{"id":21016,"date":"2017-02-26T19:46:21","date_gmt":"2017-02-26T09:46:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?p=21016"},"modified":"2017-02-26T19:57:28","modified_gmt":"2017-02-26T09:57:28","slug":"the-89th-annual-academy-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?p=21016","title":{"rendered":"The 89th Academy Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"tagfilm\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"academyawards\"<\/a><\/p>\n

T<\/span>he 89th annual Academy Awards are almost upon us!<\/p>\n

Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and emanating from the Dolby Theatre in LA, this edition promises to be agonisingly long, filled with plenty of politically charged speeches (including the off-chance that the winner for Best Foreign Film is\u00a0awarded to someone banned from entering the country) and is widely expected to be a victory parade for the all-conquering\u00a0La La Land<\/em> which stormed into the event with a record equalling fourteen nominations.<\/p>\n

Also of note, this is the first Academy Awards since the fall out from the #OscarsSoWhite campaign which resulted in a significant restructure of the Academy and its eligible voters. \u00a0Now boasting a much broader demographic, this year’s nominations reflected the change with a much more varied selection of films and People of Colour getting recognized in various categories.<\/p>\n

The Academy Awards still don’t really reflect my personal favourite films of the past 12 months. \u00a0There’s no love shown for\u00a0Hail Caesar!, Hunt For The Wilder People, Love & Friendship\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0Swiss Army Man<\/em>. \u00a0There is also still an aversion shown by the Academy to recognize animated films and certain genres such as comedy and horror remain criminally under-represented.<\/p>\n

Having said that, I think this year’s field isn’t too bad and there aren’t any outright stinkers in the mix like\u00a0Crash<\/em> or\u00a0The Blind Side<\/em>.<\/p>\n

As has now become tradition on The FAT Website<\/strong>, I’ve compiled a list of comically inaccurate predictions on who I think will win and who I think should win.<\/p>\n

So without further ado, here are my picks for the 2017 Academy Awards.<\/p>\n

Predictions<\/em><\/strong><\/h1>\n

\"liloscar\"<\/a>\u00a0BEST PICTURE<\/strong>\u00a0\"liloscar\"<\/a><\/h2>\n

\"2016lalaland\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Nominees: \u00a0La La Land, Arrival, Lion, Moonlight, Hidden Figures, Manchester By The Sea, Hacksaw Ridge, Fences, Hell or High Water<\/em><\/p>\n

Who Should\u00a0Win<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I was reasonably happy with the Best Picture selection\u00a0this year. \u00a0The criticism levelled at the awards every year is that there is the same ‘Oscar-bait’ movies that get nominated time and again. \u00a0Although Hacksaw Ridge, <\/em>Manchester By The Sea<\/em> and La La Land<\/em>\u00a0fall pretty squarely in that category, we’ve also got a modern Western (Hell or High Water<\/em>) and a sci-fi drama (Arrival<\/em>) in the mix.<\/p>\n

I saw seven of nine Best Picture nominated films. \u00a0I ran out of time and didn’t catch\u00a0Manchester By The Sea<\/em> or\u00a0Fences<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I loved\u00a0Lion<\/em>, particularly for the incredible performance from eight year old Sunny Pawar as the brave, indomitable Saroo. \u00a0On the other end of the age spectrum, sixty seven year old Jeff Bridges is in fine form as a grizzled, no-nonsense sheriff chasing down a pair of outlaws in\u00a0Hell or High Water.<\/em><\/p>\n

Lastly, I have a real soft spot for\u00a0Arrival<\/em> which is a fantastic sci-fi film, made in the spirit of Jodie Foster’s\u00a0Contact<\/em>. \u00a0If I had a vote on which film should win\u00a0Best Picture, I think my choices would whittle down to\u00a0Hell or High Water, Arrival<\/em> or\u00a0Lion<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Let me think on it for a second.<\/p>\n

Okay.<\/p>\n

I’d go with\u00a0Arrival<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Arrival<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Note: \u00a0I’m still miffed that\u00a0Hunt For The Wilder People\u00a0<\/em>didn’t get a nom.<\/p>\n

Who Will\u00a0Win<\/strong><\/h2>\n

La La Land<\/em> was an awards season darling that was initially showered with praise when it was doing the rounds at the film festival circuit before it began experiencing a backlash when it garnered a record equalling number of Academy Award nominations. \u00a0For the record, I liked\u00a0La La Land<\/em> a lot. \u00a0It’s a fine musical and I have no qualms with the performance of its two leads or its unexpectedly low key and melancholic ending.<\/p>\n

But the headlines are already written for this show. \u00a0No other film has come close to garnering this level of media\u00a0attention. \u00a0If anything else wins, it’ll simply be reported as ‘La La Land Doesn’t Win’<\/em>. \u00a0But everyone knows its in the bag.<\/p>\n

La La Land<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"liloscar\"<\/a>\u00a0BEST DIRECTOR<\/strong>\u00a0\"liloscar\"<\/a><\/h2>\n

\"moonlightmovie\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Nominees: \u00a0<\/em>Denis Villeneuve (Arrival),<\/em>\u00a0Mel Gibson (Hacksaw<\/em> Ridge), Damien Chazelle\u00a0<\/em>(La La Land<\/em>), <\/em>Kenneth Lonergan\u00a0(Manchester By The<\/em> Sea), Barry Jenkins\u00a0<\/em>(Moonlight<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Who Should\u00a0Win<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This is one of those categories where I’m fine with La La Land<\/em> getting the win since I think Damien Chazelle is due a belated Oscar for\u00a0Whiplash<\/em> which he made a couple of years back and lost to the overrated\u00a0Birdman or the Unexpected Virtues of Ignorance<\/em>.<\/p>\n

But otherwise, my pick would be Barry Jenkins for his fine work with the cast of\u00a0Moonlight<\/em>, an engaging and sensitively made coming of age story about a young black man, told over three chapters in his life. \u00a0It’s a great film that’s deserving of a Best Director gong for Jenkins who skillfully weaves together the performances of three generations of actors playing the same central character.<\/p>\n

Barry Jenkins (Moonlight<\/em>)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Who Will\u00a0Win<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The correct answer here is Not Mel Gibson.<\/p>\n

I think its a fairly safe assumption that the Oscars are going to end up as a soap box for many winners to air their grievances about Donald Trump and his shambolic presidency. \u00a0Hollywood is often accused of having a tin ear and being a bunch of out-of-touch elitists but hopefully even they wouldn’t reward notorious anti-semite Mel Gibson with a Come Back Oscar on the same night that they take Trump to task for being a bigot.<\/p>\n

Damien Chazelle (La La Land<\/em>)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"liloscar\"<\/a>\u00a0BEST ACTOR<\/strong>\u00a0\"liloscar\"<\/a><\/h2>\n

\"caseyaffleck\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Nominees: \u00a0<\/em>Casey Affleck (Manchester By The Sea<\/em>), Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge<\/em>), Ryan Gosling (La La Land<\/em>), Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic<\/em>), Denzel Washington (Fences<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Who Should\u00a0Win<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I’m not really qualified to talk on this category, having not seen\u00a0Manchester By The Sea, Fences\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0Captain Fantastic<\/em>. \u00a0That’s more than half the damn field.<\/p>\n

Who Knows?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Who Will\u00a0Win<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Casey Affleck presents a difficult choice for the Academy. \u00a0He is a clear front runner for his on-screen performance as a caretaker struggling to control his inner demons in Kenneth Lonergan’s\u00a0Manchester By the Sea<\/em>. \u00a0But he’s been charged with sexual harassment by two women who worked with him on a previous film project.<\/p>\n

I’m going to go with Viggo Mortensen pulling off the upset in the critically well-received\u00a0Captain Fantastic<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic<\/em>)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"liloscar\"<\/a>\u00a0BEST ACTRESS<\/strong>\u00a0\"liloscar\"<\/a><\/h2>\n

\"2016arrival\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Nominees: \u00a0<\/em>Isabelle Huppert (Elle<\/em>), Ruth Negga (Loving<\/em>), Natalie Portman (Jackie<\/em>), Emma Stone (La La Land<\/em>), Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Who Should\u00a0Win<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In the Crime of the Century, Amy Adams was absolutely robbed<\/em> in this category, not even garnering a nomination for her performances in\u00a0Arrival<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Nocturnal Animals<\/em>. \u00a0I don’t know who she pissed off in the Academy but they were obviously out for blood, freezing out Adams so that Meryl Streep could get her\u00a0twentieth<\/em> Oscar nomination for the light hearted production\u00a0Florence Foster Jenkins<\/em>.<\/p>\n

A travesty of justice.<\/p>\n

Amy Adams (Arrival, Nocturnal Animals<\/em>)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Who Will\u00a0Win<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Emma Stone is the bookies favourite and rightfully so. \u00a0It’s a shoe-in. \u00a0Put the mortgage, the life savings, the spouse, the kids and the family dog on Stone winning this category.<\/p>\n

Emma Stone (La La Land<\/em>)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"liloscar\"<\/a>\u00a0BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE<\/strong>\u00a0\"liloscar\"<\/a><\/h2>\n

\"2016hellorhighwater\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Nominees: \u00a0<\/em>Mahershala Ali (Moonlight<\/em>), Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water<\/em>), Lucas Hedges (Manchester By The Sea<\/em>), Dev Patel (Lion<\/em>), Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Who Should\u00a0Win<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This category reads like a list of some of my favourite Hollywood character actors.<\/p>\n

Although Mahershala Ali and Dev Patel both turn in fine performances in\u00a0Moonlight<\/em> and\u00a0Lion<\/em> respectively, I don’t think they would come close to the screen time and the work put in by Jeff Bridges on\u00a0Hell or High Water<\/em>. \u00a0So far that reason, he’s my pick of the bunch.<\/p>\n

Jeff Bridges\u00a0(Hell or High Water<\/em>)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Who Will\u00a0Win<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This is one of the hardest categories to pick. \u00a0There hasn’t been a runaway favourite and there isn’t someone associated with\u00a0La La Land<\/em> in the running. \u00a0I’m going to go with Lucas Hedges to become the first shrubbery to win Best Supporting Actor.<\/p>\n

Lucas Hedges (Manchester By The Sea<\/em>)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"liloscar\"<\/a>\u00a0BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE<\/strong>\u00a0\"liloscar\"<\/a><\/h2>\n

\"hiddenfigures\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Nominees: \u00a0<\/em>Viola Davis (Fences<\/em>), Naomie Harris (Moonlight<\/em>), Nicole Kidman\u00a0(Lion<\/em>), Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures<\/em>), Michelle Williams (Manchester By The Sea<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Who Should\u00a0Win<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Hidden Figures<\/em> is a terrific film about three incredibly talented, patient and persistent black women who worked at NASA during the space race era.<\/p>\n

The film is filled with a lot of emotional, fist pumping moments of satisfaction as Taraji Henson, Janelle Monae and Octavia Spencer all work to outwit and circumnavigate the bigots that hinder their progress. \u00a0One of the films most satisfying subplots involves Octavia Spencer’s character Dorothy Vaughan, forever overlooked for a much deserved promotion to supervisor by a smarmy Kirsten Dunst. \u00a0Vaughan teaches herself to become an expert in computer programming and makes herself indispensable to NASA, which finally lands her a big pay day and the much deserved promotion that long eluded her. \u00a0Vaughan’s story arc in Hidden Figures <\/em>was\u00a0one of my favourite moments\u00a0of all the films I’ve seen in the last twelve months and for that reason, Octavia Spencer is my pick for Best Supporting Actress.<\/p>\n

Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures<\/em>)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Who Will\u00a0Win<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This might be the only category where the person I wanted to win the award aligns with who I expect to pick up the prize. \u00a0Go Octavia!<\/p>\n

Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures<\/em>)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"liloscar\"<\/a>\u00a0QUICK PICKS<\/strong>\u00a0\"liloscar\"<\/a><\/h2>\n

Best Original Screenplay<\/b><\/p>\n

Hell or High Water
\n<\/em>La La Land\u00a0\"liloscar\"
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/span>The Lobster
\n<\/em>Manchester by the Sea
\n<\/em>20th Century Women<\/em><\/p>\n

Best Adapted Screenplay<\/b><\/p>\n

Arrival
\n<\/em>Fences
\n<\/em>Hidden Figures\u00a0\"liloscar\"<\/strong><\/span>
\n<\/em>Lion
\n<\/em>Moonlight<\/em><\/p>\n

Best Foreign Film<\/b><\/p>\n

Land of Mine
\n<\/em>A Man Called Ove
\n<\/em>The Salesman
\n<\/em>Tanna
\n<\/em>Toni Erdmann\u00a0\"liloscar\"<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Best Documentary Feature<\/b><\/p>\n

Fire at Sea
\n<\/em>I Am Not Your Negro
\n<\/em>Life, Animated
\n<\/em>O.J.: Made in America
\n<\/em>13th\u00a0\"liloscar\"<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Best Animated Feature<\/b><\/p>\n

Kubo and the Two Strings
\n<\/em>Moana
\n<\/em>My Life as a Zucchini
\n<\/em>The Red Turtle
\n<\/em>Zootopia\u00a0\"liloscar\"<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Best Film Editing<\/b><\/p>\n

Arrival
\n<\/em>Hacksaw Ridge\u00a0\"liloscar\"<\/strong><\/span>
\n<\/em>Hell or High Water
\n<\/em>La La Land
\n<\/em>Moonlight<\/em><\/p>\n

Best Original Score<\/b><\/p>\n

Jackie
\n<\/em>La La Land\u00a0\"liloscar\"<\/strong><\/span>
\n<\/em>Lion
\n<\/em>Moonlight
\n<\/em>Passengers<\/em><\/p>\n

Winner: The Hateful Eight<\/strong><\/p>\n

Best Digital Effects<\/b><\/p>\n

Deepwater Horizon
\n<\/em>Doctor Strange
\n<\/em>The Jungle Book\u00a0\"liloscar\"<\/strong><\/span>
\n<\/em>Kubo and the Two Strings
\n<\/em>Rogue One: A Star Wars Story<\/em><\/p>\n

Best Cinematography<\/b><\/p>\n

Arrival
\n<\/em>La La Land\u00a0\"liloscar\"<\/strong><\/span>
\n<\/em>Lion
\n<\/em>Moonlight
\n<\/em>Silence<\/em><\/p>\n

Best Costume Design<\/b><\/p>\n

Allied
\n<\/em>Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
\n<\/em>Florence Foster Jenkins
\n<\/em>Jackie\u00a0\"liloscar\"<\/strong><\/span>
\n<\/em>La La Land<\/em><\/p>\n

\"liloscar\"\u00a0ARCHIVES\u00a0\"liloscar\"<\/strong><\/h2>\n

88th Academy Awards<\/a> \u00a0| \u00a087th \u00a0Academy Awards<\/a> | \u00a086th Academy Awards<\/a> \u00a0| \u00a085th Academy Awards<\/a> | 84th Academy Awards<\/a> | 83rd Academy Awards<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 89th annual Academy Awards are almost upon us! Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and emanating from the Dolby Theatre in LA, this edition promises to be agonisingly long, filled with plenty of politically charged speeches (including the off-chance that the winner for Best Foreign Film is\u00a0awarded to someone banned from entering the country) and is …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21017,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[800,677,639,2636,2635,2191,722],"class_list":["post-21016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-academy-awards","tag-casey-affleck","tag-emma-stone","tag-la-la-land","tag-mel-gibson","tag-oscars","tag-ryan-gosling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21016"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21016\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21041,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21016\/revisions\/21041"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}