This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
If only The Cricket had switched his cynical pick with his optimistic one.
The (slightly) cynical pick in Sunday night's Oscar ceremony was predicting the favorite, "La La Land," to win Best Picture, rather than going with his heart and choosing "Moonlight," which emerged as the winner once the dust settled.
The overly optimistic pick was predicting Denzel Washington's performance for "Fences" would overtake the favorite, Casey Affleck for "Manchester by the Sea."
Overall, The Cricket got 16 correct picks from the 24 categories for the 89th annual Academy Awards, the same score as he had last year.
Correct picks: Actress, supporting actor, supporting actress, director, original screenplay, adapted screenplay, cinematography, production design, music (original score), music (original song), visual effects, foreign language film, animated feature, documentary feature, documentary short subject, animated short film.
Incorrect picks: Best Picture, actor, film editing, costume design, makeup and hairstyling, sound mixing, sound editing, live-action short film.