2017 Oscar Nominations: Thoughts

I suppose there are some who may say that the Academy was compensating for two years of #OscarsSoWhite with its seven nominations for actors of color (over a third of the total acting nominees,) but of the films I’ve seen so far featuring these performances, the nominations are very well deserved.  In fact, there could have easily been more had Octavia Spencer not been the only one of the Hidden Figures ladies to get a nod.  I’m especially pleased for Dev Patel, the only nominated PoC actor who isn’t Black.  Not only was it a bummer to see him overlooked in 2008 when Slumdog Millionaire otherwise got so much love, but he’s only the third actor of South Asian descent ever to be nominated for an Oscar (the others are Ben Kinglsey, who’s been recognized multiple times, and Merle Oberon way back in 1935.)

Overall, there aren’t too many big shockers in the nominations.  The main frontrunners, as predicted, are La La Land, Moonlight, and Manchester by the Sea, with the rest of the love spread out mainly where people assumed it would be.  There are surprises here and there, like no room in the actress categories for Amy Adams in Arrival or Annette Benning in 20^th Century Women, and Silence never gained the momentum it hoped to.  Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actress will be definite races to watch, and I’m hoping that quite a few of the conclusions are a little less foregone come Oscar night – this is in no small part because I just caught La La Land (review to come soon) and was considerably less wowed than the Golden Globes would’ve had me believe.

Speaking of La La Land, it received two Best Original Song nominations, and I’m hoping against hope that they’ll cancel each other out to give Moana the win.  I know I’m biased as all get-out in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s favor, but I honestly don’t see how either “City of Stars” or “Audition” could be considered a better song than “How Far I’ll Go.”  Given how the industry generally salivates over films about itself, seeing La La Land didn’t necessarily get my hopes up for Moana, but it firmly cemented my feelings of how mad I’ll be if “How Far I’ll Go” doesn’t get awarded for the beautiful addition it is to the Disney princess songbook.  (Side note:  Best Animated Film is a great-looking category, and while I think Zootopia will likely, rightfully win, Moana and Kubo and the Two Strings earned their nominations but good.)

Even though I’m better positioned at the start of this year’s Oscar nominations than I think I’ve ever been before – I’ve already seen four of the nine Best Picture nominees – I still feel like it’s too early for me to say much more.  Moonlight, I think, is the big lynchpin for me.  It never came to my local theater when it was first released, and I’m dying for it to show up either here or somewhere not too far away pretty soon, because I’ve been wanting to see it for months.  I’m also anxious to check out Arrival, which I admittedly missed when it came around (it’ll be out on DVD before Oscar night, though, so I’m hoping to catch it there,) and I think The Lobster will be a good DVD watch for the “quirky Best Original Screenplay nominee” niche. 

However, being ahead is an advantage to me now.  I think I could potentially see all the films in my favorite categories (Best picture, acting, directing, writing, and cinematography) before the ceremony.  Though I’m crossing my fingers for some of the more out-of-the-way films to pop up in closer theaters in the next month, it would only take one or two “movie trip” weekends to the Cities to knock out the films I can’t get here or on DVD.  We’ll see how well I do.