Oscars 2017: Predictions After This Morning's Announcement

Movie Oscars 2017 Academy Awards about 7 years agoby Ben Pearson

The Academy Award nominations were announced early this morning, and you can read Joey's thoughts about them over at that link. I wanted to offer a few other quick observations before I get to my predicitions: Mel Gibson seems to have gotten a pass from the Academy for his extra-curricular behavior because his film Hacksaw Ridge secured six nominations (including a Best Director nod), Moonlight thankfully got some well-deserved recognition with eight nominations, and Hidden Figures earned three nominations, including one for Best Picture. I was happy to see Arrival, my favorite film of 2016, with eight nominations, but disappointed that Meryl Streep got a Best Actress nomination for Florence Foster Jenkins over Amy Adams' incredible work in Arrival.

Below, you'll find the full list of nominees with my prediction for the winner in bold text. These are not necessarily the movies that I personally want to win, but the ones that I think will win based on my assessment of how the Academy has voted in the past and trying to gauge how much influence the new crop of talent that was added to the organization last year might have. We'd also like to hear your predictions in the comments below.

Best Picture

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

Best Director

Denis Villeneuve, Arrival
Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge
Damien Chazelle, La La Land
Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea
Barry Jenkins, Moonlight

Best Actress

Isabelle Huppert, Elle
Ruth Negga, Loving
Natalie Portman, Jackie
Emma Stone, La La Land
Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins

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 Supporting Actress

Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea
Viola Davis, Fences
Nicole Kidman, Lion
Naomie Harris, Moonlight
Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures

Best Supporting Actor

Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water
Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea
Dev Patel, Lion
Michael Shannon, Nocturnal Animals

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
Lion
Moonlight

Best Cinematography

Arrival
La La Land
Lion
Moonlight
Silence

Best Animated Feature

Kubo and the Two Strings
Moana
My Life As a Zucchini
The Red Turtle
Zootopia

Best Documentary Feature

Fire at Sea
I Am Not Your Negro
Life, Animated
O.J.: Made in America
13th

Best Foreign Language Film

Land of Mine
A Man Called Ove
The Salesman
Tanna
Toni Erdmann

Best Original Score

Jackie
La La Land
Lion
Moonlight
Passengers

Best Original Song

“Audition (The Fools Who Dream),” La La Land
“Can’t Stop the Feeling,” Trolls
“City of Stars,” La La Land
“The Empty Chair,” Jim: The James Foley Story
“How Far I’ll Go,” Moana

Best Film Editing

Arrival
La La Land
Hacksaw Ridge
Moonlight
Hell or High Water

Best Visual Effects

Deepwater Horizon
Doctor Strange
The Jungle Book
Kubo and the Two Strings
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Best Production Design

Arrival
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Hail, Caesar!
La La Land
Passengers

Best Costume Design

Allied
Fantastic Beasts
Florence Foster Jenkins
Jackie
La La Land

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

A Man Called Ove
Star Trek Beyond
Suicide Squad

Best Sound Editing

Arrival
Deepwater Horizon
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Sully

Best Sound Mixing