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March 1, 2017 The Skanner Page 7 Arts & Entertainment 2017 OSCAR RECAP: ‘La La Land’ — I Mean ‘Moonlight’ — Wins Best Picture PHOTO BY CHRIS PIZZELLO/INVISION/AP Climactic Academy Awards moment ruined by monumental blunder Barry Jenkins, foreground center, and the cast accept the award for best picture for “Moonlight” at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. By Kam Williams For The Skanner News T he Academy Awards ended on a sour note when Faye Dunaway announced that favorite “La La Land” had won the Oscar for Best Picture. Trouble is, she and co-present- er Warren Beatty had been handed the wrong envelope. So, while “La La”’s producers were taking turns delivering heartfelt ac- ceptance speeches, they were abruptly interrupted so that the audience could be informed that Moonlight was the real winner. Immediately, that film’s cast and crew descended upon the stage while the suddenly-deflated “La La” en- tourage quietly exited via the wings. Emcee Jimmy Kimmel confronted Warren Beatty with “What did you do?” But the epic flub wasn’t Warren or Faye’s fault, since the card inside the envelope was actually for Best Lead Actress and read “Emma Stone – ‘La La Land.’” Besides Best Picture, “Moonlight” landed awards for Best Supporting Actor (Mahershala Ali) and Adapted “ The suddenly-de- flated ‘La La’ entou- rage quietly exited via the wings Screenplay. “La La” can take some con- solation in the fact that it nabbed the most honors overall, 6, including Best Director (Damien Chazell), Score and Song (“City of Stars”). Otherwise, Hollywood’s biggest night represented a remarkable rever- sal of its recent lily-White preferenc- Movies cont’d from pg 6 highlighting the efforts of minority members of the LBGTQ community to find a safe space to congregate in New York City. The Last Word (R for profanity) Unlikely-buddies comedy about the friendship forged between an elderly control freak (Shirley Maclaine) and a truth-seeking reporter (Amanda Sey- fried) assigned to write her obituary. Supporting cast includes Anne Heche, Phillip Baker Hall and AnnJewel Lee Dixon. Lavender (Unrated) Psychological thriller about a photographer (Abbie Cornish) suffering from amnesia who finds evidence in her portfolio suggest- ing she might have murdered relatives she never knew she had. With Jus- tin Long, Dermot Mulroney and Lola Flanery. My Scientology Movie (Unrated) Faux documentary employing actors to recreate revealing incidents report- ed by disenchanted members of the Church of Scientology. Co-starring An- drew Perez, Stacia Roybal and Conner Stark as Tom Cruise. Nakom (Unrated) Character-driven drama about a promising medical stu- dent (Jacob Ayanaba) forced to return home to his village in Ghana to provide for his family in the wake of his father’s death. With Grace Ayanga, Justina Kul- idu and Shetu Musah. Table 19 (PG-13 for profanity, sexual- ity, mature themes, drug use and brief nudity) Ensemble comedy about a maid of honor (Anna Kendrick) who finds herself relieved of her duties and rele- gated to a remote table full of reluctant- ly-invited losers at the wedding recep- tion after being dumped by the bride’s (Rya Meyers) brother (Wyatt Russell) With Lisa Kudrow, Craig Robinson and June Squibb. Wolves (Unrated) Dysfunctional family drama about a high school bas- ketball star (Taylor John Smith) whose recruitment by Cornell is jeopardized by his gambling- addicted and compul- sive liar of a father (Michael Shannon). Cast includes Carla Gugino, Chris Bau- er and Zazie Beetz. View movie trailers at TheSkanner.com es, picking the predominantly-Black cast “Moonlight” as Best Picture, along with African Americans Viola Davis (Best Supporting Actress), Mahershal Ali (“Moonlight”), Barry Jenkins (Best Adapted Screenplay) and Ezra Edelman (director of “O.J.: Made in America”). Edelman, the son of legendary chil- dren’s rights attorney, Marian Wright Edelman, dedicated his victory to Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson as well as to victims of police brutality. His wasn’t the only politicized acceptance speech, with many recipients hurling thinly-veiled barbs at Donald Trump. The most virulent attack on the Pres- ident came from came from Iranian Ashgar Farhadi, writer and director of Best Foreign Film-winner, “The Sales- man.” He boycotted the festivities, but had a spokesman read a statement ex- coriating Trump for issuing an execu- tive order temporarily banning travel- ers from his country and a half-dozen other Muslim countries. Jimmy Kimmel took a lot of indirect potshots at the President, too, like when he asked Meryl Streep whether her gown was from Ivanka’s fashion line. When the O.J. Simpson doc won, he quipped, “ O.J., you can get an extra slice of baloney on your sandwich to- night.” Kimmel was very smooth deliv- ering his funny but never mean-spir- ited jokes, so don’t be surprised if he’s asked to host again next year, especial- ly given that the Oscars air on ABC, the same network as his late-night show. Complete List of Oscar Winners Best Picture: “Moonlight” Best Director: Damien Chazelle (“La La Land”) Best Actor: Casey Affleck (“Manchester by the Sea”) Best Actress: Emma Stone (“La La Land”) Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali (“Moonlight”) Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis (“Fences”) Best Original Screenplay: “Manchester by the Sea” Best Adapted Screenplay: “Moonlight” Animated Feature: “Zootopia” Foreign Language Film: “The Salesman” Documentary Feature: “O.J.: Made in America” Cinematography: “La La Land” Costume Design: “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” Production Design: “La La Land” Film Editing: “Hacksaw Ridge” Makeup and Hairstyling: “Suicide Squad” Original Score: “La La Land” Best Song: “La La Land” (“City of Stars”) Sound Editing: “Arrival” Sound Mixing: “Hacksaw Ridge” Visual Effects: “The Jungle Book” Animated Short: “Piper” Documentary Short: “The White Helmets” Live-Action Short: “Sing”