The Awards Season Round-Up 2017

Hello!

With the Oscars happening tomorrow and the 2017 awards season coming to a close, I decided to do my own annual awards round-up type of a post.

Like I did last year (2016 round-up), I have combined the nominees from the various awards shows. Although the Oscar nominees make up the basis for all the categories, I have also added nominees from the Golden Globes, the Critics Choice Awards, the BAFTAs and the various guild awards (SAG, DGA, PGA, WGA) that the Academy overlooked. I allowed myself up to 10 nominees in every category except the best picture one – it was expanded to 12. I have not only noted my personal winners in each category but I also ranked all the runner-ups. Below, I have also written down my guesses of who will actually win an Academy Award in each category, because my subjective preferences not necessarily fit my more objective picks. Lastly, all the full reviews of the movies have also been linked.

Best Picture:

1. Hidden Figures
2. Arrival
3. Hacksaw Ridge
4. La La Land
5. Hell or High Water
6. Manchester by the Sea
7. Moonlight
8. The Lobster
9. Nocturnal Animals
10. Fences
11. Lion
12. Sully

The objective pick: While I’d be very happy if any of my top 3 films win the big award of the night, neither of them will. Best Picture will probably go to La La Land. Moonlight is my other guess.

Best Lead Actor:

1. Andrew Garfield – Hacksaw Ridge
2. Denzel Washington – Fences
3. Casey Affleck – Manchester by the Sea
4. Collin Farrel – The Lobster
5. Ryan Gosling – La La Land
6. Chris Pine – Hell or High Water
7. Viggo Mortensen – Captain Fantastic
8. Joel Edgerton – Loving
9. Tom Hanks – Sully

The objective pick: the top three frontrunners for the award are Affleck, Gosling, and Washington. Gosling would be my choice because of the wide variety of skills required for his particular role (playing piano, dancing, and singing on top of acting).

Best Lead Actress:

1. Isabelle Huppert – Elle
2. Taraji P. Henson – Hidden Figures
3. Ruth Negga – Loving
4. Natalie Portman – Jackie
5. Emma Stone – La La Land
6. Amy Adamas – Arrival/Nocturnal Animals
7. Meryl Streep – Florence Foster Jenkins
8. Emily Blunt – The Girl on the Train

The objective pick: My personal winners – Huppert, Portman, and Stone – are the frontrunners for the Oscar. Stone will most likely take it even though Huppert does have a chance of stealing it. Portman deserves the win as well but she already has an Oscar.

Best Supporting Actor:

1. Mahershala Ali – Moonlight
2. Jeff Bridges – Hell or High Water
3. Aaron Taylor-Johnson – Nocturnal Animals
4. Lucas Hedges – Manchester by the Sea
5. Dev Patel – Lion
6. Michael Shannon – Nocturnal Animals
7. Simon Helberg – Florence Foster Jenkins
8. Hugh Grant – Florence Foster Jenkins

The objective pick: Ali should win this one. Patel, coming off of BAFTA win, might prove to be a legit competitor. Bridges or Hedges could also possibly steal the win.

Best Supporting Actress:

1. Viola Davis – Fences
2. Janelle Monae – Hidden Figures
3. Naomie Harris – Moonlight
4. Octavia Spencer – Hidden Figures
5. Michelle Williams – Manchester by the Sea
6. Nicole Kidman – Lion

The objective pick: this is one of the two categories, where my subjective and objective choices are one and the same. Davis has won all the important awards up until now and it is obviously her time to finally get an Oscar.

Best Director:

1. Damien Chazelle – La La Land
2. Denis Villeneuve – Arrival
3. Mel Gibson – Hacksaw Ridge
4. Barry Jenkins – Moonlight
5. Tom Ford – Nocturnal Animals
6. Kenneth Lonergan – Manchester by the Sea
7. David Mackenzie – Hell or High Water
8. Denzel Washington – Fences
9. Garth Davis – Lion

The objective pick: the other category, where the objective and subjective winners coincide. Chazelle did a great job directing La La Land and, even if the film wasn’t my favorite of the year, his excellent work should be rewarded.

Best Original Screenplay:

1. Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou – The Lobster
2. Taylor Sheridan – Hell or High Water
3. Kenneth Lonergan – Manchester by the Sea
4. Damien Chazelle – La La Land
5. John Carney – Sing Street

The objective pick: La La Land has won a few screenwriting awards but, if it wins the Academy Award, I will be furious. The story was the weakest part of the film and I’ll, genuinely, be happy if any other picture wins.

Best Adapted Screenplay:

1. Eric Heisserer – Arrival
2. Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi – Hidden Figures
3. August Wilson – Fences
4. Tom Ford – Nocturnal Animals
5. Jeff Nichols – Loving
6. Luke Davies – Lion
7. Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney – Moonlight
8. Todd Komarnicki – Sully

The objective pick: This category has the most equal race. Honestly, any nominated film deserves it. The Academy might give this win to Hidden Figures as they probably not gonna give it any other awards.

Best Animated Feature: 

1. Zootopia
2. Kubo and the Two Strings
3. Moana
4. Sing
5. Finding Dory
6. Trolls

The objective pick: I haven’t seen the 2 indie picture that were nominated but, that doesn’t really matter because Zootopia will take the win, as it should.

I hope you enjoyed flicking through my list of winners. Are you planning on watching the big show tomorrow or are you just gonna check who wins online, like I’m planning to do?