Historic Oscars (Finally) Crowns 'Moonlight'; Good Hauls for 'La La Land,' Amazon, Netflix

27 Feb, 2017 By: John Latchem

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'Moonlight' Blu-ray Hits Shelves Tuesday

Once the dust settled at the 89th Academy Awards Feb. 26, and it was confirmed that Moonlight took home the prize for Best Picture, the A24 production could boast a total of three statuettes on the eve of its debut on Blu-ray and DVD.

Lionsgate's Feb. 28 home video release of the lauded film, which earned $22.3 million at the domestic box office, represents some fortuitous timing, with home audiences having wider access to the film just two days after the wacky, infamous, highly publicized conclusion to the ceremony, held at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles. Moonlight also won Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Mahershala Ali.

Not yet announced for home video is Lionsgate's own La La Land, which earned six trophies and was mistakenly announced as Best Picture after presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway (themselves celebrating the 50th anniversary of Warner's Bonnie and Clyde) came on stage after receiving the wrong envelope, leading to a few minutes of confusion that set the Internet ablaze.

All told, the musical La La Land won Best Actress for Emma Stone, Best Director for Damien Chazelle, Best Original Score, Best Original Song for "City of Stars," Best Cinematography and Best Production Design.

Another Lionsgate movie, Hacksaw Ridge, won trophies for Best Sound Mixing and Best Editing. The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD the week before the Oscar ceremony.

Disney had a good night as well, with Zootopia winning Best Animated Feature, Piper (available on the Finding Dory Blu-ray) taking Best Animated Short Subject, and the live-action remake of The Jungle Book winning Best Visual Effects, which stood to reason given that the film's entire jungle setting and all the animal characters were computer-generated creations, with the little boy playing Mowgli the only thing that was real in most of the scenes.

Paramount scored wins for Arrival with Best Sound Editing, and Fences, available now on Digital HD and due on disc March 14, winning Best Supporting Actress for Viola Davis.

Turning to another Davis role, the Academy also decided to create the phrase "Academy Award winner Suicide Squad" by giving the much-maligned superhero movie the award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. Davis played Amanda Waller in the film. Ironically, that means the Warner-distributed DC Comics shared movie universe has an Oscar after just three movies, while it's main competition, the better-received Marvel Cinematic Universe, has thus far received none despite several nominations spread across 14 films.

Among other long-standing franchises, Warner's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them broke a dry spell in becoming the first film set in the "Harry Potter" universe to win an Oscar, for Costume Design.

Streaming video juggernauts Netflix and Amazon Prime also captured their first Oscars as production houses. The Netflix original The White Helmets won for Best Documentary Short Subject.

Meanwhile, Amazon Studio's Manchester by the Sea, available now on home video from Lionsgate, won Best Actor for Casey Affleck and Best Original Screenplay for Kenneth Lonergan. That gave Lionsgate four Oscar winners to distribute on home video.

Amazon also has acquired the The Salesman, the Iranian entry that won Best Foreign-Language Film, and plans to add it to Prime Video this summer.

Finally, Best Documentary Feature went to O.J. — Made in America, the episodic ESPN "30 for 30" examination of the life and legal troubles of O.J. Simpson. At nearly eight hours long in the uncut form in which it was shown at film festivals to qualify under Academy rules, the film became the longest Oscar-winning film of any kind in history. Cinedigm last year released a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack of the film broken into the five parts of its television exhibition.

Oscar Winners on Home Video
Title	Noms	Categories	Studio	Home Video
Arrival	1	Best Sound Editing	Paramount	Available on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them	1	Best Costume Design	Warner	Available March 7 on Digital HD; March 28 on Blu-ray and DVD
Fences	1	Best Supporting Actress — Viola Davis	Paramount	Available now on Digital HD; March 14 on Blu-ray and DVD
Hacksaw Ridge	2	Best Film Editing; Sound Mixing	Lionsgate	Available on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD
The Jungle Book	1	Best Visual Effects	Disney	Available on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD
La La Land	6	Best Actress — Emma Stone; Director — Damien Chazelle; Original Score — Justin Hurwitz; Original Song — "City of Stars"; Cinematography; Production Design;	Lionsgate	Not yet announced for home video
Manchester by the Sea	2	Best Actor — Casey Affleck; Original Screenplay	Lionsgate	Available on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD
Moonlight	3	Best Picture; Supporting Actor — Mahershala Ali; Adapted Screenplay	Lionsgate	Available now on Digital HD; Feb. 28 on Blu-ray and DVD
O.J. — Made in America	1	Best Documentary Feature	Cinedigm/ESPN	Available on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD
Piper	1	Best Animated Short	Disney	Available with Finding Dory
The Salesman	1	Best Foreign-Language Film (Iran)	Amazon	Not yet announced for home video
Suicide Squad	1	Best Makeup and Hairstyling	Warner	Available on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD
The White Helmets	1	Documentary Short Subject	Netflix	Available on Netflix
Zootopia	1	Best Animated Feature	Disney	Available on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD
For a complete list of winners visit Oscar.com

 

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