>ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
>NOMINEES
>CASEY AFFLECK
>Manchester by the Sea
>ANDREW GARFIELD
>Hacksaw Ridge
>RYAN GOSLING
>La La Land
>VIGGO MORTENSEN
>Captain Fantastic
>DENZEL WASHINGTON
>Fences

I'm incredibly behind on some of these films but I probably like Denzel's portrayal in Fences as much as Training Day in the sense that his performance definitely has Oscar written all over it. I'm glad to see Ryan Gosling finally get a nod since he's been killing roles for years. I didn't know so many people were feeling Hacksaw Ridge and Andrew Garfield on this level. I thought he was decent. I'm glad to see Viggo. Sucks that there wasn't a traditional lead in Moonlight because I would've loved to see a nod go to any of those three guys.

>ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
>NOMINEES
>MAHERSHALA ALI
>Moonlight
>JEFF BRIDGES
>Hell or High Water
>LUCAS HEDGES
>Manchester by the Sea
>DEV PATEL
>Lion
>MICHAEL SHANNON
>Nocturnal Animals
>

Mahershala Ali totally killed every role he had last year on sight and should win for Moonlight, his best role of the year. Of course, Jeff Bridges and Michael Shannon are in here and I could see votes going to them because they are awesome actors too.

>ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
>NOMINEES
>ISABELLE HUPPERT
>Elle
>RUTH NEGGA
>Loving
>NATALIE PORTMAN
>Jackie
>EMMA STONE
>La La Land
>MERYL STREEP
>Florence Foster Jenkins
>

I really think the voters throw Meryl's name in to make up for not seeing enough films with female leads. After seeing the nominees, I kinda hate that Viola Davis was submitted for Supporting instead of Lead. SN: Loving didn't get a lot of love from voters. I haven't seen Jackie but I could look at the trailer and assume that that film was built for this. And no Amy Adams? Okay.

>ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
>NOMINEES
>VIOLA DAVIS
>Fences
>NAOMIE HARRIS
>Moonlight
>NICOLE KIDMAN
>Lion
>OCTAVIA SPENCER
>Hidden Figures
>MICHELLE WILLIAMS
>Manchester by the Sea
>

This is Viola's award. Everyone knows it. They are only nominees because there has to be other nominees. Viola gave the best performance of the year. Better than anyone. I could see someone saying she was doing the most at times with the snottery and all in that one scene....but so did Leo. And Meryl. And a whole bunch of award-winners. I'm glad that the Academy didn't forget Naomie Harris. Her performance was great.

>ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
>NOMINEES
>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
>

Kubo's dope. Zootopia's dope. My brother's been tripping on me for not seeing Moana. Without Finding Dory in the running I think Kubo could take it.

>CINEMATOGRAPHY
>NOMINEES
>ARRIVAL
>Bradford Young
>LA LA LAND
>Linus Sandgren
>LION
>Greig Fraser
>MOONLIGHT
>James Laxton
>SILENCE
>Rodrigo Prieto
>

Bradford Young! I'm glad he was nominated. Moonlight and Silence certainly earned their nods. I didn't really study the other films that hard. And Natasha Braier got snubbed for her amazing work because The Neon Demon was trash.

>COSTUME DESIGN
>NOMINEES
>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
>

No comment.


>DIRECTING
>NOMINEES
>ARRIVAL
>Denis Villeneuve
>HACKSAW RIDGE
>Mel Gibson
>LA LA LAND
>Damien Chazelle
>MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
>Kenneth Lonergan
>MOONLIGHT
>Barry Jenkins
>

Mel's the surprise to me. I thought Hacksaw was good but not great. Spielberg pretty much stole all the thunder on WW2 films. Every WW2 film after Saving Private Ryan is a stepson. Denis finally got a nod. I really want Barry Jenkins to take this award home but the Academy might not swing his way. I think this category will determine the winner of Best Picture.

>DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)
>NOMINEES
>FIRE AT SEA
>Gianfranco Rosi and Donatella Palermo
>I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO
>Raoul Peck, Rémi Grellety and Hébert Peck
>LIFE, ANIMATED
>Roger Ross Williams and Julie Goldman
>O.J.: MADE IN AMERICA
>Ezra Edelman and Caroline Waterlow
>13TH
>Ava DuVernay, Spencer Averick and Howard Barish
>

I think the Academy could make up for those Selma snubs here with an Ava win. The feeling I had after 13th ended reminded me of 4 Little Girls and When the Creek Rises....absolutely devastated. The fact that she quality material out of people from all angles (like Newt Gingrich) was great. I hope she makes more documentaries. I'm still catching up on a couple other nominees.

>DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)
>NOMINEES
>EXTREMIS
>Dan Krauss
>4.1 MILES
>Daphne Matziaraki
>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
>
haven't seen any of these. I'm interested in The White Helmets. The 60 minutes piece on them covered quite a bit and I want to know more.


>FILM EDITING
>NOMINEES
>ARRIVAL
>Joe Walker
>HACKSAW RIDGE
>John Gilbert
>HELL OR HIGH WATER
>Jake Roberts
>LA LA LAND
>Tom Cross
>MOONLIGHT
>Nat Sanders and Joi McMillon
>

no comment yet.

>FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
>NOMINEES
>LAND OF MINE
>Denmark
>A MAN CALLED OVE
>Sweden
>THE SALESMAN
>Iran
>TANNA
>Australia
>TONI ERDMANN
>Germany
>

I guess the Academy ain't got no love for The Handmaiden. I get that Chan-Wook Park can get out there but that film is so good.

>MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
>NOMINEES
>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
>

Star Trek.

>MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
>NOMINEES
>JACKIE
>Mica Levi
>LA LA LAND
>Justin Hurwitz
>LION
>Dustin O'Halloran and Hauschka
>MOONLIGHT
>Nicholas Britell
>PASSENGERS
>Thomas Newman
>

Moonlight so far....but I really need to hear Jackie's score before I go with that pick.

>MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
>NOMINEES
>AUDITION (THE FOOLS WHO DREAM)
>from La La Land; Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek
>and Justin Paul
>CAN'T STOP THE FEELING
>from Trolls; Music and Lyric by Justin Timberlake, Max Martin
>and Karl Johan Schuster
>CITY OF STARS
>from La La Land; Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek
>and Justin Paul
>THE EMPTY CHAIR
>from Jim: The James Foley Story; Music and Lyric by J. Ralph
>and Sting
>HOW FAR I'LL GO
>from Moana; Music and Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda
>

no comment this year.

>BEST PICTURE
>NOMINEES
>ARRIVAL
>Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, Aaron Ryder and David Linde,
>Producers
>FENCES
>Scott Rudin, Denzel Washington and Todd Black, Producers
>HACKSAW RIDGE
>Bill Mechanic and David Permut, Producers
>HELL OR HIGH WATER
>Carla Hacken and Julie Yorn, Producers
>HIDDEN FIGURES
>Donna Gigliotti, Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, Pharrell
>Williams and Theodore Melfi, Producers
>LA LA LAND
>Fred Berger, Jordan Horowitz and Marc Platt, Producers
>LION
>Emile Sherman, Iain Canning and Angie Fielder, Producers
>MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
>Matt Damon, Kimberly Steward, Chris Moore, Lauren Beck and
>Kevin J. Walsh, Producers
>MOONLIGHT
>Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Producers
>

I still hate that this category can have up to 10 nominees. The Academy is only doing that because they need to keep the show's ratings up by nominating popular films. There aren't any real surprises on the list. Moonlight was the consensus pick but something tells me that La La Land is going to be aggressively pushed on voters to the point that it takes enough votes.

>PRODUCTION DESIGN
>NOMINEES
>ARRIVAL
>Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Paul
>Hotte
>FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM
>Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
>HAIL, CAESAR!
>Production Design: Jess Gonchor; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
>LA LA LAND
>Production Design: David Wasco; Set Decoration: Sandy
>Reynolds-Wasco
>PASSENGERS
>Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas; Set Decoration: Gene
>Serdena
>

Production Design doesn't always grab my attention like some people. Having said that, when I see a film with great production design, I can't ignore it. Terry Gilliam films take the cake in that department for me. I cant comment on these nominees to hard other than the fact that Fantastic Beasts was recognized there.


>SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
>NOMINEES
>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
>

cant comment yet


>SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
>NOMINEES
>ENNEMIS INTÉRIEURS
>Sélim Azzazi
>LA FEMME ET LE TGV
>Timo von Gunten and Giacun Caduff
>SILENT NIGHTS
>Aske Bang and Kim Magnusson
>SING
>Kristof Deák and Anna Udvardy
>TIMECODE
>Juanjo Giménez
>

cant comment yet

>SOUND EDITING
>NOMINEES
>ARRIVAL
>Sylvain Bellemare
>DEEPWATER HORIZON
>Wylie Stateman and Renée 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
>

can't fully comment on this other than the fact that I did like the sound work in Hacksaw Ridge. That film may have the advantage since it's a war film and war films tend to do well in the sound department.

>SOUND MIXING
>NOMINEES
>ARRIVAL
>Bernard Gariépy 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
>

13 Hours is an overlong film but that sound was mixed very well. Almost at Black Hawk Down levels. Of course Star Wars and Hacksaw Ridge were good in this department too.

>VISUAL EFFECTS
>NOMINEES
>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
>

Kubo deserves this win for the simple fact that I watched a video of Laika making just a few frames of one shot in this film and I was exhausted. These guys arent just filmmakers, they are brilliant craftsmen. Having said that, this category has some great contenders, namely The Jungle Book.

>WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
>NOMINEES
>ARRIVAL
>Screenplay by Eric Heisserer
>FENCES
>Screenplay by August Wilson
>HIDDEN FIGURES
>Screenplay by Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi
>LION
>Screenplay by Luke Davies
>MOONLIGHT
>Screenplay by Barry Jenkins; Story by Tarell Alvin McCraney
>

August Wilson! I remember people saying that Denzel would have to add on to the screenplay because Fences was virtually unfilmable. Wrong.

>WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
>NOMINEES
>HELL OR HIGH WATER
>Written by Taylor Sheridan
>LA LA LAND
>Written by Damien Chazelle
>THE LOBSTER
>Written by Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthimis Filippou
>MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
>Written by Kenneth Lonergan
>20TH CENTURY WOMEN
>Written by Mike Mills

The Lobster is a huge surprise. I thought the Academy was totally overlooking that movie. This category usually one of my favorites because there's usually a couple of nominees here that should've been up for best picture. Of the nominees, I really like Hell and High Water.

---------------------------------------


---------------------------------------