We All Dream in Gold: My Personal 2017 Oscar Ballot

I take a quick break from Disney related posts to reveal my thoughts on this awards season for movies because I love movies. In yet another year full of phenomenal films with excellent performances in countless soon-to-be classics, the biggest accolade anyone in this year's race can ever put on their resume is "Oscar-nominated" or, better yet, "Oscar-winning." Film critics and pundits have spent the past few months giving out their own awards, and this past Tuesday, the Academy weighed in on the best in cinema for 2016.

Today, I want to assume the role of an Oscar voter. Obviously, I am not one nor will I probably ever be one, but for the purposes of this post, I want to reveal what my ballot would have looked like for some of the major categories if I had a say in this year's Oscar race. I'm not going to give out every single award to spare you and myself, but I am going voice my opinion on what I think was some of the best of the best from 2016. Keep in mind, this is my personal ballot, so you may (you probably will) disagree with some of my selections, but that's the beauty of the Oscars: everyone has an opinion, and everyone's opinion matters. This is not what I think the Oscars should have looked like; this is what I wanted the Oscars to have looked like.

Now, the strange thing about my ballot is that I will not be revealing my votes for Best Picture. The reason being is that on a later date, I will be posting an entirely new post about my top ten films of 2016. Therefore, if I reveal my top ten on this post, you have no reason to come back and read that one, and I want you to read that one too. So for this post, we'll stick to the main awards except for the biggest prize of them all.

For posterity sake (and for any new readers out there), I wanted to remind everyone of my personal ballot from 2015 (winners are highlighted). Just because we are a year removed from that awards season does not mean that these films have suddenly become obsolete, so seek them out and enjoy!

Best Supporting Actress

Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina

Rebecca Ferguson, Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation

Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs

Rachel McAdams, Spotlight

Lea Seydoux, Spectre

Best Supporting Actor

Sylvester Stallone, Creed

Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies

Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation

Michael Keaton, Spotlight

Benicio Del Toro, Sicario

Best Actress

Brie Larson, Room

Daisy Ridley, Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

Jennifer Lawrence, Joy

Emily Blunt, Sicario

Best Actor

Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant

Johnny Depp, Black Mass

Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs

Matt Damon, The Martian

Will Smith, Concussion

Best Director

Tom McCarthy, Spotlight

Alejandro G. Inarritu, The Revenant

Ryan Coogler, Creed

Adam McKay, The Big Short

JJ Abrams, Star Wars: The Force Awakens

So without further ado, let the voting for 2016 begin!

Best Supporting Actress

Viola Davis, Fences
Gal Gadot, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice
Janelle Monae, Hidden Figures
Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures
Katherine Waterston, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Honorable Mentions: Felicity Jones, A Monster Calls; Kate McKinnon, Ghostbusters; Lupita Nyong'o, Queen of Katwe; Nicole Kidman, Lion; Helen Mirren, Eye In the Sky; Tilda Swinton, Doctor Strange; Alicia Vikander, Jason Bourne

WINNER: Viola Davis
RUNNER-UP: Octavia Spencer

To go toe-to-toe with the legendary Denzel Washington is no small task, but to steal the show from Denzel Washington on multiple occasions is a momentous task that Viola Davis accomplishes with ease in the terrific film, Fences. With so much raw emotion and pathos in her performance, Davis officially joins the ranks of the elite and firmly submits her name into the conversation for the greatest actress of this generation (and maybe of all-time). Additionally, the entire cast of Hidden Figures is superb with Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae turning in brilliant performances in such a powerful and important film. Spencer's entire time working on the computer at NASA and Monae's court scene are worth the price of admission alone. In a film that is desperately devoid of bright spots, Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman is undoubtedly the best part of this otherwise underwhelming film. Even the scenes when she is not assisting Batman and Superman in the fight against their foes, Gadot is mesmerizing as she becomes a superstar before our very eyes. Finally, Katherine Waterston's masterful performance in Fantastic Beasts may get overshadowed by Eddie Redmayne's equally masterful performance and the simple allure of another Harry Potter film, but she is fantastic and it is a joy to watch her in this role.

Best Supporting Actor

Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water
Kevin Costner, Hidden Figures
Adam Driver, Silence

John Goodman, 10 Cloverfield Lane
Dev Patel, Lion

Honorable Mentions: Aaron Eckhart, Sully; Chadwick Boseman, Captain America: Civil War; Alan Tudyk, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story; Ben Foster, Hell or High Water; Alden Ehrenreich, Hail, Caesar!; Tom Holland, Captain America: Civil War; Chiwetel Ejiofor, Doctor Strange; Nick Offerman, The Founder

WINNER: Jeff Bridges
RUNNER-UP: John Goodman

Jeff Bridges is an America treasure. Even in his weaker films as a whole, he is brilliant as he has turned in classic performance after classic performance for decades. His role in Hell or High Water is one of his very best to date, and considering his illustrious career, that is quite the statement. It is an atrocity that John Goodman has never been nominated for an Academy Award, especially when hardly a year goes by that he doesn't turn in a performance for the ages. In 2016, it was his role in the secretive 10 Cloverfield Lane that caught me totally by surprise as Goodman worked against type to turn in a subtly creepy performance. The women in Hidden Figures rightfully garner the majority of the praise for the film, but Kevin Costner is just as magnificent in this understated role. His interactions with Taraji P. Henson's Katherine Johnson are some of the film's many highlights. Dev Patel comes on screen for the first time in Lion almost halfway through the film, and yet, upon exiting the theater, you cannot shake the brilliance of his performance (and the greatness that is discovered in his costar Sunny Pawar). His performance is not as flashy as others in 2016, but it is effectively subdued and it makes Lion work. Then, there's Adam Driver in the criminally overlooked and underrated Silence. This show belongs to Andrew Garfield (more on him later), but Driver stands his ground with this physically and mentally transforming role. He proves that he is, without question, of the best young actors in the business today.

Best Actress

Amy Adams, Arrival

Felicity Jones, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Ruth Negga, Loving
Natalie Portman, Jackie

Emma Stone, La La Land

Honorable Mentions: Emily Blunt, The Girl on the Train; Taraji P. Henson, Hidden Figures; Margot Robbie, Suicide Squad; Auli'i Cravalho, Moana; Ellen Degeneres, Finding Dory; Ginnifer Goodwin, Zootopia; Lily Collins, Rules Don't Apply

WINNER: Emma Stone
RUNNER-UP: Amy Adams

While Best Actor may have been the deeper class in 2016, this category was the unrivaled champion in terms of difficulty in choosing a winner for 2016's Best Actress. I could have easily chosen any of the eventual five nominees on my fictional ballot as well as Blunt and Henson in the Honorable Mention category to be the victor. However, Emma Stone's captivating performance in La La Land was simply too impressive to ignore. In her career, Stone has continually proven to be one of the best actresses of the modern era, and as Mia in La La Land, she instantly becomes a genuine superstar and a force to be reckoned with for years to come [her rendition of "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)" is the stuff legends are made of]. Coming in a close second place is Amy Adams, who absurdly did not receive an Academy Award nomination for her brilliantly subdued performance in the spectacular Arrival. Her characterization is so nuanced that one almost needs to see this film multiple times in order to fully appreciate her greatness. In any other year, Portman would have probably won this category for me in a landslide, but that should not diminish how stellar she is as Jackie Kennedy in one of her best performances to date (and once again, considering her career, that's saying something). Felicity Jones turns in a superstar-making performance in Rogue One that may not be as intense and immense as Daisy Ridley's role in The Force Awakens but is just as impressive and spellbinding. Finally, Negga's performance in Loving is intimate, subdued, and nuanced in the best way possible. She becomes this character instead of becoming a caricature, and while that is a fine line to walk, Negga does so perfectly.

Best Actor

Casey Affleck, Manchester By the Sea

Andrew Garfield, Silence

Ryan Gosling, La La Land
Tom Hanks, Sully

Denzel Washington, Fences

Honorable Mentions: Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge; Michael Keaton, The Founder; Joel Edgerton, Loving; Benedict Cumberbatch, Doctor Strange; Chris Evans, Captain America: Civil War; Eddie Redmayne, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them; Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic; Dwayne Johnson, Moana; Jason Bateman, Zootopia; Neel Sethi, The Jungle Book

WINNER: Denzel Washington
RUNNER-UP: Andrew Garfield

I could have honestly taken five from my honorable mention section and made a strong case for their belonging on my ballot; that is how deep this year's Best Actor field is, in my humble opinion. Denzel Washington's tour de force performance in the acting masterclass Fences, though, stands above the rest as not only my favorite performance of 2016, but this one may go down as one of my favorite performances of all-time by any actor or actress. That's how special the venerable Washington is in this film. I could have easily chosen Andrew Garfield's performance in Hacksaw Ridge for my runner-up slot because Garfield was incredible in that film too as he had a banner, career-defining year, but it was his performance in Silence that left me speechless (no pun intended, of course). It is not an outlandish, showy performance by any stretch, but its emotional, raw, and by far the best of his young career. Ryan Gosling is one of the most talented actors in Hollywood today, and he emphatically affirmed that claim in the sensational La La Land. While his costar Emma Stone steals the show, Gosling's Sebastian will be on your mind just as much upon finishing this modern day masterpiece. Casey Affleck is the frontrunner to win this year's Oscar and rightfully so (even though I would clearly vote elsewhere). This is a depressing film on the surface, and while Affleck can certainly handle the emotional weight of Manchester By the Sea, it's Affleck's humor sprinkled in throughout the dialogue that ultimately makes this one extra memorable. Then, there's the greatest actor of all-time: Tom Hanks. I hope we have not begun to take Hanks for granted because we are so accustomed to seeing him turn in classical performances every time he steps in front of a camera. He is great in Sully, and while this performance is not as layered and nuanced as some of his other roles, it is still something special to behold.

Best Director

Damien Chazelle, La La Land
Jon Favreau, The Jungle Book
Martin Scorsese, Silence
Denis Villeneuve, Arrival

Denzel Washington, Fences

Honorable Mentions: Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge; Joe and Anthony Russo, Captain America: Civil War; Gareth Edwards, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story; Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester By the Sea; Bryon Howard, Rich Moore, and Jared Bush, Zootopia; Scott Derrickson, Doctor Strange; Clint Eastwood, Sully; Ron Clements and John Musker, Moana

WINNER: Damien Chazelle
RUNNER-UP: Denis Villeneuve

Anytime you can revive an entire genre of cinema, odds are that I will choose you for my Best Director on this fictional ballot. That is precisely what Damien Chazelle did with La La Land, so logically, he runs away with this category. He is the rightful frontrunner for the Oscar, and if he doesn't win, I will be completely outraged. Every decision he makes is perfect, and his passion behind this film is evident in every shot. He wowed me with his debut film Whiplash in 2014, and with La La Land, he has established himself as one of my favorite directors working today without question. Akin to Chazelle, Denis Villeneuve is quickly rising on my favorite directors list after such masterpieces as Prisoners and Sicario, but Arrival is on a whole different level of greatness. From the performances to the script to the visuals (that cinematography is second-to-none), this is not just one of the best science fiction films in history; Arrival is one of the best films in history period, and it is all because of Villeneuve (and Amy Adams). I am perplexed as to why Martin Scorsese's Silence failed to receive multiple nominations at the Academy Awards. Usually, even mediocre Scorsese films garner multiple noms, and Silence is assuredly anything but mediocre. It is one of Scorsese's finest films and one of the best directing jobs of his illustrious career. Jon Favreau took a film that no one was truly clamoring for while fearing the worst throughout production and created one of the year's best films. His use of cutting-edge visual effects is magnificent, and his ability to pull such a great performance from the young Neel Sethi is legendary. Finally, Denzel Washington's acting in Fences is only rivaled by his directing. He takes this Tony-winning play and brilliantly adapts it to a soon-to-be Oscar-winning film.

That's my ballot, folks! As you can tell, I do not completely disagree or agree with the actual Academy Award nominations. I cosign of their recognition of La La Land, Fences, and Arrival, but the omissions for Silence are beyond confusing to me. Stay tuned because I will back soon to reveal my top ten films of 2016!

-Cody Fleenor