It’s the most wonderful time of the year! The culmination of all the most spectacular achievements in cinema in the last calendar rotation, the results of which will likely make you wonder why you even take the time to view this overly long masturbatory parade.
(It’s because you love movies, idiot. And right now it’s the best option available.)
Costume Design
I’m always at a loss when “judging” this category. I’m not really sure what the criteria even are. According to Roger Ebert, the Academy isn’t really about “subtle.” He states that often the best way to predict winners is to “substitute the word ‘most’ for ‘best’ in the name of the category.”
It seems especially true in the award for Costume Design, where the most flamboyant assault on your eyeballs will take home the hardware. This year it’s a difficult task, because none of the nominees are a musical taking place in the Renaissance. We have Allied and Fantastic Beasts, sporting similar looks of drab, muted garb from the early 20th century America. La La Land tries to mix the look of old Hollywood and contemporary but never goes too far in either direction. Jackie has a pretty defined historical template which I assume is accurate (I didn’t bother to check), which brings us to Florence Foster Jenkins, of which the title character alone fits that “most” designation. Therefore:
My Favorite: Jackie
My Prediction: Florence Foster Jenkins
Makeup
Over the years I haven’t learned much on how to judge this category. Much like Costume Design I don’t rightly give much of a fuck about it. It’s also why I start this review with these categories. I can pretty much trash them for their insignificance and no one will be offended.
Again, not totally sure what I’m supposed to be looking for. I can say I’m baffled by A Man Called Ove getting the nod. The pair of Love Larson and Eva Von Bahr were nominated last year for The 100-Year-Old-Man, where they were tasked with making a 49-year-old look 100. Fair. But this year they were charged with making a 60-year-old look 59? I’m no expert but…
Both Star Trek: Beyond and Suicide Squad got to play around with some kooky creature faces, though Suicide Squad seemed very preoccupied with smattering all sorts of tattoos onto every villain. I guess it makes them look more suicidey? Though I have to say Lizard-Face looked pretty cool.
My Pick and Prediction: Suicide Squad. Godspeed, Lizard-Face.
Sound Editing
The editing team behind La La Land are the first female duo to get a nomination and could make history in a category dominated by men. And while the lovely crafting of the bustle of Los Angeles deserves credit, sorry ladies, because your competition is a heaping pile of TESTOSTERONE! We’ve got Hacksaw Ridge with its machine guns and destroyer cannons tearing through bone and flesh! We’ve got Deepwater Horizon and its entire structure bending under flames and crashing into the ocean! We’ve got Sully and a fucking jetliner splattering down into the Hudson river! We’ve got Arrival with mammoth spacecraft descending to Earth and…getting all weird! Kaboom! Ratataatatatat! Schoooom!
It’s the Oscars, ladies, go big or go home.
Pick and prediction: Arrival
Sound Mixing
Ah, sound mixers. The cat herders of the movie industry. Again, not to take away from La La Land, because mixing musicals is tough business when you want the sounds of the city to play their part. But war movies often win out in this category. Hacksaw Ridge and Rogue One have so much going on but one has to feel for whoever mixed Michael Bay’s 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi. Bay probably has explosions that weren’t even on screen, not to mention you have to sprinkle in some dialogue amid all the carryings-on.
My Pick: 13 Hours
My Prediction: La La Land. It will take one of these categories.
Visual Effects
Here’s where the popcorn flicks get their due. Kubo and the Two Strings is a dark horse, a beautifully fluid stop-motion feast, including some fun visuals with origami. Rogue One has a refreshing mix of practical and contemporary effects, though the animated faces weren’t quite up to snuff to deserve so much screen time. Deepwater Horizon may be a bit out of its depth (yes I sacrificed honest criticism for a pun, I’ll look real stupid if it wins). Jungle Book gets credit for the look of all the animals and it never once looked ridiculous when their mouths moved. Doctor Strange has some nifty mind-bending effects that played a role in the narrative.
My Pick: Dr. Strange
My Prediction: Rogue One. Carrie Fisher’s death may have sewn this one up.
Production Design
It’s hard to compare the types of design here. With Passengers (or A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again 3000), the look of a futuristic galactic cruise ship seems appropriately sterile and sheek. Arrival seeks to create a more gritty sci-fi vibe with the interiors of their alien pods. Fantastic Beasts is mostly a period set apart from the interior of the magical suitcase. La La Land tries to blend the old with the new, but not in any way that makes you notice. Hail, Caesar! uses its plot as an excuse to create many fantastic old style sets that range from the Berkeleyesque to the Wyleresque, and you know how much the Academy loves to jerk off to its past.
My Pick: Passengers. It looked like one long Apple commercial from the future, which is probably what the future will be.
My Prediction: Something just tells me La La Land.
Original Screenplay
This is usually seen as a consolation prize for the also-rans. Manchester By The Sea is a powerful script, and I love the shirking it made of an easy resolution (which may have counted against it for the Best Picture race). I would love to see something as bizarre and irreverent as The Lobster take it, though it has been affected by time. La La Land is underwhelming and overly long as a script, but it’s just kinda hovering around every category like an annoying fog. 20th Century Women, scriptwise, has characters that are well-drawn but most of their interactions with each other don’t amount to much, and it’s shameful that a movie with the backdrop of early ’80s hardcore punk music would be so fucking boring. Hell or High Water is a subtlety good flick, but the screenplay itself isn’t without its cliches.
My Pick: The Lobster
My Prediction: Manchester By The Sea
Adapted Screenplay
It’s hard to call Fences adapted when it’s pretty much just the play put on screen verbatim, though I am completely on board for a posthumous August Wilson Oscar. Lion was rightfully front-loaded with the struggles of the young version of the kid, making the payoff that much more rewarding. Unfortunately this makes the characters in the second half seem a little thinner. Arrival had a great pace to make an alien movie without lasers engaging, so fucking kudos on that. Hidden Figures was not as trope-ridden as I had expected, but still couldn’t resist entirely. Moonlight has consolation written all over it. In the final scene, every unspoken word was heard between the banal dialogue and it was absolutely gripping. The tension builds to a perfectly worded confessional release. In terms of script, payoffs don’t get much better than that.
My Pick: Moonlight
My Prediction: Moonlight
Shorts: Animated
Blind Vaysha: A pretty cool fable with some clever animation. A young girl can only see the future from one eye and the past from the other, fucking with her perception of everything. The film ends on a weird seemingly political note that does not resolve the narrative in any way.
Borrowed Time: A beautiful and dark Pixaresque entry (was that seriously blood smattered on a face?). A man is haunted by a tragic mistake in his past. A tense story right up to the end, I just felt that I wanted a little more out of it by that time.
Pear Cider and Cigarettes: This one starts out like a twisted version of Maniac Magee, but you soon realize it’s taking 35 minutes to tell a story that needs only 20. The narration is clunky at times and the animation looks like something out of an online flash game. It almost feels shamelessly geared toward high schoolers who would eat up all the adult themes.
Pearl: A father is driving around with his daughter in a montage, singing a song he wrote. It soon becomes apparent they are living out of this car, and after one scene the father is saddened by what his daughter is denied and feels he needs to get a job and in the next scene he does. Why the hell are you just deciding that now? The montage continues with the daughter living the carefree artistic life her father did and getting famous basically off the song that he sang to her. Which is kind of fucked up. Also both of them at different times were playing the guitar while driving. They should both be dead.
Piper: This is Pixar being Pixar. A cute, funny story with an easy-to-grasp lesson all told with perfect economy. The animation is gorgeous to the point where if it gets any better there just won’t be a use for cameras to film anything because Pixar will just be gods that can create their own worlds on their computers.
My Pick: Piper
My Prediction: Piper
Shorts: Live Action
Enemies Within: An Algerian-born French man is interviewing for French citizenship (where he has lived his whole life) which gradually turns into an interrogation for potential terrorist implications. The dialogue flows well, and you can actually feel the weight of the pen he plops down when the interrogator asks for names of his friends.
The Woman and the TGV: A train passes within feet of a woman’s house every day, and every day she is there to wave the Swiss flag to it. This begins a correspondence with the conductor which brings new meaning to her life. It’s brimming with the cuteness of a rom-com, though isn’t ever more funny than quirky.
Silent Nights: A Salvation Army worker begins a relationship with a homeless Ghanan immigrant that has many ups and downs in a short period of time. Some good performances here and a bittersweet ending.
Sing: A budding friendship, a girl trying to fit in, and the biggest dick of a music instructor since the guy from Whiplash. When it is discovered that some of the children in the award-winning school choir have been instructed by the teacher to lip-sync during performances (for the good of the team) the students exact a fun bit of revenge. Although had it been the guy from Whiplash there would be a lot of dead kids at the end of this movie.
Timecode: Two bored security guards communicate to each other through post-its containing different timecodes of the security footage. When each shift changes, a new timecode contains the other guard doing a dance in front of the camera that the other can watch. A fun payoff to this little romance with some fantastic choreography.
My Pick: Timecode
My Prediction: Timecode
Shorts: Documentary
Extremis: Doctors in the ER offer the choice to family members whether or not to pull the plug on their loved ones. This is a harsh reality people sometimes have to face and it is hard to put yourself in their shoes. Though it seemed like at times some of the family members were playing it up for the camera.
4.1 Miles: Refugees jammed into boats sometimes need a rescuin’.
Joe’s Violin: Holocaust survivor donates his violin to a citywide music program. It ends up in the arms of a girl in a Bronx school where the children learn violin as part of the curriculum. Can we talk more about this school? The girl is way more honored and invested than I ever imagined a 13-year-old could be. Her desire to meet Joe is met, she plays the violin for him, and it is quite a moving scene.
Watani: My Homeland: Syrian refugees are lucky enough to relocate to Germany. This provincial town is heaven compared to the rubble their used to and they take to their new life with hope and hard work.
The White Helmets: Back in the rubble of Syria, a group of volunteers known as the White Helmets are the first responders to the air raids that bury citizens under concrete. They do it only for the belief in helping humanity, and seeing them rescue a week-old infant that was trapped under a building for 16 hours is the justification they live for, and it’s quite understandable.
My Pick: The White Helmets
My Prediction: The White Helmets
Original Song
“Audition”: The best song from La La Land. In fact, the only one that I really liked.
“Can’t Stop the Feeling!”: Oh, I can’t stop this feeling of nausea every time this trite slab of pop garbage invades my eardrums. And it did many times over the last few months.
“City of Stars”: I like the pleasant melody it starts with, but the bridge loses me a bit.
“The Empty Chair”: This year’s manipulative number. It sounds like Springsteen singing a church hymn.
“How Far I’ll Go”: I loved this soundtrack, but this was probably my fourth favorite song on it. I think they went with the one that sounded the most similar to Frozen‘s “Let it Go”.
My Pick: “Audition”
My Prediction: “Audition”
Sidenote: Why was nothing from Sing Street nominated? Go watch that movie, assholes.
Original Score
The incongruous intensity in Jackie works very well in some scenes but comes to be a bit much. Passengers captures the action well but ultimately doesn’t stand out too much. Moonlight has a haunting piano reprisal and some wild strings that plays into the emotional punch. The score sticks in the mind with the images, like a good score should. I particularly enjoy the score during the climax of Lion, which takes a potentially cloying scene and ratchets up the tension. I don’t love the music overall in La La Land, as it never seems to mesh with the movie entirely. But the music is the frontispiece on a freight train slowly gaining momentum in the last couple months.
My Pick: Moonlight
My Prediction: La La Land; the train keeps rolling.
Foreign Language
Tanna: On the island of Tanna in the nation of Vanuatu, a Romeo and Juliet-type tale is told with actual aboriginal actors. The story is based on a real one that occurred between two warring tribes. And you thought Moana was teaching you about cultures in the South Pacific.
Land of Mine: German POWs immediately after WWII are tasked with defusing millions of land mines on the coast of Denmark. This story follows a group of teenagers on a small section of beach, commanded by a Danish sergeant who, like most in that country at the time, does not care much for Nazis. To say a movie about defusing land mines is tense would be an understatement. Coupled with the exploration of blanket hatred makes a very engaging movie.
The Salesman: 2012’s winner in this category, Asghar Farhadi, is back with subtle piece about an Iranian couple currently performing in an independent production of Arthur Miller’s The Salesman that undergo a halting private trauma that tests their relationship in many ways. Admittedly I’ve never seen nor read the play The Salesman so I may have missed some undercurrents, but this is still a pretty tense piece and is a good peak into Iranian culture.
A Man Called Ove: Big old meany Ove is the neighborhood watchdog who recently lost his wife. When attempting suicide he falls into the lives of his newest neighbors and begins a friendship that shows the old salt pot has some heart after all. Not a completely unfamiliar plot but I’m always entertained by an old grump talking down to people. When we explore his back story with his wife (which is a bit reminiscent of Pixar’s Up) we fall for him too. A bit stilted in the climax but overall a solid work.
Toni Erdmann: The current frontrunner is about a father trying to connect with his daughter. The father is a bit of a ham with dry wit and a penchant for bits. His daughter is taking life way too seriously and it’s time for her to lighten up. As a comedy it has its moments and a decent payoff in the end but honestly, you can’t make a movie like this with the length of Return of the King. It just doesn’t work.
My Pick: Land of Mine
My Prediction: The Salesman. There’s been talks of voting this one just to spite Trump. I’m rooting for that.
Film Editing
The editor for La La Land won a couple years ago for Whiplash, which was well deserved seeing how the editing was so essential in creating the experience of the movie. I just think La La Land is too long for what it is and the pace always felt off to me. Arrival benefits greatly from the way it is put together, as it could have been a completely boring laser-less alien movie. Hell or High Water and Hacksaw Ridge have some sharp sequences but don’t stand out. Moonlight, at least in terms of structure, gives you exactly what you need for the story. I was engaged from start to finish.
My Pick: Arrival
My Prediction: La La Land
Documentary
Fire At Sea: The lives of people on the tiny island of Lampedusa in the backdrop of a rush of refugees trying to make it to Europe on overpacked boats. The characters it follows, apart from the doctor treating the refugees, seem relatively unaffected by what is supposed to be seen as a major crisis.
O.J.: Made In America: O.J. was the first African-American to be embraced entirely by white culture, and this 7+ hour documentary explores, as a friend of his puts it, his “seduction” by the whites. Many themes are touched on as it seeks to explain how a charming athlete with the world at his fingertips becomes a murderer. I may have just answered my own question.
I Am Not Your Negro: An unfinished book proposal by James Baldwin about the deaths of his friends Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and Medgar Evers is brought to life. Baldwin seeks to get into the crux of why white America created an enemy in the Negro after slavery was abolished. If only James Baldwin were alive today to host a podcast or something, because listening to him speak is captivating.
13th: A weird phrase in the 13th Amendment, the one declaring slavery shall not exist in America except as a form of punishment, basically opened the floodgates to imprison blacks and keep control of them. Throughout the 20th century the prison populations ballooned as presidential administrations sought to make war on public fears. Fascinating and scary.
Life, Animated: An autistic child appears unable to communicate with his family, and doctors fear this may not change. That is, until he starts communicating through his favorite thing: Disney movies. In them he finds connections to human emotions that are often lacking in sufferers of his condition. I know Disney must love this, as their movies can be seen as a magical serum that cures anything. But apart from that, the movie is quite amazing, and I think anyone in my generation that finds a Simpsons quote buried in every situation in life can relate. There is also a point where you realize that Disney movies can’t prepare him for everything (Disney characters never use tongue, you know, among other things) and there are some difficult scenes to watch. The most touching one revolves around a visit from Gilbert Gottfried. How many movies can say that?
My Pick: Tie: Life, Animated and O.J.
My Prediction: Life, Animated. Yes, I know it may look really bad that the Disney one wins when all these other important themes are discussed. But I think it was the best-made documentary.
Director
Mel Gibson can handle action sequences but Hacksaw Ridge is pretty mediocre in all the other parts. Manchester by the Sea is a solid debut but isn’t quite as well made as Moonlight. I was impressed by the direction of Arrival but as Amy Adams’ soothsaying will attest it just isn’t gonna happen for this movie. Coming off Whiplash I was actually disappointed in La La Land overall, but I don’t think we’re seeing a split between Directing and Best Picture like last year.
My Pick: Moonlight
My Prediction: La La Land
Cinematography
The lone nod for Silence shows that it was pretty but ultimately very slow. There are beautiful shots that grab you in Lion and Arrival but Moonlight packs a lot of emotion in its shots. And did you see that guy get fucked up by that chair? That’s cinematography, right? Then we have the La La Land machine which, fine I guess, fine.
My Pick: Moonlight
My Prediction: Moonlight. La La Land won’t win everything.
Animated
Zootopia: My personal favorite of the bunch. A fun Disney world with a very, very thinly veiled theme of racism (“a bunny can call another bunny cute, but when other animals do it…”). Throw in the buddy-cop detective plot and it’s a blast from the outset.
Moana: The other Disney entry is a more classic entry that hits a lot of the formulas: 1) Explore another culture with a headstrong female lead (don’t call her no princess), 2) Great music from a respected Broadway composer (Hamilton’s Lin Manuel Miranda), 3) Charismatic comedic foil (Maui’s brashness makes Aladdin’s genie look tame, and 4) Best of all, mongoloid animal sidekick (that rooster just don’t know shit!).
The Red Turtle: A man is stranded on an island. Each time he tries to escape on a raft a big red turtle destroys it and he has to start from scratch. When he sees the turtle on shore he enters a rage and kills it (in the season’s most unintentionally funny scene, he smacks it on the head with bamboo and then flips it on its back, and we’re totally on board when it happens). Once dead the turtle turns into a woman with whom he falls in love and they have a kid together (yeah, I know). If there was a deeper theme at play in the magical aspect of it I missed it. Despite that, beautiful animation and sound makes this dialogue-free story work.
Kubo and the Two Strings: From an animation standpoint this stop-motion action film is impressive. The story is a little thin and the ending was a bit disappointing, but each step in the adventure seeks to top itself in terms of visual flair and that still makes for an enjoyable ride.
My Life As a Zucchini: We’ve all seen those dark opening Pixar scenes. Well in this one the main character, a little boy going by the name Zucchini, accidentally kills his own mother. Yeah. He’s then placed in a home with children under similar circumstances and builds friendships there. It is funny in a charming way, and doesn’t attempt to hide its dark themes. A dark horse contender.
My Pick: Zootopia
My Prediction: Moana
Supporting Actor
I love me some Michael Shannon. And his face alone could have played this role to a tee. The intensity of his stare can cripple evildoers and impregnate women. In fact, it may have been a better challenge for him to play the role with just facial expressions, in which case I would consider it heavily. But the fact remains it just wasn’t a meaty role and isn’t worthy of this award. But he will get one someday.
That being said I also love me some Jeff Bridges, and this is a similar cop role that just doesn’t seem to jump out from the rest of the film. Lucas Hedges has the youth going for him, and the role is a big one, but ultimately not as impressive as Affleck in the starring role.
This brings us to the frontrunner in my mind. With Dev Patel, you have more substantial screen time and an impeccable Aussie accent. Mahershala Ali benefits from the fact you really miss him when he’s not in the movie anymore. His absence is felt. It’s a tough call; both films deserve credit for something.
My pick: Dev Patel
My prediction: Mahershala Ali. It may be the only award this film picks up.
Supporting Actress
I think all of these performances are solid. Michelle Williams has a few emotionally heavy scenes but Naomi Harris benefits from being one of two actors consistently in the movie, and its performances should be recognized. Octavia Spencer doesn’t stand out enough to me. Nicole Kidman has scenes of soft poignancy but to me this competition ended when the trailer for Fences came out and Viola Davis blew her snot all over everyone’s faces. The movie promised power and it delivered. She will have your insides turning.
My Pick and Prediction: Viola Davis’ nostrils.
Actor
Ryan Gosling: It’s a charming performance, and his chemistry with Emma Stone works. Learning that his piano playing is real after months of extensive training only adds to it. The character seems unflappable, which I think hurts when it’s time to get emotional.
Andrew Garfield: A bit too Forrest Gumpy for me. A good performance, sure. But I thought he was better in Silence.
Viggo Mortensen: I think he benefits greatly from having an interesting character (Oh no! I said ‘interesting’ – that’s a nonword, as Viggo would bluntly put it). Mostly his character is a controlled, arrogant father figure and it is a bit of a departure but he fits the role well. When his worldview gets punctured is when the more subtle aspects of the performance come out. I’m glad this movie is recognized but I’m not sure it’s enough.
Denzel Washington: This is the perfect time in his career for this role. He plays it with the right amount of Denzel panache we’re accustomed to, but there’s always a layer of bitterness and despair that haunts the character, and Denzel hits that perfectly. Much like the character’s belief that he never got a fair shake in baseball because of the color barrier, Denzel plays it like he has never gotten his own fair due.
Casey Affleck: The buzz started early for Affleck’s performance and it has the right look of an Oscar winner. The 2+ hour runtime means a lot of Affleck, but he parcels out the intensity so that the performance remains memorable but not overdone.
My Pick: Denzel Washington. I may be biased because I love the play, but there’s no denying how great the performance was.
My Prediction: Casey Affleck. It feels like his time, and I wouldn’t entirely disagree with the pick.
Actress
Meryl Streep: What happens if Streep isn’t nominated one year? Another Stonewall riot? If she sits the year out will the Academy nominate her for a selfie she took at the beach? Whatever the case, this girl comes to bat every time.
Emma Stone: It feels like the right time for a young actress. La La Land has tons of momentum and she definitely outsang her male counterpart; it would also feel more deserved than Jennifer Lawrence’s Oscar a few years back.
Ruth Negga: This understated yet powerful performance sadly doesn’t have the right intangibles to have a real shot. Negga’s endearing portrayal should be recognized, and is a sleeper pick for me, but I’m not too hopeful.
Natalie Portman: If you go back and review the footage you see how accurate Portman’s accent is in this role, and it doesn’t seem like an easy one to do. I feel like the movie was underwhelming overall and that hurts her chances, but she definitely will be back in this category.
Isabelle Huppert: Hupper’s portrayal of a raped woman who takes matters into her own hands has all the look of a winner. If she were also a Holocaust survivor it would be a done deal. But it’s really the tinges of vulnerability we get from this hardened character that make it what it is.
My Pick and Prediction: Isabelle Huppert
Picture
Hidden Figures: My expectations going in were that of a plot that I’ve seen many times. It isn’t without those familiar tropes. There’s the person who’s really racist, the person who’s not really racist, and then the person who starts out pretty darn racist but then begrudgingly comes around by the end. The performances make it worthwhile.
Hacksaw Ridge: It’s a pretty incredible story when you think about it. A medic actually going into battle without a weapon. I could have done with less of the first half where he’s trying to convince the Army to let him go to war without a weapon. The battle scenes are thrilling but outside of that I didn’t get into it much.
Hell or High Water: A modernized Western sees two brothers robbing banks to save the family ranch. It has the sweeping landscapes of an old Western and even a climactic shootout. All of it works extremely well in a contemporary context and the interplay between the brothers and between the detectives on their tails adds to the fun.
Arrival: Aliens have landed. No, we ain’t gonna shoot at ’em, we’re gonna try to communicate through a very advanced course in etymology. It sounds boring but it totally isn’t. When you break down language to bare bones in order to communicate with beings that not only don’t use words, but they don’t follow our rules of linear thought, it makes for a tough project. Watching it unfold is fascinating.
La La Land: As a musical I don’t think the songs are particularly noteworthy. And it seems to go long stretches without being one as if it’s not sure it wants to be. There are plenty of enjoyable scenes between the leads but none of my favorites are the ones that harken back to the golden age of the Hollywood musical. It feels long for what it is, despite being very well-made. But it’s probably going to win anyway.
Fences: 1950’s Pittsburgh: Troy Maxson is embittered by his lack of opportunities in life due to his race. He takes it out on everyone around him, including his son, who seems to be getting opportunities Troy never had. This may be the best performed film of the year. And it is an important work of African-American drama brought faithfully to the big screen. But the problems don’t end there; zombies are due to hit Pittsburgh in another ten years.
Manchester by the Sea: Lee Chandler is a reclusive handyman that gets a call to return to his hometown after the death of his brother. We soon find out the tragic reason he left the town. A blistering story about a man trying to piece his life back together after unthinkable tragedy and move forward with his own family and responsibility.
Lion: A young Indian child is separated from his family and ends up adopted by Australian parents. He grows up in Australia and learns that the creation of Google Earth offers him a chance, however slim, to relocate his home and find his family. This is a real-life Finding Dory, an inspiring story that could have been sentimental and manipulative but it hits all the right notes. And his journey back home is relatable on any level.
Moonlight: A story in three time periods about a young homosexual black kid growing up in adverse circumstances. This is not exactly well-worn territory in cinema, at times raw and compassionate. The final scene is tense for the tiniest reasons and leaves you feeling comforted, but not necessarily happy or hopeful.
My Pick: Moonlight
My Prediction: La La Land. The train keeps rolling.