The 89th Academy Awards have transpired, and as usual I will make a little post about it. This year I wasn't able to watch live, due to being in a Thai village, but followed vigorously through Twitter etc. nonetheless. I was sad to miss host Jimmy Kimmel's continued beef with Matt Damon, which seems to have been quite fun, the dresses - of course - the performances and the drama.
On the other hand, after the almost torturous ordeal which was watching the 2016 show, so riddled with political and racial unease, I feel alright not having seen the event for one year, although 2017 seems to have been a happier and more light-hearted celebration. - To be sure the 2017 Oscar show also had its ridiculous moments, (like the makeup and hairstyling winners of Suicide Squad dedicating their win "for all the immigrants", as if that should provoke anything but a laugh, (much less any actual change in the world), - and I might be wrong in thinking it a less aggravating watch than last year's show, not having seen it with my own two eyes.
The show will forever be remembered in the Oscar annals as the one in which the Best Picture win got botched up terribly, in a moment that lasted a couple of minutes of very strange live TV history, (watch that online!): Cinema legends Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Bonnie and Clyde, announced La La Land, - the expected winner, - but as the movie's team arrived on stage, it became clear that there was a mistake in the envelopes, (somehow a second envelope with 'Emma Stone, La La Land' had gotten in their hands), and that Moonlight was the actual winner. Strange indeed.
The evening had other firsts as well: Damien Chazelle became the youngest director winner to date, at 32, and Mahershala Ali the first Muslim to win an acting Oscar. Best Foreign Film winner, The Salesman director Asghar Farhadi was not in attendance in protest of President Trump's travel ban on 7 Muslim countries, including his own, Iran. Protestations against Trump were, as expected, widespread throughout the evening, led by host Kimmel, who also tweeted Trump during the telecast, twice, first to ask if he was up, and secondly, with the hashtag, #Merylsayshi, - referring to nominated actress supreme Meryl Streep, who made a scathing speech against Trump at the Golden Globes some weeks ago.
As noted in the previous post, I haven't yet seen most of the nominated films this year and so had an unsure hand in predicting this year, which is evident in that I only got 11 right out of 21. This is down from 16 last year, 13 in 2015 and 7 in 2014.
Rounding up the winners, La La Land came out on top with 6 wins, including Best Actress (Emma Stone), Best Director (Damien Chazelle), Best Production Design, Score (Justin Hurwitz), Cinematography (Linus Sandgren) and song (City of Stars). Manchester by the Sea surprised (me at least) by winning both Best Actor (Casey Affleck) and Best Original Screenplay (Kenneth Lonergan). - Amazon Studios, the streaming giant behind it, were naturally thrilled with their breakthrough to Oscar class as the first of their kind to achieve that. Moonlight won Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay (Barry Jenkins, Tarell Alvin McCraney) and Best Supporting Actor (Mahershala Ali). Viola Davis won Fences' only Oscar, and masterpiece Arrival won only for Best Sound Design. Hell or High Water, Nocturnal Animals, Lion, Jackie, Florence Foster Jenkins and Hidden Figures all went home empty-handed. Mel Gibson enjoyed a real comeback with his great war movie Hacksaw Ridge winning both Best Editing and Best Sound Mixing. Disney's Zootopia won Best Animation, The Salesman Best Foreign Film, and the 7-something hours long O.J.: Made in America became the longest documentary winner to date. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them won Best Costumes, becoming the first Harry Potter film, (although it is without Potter, so does that label fit?) to win an Oscar. Suicide Squad took Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and The Jungle Book got Best Visual Effects. The short film Oscars went to Sing (live action), Piper (animation) and The White Helmets (documentary).
Honorary Oscars went to Jackie Chan, Anne V. Coates, Lynn Stalmaster and Frederick Wiseman.
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| Justin Timberlake - performing nominated Can't Stop the Feeling from Trolls, - delight Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban et. al. |
Red marks the person/s or film I predicted would win the Oscar/s
Film Excess favorite marks the person/s or film I hoped would win the Oscar/s
Winner marks the person/s or film that actually won the Oscar/s
Best Picture
Arrival Film Excess favorite
Fences
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
Hidden Figures
La La Land
Lion
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight Winner
Best Director
Denis Villeneuve, Arrival Film Excess favorite
Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge
Damien Chazelle, La La Land Winner
Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea
Barry Jenkins, Moonlight
Best Actor
Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea Winner
Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge
Ryan Gosling, La La Land
Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic Film Excess favorite
Denzel Washington, Fences
Best Actress
Isabelle Huppert, Elle
Ruth Negga, Loving
Natalie Portman, Jackie
Emma Stone, La La Land Winner
Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins Film Excess favorite
Best Supporting Actor
Mahershala Ali, Moonlight Winner
Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water
Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea
Dev Patel, Lion
Michael Shannon, Nocturnal Animals Film Excess favorite
Best Supporting Actress
Viola Davis, Fences Film Excess favorite Winner
Naomie Harris, Moonlight
Nicole Kidman, Lion
Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures
Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea
Best Original Screenplay
Hell or High Water - Taylor Sheridan
La La Land - Damien Chazelle
The Lobster - Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthimis Fillipou Film Excess favorite
Manchester by the Sea - Kenneth Lonergan Winner
20th Century Women - Mike Mills
Best Adapted Screenplay
Arrival - Eric Heisserer Film Excess favorite
Fences - August Wilson
Hidden Figures - Allison Shroeder
Lion - Luke Davies
Moonlight - Barry Jenkins, Tarell Alvin McCraney Winner
Best Animated Feature
Kubo and the Two Strings Film Excess favorite
Moana
My Life As A Zucchini
The Red Turtle
Zootopia Winner
Best Foreign Film
Land of Mine - Martin Zandvliet, Denmark Film Excess favorite
A Man Called Ove - Hannes Holm, Sweden
The Salesman - Asghar Farhadi, Iran Winner
Tanna - Martin Butler, Bentley Dean, Australia
Toni Erdman - Maren Ade, Germany
Best Documentary Feature
Fire at Sea - Gianfranco Rosi, Donatella Palermo
I Am Not Your Negro - Raoul Peck, Rémi Grellety, Hébert Peck
Life, Animated - Roger Ross Williams, Julie Goldman
O.J. Made in America - Ezra Edelman, Caroline Waterlow Winner
13th - Ava DuVernay, Spencer Averick, Howard Barish Film Excess favorite
Best Score
Jackie - Mica Levi
La La Land - Justin Hurwitz Film Excess favorite Winner
Lion - Dustin O'Halloran, Hauschka
Moonlight - Nicholas Britell
Passengers - Thomas Newman
Best Original Song
La La Land: Audition (The Fools Who Dream) - Justin Hurwitz, Benj Pasek, Justin Paul Film Excess favorite
Trolls: Can't Stop the Feeling! - Justin Timberlake, Max Martin, Karl Johan Schuster
La La Land: City of Stars - Justin Hurwitz, Benj Pasek, Justin Paul Winner
Jim: The James Foley Story: The Empty Chair - J. Ralph, Sting
Moana: How Far I'll Go - Lin-Manuel Miranda
Best Sound Editing
Arrival Film Excess favorite Winner
Deepwater Horizon
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Sully
Best Sound Mixing
Arrival Film Excess favorite
Hacksaw Ridge Winner
La La Land
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
Best Production Design
Arrival
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Hail, Caesar!
La La Land Winner
Passengers Film Excess favorite
Best Cinematography
Arrival - Bradford Young Film Excess favorite
La La Land - Linus Sandgren Winner
Lion - Graig Fraser
Moonlight - James Laxton
Silence - Rodrigo Prieto
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
A Man Called Ove
Star Trek Beyond Film Excess favorite
Suicide Squad Winner
Best Costume Design
Allied
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Winner
Florence Foster Jenkins Film Excess favorite
Jackie
La La Land
Best Editing
Arrival Film Excess favorite
Hacksaw Ridge Winner
Hell or High Water
La La Land
Moonlight
Best Visual Effects
Deepwater Horizon
Doctor Strange
The Jungle Book Film Excess favorite Winner
Kubo and the Two Strings
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
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| Best Supporting Actor Mahershala Ali from Moonlight |
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| Best Actor Casey Affleck from Manchester by the Sea |
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| Best Actress Emma Stone from La La Land freaked out on stage |
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| Best Supporting Actress Viola Davis from Fences |
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| Best Supporting Actress nominee Ruth Negga from Loving looking stunning in an eye-popping red dress |
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| Warren Beatty, Jimmy Kimmel and cast and crews from Moonlight and La La Land in the chaos surrounding the win for Best Picture on stage |
Related posts:
The day after the day after ... the Oscars 2016
Oscars 2016 - Predictions and Film Excess' favorites
The day after the day after ... the Oscars 2015
Oscars 2015: Prognosis and Film Excess' favorites
The day after ... the Oscars 2014
Oscars 2014: Prognosis and Film Excess' favorites
What did you think of the 2017 Oscars?
Did the right movies and people win?
What was the best and worst moments, and which movies can't you wait to get to see?
