Oscar Nominations 2017

So I took it upon myself to watch as many of the Oscar nominees as were legal (no torrents) and available (smack-dab in Iowa) to me. I didn’t manage all of them--the foreign films were especially tricky, but I did pretty well, I think.

Since I’ve started to write mini-reviews of movies, I won’t go into detail here. But here are the nominees. Bold indicates my pick for the category, and italics indicates I didn’t see the film in question.

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

Best Director
Denis Villeneuve (Arrival)
Mel Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge)
Damien Chazelle (La La Land)
Kenneth Longergan (Manchester by the Sea)
Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

Best Actor
Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)
Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge)
Ryan Gosling (La La Land)
Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic)
Denzel Washington (Fences)

Best Actress
Isabelle Huppert (Elle)
Natalie Portman (Jackie)
Emma Stone (La La Land)
Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins)
Ruth Negga (Loving)

I remain offended that Emma Stone and Meryl Streep made the list; Annette Bening (20th Century Women) and Amy Adams (Arrival) were both more impressive.

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

Best Supporting Actress
Viola Davis (Fences)
Naomie Harris (Moonlight)
Nicole Kidman (Lion)
Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures)
Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea)

Best Original Screenplay
Hell or High Water
La La Land
The Lobster
Manchester by the Sea
20th Century Women

Best Adapted Screenplay
Arrival
Fences
Hidden Figures
Moonlight
Lion

Best Foreign Film
Land of Mine (Denmark)
A Man Called Ove (Sweden)
Tanna (Australia)
The Salesman (Iran)
Toni Erdmann (Germany)

It’s A Man Called Ove by default, really, but it was a decent movie that I enjoyed.

Best Documentary Feature
Fire at Sea
I Am Not Your Negro
Life, Animated
OJ: Made in America (I watched the first part, but haven’t yet seen the second and third)
13th

Best Animated Feature
Kubo and the Two Strings
Moana
My Life as a Zucchini
The Red Turtle
Zootopia

Best Film Editing
Arrival
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
La La Land
Moonlight

Best Original Song
“How Far I’ll Go,” Moana
“City of Stars,” La La Land
“Audition (The Fools Who Dream),” La La Land
“Can’t Stop the Feeling!,” Trolls (Didn’t watch the film, but we’ve all heard the song)
“The Empty Chair,” Jim: The James Foley Story (Didn’t watch the film, but listened to the song)

Just give Lin-Manuel Miranda his Oscar already.

Best Original Score
La La Land
Moonlight
Lion
Jackie
Passengers

Best Visual Effects
Deepwater Horizon
Dr. Strange
The Jungle Book
Kubo and the Two Strings
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Best Cinematography
Arrival
La La Land
Lion
Moonlight
Silence

Best Costume Design
Allied
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Florence Foster Jenkins
Jackie
La La Land

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
A Man Called Ove
Star Trek Beyond
Suicide Squad

Best Production Design
La La Land
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Arrival
Hail Caesar
Passengers

Best Sound Editing
Arrival
Deepwater Horizon
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Sully

Best Sound Mixing
Arrival
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Thirteen Hours

Best Short Film, Live Action
Timecode
Sing
Silent Nights
Ennemis Interieurs
La Femme et le TGV

Best Short Film, Animated
Piper
Borrowed Time
Pear Cider and Cigarettes
Blind Vashya
Pearl

Best Documentary Short Subject
Extremis
4.1 Miles
Joe’s Violin
Wantani: My Homeland
The White Helmets