So, tonight is Oscar night. Being a film fan it’s one of my favourite events in the film calendar and this year, for the first time ever, I have actually seen all nine of the movies up for best picture.

Arrival
La La Land
Hacksaw Ridge
Hidden Figures
Moonlight
Lion
Manchester by the Sea
Fences
Hell of High Water

What a mixed bunch it is and I’ve been surprised by my response to a lot of them.
I’m usually a sucker for a good sci-fi movie but I found Arrival to be one of the biggest bores of the year.
La La Land, I fully expected to hate but actually really enjoyed!
Hidden Figures was brilliant and hilarious.
Hacksaw Ridge was just astounding.
Lion was beautiful.
Fences was not too bad but did still feel more like a play than a movie.
With Moonlight I felt a little cheated. I needed to see more. Did Terrence embrace his sexuality? Did he get to spend his life with anyone? It just felt cut short.
Manchester by the Sea was soooo dull. I just cannot see why it’s getting the attention.
Hell or High Water just seems like an odd Oscar contender. Not a bad movie. Not a great one either. Just not what I would consider Oscar worthy.

A film that should have been on the list was Martin Scorcese’s ‘Silence’. I’m still a little disappointed that this is only up for Best Cinematography. Fingers crossed it gets that! 

I would personally love to see Hacksaw Ridge or Hidden Figures win, but I have a feeling La La Land will be running off with this one.

When it comes to actor nominations,  I can only give opinions on the ones I’ve seen.

Best Actor

Casey Affleck
Ryan Gossling
Andrew Garfield
Denzel Washington

Out of the 4 that I’ve seen I would love to see Andrew Garfield win but I think Denzel Washington stands a good chance of walking away with this one. His performance in Fences was unbelievable.

Best Actress

Emma Stone

I can’t really comment on best actress as I haven’t seen the other performanes. 

Best Supporting Actor

Marhershala Ali
Dev Patel
Jeff Bridges
Lucas Hedges

Marhershala Ali gets my vote here. He gave a lovely subtle performance in Moonlight that he’s nominated for but he also gave a heartwarming performance in Hidden Figures.

Best Supporting Actress

Viola Davis
Octavia Spencer
Naomi Harris
Nicole Kidman
Michelle Williams

This one is going to go to either Viola Davis or Octavia Spencer. I’d be happy with either. Viola was stunning in Fences and Octavia was wonderful and sassy in Hidden Figures.

Best Director

Denis Villeneuve – Arrival
Mel Gibson – Hacksaw Ridge
Damien Chazelle – La La Land
Kenneth Lonergan – Manchester by the Sea
Barry Jenkins – Moonlight

This will probably go to La La Land but I would like to see Mel Gibson get this, however, I don’t know if he’s been forgiven enough for past indiscretions,  we’ll see.

So that’s it! Only time will tell now. I’m not working tomorrow so I’m tempted to stay up to watch it but the red carpet doesn’t start until midnight here in the UK and the ceremony itself doesn’t start until 01:30. I can’t remember the last time I stayed up into the wee hours. It could be quite a challenge.