[Editorial] Predictions For The 89th Academy Awards (2017)

Fortune has smiled a little on me because I have managed to catch a few more nominated movies over the last few weeks. La La Land and Hacksaw Ridge came to town and traveling to Bangkok I managed to catch Lion, and La La Land for the second time.

Unfortunately Hidden Figures is opening this week so I won't be able to catch it before the awards go down.

Still, I like to make my predictions, just for the fun of it. I wouldn't put money on my guesses.

Also, I still haven't seen enough of the nominated movies to make a fair call as well. So only the few major categories that I feel more confident in that I will make my picks. So here it goes:


BEST PICTURE:
ARRIVAL (seen)
FENCES
HACKSAW RIDGE (seen)
HELL OR HIGH WATER (seen)
HIDDEN FIGURES
LA LA LAND (seen) (my pick)
LION (seen)
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA (seen)
MOONLIGHT 

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING:
ARRIVAL - Denis Villeneuve
HACKSAW RIDGE - Mel Gibson
LA LA LAND - Damien Chazelle (my pick)
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA - Kenneth Lonergan
MOONLIGHT - Barry Jenkins

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:
CASEY AFFLECK - Manchester by the Sea (my pick)
ANDREW GARFIELD - Hacksaw Ridge (may win instead)
RYAN GOSLING - La La Land
VIGGO MORTENSEN - Captain Fantastic
DENZEL WASHINGTON - Fences

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:
ISABELLE HUPPERT - Elle
RUTH NEGGA - Loving
NATALIE PORTMAN - Jackie
EMMA STONE - La La Land (my pick)
MERYL STREEP - Florence Foster Jenkins

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
MAHERSHALA ALI - Moonlight (may win)
JEFF BRIDGES - Hell or High Water
LUCAS HEDGES - Manchester by the Sea
DEV PATEL - Lion
MICHAEL SHANNON - Nocturnal Animals

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
VIOLA DAVIS - Fences
NAOMIE HARRIS - Moonlight
NICOLE KIDMAN - Lion
OCTAVIA SPENCER - Hidden Figures
MICHELLE WILLIAMS - Manchester by the Sea

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY):
ARRIVAL - Eric Heisserer
FENCES - August Wilson
HIDDEN FIGURES - Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi
LION - Luke Davies
MOONLIGHT - Barry Jenkins, Tarell Alvin McCraney

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

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS
MOANA (my pick)
MY LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI
THE RED TURTLE
ZOOTOPIA

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY:
ARRIVAL - Bradford Young
LA LA LAND - Linus Sandgren
LION - Greig Fraser
MOONLIGHT - James Laxton
SILENCE - Rodrigo Prieto

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

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE):
JACKIE - Mica Levi
LA LA LAND - Justin Hurwitz
LION - Dustin O’Halloran and Hauschka
MOONLIGHT - Nicholas Britell
PASSENGERS - Thomas Newman

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG):
AUDITION (THE FOOLS WHO DREAM) - La La Land (may win)
CAN’T STOP THE FEELING - Trolls (may win)
CITY OF STARS - La La Land
THE EMPTY CHAIR - Jim: The James Foley Story
HOW FAR I’LL GO - Moana; Music and Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda (my pick)