David Edelstein’s Oscar picks

With just hours to go until the Academy Awards, our critic David Edelstein offers his Oscar picks: 

It’s an unusually momentous Oscar night for many reasons, not all to do with quaint notions like “artistic merit.” Another factor is (surprise!) politics. 

During the blacklist in the ‘50s, the government called Hollywood lefties “Russian dupes.” Hoo boy! Watch ‘em throw that back at the White House!

And pace yourself with the drinking games, okay? If you do a shot when someone mentions fascism, racism, sexism or homophobia, you will be in a coma before the major awards.

Of course, Oscar had its own race problem in 2016 with no nominations for non-whites. The Academy made membership changes and voila!  People of color in every major category, deservingly. Shame works! Three out of four acting awards could go to minorities.

Fences (2016) - "The Marrying Kind" Clip - Paramount Pictures by Paramount Pictures on YouTube

It’s hard to imagine Viola Davis not winning Best Supporting Actress for “Fences.” Academy voters still second-guess themselves over the 2011 Oscar they gave to Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady” over Davis in “The Help.” Plus, Davis plays a wife who scores a moral victory over an unfaithful ass of a husband. 

Moonlight | Decide for Yourself | Official Clip HD | A24 by A24 on YouTube

In the Supporting Actor category, “Moonlight” introduced us to the magnetic Mahershala Ali as the drug dealer who’s the closest thing the young protagonist has to a father figure. Now I hear Dev Patel in “Lion” is making inroads, but this could be the much-beloved “Moonlight”’s only Oscar.

LA LA LAND Movie Clip - Call Back (2016) Ryan Gosling Emma Stone Musical HD by JoBlo Movie Clips on YouTube

For leading actress, my fave, Annette Bening in “20th Century Women,” was omitted, inexplicably. The five actresses left are brilliant, but Emma Stone will win in spite of some who say, “The movie is so L-I-T-E.” As if utter incandescence is a crime.

Manchester by the Sea Movie CLIP - Lunch (2016) - Casey Affleck Movie by Movieclips Coming Soon on YouTube

Leading actor is weird. Casey Affleck in “Manchester by the Sea” cleaned up with us critics: No one alive conveys fogged-in grief so movingly. But for various reasons, including whisper campaigns about Affleck settling two sexual harassment cases out of court, Denzel Washington in “Fences” is now the front-runner. 

LA LA LAND - Official Film Clip [Lovely Night Dance] HD by JFID JaguarFilmInternationalDistribution on YouTube

Everything, I mean everything else, is about Damien Chazelle’s sublime musical, “La La Land,” which suits me fine. I’ve heard people say it’s apolitical, which in itself is political.

I want to scream! This year is scary enough; let’s allow ourselves for just a little bit to dream.

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