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

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Surprises/Snubs: Okay, while many wished (including myself) and thought that the highest grossing R-Rated film of all-time, and one of the most delightful guilty pleasures of the year was going to get nominated, fellow Canadian Ryan Reynold’s Deadpool didn’t make the cut. I am sure it was close though! Silence was silenced in this category (and many others), despite early speculation that it was going to rule the Awards season considering Scorsese’s thirty year epic was his suppose to be his crowning achievement. Another big surprise is the absence of Pablo Larrín’s amazingly gorgeous biopic Jackie, which absolutely deserves a spot on this list WELL before Lion, Hidden Figures and Fences. 

HAPPY Surprise: The biggest surprise in this category is [finally] the inclusion of Canada’s most talented director to date (maybe ever?) Denis Villeneuve. Villenueve’s work is always marvelled, analyzed and talked about, its should not have came as a surprise his best film to date would be a Best Picture nominated film and give him his first directing nomination of his very promising career.

Surprise: I could have sworn Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Lobster was released in 2015, not that we are really complaining. Lanthimos’ script is easily one of the most inventive and genuinely original scripts of the last twenty years in cinema. Add the inclusion of Mike Mill’s 20th Century Women, and this is one very fresh and quirky category, although we all know who is going to take this one come Oscar night.

*No real surprises here. We just find it a shame that two of the best film and two of the best scripts of 2016 have to challenge each other for Oscar gold. At the end of the day, the winner is well deserving and will be applauded just as loud.*

Surprise: Seeing Garfield on this list for Gibson’s super skeptical Hacksaw Ridge as opposed to Scorsese’s religious epic Silence that was once predicted to sweep the nominations in 2017.

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SNUB SNUB SNUB: THE BIGGEST SNUB IN OSCAR HISTORY is the very careless choice to leave Amy Adams out of the Oscar race for her role as Dr. Louise Banks in the BEST FILM of 2016! Adams, whose performance carries the very essence of the film; its dialogue, visuals and most importantly, all the characters surrounding her, makes this choice, one of the saddest days of my cinematic life. Amy Adams has now surpassed Leonardo DiCaprio for acting nominations without winning, making her the new and sadly overlooked Leo. If you don’t believe me, just stay tuned. An editorial on this travesty will be featured soon.

Snub: Where the heck is Ben Foster in this category? Peter Sarsgaard? Foster, who is easily one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood today, gives a no holds-barred, balls to the wall performance as Tanner Howard, a big brother with small ambition and a strong code of brotherhood fuels his desire to help his little brother Toby Howard (Chris Pine) steal some money from banks to rectify whats their’s. As for Peter Sarsgaard, I was surprised the prestigious actor was getting no buzz or talk of acting recognition as his very convincing and utterly uncanny resemblance and performance to the late Bobby Kennedy. Its very funny, sad and shocking to think that, despite some incredible films (Jarhead, Blue Jasmine and of course An Education) the actor has YET to secure his very first Oscar nomination.

Best Supporting Actress 

Viola Davis, Fences

Naomie Harris, Moonlight

Nicole Kidman, Lion

Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures

Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea

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Snub: Not only was Janelle Monáe in Disney’s crowd pleasing and critical darling Hidden Figures, but Monáe surprised us all and really exercised her acting chops and showed us what she’s got in Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight. Offering tense scenes of maternity, being a hard woman with some class or a real life inspiration to its lead protagonist, Monáe was one name I was anxiously waiting to hear this morning.

Surprise: Silence got on the board once this year with their only nomination within The Academy for cinematography. At the same time, it is almost disheartening knowing that Silence stole the spot that was saved tremendously for Hell or High Water’s Giles Nuttgens.

Surprise: No one thought Passengers would come away with two Oscar nominations the day before the actual announcement. Yet, Passengers, a live-action rendering of Pixar’s beloved Wall-E has two chances for gold, and one of them is taking advantage of Arrival’s invalid film score by genius composer Jóhann Jóhannsson which was deemed ineligible this year. As for Thomas Newman, if we are REALLY talking about invidiuals who have been nominated numerous times without winning, Newman currently sits at fourteen nominations, and zero wins, holding the Oscar record. Ouch!

Surprise: Paolo Larraín was a hard working filmmaker in 2016, making not only one stellar film, but two! Neruda is poetic, fascinating in a very cinematic way yet, audiences couldn’t handle an international release that is not only avant-garde in its storytelling techniques, but also, very very audacious. It absolutely needed a nod in my opinion.

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Snub: After horrendous films focused around comedy and the absurdities of flying, Pedro Almodóvar made his return to the female narrative with Julieta. Almodóvar has made a knack and career out of showcases some of the strongest female characters, not only in Spain, but in the world. Julieta was a true return to form in one of his strongest works to date, which threatened The Academy, who probably didn’t want to drown themselves in female favouritism or controversy, especially when the world was watching then from last year.

Surprise: Pixar is no where is sight. Despite Finding Dory for being an excellent film in 2016 and gaining the title as 2016 highest grossing in the domestic market, the film was still unable to snatch a nomination by The Academy. If there is one thing we know about The Academy, we know that making money is never a requirement, and if you don’t believe me, look at back 2009, when The Hurt Locker beat out the highest grossing movie of all-time, Avatar.

Snub: Not that it will be spoken about for too long, but the fact that Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them isn’t included in this list just makes us sad.

Surprise: Many weren’t happy when La La Land snatched two spots on Original Song category’s list, especially since the later, City of Stars is perhaps one of the weakest songs in the film, although it does capture the motives of all its characters best. Another big surprise this year was the highly applauded and critical darling Sing Street didn’t get love in this category, when many thought it would be a certain lock.

Surprise: When is The Academy going to start making this highly important and underrated category have five entries like so many others?

 So there you have it people. February 27th is quickly approaching, and while The Academy seemed to get much of it right this year [minus Adams], the broadcast should be one thats both entertaining, fun and exciting. Just remember, The Academy ALWAYS includes ONE BIG surprise in its broadcast each and every year. And since so many are already pegging La La Land to sweep, keep your eyes peeled for one big surprise in one of the acting categories. I already have my precondition made, so lets see, after seeing all the films on this list, if you’ve got me beat this year. We’ll have our predictions and commentaries just before showtime. Out of ALL the films nominated this year, I have not seen 15, and you beat that all that will change come Oscar night.