2015 was a disaster (6-5) but last year was a lot better (9-2.) Heck, I even picked the winner for Best Foreign Language Film (Son of Saul!) The 89th annual Academy Awards could be the hardest one to predict in years; but I'm suddenly confident again. Time to build on my (cough... impressive) 64-13 record since 2010. And the winners "are"...
Best Picture: La La Land. 14 total nominations. Enough said.
Best Actor: Denzel Washington, Fences. Talk about a horse race. This could easily go to Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea) but I'm banking on Denzel to walk away with a (well-deserved) third Oscar.
Best Actress: Emma Stone, La La Land. Am I the only one who thinks this is a weak field? That said, Stone performed well (certainly tons better than fellow nominee Natalie Portman in Jackie.)
Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali, Moonlight. Dev Patel (Lion) is lurking in the background, courtesy of his BAFTA win; but that's England. I'll take Ali stateside.
Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis, Fences. Not even close. Bet the house on it.
Best Director: Damien Chazelle, La La Land. Could Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) sneak in? Maybe, but I'm betting on the La La Land freight train to run over its competition once again.
Best Animated Feature: Zootopia. I didn't see any of the nominees, so (honestly) who cares?
Best Cinematography: La La Land. It starts off strong, and keeps wowing to the very end.
Best Foreign Language Film: The Salesman. Park Chan-wook's The Handmaiden deserves to win (hands down) but it didn't even get a nomination. Toni Erdmann was the early favorite, but I'm thinking the Academy chooses Iran's The Salesman as a not-so-subtle poke at President Trump.
Best Adapted Screenplay: Call Me by Your Name. A lot of people think Moonlight could win Best Picture. I don't. Best Adapted Screenplay makes a strong "consolation prize."
Best Original Screenplay: Manchester by the Sea. Don't be surprised if La La Land wins this one too, but Manchester by the Sea has to win something (especially if Affleck loses Best Actor to Denzel.)
