Movie Enthusiast Issue 25: If I Had an Oscar Ballot…
At this stage in the game, Oscar voters only cast their nominating votes for Best Picture and categories for whatever branch they’re a part of (e.g. actors vote on the acting categories, writers the screenwriting categories). But if I were an Oscar voter and I could make nominations in every category, my ballot would look something like this*:
*all nominations pre-Silence
Best Picture
Aferim!
Aquarius
Cameraperson
Cemetery of Splendor
The Fits
Love and Friendship
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight
Things to Come
Toni Erdmann
(Read more of my thoughts on these movies (and how I would rank them as a Top 10) here.)
Best Director
Maren Ade, Toni Erdmann
Mia Hansen-Løve, Things to Come
Kleber Mendonça Filho, Aquarius
Barry Jenkins, Moonlight
Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Cemetery of Splendor
Best Actor
Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea
Joel Edgerton, Loving
Logan Lerman, Indignation
Peter Simonischek, Toni Erdmann
Denzel Washington, Fences
Best Actress
Kate Beckinsale, Love and Friendship
Sonia Braga, Aquarius
Sandra Hüller, Toni Erdmann
Isabelle Huppert, Things to Come and/or Elle
Zhao Tao, Mountains May Depart
Best Supporting Actor
Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
Tom Bennett, Love and Friendship
Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea
André Holland, Moonlight
Glen Powell, Everybody Wants Some!!
Best Supporting Actress
Elizabeth Laidlaw, Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party
Édith Scob, Things to Come
Janelle Monae, Moonlight
Viola Davis, Fences
Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea
Best Original Screenplay
Aquarius
Hell or High Water
Manchester by the Sea
Things to Come
Toni Erdmann
Best Adapted Screenplay
Elle
Fences
The Handmaiden
Love and Friendship
Moonlight
Best Cinematography
Aferim!
Embrace of the Serpent
Loving
La La Land
Moonlight
Best Editing
Aquarius
Cameraperson
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight
Toni Erdmann
Best Original Score
Arrival
The Fits
The Handmaiden
Jackie
Moonlight
Best Costume Design
Aferim!
Hail, Caesar!
The Handmaiden
Love and Friendship
Loving
Best Production Design
Everybody Wants Some!!
Hail, Caesar!
High-Rise
The Handmaiden
Loving
Best Hair and Makeup
Everybody Wants Some!!
The Handmaiden
Jackie
Best Sound Mixing
Aquarius
Embrace of the Serpent
Jackie
Knight of Cups
La La Land
Best Sound Editing
Arrival
Dheepan
Hell or High Water
Midnight Special
Mountains May Depart
I accidentally only saw one documentary this year, so I guess I’m not voting on Best Documentary…
(likewise I only saw two animated films)
Bonus, Non-Oscar Categories
Best Adapted Score (a.k.a Best Use of Non-Original Music; standout individual needle drops indicated in parentheses)
Aquarius (Hoje, Another One Bites the Dust, Fat-Bottomed Girls)
Everybody Wants Some!!
Knight of Cups
Mountains May Depart (Go West)
Toni Erdmann (The Greatest Love of All)
Best Use of Vintage Cars
Aquarius
Café Society
High-Rise
Indignation
Loving
Best Movie Animal (living or animated)
Becky the common loon, Finding Dory
Pandora the cat, Things to Come
Marty the cat, Elle, though next time he should “at least scratch him”
The octopus in The Handmaiden
Monkey, Kubo and the Two Strings
Best Ensemble
Everybody Wants Some!!
Fences
Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight
Shots of the Year
Arrival
The Handmaiden
Cameraperson
Toni Erdmann
Cemetery of Splendor
And also the shot of Kevin’s reaction to Chiron’s confession 55 seconds from the end of Moonlight, but I can’t find it online.
Scenes of the Year
The birthday party, Toni Erdmann
That flashback (you know the one), Manchester by the Sea
Destroying the library, The Handmaiden
“I'm sick of it!” Cameraperson
Meeting of the religious leaders, Hail, Caesar!