Oscars®: Lesser-known films take precedence

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will honor lesser-known films in the technical categories leading up to the big winners on Sunday, March 4.

Here are some of my Oscar predictions for the big night.

Animated Feature Film — When I saw “The Boss Baby” last year, I wondered who this movie was geared for.  It is about family, but it deals with some unsavory characters and I cannot understand why members of the Academy chose this one rather than “The LEGO Batman Movie.” “Coco,” “The Breadwinner,” “Ferdinand” and “Loving Vincent”to  round out this quintet of nominees.  I think “Coco” will win because of the good old Disney money train that regularly harvests winners.

Cinematography — “Blade Runner 2049,” “Darkest Hour,” “Dunkirk,” “Mudbound” and “The Shape of Water” were nominated in this category. I want Roger Deakins to win this award for “Blade Runner 2049” but have a feeling it will go to the cinematographer Dan Laustsen, for Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water.”

Production Design – “Beauty and the Beast,” “Blade Runner 2049,” “Darkest Hour,” “Dunkirk” and “The Shape of Water” are the nominees.  I think this is one award “Blade Runner 2049” will nab, but won’t be surprised if “Dunkirk” wins top honors.

Visual Effects – The nominees for this category include “Blade Runner 2049,” “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2,” “Kong: Skull Island,” “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” and “War for Planet of the Apes.” I hope the golden statuette goes to “Blade Runner 2049,” but I am not sure who will win, so I’m going with the second chapter of “Guardians of the Galaxy” as the winner.

Foreign Language Film — The nominees include “A Fantastic Woman” about a woman forbidden to see off a lost love (Chile); the tale of a neighbor disrespecting another, “The Insult” (Lebanon); the mystery-drama of a missing boy, “Loveless” (Russia); “On Body and Soul” (Hungary) and the oddball is the artist tale “The Square” (Sweden). This is another category where I only saw one of these titles (“The Square”) because of lead Elisabeth Moss, but I have a feeling “The Insult” from Lebanon will win.  It is significant because it is the first film to be nominated from that country.