89th Academy Awards: Predictions, Surprises, & Snubs

Oscar season is finally coming to an end. I have to say this year was an incredible year in Hollywood, and I am overall pretty satisfied with the nominations. So without further ado let's get into it!

Best Picture: Arrival, Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, La La Land, Lion, Manchester by the Sea, and Moonlight
Winner: La La Land
Dark horse: Moonlight

I've made my peace with LLL winning. I really like the film, but would have liked to see Moonlight or Arrival take it. But the LA musical romance is a worthy winner for that dream ballet alone. And though I'm somewhat indifferent to HR and HOHW, there isn't a completely bad movie in the bunch.

Major snub: Jackie is the big movie I wish had more Oscars play. Silence as well if it had been marketed properly.

Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar is Anyone's Game

Normally when people talk about the Oscars, they talk about the biggest categories: Best Picture, Director, Actress, Actor, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor. And while the below-the-line categories are important and discussed, they don't get the attention or headlines This year, the Best Adapted Screenplay is stacked. The nominees are all Best Picture nominees, and they are all well-respected movies with lots of nominations around the different categories.

Here are the five nominees: Arrival (Eric Heisserer, based on the short story "Story of Your Life"); Fences (August Wilson, based on his play); Hidden Figures (Theodore Melfi and Alison Schroeder, based on the book of the same name); Lion (Luke Davies, based on Saroo Brierly's memoir); and Moonlight (Barry Jenkins, based on the play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue). Moonlight and Arrival have the most nominations this year (they both have eight), while Lion has 6, Fences has 4, and Hidden Figures has 3. And frankly I can't predict what film is going to win Best Adapted Screenplay.