The 89th Academy Awards are going down next Sunday night, so here’s my uneducated predictions for the non-acting awards. I likely have seen very few of these movies, so I will mostly be going on gut feel and word of mouth rather than personal experience.
Best Original Screenplay
Taylor Sheridan, Hell or High Water
Damien Chazelle, La La Land
Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou, The Lobster
Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester By The Sea
Mike Mills, 20th Century Women
I haven’t seen any of these films yet, but I do know that there is nothing Hollywood likes more than a love letter to Hollywood, which is pretty much what I’ve been led to believe La La Land is.
Best Adapted Screenplay
Eric Heisserer, Arrival
August Wilson, Fences
Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi, Hidden Figures
Luke Davies, Lion
Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney, Moonlight
Another category where I have not seen any of the nominated work. I’m guessing, based on very little, that Moonlight will win this one.
Best Animated Feature
Kubo and the Two Strings
Moana
My Life As A Zucchini
The Red Turtle
Zootopia
I’ve only heard of two of these, neither of which I can see taking home an Oscar. So, I’m going out on a ledge here and going with The Red Turtle.
Best Cinematography
Bradford Young, Arrival
Linus Sandgren, La La Land
Greig Fraser, Lion
James Laxton, Moonlight
Rodrigo Prieto, Silence
Well, again I’ve seen none of these, so I will once again go with La La Land, though Arrival may be a strong contender.
Best Costume Design
Joanna Johnston, Allied
Colleen Atwood, Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them
Consolata Boyle, Florence Foster Jenkins
Madeline Fontaine, Jackie
Mary Zophres, La La Land
Another category where I’m at a loss, so I’ll stick with my theme so far and go with Mary Zophres for her work on La La Land.