La La, La La, La La Get your Oscars Here: Predicting the 2017 Oscar Winners

E: Some years, nobody knows what’s going to happen.  Some years, everyone knows.  Some years, you have Crash or Shakespeare in Love or, to a lesser degree, Spotlight: other years, you have Titanic or Schindler’s List. Last year, so much was up for grabs.  But this year? This is one of the years where everybody knows.  This year, the biggest question isn’t who’s going to win Best Picture, but how many Oscars La La Land is going to win. Could it win enough to break the all time record of 11?  It’s not actually possible for it to score a win for each of its fourteen nods (what with two coming in the same category) and is out of contention in at least one other, but a record-breaking 12 isn’t impossible.  A record tying 11 is more achievable, but it’s no sinecure.

There are other good questions to ponder, however, and they’re more interesting than just the attendees clothes and the presenters on camera patter.  How will Jimmy Kimmel, after a successful turn hosting the Emmy’s, do on the trickiest hosting gig in the biz?  It’s not even a question of how late the show will run, but whether it feels like it’s dragging when it does, or if there’s positive momentum building.  There could be a record-setting three African American acting winners this year; is the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) eager to make up for last year’s appalling slight of all actors of color, and truly embrace diversity, or will it all come to nothing?  Will the expected political speeches miscalculate, turning off audiences at home, or galvanize the public’s rebellion? Will the In Memoriam segment be the most gut-wrenching of all time?  Do you have enough tissues handy?

Instead of worrying too much, though, let us all take inspiration from La La Land‘s attitude, and enjoy the artistry on display before us.  No, all our favorites won’t win, but it’s fun to watch anyway. Here’s a guide to this year’s top categories, broken down for you with all the insight I can offer. Here’s to the ones that dream!

Holy February Movies, Lego Batman! February 2017 Movie Preview

E: Like January, February is a month I mostly reserve for seeing Oscar movies and writing about them.  There’s normally not much to see in the theaters that isn’t a Best Picture or acting nominee.  Expect more great box office for Hidden Figures and La La Land, for example – and see them if you haven’t already.  If you can only choose one?  La La Land will win the Oscar, but Hidden Figures is the experience you really want.

M: Which says all you need to know about the Oscars.

C: I really want to see it. I know I said that a month ago, so I need to get off my duff, but I really do!

E: Do it!  Do it now!

M: This month, we have mostly the usual February mumbo-jumbo: there’s a strong chance the more promising-looking films may under-deliver, otherwise they wouldn’t be opening in February. Except for Lego Batman. That might not suck.

C: I loved The Lego Movie (unexpectedly), so high hopes here.

E: It’s true. We can say that much for this February, because of Lego: it probably won’t all suck.

M: That aside, the movie news we’re really excited about this week is the announcement of the cast and crew for 2018’s Ocean’s Eight. Yes, it’s Hollywood again proving that it either has no original ideas, or that even when they have a semi-original idea they have to package it in something that sounds familiar so that it has a built in audience and (theoretically) less chance of total failure.

C: Normally I’d complain, but HEIST MOVIES. They never get old.

M: Right, plus: Sandra Bullock is the new lead, in the Sinatra/Clooney role, with Cate Blancheit, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling and Rihanna among the women filling out the other seven members of the heist crew. Gary Ross, who’s awesome and wrote things like Big and Dave and directed Seabiscuit and the first Hunger Games, is writing and directing. Awesomeness!

C: I totally freaked out when I heard about that. But let’s save our comments for that preview, huh?

E: Just noting that we are crazy excited about it, because the wait is soooo long!

M: And now, back to February.