streep, \u201cFlorence Foster Jenkins\u201d<\/p>\n
It seems like everybody has taken a turn at being the favorite for this category throughout awards season. The Academy tends to reward portrayals of powerful historical figures, so my prediction leans toward Portman, followed by Stone because of all the \u201cLa La Land\u201d love, but the other three aren\u2019t as unlikely as less-likely nominees in other categories.<\/p>\n
Best Supporting Actor<\/p>\n
Mahershala Ali, \u201cMoonlight\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeff Bridges, \u201cHell or High Water\u201d<\/p>\n
Lucas Hedges, \u201cManchester by the Sea\u201d<\/p>\n
Dev Patel, \u201cLion\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael Shannon, \u201cNocturnal Animals\u201d<\/p>\n
I was thrilled to see Michael Shannon score a surprise nomination. He was by far the best thing about \u201cNocturnal Animals\u201d and I was genuinely perplexed that his non-nominated co-star Aaron Taylor-Johnson (a terrifying villain, but a bit one-note) had been getting all the awards season spotlight up to this point. But he isn\u2019t winning an Oscar for a film that clearly turned off a lot of voters. I expect it to go to Ali, who makes the most of his alarmingly brief performance.<\/p>\n
Best Supporting Actress<\/p>\n
Viola Davis, \u201cFences\u201d<\/p>\n
Naomie Harris, \u201cMoonlight\u201d<\/p>\n
Nicole Kidman, \u201cLion\u201d<\/p>\n
Octavia Spencer, \u201cHidden Figures\u201d<\/p>\n
Michelle Williams, \u201cManchester by the Sea\u201d<\/p>\n
Davis is the favorite here because she\u2019s been pushed harder, she has a hit TV show, and this marks a record-breaking third nomination for an African-American actress. As thrilling as it would be to see her win, I\u2019m inclined to go with Harris, the only player from the outstanding ensemble of \u201cMoonlight\u201d to pull triple duty and appear in all three phases of the film.<\/p>\n
Best Original Screenplay<\/p>\n
\u201cHell or High Water\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLa La Land\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Lobster\u201d*<\/p>\n
\u201cManchester by the Sea\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c20th<\/sup> Century Women\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cManchester by the Sea\u201d is effortlessly one of the funniest films of the year and, more notoriously, one of the saddest. \u201cLa La Land,\u201d while far from the vapid fluff piece some people dismiss it as, just doesn\u2019t take the same pains in developing its characters. I wouldn\u2019t even say \u201cLa La Land\u201d is my second choice here, that would be \u201cHell or High Water.\u201d I\u2019m really passionate about \u201cManchester\u201d on this one.<\/p>\n Best Adapted Screenplay<\/p>\n \u201cArrival\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFences\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHidden Figures\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLion\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMoonlight\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMoonlight\u201d is my favorite kind of adapted screenplay, the kind where everybody sounds so natural that it doesn\u2019t sound like there\u2019s a screenplay at all, let alone an adapted one. Easy choice \u2013 \u201cMoonlight.\u201d<\/p>\n Best Animated Feature<\/p>\n \u201cKubo and the Two Strings\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMoana\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy Life as a Zucchini\u201d*<\/p>\n \u201cThe Red Turtle\u201d*<\/p>\n \u201cZootopia\u201d<\/p>\n So the Academy found room for not one but two movies that haven\u2019t played on more than 15 screens in the U.S., but they didn\u2019t have room for \u201cFinding Dory?\u201d Fine, I\u2019ll go with one of the other Disney movies. I\u2019d be perfectly happy with \u201cZootopia,\u201d but I\u2019ll give the edge to \u201cMoana\u201d because of the songs.<\/p>\n Best Original Song<\/p>\n \u201cAudition (The Fools Who Dream),\u201d \u201cLa La Land\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCan\u2019t Stop the Feeling,\u201d \u201cTrolls\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCity of Stars,\u201d \u201cLa La Land\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Empty Chair,\u201d \u201cJim: The James Foley Story\u201d*<\/p>\n \u201cHow Far I\u2019ll Go,\u201d \u201cMoana\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking of the songs from \u201cMoana,\u201d I\u2019d love to see \u201cHow Far I\u2019ll Go\u201d win here. It\u2019s super-catchy and it would make Lin-Manuel Miranda the youngest EGOT winner ever. But I just don\u2019t see it. The song hasn\u2019t caught on the way I thought it would, and \u201cLa La Land\u201d prides itself on being a musical so much that to lose in this category would be an embarrassment. The question is which of the two nominated songs will actually win? \u201cCity of Stars\u201d is constantly present in the film, whereas \u201cAudition\u201d makes for a spellbinding single scene. I\u2019ll give it to \u201cAudition,\u201d but it\u2019s close. Maybe the two \u201cLa La Land\u201d songs can cancel each other out and \u201cHow Far I\u2019ll Go\u201d can sneak in a win. But probably not.<\/p>\n The 89th<\/sup> Academy Awards air Sunday, February 26th<\/sup> at 7 pm Eastern\/4pm Pacific on ABC.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Bob Garver \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The nominations for the 89th Academy Awards were announced this past Tuesday. I was reasonably happy with them, though I wish the Academy would have shown… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":42554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42553"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42553\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}