YOUR OFFICIAL PLAY-AT-HOME OSCAR BALLOT
Picture
“Arrival” “Fences” “Hacksaw Ridge” “Hell or High Water” “Hidden Figures” “La La Land” “Lion” “Manchester by the Sea” “Moonlight”
And the winner is: No way “La La Land” earns a record-tying 14 nominations and doesn’t win best picture. It’s going to be a lovely night — and then some — for Damien Chazelle’s bold musical.
Director
Denis Villeneuve, “Arrival” Mel Gibson, “Hacksaw Ridge” Damien Chazelle, “La La Land” Barry Jenkins, “Moonlight” Kenneth Lonergan, “Manchester by the Sea”
And the winner is: Chazelle. Voters will want to reward the creative force behind the best picture winner.
Lead actor
Casey Affleck, “Manchester by the Sea” Andrew Garfield, “Hacksaw Ridge” Ryan Gosling, “La La Land” Viggo Mortensen, “Captain Fantastic” Denzel Washington, “Fences”
And the winner is: Washington. The SAG Awards were seen as a momentum-shifter, but Washington might have always been the favorite for his towering, dialogue-devouring turn.
Lead actress
Emma Stone, “La La Land” Natalie Portman, “Jackie” Ruth Negga, “Loving” Meryl Streep, “Florence Foster Jenkins” Isabelle Huppert, “Elle” And the winner is: Stone. She nailed the audition.
Supporting actor
Mahershala Ali, “Moonlight” Jeff Bridges, “Hell or High Water” Lucas Hedges, “Manchester by the Sea” Dev Patel, “Lion” Michael Shannon, “Nocturnal Animals”
And the winner is: Ali must be considered the front-runner for his tender turn in “Moonlight,” as well as for all the eloquent speeches he’s made leading up to the Oscars.
Supporting actress
Viola Davis, “Fences” Naomie Harris, “Moonlight” Nicole Kidman, “Lion” Octavia Spencer, “Hidden Figures” Michelle Williams, “Manchester by the Sea”
And the winner is: Davis. She pretty much won this from the moment she signed on to reprise her Broadway turn.
Adapted screenplay
“Arrival,” Eric Heisserer “Fences,” August Wilson “Hidden Figures,” Theodore Melfi and Allison Schroeder “Lion,” Luke Davis “Moonlight,” Barry Jenkins
And the winner is: “Moonlight” wins for the poetic way Jenkins told a deeply personal story through the prism of harsh societal realities.
Original screenplay
“20th Century Women,” Mike Mills “Hell or High Water,” Taylor Sheridan “La La Land,” Damien Chazelle “The Lobster,” Efthymis Filippou and Yorgos Lanthimos “Manchester by the Sea,” Kenneth Lonergan
And the winner is: Voters will want to tip their hats to “Manchester” somewhere, and what better place than Lonergan’s nimble, nuanced writing.
Cinematography
“Arrival,” Bradford Young “La La Land,” Linus Sandgren “Lion,” Greig Fraser “Moonlight,” James Laxton “Silence,” Rodrigo Prieto
And the winner is: “La La Land,” for the way Sandgren made Los Angeles look like a place where the magic hour lasts the entire day.
Documentary feature
“13th” “Fire at Sea” “I Am Not Your Negro” “Life, Animated” “O.J.: Made in America”
And the winner is: No bad choices here. The ambitious, essential “O.J.” from Ezra Edelman will probably prevail, though Ava DuVernay’s shattering “13th” is a strong possibility too.