Oscar Nominations - My Thoughts

It will soon be time for me to do my annual predictions for the Academy Awards.

This year I thought I would add some opinions on this years nominations, who should be included, who has been snubbed, and who should not even be mentioned.....

I have to say that it is a very strong year, in just about all the categories.
However, I'm going to get the big issue out of the way first.

Why all the love for "La La Land"? It is a good film, enjoyable, but here's the thing, it's forgettable. Maybe its these austere times that we live in, and people just want a film that makes them feel happy, but is that enough of a reason for it to be an Oscar Winning Best Picture? Most definitely not. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against musicals, and I also am a fan of Damien Chazelle's previous film "Whiplash", which was for me the best film of 2015.
It is nowhere near as memorable as say "Moonlight" or "Lion", or even "Hacksaw Ridge", all three of these films are worthy nominees, and I'd be happy to see any of these three take the top prize.
I would even question whether "Arrival" is worthy to be included in the nine films up for Best Picture, though it is nice to see the sci-fi genre get a look in.

Best Director Category is all fine and dandy.

Best Actor in a Leading Role is another kettle of fish!!!!!
With there being five actors in contention, 60% of them should NOT have been nominated.
Like my inability to understand all this love for "La La Land", likewise I wish someone would explain to me why they feel that Casey Affleck is worthy of so many Best Actor Awards. HE ISN'T !!!!
It's an ok performance, but like the film, it is forgettable. There are a few scenes where he does stand out, but he is not consistantly excellent all the way through the film, unlike say Denzel Washington in "Fences". Andrew Garfield is equally impressive in "Hacksaw Ridge" but I'd love to know how on Earth Viggo Mortensen got a nomination for "Captain Fantastic"???? And although it's back to "La La Land" the same could be said for Ryan Gosling.

For the most part I have no quibbles with Best Actress in a Leading Role.

Regarding Best Actor in a Supporting Role, I know there is a lot of love for Mahershala Ali for his peformance in "Moonlight", but I think any of the three gentlemen who played the lead Character could be equally nominated. It could so easily have been four Supporting Actor nominations from just one film.
Michael Shannon is a bizarre choice, but then again I would have been making a similar comment if his "Nocturnal Animals" and Golden Globe winning Co-star, Aaron Taylor Johnson was also nominated.

The only problem with Best Supporting Actress is how to seperate five excellent performances.

I know that some will say I'm biased given how much of a fan I am of this film-maker but I think it is a great shame that Clint Eastwood's "Sully" got so overlooked.
I must say that I also expected Martin Scorsese's "Silence" to get more than its single nomination.

So there you go, just a few days to go to Oscars 89