Academy Awards: The Annual Kvetch Fest

It's that time of year again where we parse the nominations. As you can see below, this was not a great year for American movies. The best picture nominees are a mixed bag, with some movies that don't belong in there by any stretch of the imagination (Arrival, I'm talking to you).

As usual, better independent movies are ignored in favor of big, corny spectacles.

I am not doing the technical categories or shorts because in many cases I have not seen the films.

Below, my rants and raves. Predicted winners in red. Who I think should win, in blue.

BEST PICTURE

I seem to be the only person in the world who absolutely adored Jackie. In my view, it is better than any of the films below. La La Land, the probable winner, is very polarizing, but I think that even though it strikes people as conventional, it is the most audacious movie of the bunch. In contrast, Moonlight, which has been hailed as audacious because of its subject matter, seemed to me utterly trite. The fight is between those two.

ARRIVAL - The most boring movie about aliens ever made.
FENCES - Good, but it's a stiffly filmed stage play, not Best Picture material.
HACKSAW RIDGE - I have trouble seeing movies by antisemites.
HELL OR HIGH WATER - Preposterous but entertaining modern Western.
HIDDEN FIGURES - Conventional but effective and winning.
LA LA LAND - For sheer moxie and audaciousness. A love letter to long-suffering artists.
LION - I hear it's a five-hankie weepie. I just can't stand Dev Patel.
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA - There is nothing wrong with this movie, but it leaves me cold.
MOONLIGHT - Vastly overrated. 

SNUBBED: Jackie, Loving, Elle, Captain Fantastic, Hail, Caesar! Indignation.

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
CASEY AFFLECK. An effective one-note performance.
Manchester by the Sea
ANDREW GARFIELD. Haven't seen it. But I've never understood why directors like him.
Hacksaw Ridge
RYAN GOSLING. He is wonderful.
La La Land
VIGGO MORTENSEN So glad he's here. A subtle and committed performance.
Captain Fantastic
DENZEL WASHINGTON. He's great.
Fences

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
MAHERSHALA ALI. I love him in everything, but I don't get why he is here.
Moonlight
JEFF BRIDGES. He's fantastic.
Hell or High Water
LUCAS HEDGES. I hated him, but maybe that was his job.
Manchester by the Sea
DEV PATEL
Lion
MICHAEL SHANNON. Absolutely righteous nomination. The best of the bunch.
Nocturnal Animals

SNUBBED: 

Tracy Letts in Indignation

Ralph Fiennes in Hail, Caesar! or A Bigger Splash. 

Simon Helberg and Hugh Grant in Florence Foster Jenkins. 

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
ISABELLE HUPPERT. Killer, as usual.
Elle
RUTH NEGGA. Wonderful.
Loving
NATALIE PORTMAN. Frighteningly good.
Jackie
EMMA STONE. Excellent.
La La Land
MERYL STREEP.  Sure, but enough already!
Florence Foster Jenkins

SNUBBED: Annette Bening (20th Century Women), Amy Adams (Arrival)

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE  A lackluster category this year.
VIOLA DAVIS. She's fine. I have an issue with the snot.
Fences
NAOMIE HARRIS. She was fine, considering the cliched role.
Moonlight
NICOLE KIDMAN. Didn't see it.
Lion
OCTAVIA SPENCER. She was good, but no better than her colleagues.
Hidden Figures
MICHELLE WILLIAMS. Fine.
Manchester by the Sea

SNUBBED: Taraji P. Henson (Hidden Figures), Linda Emond, Indignation.

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM - I haven't seen any of these films but I'm judging from the trailers.
KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS
MOANA
MY LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI
THE RED TURTLE
ZOOTOPIA

CINEMATOGRAPHY
ARRIVAL
Bradford Young
LA LA LAND
Linus Sandgren
LION
Greig Fraser
MOONLIGHT
James Laxton
SILENCE
Rodrigo Prieto

SNUBBED: JACKIE, Stephane Fontaine

                     HAIL CAESAR!, Roger Deakins

                     THE HANDMAIDEN Chung-hoon Chung

COSTUME DESIGN
ALLIED
Joanna Johnston
FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM
Colleen Atwood

FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS
Consolata Boyle
JACKIE
Madeline Fontaine
LA LA LAND
Mary Zophres

SNUBBED: Zophres for Hail, Caesar! 

DIRECTING
ARRIVAL - Humorless, leaden: no.
Denis Villeneuve
HACKSAW RIDGE
Mel Gibson
LA LA LAND 
Damien Chazelle
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA - Good job.
Kenneth Lonergan
MOONLIGHT - Fine.
Barry Jenkins

SNUBBED: Paul Verhoeven, Elle. Pablo Larrain, Jackie. 

DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)
FIRE AT SEA - Haven't seen it.
Gianfranco Rosi and Donatella Palermo
I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO - So glad this is here. Excellent. 
Raoul Peck, Rémi Grellety and Hébert Peck
LIFE, ANIMATED - Haven't seen it.
Roger Ross Williams and Julie Goldman
O.J.: MADE IN AMERICA - One of the best movies of the year. Period. 
Ezra Edelman and Caroline Waterlow
13TH - Excellent.
Ava DuVernay, Spencer Averick and Howard Barish


FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
LAND OF MINE
Denmark
A MAN CALLED OVE
Sweden
THE SALESMAN - Farhadi is one of the best filmmakers in the world today so I root for him.
Iran
TANNA
Australia
TONI ERDMANN - Super overrated.
Germany

SNUBBED: THE HANDMAIDEN. One of the best movies of the year in any language. 

THE CLUB by Pablo Larrain, Chile. 

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
JACKIE - If this hadn't been nominated I would have thrown a symphonic tantrum. Spectacular.
Mica Levi
LA LA LAND - Not memorable music, but a lot of it.
Justin Hurwitz
LION
Dustin O'Halloran and Hauschka
MOONLIGHT - Distracting and pretentious.
Nicholas Britell
PASSENGERS
Thomas Newman

SNUBBED: Nocturnal Animals. 

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
AUDITION (THE FOOLS WHO DREAM)
from La La Land; Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
CAN'T STOP THE FEELING
from Trolls; Music and Lyric by Justin Timberlake, Max Martin and Karl Johan Schuster
CITY OF STARS
from La La Land; Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
THE EMPTY CHAIR
from Jim: The James Foley Story; Music and Lyric by J. Ralph and Sting
HOW FAR I'LL GO
from Moana; Music and Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda

SNUBBED: Pharrell Williams' excellent songs for Hidden Figures. 

PRODUCTION DESIGN
ARRIVAL - The only good thing in this film, plus Amy Adams.
FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM
HAIL, CAESAR! Love, love, love. 
LA LA LAND - Technicolor without the style.
PASSENGERS

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
ARRIVAL
Eric Heisserer
FENCES
August Wilson
HIDDEN FIGURES
Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi
LION
Luke Davies
MOONLIGHT
Screenplay by Barry Jenkins; Story by Tarell Alvin McCraney

SNUBBED: Elle by Philippe Djian. Indignation by James Schamus.

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
HELL OR HIGH WATER - Entertaining but I didn't buy it.
Taylor Sheridan
LA LA LAND - Bittersweet and smart. 
Damien Chazelle
THE LOBSTER  Their weakest script yet.
Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthimis Filippou
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA - Very good writing.
Kenneth Lonergan
20TH CENTURY WOMEN - Good.
Mike Mills

SNUBBED: Noah Oppenheim, Jackie.