Oscar Winners 2017: MOONLIGHT Wins Best Picture After LA LA LAND Mistakenly Announced as Winner

Well, that was one crazy Oscars show. Everything seemed to move along at the expected pace of the average Academy Awards ceremony, with people singing and dancing, a dull Jimmy Kimmel cracking tired jokes, and the usual speeches about politics and the magic of cinema. And then it happened. Right at the end, when "Bonnie and Clyde" co-stars Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway announced the Best Picture winner, all hell broke loose.

"La La Land" won Best Picture. Everyone involved in the musical's production rushed on stage and started making their speeches. Lovely speeches about dreams and dreamers. Then, a couple of minutes later, it was evident that something was wrong. It had just been revealed that "Moonlight" was the real winner and that there was some kind of snafu regarding the envelopes containing the names of the winners. After a moment of confusion, director Barry Jenkins and the "Moonlight" team hopped on stage to claim their trophies from the humiliated "La La Land" crew. It was a historically bleak moment for the Oscars, one that managed to sour the win for Jenkins' film, which was supposed to be a moment of celebration among Hollywood artists eager to applaud diversity in filmmaking. Check out a detailed coverage of what happened on stage and backstage from USA TODAY.

Other than that, the Academy made sure everybody got something. "La La Land" may have walked away humiliated from the Best Picture race, but it topped the night with six other wins, including Best Director (Damien Chazelle) and Leading Actress (Emma Stone"). "Moonlight" also won Best Adapted Screenplay and Supporting Actor (Mahershala Ali). Viola Davis took the Oscar for Supporting Actress, becoming the 23rd person to complete the triple crown of acting by winning at the Oscars, Emmys and Tonys.

Other winners included "Manchester by the Sea" for Best Leading Actor (Casey Affleck) and Original Screenplay (Kenneth Lonergan), and Mel Gibson's "Hacksaw Ridge" scored some surprise wins for Sound Mixing and Film Editing, two awards that seemed destined for "La La Land". Even "Arrival" nabbed a trophy for Sound Editing.

The Academy provided another gaffe in the In Memoriam section, when the photo used for Australian costume designer Janet Patterson, who passed away in October 2016, was actually that of Australian producer Jan Chapman, who is very much alive. So much for the well-oiled machine.

As for the ceremony itself prior to the big awkward fiasco, it was as mechanically empty as in previous years. Jimmy Kimmel was an okay host, I suppose, but wasn't particularly exciting, or even outrageously funny. The only genuinely hilarious moments were those in which he engaged in his feud with Matt Damon. But they were far too few for a 3-hour show that primarily engaged in political rants and boasted about Hollywood's hypocritical diversity.

You can check out the video of the incredibly embarrasing Best Picture moment after the jump, along with the complete list of Oscar winners.

Read the complete list of 2017 Oscar winners after the jump.

2017 Independent Spirit Awards Winners Announced

The surprise small-budget hit "Moonlight" won top honors at the 2017 Independent Spirit Awards. The film took the awards for Best Feature, Director (Barry Jenkins), Screenplay, Cinematography and the Robert Altman Award for Best Ensemble. Casey Affleck won Best Male Lead for his work on "Manchester by the Sea", while Female Lead went to Isabelle Huppert for "Elle". Other winners include "Toni Edrmann" for Best International Film, and the horror film "The Witch" for Best First Feature and First Screenplay.

Read the complete list of 2017 Independent Spirit Awards winners.

Movie Review: MANCHESTER BY THE SEA (2016)

Director: Kenneth Lonergan
Genre: Drama
Starring: Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler, Lucas Hedges, C.J. Wilson, Gretchen Mol, Matthew Broderick, Tate Donovan
Runtime: 137 min
Rating: R for language throughout and some sexual content
Purchasing Links: DVD, Blu-ray

Read the review after the jump.

New on DVD and Blu-ray: February 21, 2017

New on DVD and Blu-ray this week we have Mel Gibson's visceral war movie "Hacksaw Ridge", the drama "Manchester by the Sea", the psychological drama "Nocturnal Animals", the R-rated comedy "Bad Santa 2" and the TV special "Doctor Who: The Return of Doctor Mysterio". Also out now on home video is the first season of the British TV series "The Level".

Check out all the new movies and TV shows released on DVD and Blu-ray after the jump.

2017 BAFTA Awards Winners (Complete List)

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has announced the winners of the 2017 BAFTA awards in London on Sunday night. "La La Land" continues its hot streak with four wins, including Best Film and Director (Damien Chazelle). Ken Loach's drama "I, Daniel Blake" won for Best British Film, while "Lion" and "Manchester by the Sea" scored wins for Adapted and Original Screenplay, respectively.

In the acting categories Casey Affleck, Emma Stone, Viola Davis and Dev Patel took home trophies. Oscar hopeful "Moonlight" walked home empty handed.

In the technical categories the winners include "Hacksaw Ridge", "The Jungle Book", "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", "Arrival" and "Florence Foster Jenkins"

Read the complete list of BAFTA 2017 winners after the jump.

2017 Oscar Nominations: LA LA LAND Ties Record With 14 Nods

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have announced the nominations for the 2017 Oscar awards. The leader of the pack is "La La Land" with 14 nods, tying the record for most Oscar nominations, which is currently held by "Titanic" and "All About Eve". The musical entered the Best Picture race alongside "Arrival", "Fences", "Hacksaw Ridge", "Hell or High Water", "Hidden Figures", "Lion", "Manchester by the Sea" and "Moonlight".

The next films to score the most nominations are "Moonlight" and "Arrival" with 8 nods each, followed by "Lion", "Manchester by the Sea" and "Hacksaw Ridge" with 6 each.

In the Best Director category, Mel Gibson scored his first nomination in 10 years. He was last nominated for "Braveheart" in 1995 and won. He is joined by Damien Chazelle ("La La Land"), Denis Villeneuve ("Arrival"), Barry Jenkins ("Moonlight") and Kenneth Lonergan ("Manchester by the Sea").

Amy Adams was not nominated for Best Actress in what is most likely the biggest snubs of the year. Adams' work in "Arrival" has been receiving recognition left and right, but not at the Oscars. The Academy instead chose to once again nominate Meryl Streep for "Florence Foster Jenkins", and some feel it might be in part because of her fiery speech at the Golden Globes and vocal opposition against Trump. On a positive note, Isabelle Huppert managed to score a nod for her amazing role in Paul Verhoeven's "Elle".

Other snubs include Martin Scorsese "Silence", which only received a nomination for Best Cinematography, and Clint Eastwood's "Sully". The latter similarly received a single nod for Best Sound Editing. Also, for those of you hoping that "Deadpool" would have a good Oscar run following the PGA and WGA recognition, unfortunately it didn't work out. The comic book movie received no nominations. In fact, comic book movies were poorly represented this year. Only "Suicide Squad" and "Doctor Strange" managed to get nominated, for Makeup and Visual Effects, respectively.

It was a huge day for companies, however, as Amazon managed to be the first to have one of their films, "Manchester by the Sea", nominated for Best Picture, beating Netflix to the punch. As for which studio won the most nominations, that would be Lionsgate with 26 nods, with "La La Land" and "Hell or High Water" among their Oscar lineup.

The 89th Academy Awards will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and they will be broadcast on February 26th on ABC.

Read the complete list of 2017 Oscar nominees after the jump.

2017 Producers Guild Awards Nominations Announced

The Producers Guild of America have announced their nominations for the best Theatrical, Animated and Documentary Motion Pictures of 2016. We have some of the usual suspects, like "La La Land", "Arrival", "Manchester by the Sea" and "Moonlight", but also one of the biggest surprises in the history of the awards, "Deadpool".

This is a huge precedent for this particular guild, because in the past, highly acclaimed comic book movies like "Guardians of the Galaxy" and "The Dark Knight", which received nominations from the Writers and Directors Guild, were passed over by the Producers Guild. I might be wrong, but I do believe this is the first time ever that the PGA has nominated a superhero comic book movie.

Meanwhile, Martin Scorsese's "Silence" continues the snub streak. Same goes for Clint Eastwood's "Sully". I think we can just rule out any kind of Oscar nomination for these two films.

Read the complete list of nominations after the jump.

BAFTA 2017: Complete List of Nominations

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts have announced the nominees for the 2017 BAFTAs, and, as expected, "La La Land" dominates with a total of 11 nominations, including Best Film. "Arrival" and "Nocturnal Animals" follow with 9 nods each, the latter also being the biggest surprise on this list since its critical reception wasn't overwhelmingly positive. The other Best Film nominees are "I, Daniel Blake", "Manchester by the Sea" and "Moonlight".

Ken Loach's drama "I, Daniel Blake", the Harry Potter spinoff "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", and the true story dramas "Hacksaw Ridge" and "Lion", all scored five nominations each. Barry Jenkins' "Moonlight", considered a major frontrunner for the Oscars, only received four nods, tied with Stephen Frears' "Florence Foster Jenkins".

Surprisingly, or not if you've been following the awards season so far, Martin Scorsese's religious epic "Silence" was snubbed once again. Clint Eastwood's "Sully" shares a similar fate. Both films started out as major contenders, but quickly fell out of the race by missing out on all the major awards.

Another film that is absent is Paul Verhoeven's "Elle", but the reason it missed out on being nominated is because it doesn't open in the UK until March. It will probably be nominated next year, just like Oscar winner "Son of Saul", which wasn't eligible last year, but received a nomination this year.

The BAFTAs also included box-office behemoths "Rogue One" and "Doctor Strange". The films share two nominations each for Make Up/Hair and Visual Effects, and the latter also received a third nomination for Production Design.

The British Academy Film Awards will be announced at a ceremony hosted by Stephen Fry on February 12th.

Read the complete list of nominations after the jump.

2017 Writers Guild Awards Nominations Announced

The Writers Guild of America has announced the nominees for the 2017 screenwriting awards. Once again, Oscar hopefuls like "La La Land", "Manchester by the Sea", "Moonlight", "Arrival" and "Fences" scored nods.

The biggest surprise is that "Deadpool" received a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination. While the WGA is certainly no stranger to genre flicks - "Guardians of the Galaxy" and "Looper" have received recognition in previous years - it's certainly surprising to see the R-rated comic book adaptation nominated. Some would say that, while certainly a solid adaptation of the source material, it's far from a perfect film, and perhaps not even a very good one, especially when placed in the company of some of the year's best films.

The nominees in the Television category include "The Americans", "Better Call Saul", "Game of Thrones", "Stranger Things", "Westworld", "Atlanta", "Transparent", "Silicon Valley", "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" and "Veep".

The 2017 Writers Guild Awards will be announced on February 19th.

Read the full list of nominees after the jump.

2017 SAG Awards Nominations Announced

The Screen Actors Guild have announced the nominations for the 2017 awards, and it's mostly the usual suspects, with a few surprises. Among the "usual suspects" I would count "Fences", "Moonlight", "La La Land" and "Manchester by the Sea".

Perhaps the biggest surprise is the inclusion of the indie dramedy "Captain Fantastic", which received nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Cast and Male Actor (Viggo Mortensen). The film received excellent reviews, but was largely ignored by pundits. Not the case anymore. It has just become a serious contender.

One other surprise is that "Hidden Figures" similarly received nods for its cast and Octavia Spencer's supporting turn. Now, we don't know much about this film, other than the fact that it looks like your typical Oscar bait biopic. Early reviews are mixed to positive and seem to support my assessment. It may be that the film is riding the political wave in these troubled and racially charged times.

Another unexpected nomination was that of Emily Blunt for her role in "Girl on the Train", a film that generated a lackluster response from critics, but performed well at the box-office. Could be that the SAG is trying to stay popular.

And the more negative surprise is that Martin Scorsese's "Silence" has been snubbed, following the shut out of the Golden Globe nominations. It seems that the period drama is about to become this awards season's biggest disappointment.

The TV shows nominated at the SAG Awards include "Stranger Things", "Orange Is the New Black", "Modern Family", "Grace & Frankie", "Game of Thrones", "Westworld" and "The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story".

The winners will be announced during a ceremony that will be simultaneously broadcast live on TNT and TBS on January 29th at 8pm.

Check out the full list of 2017 SAG Awards nominees below.

In Theaters: ROGUE ONE, MANCHESTER BY THE SEA, COLLATERAL BEAUTY, SOLACE

This week in theaters, we have the movie to end all movies, "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story", a definite box-office record-breaker. One of 2016's best films, "Manchester by the Sea" expands nationwide, and it's really a film you shouldn't miss, unless you're a "Star Wars" fan. Also in wide release we have the shameless tearjerker "Collateral Beauty" starring Will Smith. In limited release you can check out the supernatural thriller "Solace" starring Anthony Hopkins and Colin Farrell, a movie that's been around for a couple of years in Europe.

Synopses, details, critical reception, trailers, clips and more after the jump.

2017 Golden Globe Awards Nominations Have Been Announced

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has announced the 2017 Golden Globe Awards nominations. Unsurprisingly, "La La Land", "Moonlight" and "Manchester by the Sea" earned nods in the major categories, including Best Picture, but there were a few surprises, as well. One of them was Mel Gibson's true story war drama "Hacksaw Ridge", which scored three nominations for Best Picture, Director and Actor (Andrew Garfield).

Another surprise was the snubbing of Martin Scorsese's "Silence", which either didn't make the qualifying run, or it simply failed to convince voters in an already crowded year. But, the most pleasant surprise, at least in my opinion, is the inclusion of the crime drama "Hell or High Water" and Tom Ford's "Nocturnal Animals".

The animated features nominated this year include the highly acclaimed "Moana", "Zootopia" and "Kubo and the Two Strings".

In the television categories, the top TV shows include "Westworld", "This is Us", "Stranger Things", "Game of Thrones", "The Crown", "The Night Manager" and "The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story".

The 74th Golden Globes will be held on Sunday, January 8th on NBC. The show will be hosted by Jimmy Fallon.

Read the complete list of nominees after the jump.

MANCHESTER BY THE SEA Trailers, Clips, Images and Posters

Written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan ("Margaret"), the drama "Manchester by the Sea" has quickly established itself as one of the best films of 2016. Its awards buzz is only getting stronger with the recently announced National Board of Review Awards where the film earned four wins for Best Film, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor (Casey Affleck) and Breakthrough Performance (Lucas Hedges).

The film tells the story of a solitary Boston janitor (Affleck) who is forced to return to his hometown to take care of his teenage nephew (Hedges) after the death of his brother (Kyle Chandler). Michelle Williams, Mary Mallen and Ben O'Brien co-star.

"Manchester by the Sea" began a limited run in theaters on November 18th.

Check out the trailers, clips, images and posters after the jump.