89th Annual Academy Awards

With some incredibly well-deserved wins, the Oscars certainly didn't leave the drama behind - a shock misread led to La La Land having to hand their Oscar over to Moonlight. Alongside all the glitzy dresses and political speeches, there were some triumphant wins; Mahershala Ali became the first Muslim to win an Oscar - his performance in Moonlight was indeed extraordinary, so a round of applause to him. La La Land still came out on top - but not by as much as anticipated.

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Best Picture

Nominees;

Arrival

Fences

Hacksaw Ridge

Hell or High Water

Hidden Figures
La La Land
Lion
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight

Best Actress

Nominees;

Emma Stone (La La Land)
Isabelle Huppert (Elle)

Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins)

Natalie Portman (Jackie)
Ruth Negga (Loving)

Best Director

Nominees;

Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)
Denis Villeneuve (Arrival)

Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)

Mel Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge)

Best Actor

Nominees;

Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge)

Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)
Denzel Washington (Fences)

Ryan Gosling (La La Land)
Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic)

Best Original Screenplay

Nominees;

Hell or High Water

La La Land
The Lobster

Manchester by the Sea

20th Century Women

Best Supporting Actor

Nominees;

Dev Patel (Lion)

Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water)
Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea)

Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)
Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals)

Best Visual Effects

Nominees;

Deepwater Horizon

Doctor Strange

The Jungle Book

Kubo and the Two Strings
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Best Animated Feature

Nominees;

Kubo and the Two Strings

Moana
My Life as a Zucchini
The Red Turtle

Zootopia

Best Supporting Actress

Nominees;

Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea)

Naomie Harris (Moonlight)

Nicole Kidman (Lion)
Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures)

Viola Davis (Fences)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Nominees;

Arrival
Fences

Hidden Figures

Lion

Moonlight

Best Animated Short

Nominees;

Blind Vaysha
Borrowed Time
Pear Cider and Cigarettes
Pearl
Piper

Best Documentary Short

Nominees;

4.1 Miles
Extremis
Joe's Violin
Watani: My Homeland
The White Helmets

Best Cinematography

Nominees;

Arrival

La La Land

Lion
Moonlight
Silence

Best Costume Design

Nominees;

Allied

Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them

Florence Foster Jenkins

Jackie

La La Land

Best Documentary
Nominees;
13th
Fire at Sea
I Am Not Your Negro
Life, Animated
OJ: Made in America

Best Film Editing
Nominees;
Arrival
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
La La Land
Moonlight

Best Foreign Language Film
Nominees;
Land of Mine
A Man Called Ove
The Salesman
Tanna
Toni Erdmann

Best Make Up & Hairstyling
Nominees;
A Man Called Ove
Star Trek Beyond
Suicide Squad

Best Song
Nominees;
Audition (La La Land)
Can't Stop the Feeling (Trolls)
City of Stars (La La Land)
The Empty Chair (Jim: The James Foley Story)
How Far I'll Go (Moana)

Best Production Design
Nominees;
Arrival
Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them
Hail, Caesar!
La La Land
Passengers

Best Sound Editing
Nominees;
Arrival
Deepwater Horizon
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Sully

Best Score
Nominees;
Jackie
La La Land
Lion
Moonlight
Passengers

Best Sound Mixing
Nominees;
Arrival
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
13 Hours

Best Live-Action Short
Nominees;
Ennemis Intérieurs
La Femme et le TGV
Silent Nights
Sing
Timecode

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Review: Moonlight

Runtime: 1hr 51min
Director: Barry Jenkins
Release Date: 16th February 2017
Rating: 15 (UK), R (US)

I had the privilege of previewing Moonlight ahead of the its' UK release date (17th February); a coming-of-age tale told spectacularly.

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Many modern dramas in this style tend to be artsy, pretentious and not to my tastes. However, Moonlight managed to tell this story with subtlety and confidence, without trying to be overbearing or arrogant.

This particular depiction follows the life of a young black man from Miami, with the film differentiating between three key phases in his life - 'Little', 'Chiron' and 'Black'. Each phase is performed by a different actor, which worked to the movie's advantage - too often is a child-actor hired for a five minute scene just to jump-cut to its' prominent section of the characters' adult life.

The movie bears witness to Chiron's childhood tribulations; overcoming intense bullying, dealing with his drug-addicted mother (played expertly by Naomie Harris), and coming to terms with his sexuality. Throughout the film, Chiron is consistently an underdog, partially due to his race and homosexuality, but mostly because he is a small, timid youth that allows others to figuratively walk all over him.

Something I couldn't praise more highly is the films' cinematography: it is stellar. Calming or carefree moments in Chirons' life are reflected through soft and slow camera moments, whereas dramatic or tense scenes called for their well-used, rough, jarring shots. Scene transitions were almost always instant, until a moment of pure bliss uses a gradual fade to blend scenes.

Moonlight is very subliminal with its' concepts carried throughout - an example being the change in nicknames for Chiron; representative of his choice of who he is, and reflecting childhood advice given to him by a character named Juan (Mahershala Ali) who he meets as a young boy.

The acting quality was wonderful on the most part; Chiron's actors (Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, Trevante Rhodes) clearly studied each other's mannerisms to portray the characters' likeness perfectly. Kevin, the childhood friend, played by Jaden Piner, Jharrel Jerome and Andre Holland, respectively, was also portrayed well. Yet it is Naomie Harris who certainly needs commending; she was near-perfect for the role, and did an excellent job on her accent.

The film did, however, have some things lacking. The characters of Juan and Theresa (Janelle Monáe) were prominent at the very beginning of the film, but shortly after lacked any presence - clearly only present for the purpose of opening the story. I also found a couple of scenes slightly unnecessary - one scene of a sexual nature was clearly only placed for shock-value rather than substance, and a classroom scene alluding to the HIV virus seemed irrelevant to the plot, but thrown in simply because the films' lead was gay.

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The film also lacked the kind of closure many people like - leaving unanswered questions as the credits rolled. Whilst a sign of intrigue and plot-investment, this also meant the annoyance of open-ended plot points, and left me wondering if the end was justifiable.

All-in-all, Moonlight is an incredibly good movie, with great acting, lighting, cinematography and script. I was pleased to watch it before its' February release date, and would undoubtedly recommend it.

8.5/10