Oscar season is upon us. And by us, I mean not only those who are willing to wake up red-eyed to watch the parade of Ralph Laurens and Pradas on the Red Carpet on Star World but also, those who want to sound cool in college with lazily obtained knowledge of the Oscars.
As a self-titled film aficionado/film critic/film Nazi, I have always enjoyed the Oscars. I haven’t always agreed with them (The King’s Speech over The Social Network? Like, seriously?) but unlike their Indian counterparts, the Oscars have been largely enjoyable, with great production designs and no needless dance numbers or fake dramatic tension.
Anyways, the nominations are out today. So, here goes.
(Fair warning: I haven’t watched a few films like Moonlight and Fences yet. Unfortunately.)
La La Land Sings Its Way To The Record Books
I’ll be honest. I absolutely loved La La Land. Sure, its writing isn’t much to rave about but, it makes up for its flaws in screenwriting through its sheer charm and music. LLL is a beautifully told film and deserves well, most of its 14 nominations.
Best Director and Best Cinematography should be a shoo-in. And, I know ‘City of Stars’ has been getting all the attention but, ‘Audition’ deserves to win Best Original Song over anything else.
Best Picture: Moonlight/Manchester By The Sea/La La Land
Again, I haven’t watched Moonlight yet. But, considering the critical acclaim and eight nominations the film has it, along with La La Land is one of the strongest contenders for Best Picture.
Alas, I don’t think either of them will win or should win. Manchester By The Sea was brilliant and although I loved LLL more, I’ll graciously accept that MBTS and the strength of its writing and performances make it a better film.
To be honest, the entire category is a catalogue of great films (Hell or High Water, yayy!!). Shame Sing Street didn’t make it in though. Surely, it was better than say, Hidden Figures.
Anyone’s Game In The Acting Categories
It’s been a year of great performances, which is why choosing a winner out of these tightly contested categories is going to be very, very, very difficult.
For Best Actor, Casey Affleck seems to be a shoo-in and yes, the odds are hugely in his favour but personally, I’d say Spiderman’s performance in Hacksaw Ridge was more affecting than anyone else’s this year. That is unless, the great Washington doesn’t play spoilsport. And yes, some do see Gosling winning but honestly, LLL has Gosling being Gosling.
Best Supporting Actor. Mahershala Ali. Now, especially after he was snubbed at the Globes. Nothing else.
Best Actress is tricky. I would have said it’s a toss-up between my favorite thirteen-year-old (Watch Beautiful Girls, if you don’t get the reference) Natalie Portman and Emma Stone but, Huppert’s win at the Globes for her outstanding turn in Elle makes it a difficult category to predict. Also, Ruth Negga was brilliant in Loving but, she won’t win. Shame about Amy Adams though.
So is Best Supporting Actress. I love Michelle Williams and she was heartbreakingly good in MBTS but, Viola Davis might just take this away.
#OscarsNotSoWhite
After last year’s outcry about the lack of non-white contenders, the Academy has filled the categories with non-whites across most categories. Whether they’ll win or not is another matter but, the recognition of acting talent by an Academy that has often tittered on doing so is refreshing.
Biggest Snubs: Amy Adams, Rebecca Hall for Christine, Martin Scorsese (Silence), Sing Street, Sausage Party, Sully, Deadpool ()
Biggest Surprises: Aragorn, King of Gondor (:P), Hidden Figures, Dev Patel
That’s my lot for this year’s Oscars. Ciao.
Image Credits: Google Images
Other Recommendations:
http://edtimes.in/2017/01/post-truth-how-award-show-speeches-are-more-important-than-you-think/
http://edtimes.in/2017/01/i-stopped-watching-filmfare-and-other-sucky-indian-award-shows-long-back/
