By Bernie ‘The Movie Guy’ Ment

Contributing Writer

And it’s that time of year yet again, when Hollywood gathers its’ forces and selects what Hollywood insiders consider to be the best of the best, often selected from movies that no one has ever seen. This year’s crop of movies is as diverse as ever. While some might opine that the movies I picked as the best of 2016 were mostly popcorn fluff, it can’t be argued that the box office grosses for those movies more than prove their success. Now it’s time to honor the rest of the movie crop. Here are my picks for what I think will win at the Oscar ceremony on February 26.

Best Picture – “La La Land”

Frankly, there were quite a few compelling films this year that received nominations for Best Picture, but none quite intrigued audiences, I think, as much as “La La Land.” This is the movie that’s been sweeping the awards this year and it will probably take the Oscar as well. Not so much a political statement or as left leaning as so many previous Oscar winners have been, “La La Land” is just a fun piece of Hollywood fluff. But it does harken back to an era of great Hollywood musicals and nostalgia always does well at awards.

Best Director – Damien Chazelle

Most years, this award goes hand-in-hand with the Best Picture award and while other directors this year have had significantly praised work, the stand out has been “La La Land“ and Damien Chazelle will almost certainly take home the prize for this movie.

Best Actor – Casey Affleck

I personally think that Denzel Washington’s performance in “Fences” was the standout men’s dramatic achievement this year, but Casey Affleck’s delivery was spot on as well and, based upon other awards that have been given out this year, odds are that he’ll take home the big prize as well.

Best Actress – Emma Stone

This one is a tough one since all five of the actresses in this category delivered excellent performances (Trump’s comment not withstanding that Meryl Streep is overrated), but the nod is leaning towards Emma Stone who has already managed to win several other acting awards this year.

Best Supporting Actor – Mahershala Ali

All five performances in this category absolutely deserved their respective nominations and some roles were better handled than others, but Mahershala Ali captured the essence of his character in “Moonlight” with almost a special reverence that makes him a virtual shoe-in for this award.

Best Supporting Actress – Viola Davis

Yet another powerful performance that trumps the other nominees in this category. If Viola Davis doesn’t win this, I’ll be surprised, but the strongest runner up is Michelle Williams for “Manchester by the Sea.” While Williams’ character is compelling, Davis’ performance as Rose is still a tour de force.

Best Animated Feature – “Zootopia”

This one was a toss-up for me, between “Zootopia” (which I think will win) and “Moana.” Honestly, I have only heard of one of the other three nominees and this category rarely goes to movies that weren’t critically and financially successful.

Best Cinematography – “La La Land”

If there was a more beautifully filmed movie than “La La Land” last year, I sure haven’t seen it. Some movies just scream out for a particular award and this one deserves the cinematography prize without any doubt.

Best Costumes – “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”

“La La Land” may very well take this award too, but I still think the costumes in this movie were the one standout achievement that it deserves to win.

Best Editing – “La La Land”

This is another example of a technical award that will probably be swept by “La La Land” although I felt that “Hacksaw Ridge” was crisper and tighter than the musical.

Make-Up and Hairstyling – “Star Trek: Beyond”

Trek has always been a premiere example of science fiction and special effects. Here, we meet an entirely new species of aliens and the make-up is spot on.

Music (original score) – “La La Land”

Is there really a competition for this Oscar?

Best Original Song – “City of Stars” from “La La Land”

Once again, given that this is a musical, I will be very surprised if this song doesn’t win. Alternatively, this could go to “Audition” from the same movie.

Production Design – “La La Land”

“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” brought us to the American wizarding world of Harry Potter and “Passengers” beautifully rendered a floating hotel in space, but this is another award that will probably be part of the “La La Land” sweep.

Sound Editing – “Hacksaw Ridge”

The hardest films to edit for sound in Hollywood tend to be action pictures. You have to modulate levels so that dialogue can be understood over gunfire, explosions and other mayhem. That’s the reason I think this will beat out “La La Land.” It’s also a way to honor one of the finest war movies since “Saving Private Ryan.”

Sound Mixing – “La La Land”

This usually goes hand in hand with Sound Editing, but this year, the two will split up with this category going to “La La Land.”

Visual Effects – “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”

Star Wars was always a pioneer in the special effects industry and even though much of the effects work was CGI, the results were impressive…most impressive.

Adapted Screenplay – “Fences”

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that this one of the best written stories I’ve seen on the screen in quite some time and deserves to win the Oscar

Original Screenplay – “La La Land”

The final win for this film will be the writing category for best original screenplay.

So, those are my picks for the Oscar awards that will be aired this Sunday night. And that’s where I will be on Sunday, too, so don’t look for me at the local multiplex. Dim the lights, pass the popcorn and I’ll see you at the movies.