The Oscars are tonight and after a month of viewing all the films featured in the major categories, it is now time to give my predications. I’m going to give two separate predictions, what I think the Academy will choose and what I think should win. So let’s start with the supporting categories;

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Who will win: Viola Davis

Who should win: Viola Davis

Viola Davis shouldn’t even be in this category. She gives a performance which matches Denzel Washington’s and qualifies for the leading actress category too. The fact she has been relegated here means that she should easily run away with the award.

Actor in a Supporting Role

Who will win: Mahershala Ali

Who should win: Dev Patel

Mahershala Ali will win for his performance in Moonlight. It is a good performance but he is hardly on-screen and doesn’t match the intensity and drama that Dev Patel conveys. This is another example of an actor in the wrong category as Dev Patel surely qualifies for Best Actor.

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Who will win: Emma Stone

Who should win: Emma Stone

I wasn’t a fan of La La Land but you can’t ignore the preparation that Emma Stone did for the role. She sings and dances well considering this isn’t her style of role usually. Compared to the others in the category, this feels like an obvious choice.

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Who will win: Casey Affleck

Who should win: Denzel Washington

Casey Affleck seems to have drawn the plaudits for Manchester by the Sea and although his performance is very good, Denzel Washington delivers a powerhouse role in Fences. Washington holds the screen in a movie which has little action but still manages to keep an audience invested.

Best Director

Who will win: Damien Chazelle for La La Land

Who should win: Mel Gibson for Hacksaw Ridge

Hacksaw Ridge takes a difficult subject and makes it accessible. The story is compelling as it is but the depiction of World War 2 and how violent, gory and horrible this is manages to lift the movie above it’s other war movie counterparts, as well as above the other contenders in the category.

Best Picture

What will win: La La Land

What should win: Fences

There are lots of decent contenders in this category. Hacksaw Ridge delivers a war epic, while Lion tells a powerful, incredible true story. Fences is something better though, with a compelling story, some amazing performances and the ability to take a stage play and turn it into an engaging movie. La La Land will take the award though because as well as being a musical, something different in this day, it is also a celebration of the golden age of movies, something The Academy will love.

Overall, this is my picks for The Oscars but I’m pretty certain, as are many others, that La La Land will sweep the awards. I’ll be back on tomorrow to compare my choices with the actual winners and give my general views on the whole event.