On January 24th, The Academy members announced to us the nominations for the 2017 Academy Awards. It's the finale of a film year and rounds up the most talented (according to the Academy) filmmakers and presents them with an award. Some might find this silly, but it's a great way to award those whom are truly talented and I have to say this year is very special because of the few snubs they gave.

First off, everyone has forgotten "The Lobster" directed by Yorgos Lanthimos which came out earlier this year. At the very least it should have been nominated for Best Original Screenplay because it is, by far, the most original film of the year. And what do I see before my eyes? A Best Original Screenplay nom for Lanthimos and his co-writer Efthymis Filippou. Moonlight and La La Land are the sure favorites for this year, and that is not shocking because both films are especially outstanding. The only subs I can think of are "The Handmaiden" by Park Chan-wook for Best Foreign Film and Amy Adams for "Arrival." I mean, we all love Meryl Streep and she is a Godly actress, but give me a god damn break. I'd swap Adams for Streep in a heart beat this year. I'm also very pleasantly pleased to see Denis Villeneuve getting his Directing nom, though he will surely not get anywhere near getting it (which is a little disappointing because I'm a huge fan of the director, but in terms of the other films this year, you'll get your chance Villeneuve.) I too would have loved to have seen a nom for John Goodman for his performance in "10 Cloverfield Lane" (which underwent re-writes by Damien Chazelle oddly enough). His performance was so hauntingly creepy and Grade A acting, but I guess the Academy reserves a performance like that for one person (Best Actress nom Isabelle Huppert for Elle).

Another huge notable difference to this year's noms is the inclusion of 6 Black filmmakers in major categories getting noms (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Actress etc.) This is fantastic not because It's about time, but because they were not shoe-ins. Not a single one of these noms I can safely say were just put in there for the sake of dealing with #OscarsSoWhite, but because they actually freaking deserved it. It's a triumph that Independent Cinema has offered to us strong Black cinema that can be nominated without question of quality. Which is a blessing after the crash and burn of the what seemed at the time shoe-in of "The Birth of a Nation" directed by Nate Parker. But also, we have Dev Patel getting a nom for Supporting Actor, so the diversity doesn't end with major Black talent, but hopefully next year the Academy can recognize more ethnicities.

So here is the full list of Oscar nominations for the 2017 Academy Awards. My "If I Ran The Academy Awards" picks and my real picks will be indicated next to the respecting titles. Who do you think will take Oscar Gold this year? Sound off!

Key:
^= "If I Ran The Academy Awards" Picks
*= My Oscar Prediction

Best picture:
“Arrival”
“Fences”
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“Hell or High Water”
“Hidden Figures”
“La La Land”
“Lion”
“Manchester by the Sea”
“Moonlight” ^*

Lead actor:
Casey Affleck, “Manchester by the Sea” *
Andrew Garfield, “Hacksaw Ridge”
Ryan Gosling, “La La Land,” ^
Viggo Mortensen, “Captain Fantastic”
Denzel Washington, “Fences”

Lead actress:
Isabelle Huppert, “Elle” ^*
Ruth Negga, “Loving”
Natalie Portman, “Jackie”
Emma Stone, “La La Land”
Meryl Streep, “Florence Foster Jenkins”

Supporting actor:
Mahershala Ali, “Moonlight” ^*
Jeff Bridges, “Hell or High Water”
Lucas Hedges, “Manchester by the Sea”
Dev Patel, “Lion”
Michael Shannon, “Nocturnal Animals”

Supporting actress:
Viola Davis, “Fences” ^*
Naomie Harris, “Moonlight”
Nicole Kidman, “Lion”
Octavia Spencer, “Hidden Figures”
Michelle Williams, “Manchester by the Sea”

Best director:
Damien Chazelle, “La La Land” *
Mel Gibson, “Hacksaw Ridge”
Barry Jenkins, “Moonlight”
Kenneth Lonergan, “Manchester by the Sea”
Denis Villeneuve, “Arrival” ^

Animated feature:
“Kubo and the Two Strings”
“Moana”
“My Life as a Zucchini”
“The Red Turtle”
“Zootopia” ^*

Animated short:
“Blind Vaysha”
“Borrowed Time”
“Pear Cider and Cigarettes”
“Pearl”
“Piper”

Adapted screenplay:
“Arrival”
“Fences”
“Hidden Figures”
“Lion”
“Moonlight” ^*

Original screenplay:
“20th Century Women”
“Hell or High Water”
“La La Land”
“The Lobster” ^
“Manchester by the Sea” *

Cinematography:
“Arrival”
“La La Land” ^*
“Lion”
“Moonlight”
“Silence”

Best documentary feature:
“13th” ^*
“Fire at Sea”
“I Am Not Your Negro”
“Life, Animated”
“O.J.: Made in America”

Best documentary short subject:
“4.1 Miles”
“Extremis”
“Joe’s Violin”
“Watani: My Homeland”
“The White Helmets”

Best live-action short film:
“Ennemis Interieurs”
“La Femme et le TGV”
“Silent Nights”
“Sing”
“Timecode”

Best foreign language film:
“A Man Called Ove”
“Land of Mine”
“Tanna”
“The Salesman”
“Toni Erdmann”

Film editing:
“Arrival”
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“Hell or High Water”
“La La Land” ^
“Moonlight” *

Sound editing:
“Arrival” ^*
“Deep Water Horizon”
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“La La Land”
“Sully”

Sound mixing:
“Arrival” ^
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“La La Land”
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” *
“13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi”

Production design:
“Arrival”
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” ^*
“Hail, Caesar!”
“La La Land”
“Passengers”

Original score:
“Jackie”
“La La Land” ^*
“Lion”
“Moonlight”
“Passengers”

Original song:
“Audition (The Fools Who Dream),” “La La Land” ^*
“Can’t Stop the Feeling,” “Trolls”
“City of Stars,” “La La Land”
“The Empty Chair,” “Jim: The James Foley Story”
“How Far I’ll Go,” “Moana”

Makeup and hair:
“A Man Called Ove”
“Star Trek Beyond”
“Suicide Squad” ^*

Costume design:
“Allied”
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”
“Florence Foster Jenkins”
“Jackie”
“La La Land” ^*

Visual effects:
“Deepwater Horizon”
“Doctor Strange” ^*
“Jungle Book”
“Kubo and the Two Strings”
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”