Your Necessary Oscars 2017 Viewing Guide
In preparation for tonight's Oscars, we Couch film critics have provided a rundown of the major awards. Do not take this to mean we don't think highly of the nominees for the likes of Best Short Film and Best Sound Editing (#allcategoriesmatter), but rather that they will likely receive less attention, and also that we are-- or at least a few of us are --considerably less informed about those nominees than we are for the following 9 categories. Though we are in fact fairly well-viewed, there are a few major nominated films that we haven't all seen (more than one of us missed out on Lion, Silence and Jackie, for example). However, all four of us are still fairly confident in these selections. As you can see, we'll let you know who was snubbed, who really should win, who could play spoiler, and who will ultimately win no matter how we feel. Enjoy, and happy viewing tonight!
Best Animated Film
Kubo And The Two Strings
Moana
My Life As A Zucchini
The Red Turtle
Zootopia
Baas: I didn’t see any of these, so I'm just going by predictions and odds.
Christian: Zootopia should have no problem winning this. Finding Dory wasn’t amazing, but it was a weak year for animation overall, so it should have been able to sneak in somewhere.
Sierra: Zootopia. Zootopia Zootopia Zootopia. Nothing else should have been nominated.
Woodiwiss: Zootopia will win and should win in a somewhat down year for animated movies. How the endearing, clever sequel to Finding Nemo was snubbed, though, is a mystery to me.
We're all in agreement: these funny, insightful animals should bring home the Oscar.
Best Original Song
"Audition (The Fools Who Dream)" by Justin Hurwitz, La La Land
"Can't Stop The Feeling!" by Justin Timberlake, Trolls
"City of Stars" by Justin Hurwitz, La La Land
"How Far I'll Go" by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Moana
"The Empty Chair" by Sting and J. Ralph, Jim: The James Foley Story
Baas: When you’re up against a song that was in Trolls, it’s hard not to win.
Christian: It would be very bizarre for a Musical propped up to win Best Picture not to win in the biggest music category, so odds are La La has this in the bag too. The only alternate scenario I see is the Academy wanting to award Lin Manuel-Miranda here so that he’ll achieve EGOT status.
Sierra: I will give my left arm for Lin-Manuel to win.
Woodiwiss: I, too, love Lin-Manuel, but both La La Land tracks are a force. "City of Stars" will take it, but "The Fools Who Dream" is my personal favorite-- rousing and poignant.
Best Documentary
13th
Fire At Sea
I Am Not Your Negro
Life, Animated
O.J.: Made In America
Baas: OJ: Made In America is an incredible film, head and shoulders above many documentaries made in the last few years. It does a great job of touching on many different issues, while still being incredibly compelling.
Christian: I’ll be honest, I haven’t seen O.J. Made In America yet (I’ll get around to it ASAP), but the acclaim is hard to ignore. 13th is one of the year’s most important films of last year and one of the more talked about, so don’t be surprised if that wins out. While I absolutely adored Life, Animated, 13th is the one that deserves to win it.
Sierra: Tickled deserved more attention. That is all.
Woodiwiss: It's not even fair that these are all nominated in the same year; 13th, Negro, and O.J. all would have been winners in separate years. That being said, O.J. is nothing short of masterful.
Best Supporting Actor
Dev Patel, Lion
Jeff Bridges, Hell Or High Water
Lucas Hedges, Manchester By The Sea
Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
Michael Shannon, Nocturnal Animals
Baas: Mahershala Ali was one of the best parts of Moonlight. His performance was powerful and touching. If he doesn’t win, that could spell trouble for Moonlight.
Christian: Mahershala Ali is one of the safer bets of the night, but Dev Patel has been gaining enough ground over the past few weeks that he could provide an upset (though very unlikely). Don’t get me wrong, I love love LOVE Mahershala Ali in this movie and I’ll be ecstatic when he eventually wins. But he just wasn’t in Moonlight enough for me. I wanted to see a bit more from his character, though it still worked as is. As for John Goodman, he’s still one of those actors you would assume has at least one Oscar nomination but doesn’t. 10 Cloverfield Lane is a movie the academy would NEVER nominate, but Goodman held that thing together with his creepily transformative performance. One of the top five performance from last year that has still stuck with me.
Sierra: I'll be happy for any awards Moonlight wins, but I'm still not over Sunny Pawar being snubbed.
Woodiwiss: This may have been the most loaded category this year. I think any of the actors in Fences, Hell or High Water, Moonlight or Nocturnal Animals could have been nominated, but Ali deserves it.
Amazingly, Ali might be Moonlight's best chance at an Oscar.
Best Supporting Actress
Michelle Williams, Manchester By The Sea
Naomie Harris, Moonlight
Nicole Kidman, Lion
Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures
Viola Davis, Fences
Baas: One problem with the Oscars is the way in which actors and actresses can be finessed into other categories so they have a better shot at an award. Viola Davis will win Best Supporting Actress because her performance was good enough to win Best Actress, though there was almost no way she would have over Emma Stone. This should be Michelle Williams’s award for her incredible work in Manchester by the Sea.
Christian: Not much to say about this one since it’s pretty much a done deal. Viola has won every precursor award leading up to this, and above all else, she flippin’ deserves it! Her performance is powerful and commanding. Greta Gerwig is somebody I would have loved to see sneak in here. But she’s young and only getting better with each passing film that I’m sure she’ll be nominated many other times in the near future.
Sierra: How come comedians don't get any respect? Ghostbusters was amazing, and McKinnon carried the entire film! I will not rest!!
Woodiwiss: How does Janelle Monae, a singer, give two amazing acting performances in two Best Picture nominees, and not get nominated for EITHER ONE?! Anyways, Viola will win, and she certainly should.
Best Director
Barry Jenkins, Moonlight
Damien Chazelle, La La Land
Denis Villenueve, Arrival
Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester By The Sea
Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge
Baas: La La Land will probably score double digit Oscars, but this one category where I wish the Academy would deviate from the La La Land Lovefest. Denis Villeneuve should win for Arrival, yet at this point Chazelle is almost assured a win.
Christian: Once again, it's a two-horse race between La La Land and Moonlight, with La La Land almost surely winning.
Sierra: I didn't pick one that "should have been nominated" because the only two that matter were nominated.
Woodiwiss: Chazelle's all but clinched this one, which is too bad. Not that his work wasn't fantastic, but the tales Jenkins and Villenueve were able to weave both deserve awards, too.
It appears as if the "wiz kid" will win big tonight.
Best Actor
Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge
Casey Affleck, Manchester By The Sea
Denzel Washington, Fences
Ryan Gosling, La La Land
Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic
Baas: Given the controversy surrounding Casey Affleck, there is a good chance Denzel swoops in and takes the Oscar this year.
Christian: It’s basically a neck and neck, too close too call race between Washington and Affleck at this point. Casey has won pretty much everything, but Denzel took home the SAG. Every Actor since Jamie Fox in Ray (2004) who has won SAG has later gone on to win the Oscar, since the acting branch who votes is very large. Stats are meant to be broken, though. As for Ryan Gosling, he was nominated for the wrong movie! I adore La La Land, but not because of Gosling’s performance. He is comic gold in The Nice Guys and the movie works largely because him and his chemistry with Russell Crowe. It’s never something that would happen, but hey, this is MY LIST!
Sierra: Boring year for the men.
Woodiwiss: Agreed, Sierra. Not the most captivating year of actors by any stretch of the imagination. Denzel got the SAG, which is the most predictive award for this Oscar, but Affleck's won pretty much the rest, so he gets the slight edge for me.
Best Actress
Emma Stone, La La Land
Isabelle Huppert, Elle
Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins
Natalie Portman, Jackie
Ruth Negga, Loving
Baas: Amy Adams had fantastic performances in Arrival and Nocturnal Animals, but was not nominated. Her work in Arrival was one of the best performances of the year, and highly deserving of the award.
Christian: This one I’m pretty bitter about. Amy Adams gave one of the best performances of the year and of her career and is still shut out in favor of Meryl Streep giving maybe her 19th best performance. As for the winner, I like Emma. I’ve always been a big fan of hers and she’s very good and charming in La La Land. My problem is the lack of transformation. Or at least not the type that Natalie Portman goes through to play Jackie Kennedy. I may not have been the biggest fan of Jackie overall, but Portman’s portrayal blew me away.
Sierra: I won't see Elle until next week, but I'm going to go ahead and stick with my answer.
Woodiwiss: I'm also gonna cheer for a nominee I haven't yet seen. Hubbert was great in an otherwise dismal film, and I (as usual) loved Emma Stone, but just based on trailers and scene snippets of Jackie that I've seen, neither of those actresses approached the emotional complexity and immersiveness that Portman was able to pull off as First Lady Kennedy.
Best Picture
Arrival
Fences
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell Or High Water
Hidden Figures
La La Land
Lion
Manchester By The Sea
Moonlight
Baas: There is almost no way La La Land doesn’t win best picture. It has the clearest path to winning the award after the lovefest for the film during award season. As for Deadpool...I'm not saying it should have won, but it should have been in the conversation!!
Christian: Yeah yeah. I know. Another person who loves La La Land. Look, I don’t think it’s the best film ever made and I for sure don’t think it’s the masterpiece some are praising it to be. But it’s a wonderful, joyous movie that has the ability to make you smile throughout and maybe even cry a little bit (I know I did). We don’t get original musicals on the screen very often. Maybe awarding this one Hollywood’s top prize will encourage more filmmakers to create original works like this. Plus, I’ve had the soundtrack on repeat ever since I first saw it. Can’t say things like Hell Or High Water or Fences stuck with me that much.
Sierra: Decent selection this year. (EDITOR'S NOTE: A positive comment like this from Sierra is extremely rare, so bookmark this.) Ultimately, I'm rooting for Moonlight.
Woodiwiss: This is the 2nd straight year without a Best Picture nominee that I really didn't like, so I'm not too worried for my mental sanity. I found La La Land delightful, and am fully prepared for its coronation. However, I would love to see beautiful, heartwrenching, captivating Moonlight score the upset.
The verdict is in: it's gearing up to be a big night for La La Land.