Production Design is great. It is necessary. Without it a film would be like Neil Breen taping garbage bags up in his garage as a set. But it is also not an easy Oscar category to predict.
Best Production Design:
Will Win: La La Land
Could Win: Hail, Caeser! of Fantastic Beasts
Count Passengers out. The set looks fine, but it is not so monumental that it makes up for the film’s poor reviews. Arrival is a possible contender, but in my opinion there is not a lot of set to design. The spaceship is a gaping hole with a window. There is a standard house set. And then there is the dark headquarters tent.
What is left is the more extravagant design. Hail, Caeser! has some great sets that mimic the golden age of Hollywood (and remember, Hollywood loves Hollywood). But the real Hollywood loving Hollywood film of 2016 is La La Land. So…chalk up another one for La La Land.
As always, thanks for reading!
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—Alex Brannan (@TheAlexBrannan)
CineFiles Movie Reviews 