Generation Film’s 2017 Oscar Nomination Predictions
Below are my predictions for the 2017 Academy Award nominations before they’re officially announced on Tuesday, January 24th a week from now. I’ll admit there’s a bit of bias in some of the prognostications…especially in my denial of Meryl Streep in my Best Actress pick, Hidden Figures as a Best Picture pick, as well as a love for Martin Scorsese’s Silence in other categories (Edit: went with the safe picks in Sound Editing/Mixing and removed Silence). There will probably be egg on my face with Hidden Figures, mostly because it’s a crowd-pleasing hug around the heart that many, including supposedly artistic minded Academy members, can’t ignore. But I’ll be fine to get an occasional placement wrong when I’m fairly confident I’m about 85% on the nose here. But feel free to look it over, and be sure to comment whether you’re in agreement with my on the pulse guesses or if I’m just downright incorrect. My official choices for who will win each category will come very soon after the official announcement.
Best Picture
Definite Eight:
Moonlight
La La Land
Manchester By the Sea
Hell or High Water
Arrival
Lion
Fences
Hacksaw Ridge
Back Two:
Nocturnal Animals
Deadpool
Potential Upsets: Hidden Figures, Silence, or Loving
Best Director
Damien Chazelle (La La Land)
Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)
Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester By the Sea)
Denis Villeneuve (Arrival)
Garth Davis (Lion)
Potential Upsets: Martin Scorsese (Silence), Denzel Washington (Fences), or Pablo Larrain (Jackie)
Best Actor
Casey Affleck (Manchester By the Sea)
Ryan Gosling (La La Land)
Denzel Washington (Fences)
Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge)
Viggo Mortenson (Captain Fantastic)
Potential Upsets: Joel Edgerton (Loving), Jake Gyllenhaal (Nocturnal Animals), Tom Hanks (Sully)
Best Actress
Emma Stone (La La Land)
Isabelle Huppert (Elle)
Amy Adams (Arrival)
Natalie Portman (Jackie)
Annette Bening (20th Century Women)
Potential Upsets: Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins), Ruth Negga (Loving), Taraji P. Henson (Hidden Figures)
Best Supporting Actor
Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)
Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water)
Lucas Hedges (Manchester By the Sea)
Aaron-Taylor Johnson (Nocturnal Animals)
Dev Patel (Lion)
Potential Upsets: Hugh Grant (Florence Foster Jenkins), Issei Ogata (Silence), Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals)
Best Supporting Actress
Viola Davis (Fences)
Naomie Harris (Moonlight)
Michelle Williams (Manchester By the Sea)
Nicole Kidman (Lion)
Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures)
Potential Upsets: Greta Gerwig (20th Century Women), Felicity Jones (A Monster Calls), Janelle Monae (Hidden Figures)
Best Adapted Screenplay
Moonlight (Barry Jenkins)
Arrival (Eric Heisserer)
Nocturnal Animals (Tom Ford)
Lion (Luke Davies)
Fences (August Wilson)
Potential Upsets: Hidden Figures (Allison Schroeder & Theodore Melfi), Deadpool (Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick), Silence (Martin Scorsese & Jay Cocks)
Best Original Screenplay
Hell or High Water (Taylor Sheridan)
La La Land (Damien Chazelle)
Manchester By the Sea (Kenneth Lonergan)
The Lobster (Yorgos Lanthimos & Efthymis Filippou)
Jackie (Noah Oppenheim)
Potential Upsets: 20th Century Women (Mike Mills), Zootopia (Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Phil Johnson, Jennifer Lee, Rich Moore, Jim Reardon, & Josie Trinidad), Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade)
Best Animated Feature
Moana
Kubo and the Two Strings
The Red Turtle
My Life as a Zucchini
Zootopia
Potential Upsets: Finding Dory, Sing, Miss Hokusai
Best Foreign Language Film
Toni Erdmann (Germany)
The Salesman (Iran)
Land of Mine (Denmark)
My Life as a Zucchini (Switzerland)
A Man Called Ove (Sweden)
Potential Upsets: Paradise (Russia), Tanna (Australia), It’s Only the End of the World (Canada)
Best Documentary Feature
13th (Ava DuVernay)
O.J.: Made in America (Ezra Edelman)
Cameraperson (Kristen Johnson)
Life, Animated (Roger Ross Williams)
The Eagle Huntress (Otto Bell)
Potential Upsets: Weiner (Josh Kriegman & Elyse Sternberg), I Am Not Your Negro (Raoul Peck), Zero Days (Alex Gibney)
Best Cinematography
Greig Fraser (Lion)
Rodrigo Prieto (Silence)
Bradford Young (Arrival)
Linus Sandgren (La La Land)
James Laxton (Moonlight)
Potential Upsets: Stephane Fontaine (Jackie), Seamus McGarvey (Nocturnal Animals), Giles Nuttgens (Hell or High Water)
Best Film Editing
Tom Cross (La La Land)
Joe Walker (Arrival)
Jennifer Lame (Manchester By the Sea)
Joi McMillon, Nat Sanders (Moonlight)
John Gilbert (Hacksaw Ridge)
Potential Upsets: Julian Clarke (Deadpool), Jake Roberts (Hell or High Water), Joan Sobel (Nocturnal Animals)
Best Original Score
Nicholas Britell (Moonlight)
Justin Hurwitz (La La Land)
Dustin O’Halloran and Hauschka (Lion)
Mica Levi (Jackie)
Nick Cave and Warren Ellis (Hell or High Water)
Potential Upsets: John Williams (The BFG), Michael Giacchino (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), John Debney (The Jungle Book), Alexandre Desplat (Florence Foster Jenkins)
Best Original Song
“Audition” (Emma Stone: written by Hurwitz, Pasek and Paul, La La Land)
“How Far I’ll Go (Auli’i Cravalho: written by Opetaia Foa’I, Mark Mancina, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Moana)
“City of Stars” (Ryan Gosling: written by Hurwitz, Pasek and Paul, La La Land)
“Can’t Stop the Feeling” (Justin Timberlake: written by Max Martin, Shellback, and Timberlake, Trolls)
“Drive It Like You Stole It” (Sing Street: written by John Carney, Gary Clark Jr., & Relish, Sing Street)
Potential Upsets: “Flicker” (Tori Amos, Audre & Daisy), “Try Everything” (Zootopia), “Faith” (Stevie Wonder, Sing), Runnin’ (Pharrell Williams, Hidden Figures)
Best Production Design
Sandy Reynolds-Wasco, David Wasco (La La Land)
Patrice Vermette; Paul Hotte (Arrival)
Jean Rabasse; Veronique Melery (Jackie)
Dante Ferretti; Francesca Lo Schiavo (Silence)
Stuart Craig, Anna Pinock (Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them)
Potential Upsets: Jess Gonchor, Nancy Haigh (Hail, Caesar!), Christopher Glass, Amanda Moss Serino (The Jungle Book), Doug Chiang, Neil Lamont (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story)
Best Costume Design
Madeline Fontaine (Jackie)
Mary Zophres (La La Land)
Dante Ferretti (Silence)
Eimer Ní Mhaoldomhnaigh (Love & Friendship)
Colleen Atwood (Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them)
Potential Upsets: Consolata Boyle (Florence Foster Jenkins), Joanna Johnston (Allied), Sharen Davis (Fences)
Best Makeup & Hairstyling
Deadpool
A Man Called Ove
Florence Foster Jenkins
Potential Upsets: Hail, Caesar!, Star Trek Beyond
Best Sound Editing
La La Land
Arrival
Hacksaw Ridge
The Jungle Book
Rogue One: A Star War Story
Potential Upsets: Silence, Doctor Strange, Deepwater Horizon
Best Sound Mixing
La La Land
Arrival
Hacksaw Ridge
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
The Jungle Book
Potential Upsets: Silence, Doctor Strange, Deepwater Horizon
Best Visual Effects
The Jungle Book
Arrival
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Doctor Strange
Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them
Potential Upsets: Captain America: Civil War, Deepwater Horizon, Kubo and the Two Strings
Best Animated Short
Piper
Sous Tes Doigts
Pearl
Inner Workings
The Head Vanishes
Potential Upsets: Borrowed Time, Blind Vaysha, Pear Cider and Cigarettes
Best Live-Action Short
Nocturne in Black
Timecode
The Way of Tea
The Rifle, the Jackal, the Wolf and the Boy
Sing (Mindenki)
Potential Upsets: Bon Voyage, Graffiti, Ennemis Interieurs
Best Documentary Short
Joe’s Violin
The White Helmets
The Mute’s House
Extremis
Watani: My Homeland
Potential Upsets: The Other Side of Home, 4.1 Miles, Brillo Box
