Academy Award nominations are out, and it has never been harder to pick between the outstanding performances and productions of these selected films. While it has always been well known that those films nominated for Oscars are the best and the brightest of that year, I believe that this year truly represents that compared to years past.
The heaviest example of this is through representation of people of color in the nominations this year. In every performance category, there is at least one person of color nominated, with the category of best supporting actresses with three black women (Naomie Harris, Octavia Spencer, and Viola Davis) nominated. In the Best Picture category, arguably the most significant category, Fences, Hidden Figures, and Moonlight, all films with primarily black casts, are nominated, with Lion, (who’s nominated star, Dev Patel, who’s family is from Kenya with roots to India) being up for Best Picture as well. With the controversy surrounding last year’s awards lack of representation, this is a large step up. Though there are still some ways to go, it is nice to see these outstanding performances and films being recognized.
Another piece of excitement in this year’s Oscar buzz is the domination of "La La Land," which is tied with Titanic and All About Eve for the most Academy Award nominations in history. As someone who LOVED the film, I can definitely support the multitude of nominations of the film, including ones for both lead performances by Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, direction, original score and song(s), among others. La La Land has two original pieces in the Best Original Song category, which are about against three other incredible pieces, including the ever popular “Can’t Stop the Feeling” by Justin Timberlake from Trolls, and the unstoppable Lin Manual Miranda’s “How Far I’ll Go” from Disney’s Moana.
Lin’s nomination is newsworthy as well because a win for this nom would result in him being the winner of all four major entertainment awards- an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony- otherwise lovingly nicknamed as the “EGOT.” There have only been 12 other EGOT winners in history, and joining that group would officially mark down Miranda’s name history- as if it hasn’t been already. He wrote a musical about history, I mean come on.
Speaking of Moana, let’s touch on animated features, shall we? As always, Disney dominates the category with the previously mentioned Moana as well as Zootopia nominated against each other and three other excellent animated movies. Per usual, there is a very large chance that a Disney film will win this category, but hey, you never know- "My Life as A Zucchini," "Kubo" and the "Two Strings," or "The Red Turtle" might pull out a victory over the superpower. It is up to the Academy and not the people after all.
So here’s the part where most people share their predictions and why they think their picks will win. However, I am known for being wrong with these things so I will instead write who to watch with these awards. For example, let’s not sleep on Natalie Portman for her portrayal of Jackie Kennedy in "Jackie." There were a few supporting characters, but the majority of the film was largely on her shoulders, especially in portraying such a well-known figure. I also want to put some support under Denzel Washington and Fences, for bringing so much justice to such an iconic theatrical piece. Also, my personal bias towards both "La La Lan" and "Moana" have me rooting for those as well.
