Time’s up. Put your pencils down.
The past six months of prognostication all boils down to tonight, when the envelopes are opened.
As much as Best Picture might feel like a foregone conclusion (and I actually don’t think it is the most certain category of them all), some uncertainties remain. How long are the La La Land coattails? Does it tie the all-time win record? Does Damien Chazelle win Original Screenplay, or does Kenneth Lonergan take it? Denzel or Casey for Best Actor? Does The Salesman win Foreign Language Film in the wake of protest over the Muslim ban? What about the Short categories, all three of which are about as wide open as any year in recent memory? Even below the line there are oddities. I could see Hacksaw Ridge besting La La in Film Editing, though it’s not at all wise to actually make that pick. I could also see La La sweeping the Sound categories even though it isn’t really deserving for Sound Editing. In spite of the seemingly inexorable march of this race, there remains some intrigue.
Behold, my final predictions in all 24 categories. No need for any dark horse or spoiler picks, because no one gets points for those. No longer need any rankings, because those stats aren’t ever distributed anyway. Only picking winners in this space.
Zero days remain until the 89th Academy Award. This is Oscar Day. Here’s my final take on where the race stands across all categories.
Best Picture
La La Land
Best Director
Damien Chazelle, La La Land
Best Actress
Emma Stone, La La Land
Best Actor
Denzel Washington, Fences
Best Supporting Actress
Viola Davis, Fences
Best Supporting Actor
Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
Adapted Screenplay
Barry Jenkins, Moonlight
Original Screenplay
Damien Chazelle, La La Land
Film Editing
La La Land – Tom Cross
Cinematography
La La Land – Linus Sandgren
Costume Design
Jackie – Madeline Fontaine
Production Design
La La Land – David Wasco; Sandy Reynolds-Wasco
Makeup and Hairstyling
Star Trek Beyond – Joel Harlow, Richard Alonzo
Sound Editing
Hacksaw Ridge
Sound Mixing
La La Land
Visual Effects
The Jungle Book
Original Score
La La Land – Justin Hurwitz
Original Song
“City of Stars,” La La Land
Foreign Language Film
A Man Called Ove (Sweden)
Animated Feature Film
Zootopia
Documentary Feature
O.J.: Made in America
Short Film – Live Action
Sing
Short Film – Animated
Piper
Documentary Short Subject
Joe’s Violin
