The time has finally come! The Academy Awards are officially upon us, as they set to air this evening. This is the apex for all the hardworking artists who poured their souls into their work and developed some of the most breathtaking entires in the world of cinema this year, and whether or not you agree with the winners potentially socially conscious messages in their speeches, there is little argument to be made that these films and performers are deserving of praise for the incredible work they’ve done. So now we get into the nitty gritty of who will be delivering those coveted speeches? Who will be holding the statues when the night is over? Well, we have some ideas about that. With out further delay, we give you the Bro Knows predictions for the 2017 Academy Awards, giving you our picks for who will win, who should win, and who got snubbed, in each category!
Best Picture
Nominees: La La Land/ Moonlight/ Arrival/ Hacksaw Ridge/ HiddenFigures/ Hell of High Water/ Manchester by The Sea/ Fences/ Lion
Who Will Win: La La Land
Who Should Win: Moonlight
Who Got Snubbed: Birth of a Nation
Let’s face facts, La La Land is this years Oscar darling, deserved or not. This is as close to a lock as you can get in this category, and while La La Land is terrific, Moonlight is one of the most original films we have ever seen. Its beauty is understated and its cultural relevance is unparalleled. Meanwhile, Birth of a Nation remains on the outside looking in, due in large part to writer/director Nate Parker’s controversial past.
Best Lead Actor
Nominees: Casey Affleck/ Denzel Washington/ Ryan Gosling/ Viggo Mortensen/ Andrew Garfield
Who Will Win: Casey Affleck (Manchester By The Sea)
Who Should Win: Denzel Washington (Fences)
Who Got Snubbed: No One
Casey Affleck’s emotionally nuanced performance in Manchester is going to be enough to garner him the win. While Denzel’s performance was superior in gravitas and arguably equally complex, emotionally speaking, the depths of which Affleck had to go, and the manipulative nature of the film he stars in, will be enough to give him the slight edge over Washington. No snubs here, though it could have been argued that Tom Hanks could have been nominated for Sully, but who do you take off?
Best Lead Actress
Nominees: Emma Stone/ Natalie Portman/ Isabelle Huppert/ Ruth Negga/ Meryl Streep
Who Will Win: Emma Stone (La La Land)
Who Should Win: Isabelle Huppert (Elle)
Who Got Snubbed: Annette Bening (20th Century Women)
Emma Stone is winning this award, there are no ifs ands and buts about it. You could make the argument, however, that she’s actually the 4th or 5th best actress in this category. Isabelle Huppert’s brilliant performance in the underrated Elle, has no chance at taking this award, which may or may not have to do with the fact that it is a foreign film, and subtitles are for nerds, apparently. Most would say Amy Adams was snubbed for Arrival, but most may not have seen Annette Bening in 20th Century Women.
Best Supporting Actor
Nominees: Mahershala Ali/ Jeff Bridges/ Dev Patel/ Michael Shannon/ Lucas Hedges
Who Will Win: Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)
Who Should Win: Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)
Who Got Snubbed: Peter Simonischeck (Toni Erdmann)
One of the tightest races that could see any of the nominees take the award, Mahershala Ali seems to have the juice. Moonlight isn’t poised to take home that many statues, but the academy are definitley going to want to honor this film in some capacity and so Ali will benefit from that. Simonischeck suffered from the same stigma that will keep Huppert from winning best actress, but at least she was nominated.
Best Supporting Actress
Nominess: Viola Davis/ Octavia Spencer/ Naomie Harris/ Michelle Williams/ Nicole Kidman
Who Will Win: Viola Davis (Fences)
Who Should Win: Viola Davis (Fences)
Who Got Subbed: Janelle Monae (Hidden Figures)
This is another close race, but the rule of thumb should always be: anyone who can stand toe to toe with Denzel Washington, and deliver on par, deserves to win whatever award they get nominated for. Viola Davis deserves this award, but don’t count out Naomie Harris or Michelle Williams. Janelle Monae deserved to be nominated over her co-star, Octavia Spencer. She absolutely stole every scene she was in with Hidden Figures and would have stood a better chance against Davis, Harris and Williams.
Best Director
Nominees: Barry Jenkins/ Damien Chazelle/ Mel Gibson/ Kenneth Lonergan/ Denis Villenueve
Who Will Win: Damien Chazelle (La La Land)
Who Should Win: Mel Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge)
Who Got Snubbed: No one
Another lock, Chazelle is winning this award. Hollywood is going to want to pat themselves on the back, and La La Land does that, hand over fist. Not to say he’s undeserving, because he could have or should have arguably won for his effort in Whiplash, but Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge is, technically speaking, absolutely gorgeous. The ability to deftly display the rigors of war while simultaneously creating a sympathetic and very human story of morality, was simply astounding.
Best Animated Feature
Nominees: Zootopia/ My Life as a Zucchini/ The Red Turtle/ Moana/ Kubo and The Two Strings
Who Will Win: Zootopia
Who Should Win: Kubo and the Two Strings
Who Got Snubbed: Finding Dory
Disney and Pixar films pretty much always win this award. It’s a yearly tradition to just hand them the trophy, but the argument could be made that they haven’t deserved it yet (looking at Brave, especially). With that in mind, it’s tough to argue against Zootopia, which nabbed the Golden Globe, but Kubo and The Two Strings is a better, more technically challenging film and deserves the praise of the academy. Meanwhile, Finding Dory may not have been a snub, but rather a surprise that it wasn’t nominated.
Best Documentary Feature
Nominees: OJ:Made in America/ The 13th/ I am Not Your Negro/ Fire at Sea/ Life Animated
Who Will Win: OJ: Made in America
Who Should Win: I am Not Your Negro
Who Got Snubbed: Tower
OJ: Made in America sort of feels like cheating. It was really more of a mini series delivered in several parts, but it did in fact get a theater release, so it does qualify, and probably is the most most compelling nominee. That said, if we were to stick to the more traditional standard of documentary feature, then I am Not Your Negro is the best of the bunch. The beautiful opus that brings James Baldwin’s manuscript to life is a difficult to swallow pill, that stands relevant in today’s social climate, and Raoul Peck’s barrage of contemporary imagery mixed with stock civil rights era footage is a perfect mix to bridge the gap. Tower is an amazing multimedia style depiction of a real life tragedy, and should have been nominated.
Best Foreign Language Film
Nominees: The Salesman/ Toni Erdmann/ A Man Called Ove/ Tanna/ Land of Mine
Who Will Win: The Salesman
Who Should Win: Toni Erdmann
Who Got Snubbed: Elle
The controversy surrounding the recent socio political move by the presidential administration that would have barred director, Asghar Farhadi, form attending the award show may or may not have given his film a leg up on the competition. While a victory for The Salesman wouldn’t be outrageous, Toni Erdmann is still the best foreign language film of the year, and deserves this award. Paul Verhoeven’s Elle being left off the list is a bit strange, given that Huppert was nominated for best actress, and Elle is a damn good movie.
Best Original Screenplay
Nominees: La La Land/ The Lobster/ Hell or High Water/ Manchester by The Sea/ 20th Century Women
Who Will Win: La La Land
Who Should Win: The Lobster
La La land is a sure bet to get around the double digit mark for trophies tonight, but this is another instance where it just may not be deserved. The Lobster is a brilliantly original social satire that delivers some of the best awkward humor in a film this decade. Hollywood will continue to congratulate themselves, and La La Land will definitely take this award.
Best Adapted Screenplay
Nominees: Moonlight/ Arrival/ Hidden Figures/ Fences/ Lion
Who Will Win: Moonlight
Who Should Win: Moonlight
This is a close race. Fences is brilliant, but arguably less of an adaptation of the August Wilson play, and more of a direct retelling formatted for the medium of film. Hidden Figures and Arrival both stand a real chance, but Moonlight‘s beauty is in its nuanced performances and its amazing script. The academy will be looking for diversification, and Moonlight is going to benefit from that, deservedly so.
Best Original Score
Nominees: La La Land/ Moonlight/ Passengers/ Lion/ Jackie
Who Will Win: La La Land
Who Should Win: Moonlight
La La Land is once again the front runner and will likely take home this award, since it’s a musical and all. Moonlight, however, has the better score. The music in Moonlight becomes another character, with a bold symphony that changes ever so slightly between each vignette, becoming a chapter definer, this is one of those awards that La La Land doesn’t necessarily deserve, but will ultimately receive.
Best Original Song
Nominees: City of Stars/ Audition/ Can’t Stop The Feeling/ How Far I’ll Go/ The Empty Chair
Who Will Win: ‘City of Stars’ (Justin Hurwitz, La La Land)
Who Should Win: ‘Runnin’ (Pharell Williams, Hidden Figures)
Runnin’ by Pharell wasn’t even nominated, and it’s an absolute travesty, because it became the anthem of Hidden Figures. Not only should it have been nominated, but it should win, which is the ultimate definition of a snub. With that said, this award basically becomes a debate on which La La Land song should win. ‘City of Stars’ has been getting the biggest push by the studio, appearing in all of the trailers, but ‘Audition’ is probably the better song, and has an equal shot at winning this award.
Cinematography
Nominees: La La Land/ Arrival/ Moonlight/ Lion/ Silence
Who Will Win: Arrival
Who Should Win: Arrival
Bradford Young’s amazing work on Arrival needs to be awarded. The fear is that La La Land‘s momentum will keep pushing it into the front of awards it has no business winning, like cinematography. Don’t count out Moonlight, whose bright and vibrant aesthetic, which borders on neon, is absolutely brilliant, as is the same for Jackie.
The Rest of The Field
Best Editing Prediction: La La Land
Makeup and Hairstyling Prediction: Star Trek Beyond
Production Design Prediction: La La Land
Costume Design Prediction: Jackie
Sound Editing Prediction: La La Land
Sound Mixing Prediction: Hacksaw Ridge
Best Visual Effects Prediction: Doctor Strange
Documentary Short Prediction: Watani: My Home
Animated Short Prediction: Borrowed Time
Live Action Short Prediction: Sing
That wraps up our Oscar Predictions for this year! Sound off in the comments or on social media to let us know what you think about our predictions and who you think will be the big winners!
