La La Land seems invincible in Best Picture. But I can see an upset coming from Moonlight or even Hidden Figures. Since the film premiered at Venice in September, La La Land has been the frontrunner for Best Picture. It really has won everything it needs to win — Golden Globe, BAFTA, the Guilds — and has ratcheted up incredible buzz…
Emma Stone (La La Land) should easily win Best Actress at the Oscars. However, there are two contenders that could take her down. Best Actress is looking more and more like it's going to be going to Emma Stone (La La Land) this year. It would be her first Oscar after being nominated in 2015 for Birdman.…
The race for Adapted Screenplay is a low-key competitive category. However, I think it's also prime for an upset. Moonlight has to watch its back. Best Adapted Screenplay is a seemingly low-key category that is probably going to go the way we expect. However, I actually think it's among the most competitive of the night. I could…
Zootopia is the comfortable frontrunner in this category, however, Kubo and the Two Strings could pull off a surprise upset While Best Animated Feature sounds like an open and shut category, there is actually room for an upset. But let's start at the bottom first. I think the only film that has absolutely zero chance of winning The Red…
It's sad to think that one of the greatest filmmakers of our time has a lowly three Oscar nominations to his name. Wes Anderson has delivered such memorable films as Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, and Moonrise Kingdom, the latter of which was his most recent chance to win that piece of hardware that Hollywood is so hung up on.…
Best Film Editing is a very important category at the Oscars. You need to be at least nominated in the category to win. Last year’s Best Picture winner “Birdman” was an anomalous case since it was edited to look as if it was filmed in one take. So ignoring that year, the last time the…
For the last ten years, Best Original Screenplay has gone to a Best Picture nominee. The last time it didn't was in 2005 when "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" won. If this trend continues, then unfortunately "Ex Machina," my second favorite movie of 2015, is out of the running. "Straight Outta Compton" would also be knocked out, but I'll…
Best Director has quickly become the category where the visionary filmmaker is honored. Ang Lee won for "Life of Pi" in 2013, Alfonso Cuarón for "Gravity" in 2014, and Alejandro G. Iñarritu for "Birdman" in 2015 (his film was the most visionary of the group, at least). However, this year we have the debacle of having…
Out of the three acting races at this year's Oscars, Best Supporting Actress is by far that hardest one to suss out. Unlike the last few years, there hasn't been one actress that has been consistently winning awards and that has the clear momentum that makes her the frontrunner for the Oscars. The critics awards…
This is perhaps the most competitive race for Best Picture this decade, maybe even this century. Never has the field been so divided. It seems that every precursor indicator contradicts another and just when we think momentum is building, it is quickly taken away. “Spotlight” maintained the frontrunner status throughout the critics awards even thought…
