Oscar Nominees: Best Actress in a Leading Role

My predictions: 3/5, picking Adams and Bening over Negga and Streep
My ballot: Come back in February!
The nominees: Isabelle Huppert (Elle), Ruth Negga (Loving), Natalie Portman (Jackie), Emma Stone (La La Land), Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins)

And this is where we have it – this year’s most egregious snub. I realized it as soon as I heard Huppert’s name – which was a moment of joy – since that meant Amy Adams missed out. She’s such a huge part of that movie – it would have been like Matt Damon getting snubbed for “The Martian” last year (director Ridley Scott did), even though the total nods for “Arrival” is actually eight. Hopefully anyone who wins for the movie will acknowledge her profusely. It’s nice to see Negga here even though I would have preferred Annette Bening, but it’s a strong inclusion and a nice acknowledgement of a film that was originally poised to be a major contender across the board. I don’t think we needed Streep here (not saying she’s overrated, just that there were others who were better), and everyone expected Portman and Stone.

My current bet to win: Between Huppert and Stone, I’m not sure, but I’ll go with Stone because of the film’s popularity.