The 2017 Oscars: Will win, Should win, Should have been nominated

It’s that time of year again when Hollywood’s elite gathers to hand out awards for the best in film. That’s right, it’s Oscar night, and this year is looking as unpredictable as any year in the ceremony’s 89-year history. Though certain films are guaranteed to walk away with a prize, many of the evening’s biggest awards are still up for debate. Just like every sensible person overseas, I’m unlikely to stay up all night watching the event, so I’ll have to wait until tomorrow morning to find out just how accurate my predictions are. Along with my picks for the night’s winners, I’ll also say who deserves to win, and who should have been nominated.

Best Picture

Will Win: La La Land 

Who knew a musical about Hollywood would be so popular with voters? Like Birdman, Argo, and The Artist before it, La La Land is looking like this year’s fun, frivolous, but somewhat obvious winner. Having swept every other major awards show, it’s all but guaranteed to win.

Should Win: Moonlight

Though Manchester by the Sea was my favourite of this year’s nominees, I’m secretly rooting for Moonlight, a small-but-powerful underdog, to take the win. Focusing on the types of people rarely seen in films, let alone in a Best Picture nominee, Moonlight is one of the year’s most unique, interesting stories, and deserves to be rewarded.

Should Have Been Nominated: Paterson

Jim Jarmusch’s most beautiful film to date, Paterson was a stunning, lovable film featuring career-best work from its cast. It’s not a likely Oscar-nominee, but very few films made in the last year come close.

La La Land wins big, but it doesn’t quite sweep the BAFTAS

The BAFTAs 2017 have come and gone, and looking at the results shows a mostly unsurprising line up of winners with a few unexpected prizes. The BAFTAs are never guaranteed to go the same way of the upcoming Oscars, and while the major winners of the night will be almost identical to the Academy Awards, a few British films managed to sneak in and achieve glory on the night. Let’s break down the major awards of the evening:

Best Picture – La La Land

No surprises here. Just a few months ago, bookies were torn between this and Moonlight as the big contender come Oscar night. Unfortunately, Moonlight‘s chances of winning are looking slim in the wake of La La Land‘s runaway success; it came away empty-handed at the BAFTAs. As enjoyable and well-crafted as La La Land is, I can’t help but feel it will be looked at like Argo and Birdman in years to come – A fun film that went further than it probably should have.

The Ford On Film Awards 2016: Best Scene

After handing out the award for Best Director to Nicolas Winding Refn yesterday for his insane work on The Neon Demon, it’s time to hand the last official award in the Ford On Film Awards 2016 (tomorrow will be my odds and ends, including TV awards). The Best Scene award is perhaps the toughest to decide this year, as there have been some tremendous scenes. From powerful drama to awe-inspiring spectacle and comedy that made me cry laughing, it’s been stunning, and many great scenes had to be left out. Here are my choices for Best Scene of 2016:

Honourable Mentions:

Sloths – Zootopia

Driving the Mercedes – Divines

The runway – The Neon Demon

10.

Pool Party – American Honey

Fond of going off on wild tangents and incidental anecdotes, American Honey’s most memorable scene involved magazine saleswoman Star (Sasha Lane) taking up three random strangers’ offer to join them at a barbecue. Featuring tequila, worms, and eventually a loaded pistol, the scene started bright and breezy before slowly descending into all-out madness.

The Ford On Film Awards 2016: Best Actress & Best Actor

After yesterday’s Best Supporting Actress and Actor wins for Hayley Squires and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, I’m rounding up the acting awards today by giving out my prizes for Best Actress and Best Actor. It’s been an incredible year for performances, so let’s get started with the award for Best Actress.

Honourable Mentions:

Mary Elizabeth Winstead “Michelle – 10 Cloverfield Lane”

Kate Siegel “Maddie – Hush“

Michelina Olszanska “Olga Hepnarová – I, Olga Hepnarová”

Krisha Fairchild “Krisha – Krisha”

5.

Kate Beckinsale “Lady Susan – Love & Friendship“

So often relegated to being a rom-com love interest or generic action heroine, Kate Beckinsale proved she deserves so much more with her terrifically sharp, hilarious portrayal of Lady Susan in Love & Friendship. Relishing the chance to deliver Jane Austen’s spiky dialogue, Beckinsale swept through the film with the force of a hurricane.

The Ford On Film Awards 2016: Best Supporting Actress & Best Supporting Actor

Following on from yesterday’s Best Film picks, here are my choices for the best supporting performances of 2016. First up, the award for Best Supporting Actress:

Honourable Mentions:

Bebe Cave “Violet – Tale of Tales“

Jena Malone “Ruby – The Neon Demon”

Imogen Poots “Amber – Green Room”

5.

Lucy Boynton “Raphina – Sing Street”

Though marketed as a musical comedy, Sing Street had a lot of sadness at its heart, courtesy of Lucy Boynton’s lonely wannabe-model. Sparky and sharp but always in danger of showing her vulnerable side, Boynton’s performance underlined the music with just the right amount of melancholy.

American Honey cleans up at the British Independent Film Awards 2016

While most people consider the BAFTAs to be the most prestigious award in the UK film industry, I always keep my eye out for the British Independent Film Awards. Celebrating the best in low budget, homegrown filmmaking, the BIFAs have in the past rewarded some of the greatest films that were overlooked by other awards ceremonies

Just looking at past winners of Best British Independent Film, the ceremony has honoured gems like Pride, Tyrannosaur, and This is England, as well as eventual Oscar winners like Slumdog Millionaire and The King’s Speech. Last night (4th December), the 19th edition of the BIFAs was held, and it looks like year for innovative British filmmaking.

The big story of the night was American Honey dominating the competition. Andrea Arnold is no stranger to BIFA glory; her 2006 debut Red Road saw her nominated for Best Film and Best Debut Feature, as well as winning two awards for Best Actor and Best Actress, whilst 2009’s Fish Tank saw her pick up her first Best Director win. For her glorious road movie American Honey, Arnold won her second Best Director award as well as finally winning the big one – Best British Independent Film.

Even better was the film’s star Sasha Lane, who was cast on the street and had no prior acting experience, picking up the Best Actress award, fighting off fierce competition from I, Daniel Blake‘s Hayley Squires and Under the Shadow‘s Narges Rashidi. Though Shia LaBeouf was unsuccessful in claiming the Best Actor award, outstanding cinematographer Robbie Ryan won a well-deserved Best Achievement in Craft for his stunning work on the film.