Academy Awards 2017 nominees predictions: Best Director, Best Original Screenplay & Best Adapted Screenplay

BEST DIRECTOR

A year full of newcomers and with some big names back to the discussion boards. Chazelle seems to be in a good position to get a well-deserved Best Director Oscar nom for the beloved and award favorite La La Land (and having Whiplash as his previous feature is a plus). Larraín is on fire thanks to both Neruda and Jackie, two splendid biopics, but it's gonn be Kennedy's widow's biopic that is going to take him far in the Best Director race. Scorsese is back without Leonardo DiCaprio with an epic journey of a search for a priest in Japan and while some still have some doubts about Silence, I truly believe it's gonna be another Scorsese masterpiece which will give him another Oscar nod for directing work. Barry Jenkins brought us one of the most beautifully shot movies of the year and one of the most sensitive tales also... the indie community is in love with Moonlight and so are critics and an Oscar nom just seems natural in this case. And then we have Kenneth Lonergan for his work in the Oscar-buzzy Manchester by the Sea, a movie that in spite of not being a showy directorial effort it does feel like one of the most honest told stories on the big screen thanks to Lonergan's sensitive direction. Villeneuve does a great work in Arrival, but sci-fi film is always a risky bet in Oscar predictions and Best Director lineup is full of more traditional yet fantastic directing work. Gibson would have a nod in the bag for Hacksaw Ridge if he wasn't Hollywood's Nº 1 Enemy... will this one work as his atonement at the AMPAS' eyes? Ford impresses once again with Nocturnal Animals, but he isn't a regular director and Oscar voters might not feel confident enough. Jeff Nichols did great in Loving, but the movie is losing some heat (Ruth Negga aside who's a solid Best Actress contender). The Jungle Book is a major cinematic achievement and a technical wonder, but people seem sceptical about including the movie in the Best Picture predictions or Favreau in the Best Director race - still, it is one of the best cinematic experiences of the year, by far.

1. Damien Chazelle for La La Land

2. Martin Scorsese for Silence

3. Pablo Larraín for Jackie

4. Barry Jenkins for Moonlight

5. Kenneth Lonergan for Manchester by the Sea

6. Denis Villeneuve for Arrival

7. Mel Gibson for Hacksaw Ridge

8. Tom Ford for Nocturnal Animals

9. Jeff Nichols for Loving

10. Jon Favreau for The Jungle Book

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1. Manchester by the Sea - Kenneth Lonergan

2. Jackie - Noah Oppenheim

3. Moonlight - Barry Jenkins

4. Hell or High Water - Taylor Sheridan

5. The Lobster - Yorgos Lanthimos & Efthymis Filippou

6. 20th Century Women - Mike Mills

7. La La Land - Damien Chazelle

8. Loving - Jeff Nichols

9. Hail Caesar! - Ethan Coen & Joel Coen

10. Miss Sloane - Jonathan Perera

11. Toni Erdman - Maren Ade

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1. Love & Friendship - Whit Stillman

2. Silence - Jay Cocks

3. Fences - August Wilson

4. Lion - Luke Davies

5. Nocturnal Animals - Tom Ford

6. Arrival - Eric Heisserer

7. Julieta - Pedro Almodovar

8. Queen of Katwe - William Wheeler

9. The Jungle Book - Justin Marks

10. The Handmaiden - Park Chan-wook

TOP 35 Actors and Actresses Under 35 Working Today - 2017

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