The talk show host opened up recently about hosting during a very political year. Will La La Land walk away with a record number of Oscars?
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However, it is expected to fall short of the record 11 statuettes achieved by “Ben-Hur” (1959), “Titanic” and “The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King” (2003). After his latest gig as the host of the 2016 Emmys, the comedian and Jimmy Kimmel Live! host will take the stage to host the Oscars for the first time ever.
The big question of the night will be whether La La Land sweeps the board.
In reality, however, the nominations are the result of a messy confluence of factors that don’t lend themselves to a simple narrative – not to mention the fact that diversity doesn’t end with black and white.
Among the genre awards, look for “Zootopia” to be crowned as the best Animated Film (although I prefer “Kubo“) and “OJ: Made in America” should win simply based on it’s overwhelming running time. Conventional wisdom says that “Manchester by the Sea” will win, both because it deserves to triumph and because it’s another way for the Academy to spread the love.
Once inside, they will experience a soft shimmer of “Moonlight” that will thwart even the wildest “Lion” or any “Hidden Figures” at “Hacksaw Ridge” or in the unchartered waters of “Manchester by the Sea”.
There are also plenty of people complaining that La La Land will definitely win, even if that’s not what they want.
Very odd staring at a crop of animated movies for the Oscars and not seeing one from Pixar. In the categories that really matter – best actor and actress, supporting actor and actress, director and motion picture, there will be no surprises.
In addition to the movie’s massive nomination total, La La Land has been picking up serious steam with a series of wins in the months-long Hollywood awards season that will culminate with the Academy Awards this weekend.
Barry Jenkins (“Moonlight”) and Kenneth Lonergan (“Manchester“) are also in the running, but Mr Chazelle is expected to go one better than his losing nomination in 2015 for writing “Whiplash”, to become the youngest best director victor ever. It’s one thing to recognize correlation.
Meryl Streep of Florence Foster Jenkins and Jeff Bridges of Hell or High Water are the oldest acting nominees, at 67. Safe money is on Ali.
Gut prediction: Harris – Just feels like it’s “Moonlight” night. “Manchester by the Sea” is a gem but a hard-to-watch one. Nicole Kidman was an ideal adoptive mother in Lion.
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On their way to this year’s Oscars, Dev Patel searched for his Indian roots, Denzel Washington wrestled with racism as an angry African-American patriarch and Octavia Spencer became a top black female mathematician. But two of La La Land’s nominations are in the same category-Best Original Song-and though there have been a handful of ties in Oscar history, this one is pretty unlikely, putting the movie’s likely maximum take at 13.
