The Oscar Narrative: First 2017 Predictions - Best Supporting Actress

First 2017 Predictions
Jennifer Aniston "The Yellow Birds"
Aja Naomi King "The Birth of a Nation"
Laura Linney "Sully"
Lupita N'yongo "Queen of Katwe"
Michelle Williams "Manchester By the Sea"

Other Contenders - Aunjanue Ellis "The Birth of a Nation", Rachel Weisz "The Light Between Oceans", Katey Segal "Bleed for This", Laura Dern "The Founder",  Rooney Mara "Lion", Nicole Kidman "Lion", Kristen Stewart "Billy Lynn's Halftime Walk", Brie Larson "Free Fire", Kim Basinger "Noctural Animals", Glenn Close "Bastards", Shailene Woodley "Snowden", Melissa Leo "Snowden", Kate Hudson "Deepwater Horizon", Gina Rodriguez "Deepwater Horizon", Rosemarie DeWitt "La La Land", Naomie Harris "Collateral Beauty", Kate Winslet "Collateral Beauty", Helen Mirren "Collateral Beauty", Rebecca Ferguson "The Girl on the Train", Greta Gerwig "20th Century Women", Dakota Fanning "20th Century Women", Margot Robbie "Suicide Squad", Nicole Kidman "How to Talk to Girls at Parties", Lily Collins "Untitled Warren Beatty Project", Annette Bening "Untitled Warren Beatty Project", Taissa Farmiga "Untitled Warren Beatty Project", Dakota Fanning "American Pastoral", Kristen Stewart "Certain Women", Anna Kendrick "The Accountant", Shohreh Aghdashloo "The Promise", Tessa Thompson "War on Everyone", Bryce Dallas Howard "Gold", Laura Dern "Wilson", Octavia Spencer "Hidden Figures", Olivia Colman "The Lobster", Rachel Weisz "The Lobster", Jennifer Jason Leigh "LBJ", Meg TillJy "War Machine", Julianne Moore "Maggie's Plan", Natalie Portman "Knight of Cups", Kirsten Dunst "Midnight Special", Janet McTeer "Me Before You", Diane Keaton "Finding Dory", Penelope Wilton "The BFG", Rebecca Hall "The BFG", Alicia Vikander "Jason Bourne", Rebecca Ferguson "Florence Foster Jenkins", Ellen Barkin "Hands of Stone", Juliette Lewis "Nerve", Kyra Sedgwick "The Edge of Seventeen", Eva Green "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children", Judi Dench "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children", Allison Janney "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children", Allison Janney "The Girl on the Train", Michelle Monaghan "Patriot's Day"

Commentary - I already miss Oscar season. Emmy season is coming around soon (May 1st is the official kickoff date here!) and thank God! These last two months have been brutal. Before we kick off Emmy season, let's also kick off Oscar season 2017. In a few weeks it will be official with the start of Cannes. Once again I think the expression that most fits this situation is: Thank God! So here we go: I think that this race is going to be an exciting one top to bottom, with so many big projects with big actors coming down the pipe. We already know that Manchester By the Sea is great, and it could be that Sundance contender that goes far in the awards race, bringing along previous nominee Michelle Williams along for the ride. Speaking of Sundance, The Birth of a Nation has exploded into this year's Oscar race, and I think it will bring along a lot of categories with it. Aunjanue Ellis is a possibility, but I think it is Aja Naomi King that could make the cut. Lupita Nyong'o has had quite a journey since her Oscar win, with two huge hits in The Jungle Book and Star Wars. This year she returns to the screen as herself, not CGI, with Queen of Katwe, and could find herself in the Oscar race once again. Laura Linney is one of those beloved actresses, who every couple of years has a role that catches the Academy's attention. This year, in Clint Eastwood's Sully, opposite the great Tom Hanks, she may get that role once again. Finally, two years ago, Jennifer Aniston got so close to an Oscar nomination with Cake. She is clearly trying to find better roles, roles that actually match her talent, and break her out of that Rachel Green cycle that she has been trapped in for over a decade now. This new film, co-starring Tye Sheridan and Toni Collette, about the Iraq War, could finally get her critics to take her seriously as a dramatic actor (although they should already do so). So that is my current five, although we know that this list will change dramatically in the months to come. Especially when you consider some of the other names on the list with a lot of potential. Kristen Stewart is finally showing the world what she is made of, and Billy Lynn's Halftime Walk looks fantastic. Derek Cianfrance is bringing The Light Between Oceans to the screen, and Rachel Weisz could finally return to the Oscar race. Melissa Leo and Shailene Woodley are both great actresses, and have big roles in Oliver Stone's latest Snowden. Collateral Beauty also offers us a load of potentials from Kate Winslet, to Helen Mirren, to Naomie Harris. Laura Dern is overdue for some more awards love, and the first trailer for The Founder has potential. Lion is being picked up by Weinstein, so watch for serious campaigns for Nicole Kidman and Rooney Mara. Katey Segal never got the Emmy love she deserved for three great long-running television series, but there is a ton of buzz for her new role in Bleed for This. Maybe the Oscars will give her some overdue recognition. I am so excited about Damien Chazelle's followup to Whiplash, La La Land, and Rosemarie DeWitt is always great. 20th Century Women has Dakota Fanning and Greta Gerwig, Deepwater Horizon has Gina Rodriguez and Kate Hudson, The BFG has Penelope Wilton and Rebecca Hall and the new Warren Beatty movie has Annette Bening, Lily Collins, and Taissa Farmiga.. Alicia Vikander returns to the race in the new Bourne movie, and Brie Larson, Kim Basinger, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Octavia Spencer, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kyra Sedgwick, Juliette Lewis, Meg Tilly, Janet McTeer, Julianne Moore, and Michelle Monaghan all have potential projects. Finally, don't forget some of the genre projects including Margot Robbie in Suicide Squad, Judi Dench, Allison Janney, and Eva Green for Tim Burton's adaptation of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Kirsten Dunst in Midnight Special, and The Girl on the Train duo of Allison Janney and Rebecca Ferguson.