Surprise, I’m publishing these a day early! Or, maybe you haven’t noticed, but I usually publish these monthly on the 9th. Well, I decided I couldn’t wait this time.

BEST PICTURE

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
The Birth Of A Nation
The Founder
La La Land
The Masterpiece
Silence
Sully
The Zookeeper’s Wife
Zootopia

I’m starting to think Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk could win the Best Picture Oscar. The trailer looks incredibly Oscar friendly, and the film could turn out to be something truly incredible.

BEST DIRECTOR

Niki Caro – The Zookeeper’s Wife
Damien Chazelle – La La Land
Ang Lee – Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
Nate Parker – The Birth Of A Nation
Martin Scorsese – Silence

Replaced James Franco with Damien Chazelle. What’s fascinating is that Ang Lee could follow in the footsteps of legendary director John Ford; How Green Was My Valley was his third Best Director win and his only Best Picture win.

BEST ACTOR

James Franco – The Disaster Artist
Tom Hanks – Sully
Michael Keaton – The Founder
Andrew Garfield – Silence
Nate Parker – The Birth Of A Nation

No change.

BEST ACTRESS

Amy Adams – Nocturnal Animals
Jessica Chastain – The Zookeeper’s Wife
Viola Davis – Fences
Emma Stone – La La Land
Meryl Streep – Florence Foster Jenkins

Replaced Blunt with Stone. This category is looking pretty crowded.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Daniel Bruhl – The Zookeeper’s Wife
Dave Franco – The Masterpiece
Steve Martin – Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
Liam Neeson – Silence
Nick Offerman – The Founder

Replaced Shannon with Martin.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Haley Bennett – The Girl On The Train
Laura Dern – The Founder
Laura Linney – Sully
Kristen Stewart – Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
Rachel Weisz – The Light Between Oceans

Replaced Nyong’o with Dern.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The Birth Of A Nation
The Founder
La La Land
Loving
Zootopia

No change.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Billy Lynn’s Halftime Walk
Fences
The Masterpiece
Silence
The Zookeeper’s Wife

Made Billy Lynn my winner.

BEST FILM EDITING

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
The Birth Of A Nation
Silence
Sully
The Zookeeper’s Wife

Replaced The Masterpiece with The Birth Of A Nation.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
The Birth Of A Nation
The Jungle Book
Silence
Story Of Your Life

No change.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

The Birth Of A Nation
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them
Hail Caeser
Silence
The Zookeeper’s Wife

No change.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Alice Through The Looking Glass
The Birth Of A Nation
Hail Caesar
How To Talk To Girls At Parties
The Zookeeper’s Wife

No change here.

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them
Silence
Suicide Squad

No change.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

The BFG
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them
The Jungle Book
Star Wars: Rogue One
Story Of Your Life

No change.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

The BFG
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
The Jungle Book
Story Of Your Life
The Zookeeper’s Wife

No change here.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“???” – La La Land
“???” – Moana
“Drive It Like You Stole It” – Sing Street
“Try Everything” – Zootopia
“Unforgettable”, Finding Dory

Replaced The BFG with Finding Dory.

BEST SOUND EDITING

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
The Jungle Book
Star Wars: Rogue One
Sully
Zootopia

Changed my winner to Billy Lynn.

BEST SOUND MIXING

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
The Jungle Book
La La Land
Silence
Sully

Ditto.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

April & The Extraordinary World
Finding Dory
Kubo & The Two Strings
Moana
Zootopia

No change.

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So, how will things change this month? Well, the big release of June is Finding Dory, but the weird irony is, I’m almost rooting against the film. The thing is, Zootopia is in a good position right now. 98% on Rotten Tomatoes,  making a billion dollars worldwide, and just getting its DVD release this week.

If Finding Dory turns out to be a brilliant film, there’s gonna be a lot of competition between those two films. Not only will there be a tight race for the Animated Feature Oscar, (Vote-splitting could result in something like Kubo & The Two Strings winning.) but neither film will make it into Best Picture if there’s not a general consensus on which is the better film.

Also, The BFG comes out on July 1st. We’ll see what happens, but I think we can at least count on an Original Score nomination. This is John Williams we’re talking about.