Every year, there is a lock on a certain movie to take home the Best Picture on the night of the Academy Awards. I will be honest and say that, at some point, the frontrunner was Kenneth Lonergan's Manchester by the Sea. From all the buzz it received at countless film festivals, I believed that would take the big prize for sure. But then, something miraculous came out and that was Damien Chazelle's La La Land. If you don't know what La La Land is at this point, then you have been living under a rock.

Chazelle's musical dramedy has been sweeping all the award shows from the Golden Globes (winning all 7 nominations) to the BAFTAs (winning 5 out of 11 nominations). It also won the Critic's Choice Award for Best Picture! I agree with everyone that it's high up on the list of films to sweep the Oscars this year. That is also considering since it received a record-breaking of 14 nominations, tied with All About Eve and Titanic. Will it win all the Oscars? No. Sorry Ryan Gosling, but this year's Best Actor belongs to Casey Affleck or Denzel Washington.

Will La La Land continue its streak and take home the crown jewel of The Academy? I honestly do not think it will win. Now, I will probably be wrong as I see Chazelle, Gosling, Emma Stone and the entire team on stage at the end of the ceremony. I will not be mad if it wins, because I adored the movie. I've seen it four times in the theater for goodness sake! It's an experience and it's something that no one should miss, no matter what you think of musicals.

Why don't I think it will win the Oscar for Best Picture? It is because they play safe and always go towards the heavier pictures. Now granted, we've had lighthearted pieces take home the award, but La La Land just seems a tad bit safe for The Academy. I may be crazy as I am writing this opinion piece, but I feel they will give the award to Moonlight. The Academy loves dramatic works, especially when they center around specific sexualities or ethnicities. I don't want this article to come off as racist or sexist, but within the last five years, most of the films that have won are true stories and dramas.

Last year's winner, Spotlight, was a true story and now granted, Moonlight isn't a true story. It's based on director Barry Jenkins' life, but the movie doesn't tell us that. If they give it to La La Land, people will rant and call The Academy 'racist'. But let's be real, there were a lot of nominations toward African American performers and crew members this year. Mahershala Ali will most likely win for his performance, as will Viola Davis for Fences. But for the last few years, there was the #OscarsSoWhite trend and maybe this will be The Academy's apology for making that trend even happen.

I won't be mad if either film wins because I loved both of them. This year's Oscars are going to be extremely interesting. I do want La La Land to win, as we haven't seen a musical win since 2002's Chicago. It won't shock me if it wins, but if it loses, Moonlight will definitely take home the award. This is going to be a controversial article, but hey, I'm passionate about award shows and films. Let me know what you think of this topic!