Best Picture:

Out of the nine nominated films for this year, this race is ultimately going to come down to three films: “La La Land,” “Moonlight,” and “Hidden Figures.” “Moonlight” and “Hidden Figures” both have strong and impactful messages, while “La La Land” is considered to be the most creative film of the year. Although the Academy tends to choose films with strong messages, as demonstrated by past winners “Spotlight” and “12 Years a Slave.” “La La Land” will win Best Picture because it is the all around strongest film in terms of acting, screenplay, score, and everything that involves creating a film. The fact that it is an original musical with a modern twist makes it stand out more than the other nominated films of this year.

Best Director:

This award is Damien Chazelle’s to lose. The innovation behind “La La Land” is something that makes the film unique, and most of it is due to Chazelle’s execution of the film. From all of the visual aspects to character portrayals, Chazelle was able to create a masterpiece of a film, and no one is more deserving of the award them him.

Best Actor:

This race is pretty much a dead heat between Casey Affleck for “Manchester by the Sea” and Denzel Washington for “Fences.” After seeing both of these films, it is clear that both of these men did a phenomenal job, but Washington gave an overall stronger performance than Affleck. However, if Affleck were to win, it would not be undeserved.

Best Actress:

With the same confidence as the Best Director category, I strongly believe that Emma Stone will win Best Actress. Every time she was on the screen, Stone gave an honest portrayal of her character Mia, an aspiring actress trying to find her place in the world. Even though she’s not known for her singing abilities, Stone’s acting abilities were showcased in her vocal emotion, which is something many singers fail to do today. Although she is unlikely to win this year, there has to be some special recognition for Meryl Streep for being nominated 20 times, proving just how much of a legendary actress she is.

Best Original Screenplay:

The difference between an original screenplay and an adapted screenplay is that adapted screenplays come from already published material, while the original screenplays were written specifically for the film. Looking at the five nominees, “La La Land” should be the clear favorite to win this award, given the execution and the originality of the film. If there was a potential upset, however, expect it to be “Manchester by the Sea.”

Best Score:

If “La La Land” were to somehow only win one award, this award is the one that would probably be the safest bet. The music throughout the film was catchy, and it really added to the jazzy vibe. The soundtrack was probably the best of any film in 2016, and it would be a shock to see any of the other nominees win this year.

Best Original Song:

Although Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling” is the most popular song of those nominated, this award will most likely go to one of the two songs from “La La Land.” Most likely, this award will go to “City of Stars,” mostly because of how memorable and catchy the song was.

Best Animated Feature Film:

This award often goes to the films that are quite popular with audiences, so that likely narrows it down to “Moana” and “Zootopia.” Although both films were great, this award should go to “Zootopia” because of the strong and subtle messages about discrimination, which is something that is rarely seen in animated movies.

Best Documentary:

It would be shocking if “OJ: Made in America” did not win this category. This five-part documentary series about the rise and fall of OJ Simpson is one of the most captivating docu-series of all time. The detail that went into it and the narrative was so strong that it was able to captivate so many people, something widely uncommon with documentaries.