Forum Oscar Poll Results – August 2016: Silence still golden but Billy Lynn is on deck

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Another month and the top in most of the top 8 categories remain the same. But, dive deeper and you’ll see that Silence‘s reign at the top (and Martin Scorsese) are probably in their last month of dominance. Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk and its director Ang Lee are within three points in Best Picture and just a single point in Best Director of the top spot.

In Best Actor, Denzel Washington (Fences) remains untouchable, as does his co-star Viola Davis in Best Actress. The top spots in Best Supporting Actor (Liam Neeson, Silence) and Best Supporting Actress (Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea) are also far out ahead of their nearest rivals.

Comparing the numbers to last month though you’ll find that there are spoilers to be had in many of these categories. Take a look at August 2015 to see where AwardsWatch had it right and where we didn’t. As you can see, the closer we get to the ‘real’ Oscar season and fall festivals you can expect some of these names and placements to change.

You can vote in the August polls right here.

Here are the Forum Oscar Poll Results for August 2016 with handy dandy color codes for films (green is up, red is down), directors and performances that have gone up or down in placement since last month.

BEST PICTURE

01. Silence (98%; 92 votes)
02. Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (95%; 89 votes)
03. The Birth of a Nation (93%; 87 votes)
04. Manchester by the Sea (87%; 82 votes)
05. Fences (83%; 78 votes)
06. Loving (82%; 77 votes)
07. La La Land (80%; 75 votes)
08. Arrival (51%; 48 votes)
09. Sully (40%; 38 votes)
10. Moonlight (35%; 33 votes)

BEST DIRECTOR

01. Martin Scorsese — Silence (95%; 83 votes)
02. Ang Lee — Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (94%; 82 votes)
03. Nate Parker — The Birth of a Nation (80%; 70 votes)
04. Damien Chazelle — La La Land (55%; 48 votes)
05. Kenneth Lonergan — Manchester by the Sea (38%; 33 votes)

06. Denis Villenueve — Arrival (28%; 25 votes)
07. Denzel Washington — Fences (21%; 21 votes)
08. Jeff Nichols — Loving (23%; 20 votes)
09. Clint Eastwood — Sully (20%; 17 votes)
10. Barry Jenkins — Moonlight (11%; 10 votes) – NEW

BEST ACTOR

01. Denzel Washington — Fences (88%; 108 votes)
02. Casey Affleck — Manchester by the Sea (80%; 99 votes)
03. Nate Parker — The Birth of a Nation (77%; 95 votes)
04. Andrew Garfield — Silence (66%; 81 votes)
05. Joel Edgerton — Loving (38%; 47 votes)

06. Woody Harrelson — Wilson (36%; 44 votes) (moved to 2017)
07. Tom Hanks — Sully (27%; 33 votes)
08. Ryan Gosling — La La Land (20%; 24 votes) – NEW
09. Joe Alwyn — Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (15%; 19 votes)
10. Michael Keaton — The Founder (11%; 13 votes) – NEW

BEST ACTRESS

01. Viola Davis — Fences (90%; 178 votes)
02. Ruth Negga — Loving (83%; 164 votes)
03. Meryl Streep — Florence Foster Jenkins (48%; 96 votes)
04. Annette Bening — 20th Century Women (47%; 93 votes)
05. Emma Stone — La La Land (45%; 90 votes)

06. Amy Adams — Arrival (34%; 67 votes)
07. Emily Blunt — The Girl on the Train (29%; 58 votes)
08. Isabelle Huppert — Elle (16%; 31 votes)
09. Jessica Chastain — Miss Sloane (14%; 27 votes) – NEW
10. Amy Adams — Nocturnal Animals (13%; 25 votes) – NEW

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

01. Liam Neeson — Silence (96%; 92 votes)
02. Armie Hammer — The Birth of a Nation (66%; 63 votes)
03. Steve Martin — Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (64%; 61 votes)
04. Aaron Eckhart — Sully (32%; 31 votes)
05. Hugh Grant — Florence Foster Jenkins (31%; 30 votes)

06. Warren Beatty — Rules Don’t Apply (26%; 25 votes)
06. Stephen Henderson — Fences (26%; 25 votes)
08. Adam Driver — Silence (24%; 23 votes)
09. Michael Shannon — Nocturnal Animals (17%; 16 votes)
10. Ralph Fiennes — A Bigger Splash (14%; 13 votes) – NEW

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

01. Michelle Williams — Manchester by the Sea (86%; 123 votes)
02. Kristen Stewart — Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (63%; 90 votes)
03. Naomie Harris — Moonlight (62%; 89 votes)
04. Laura Dern — Wilson (55%; 78 votes) (moved to 2017)
05. Aja Naomi King — The Birth of a Nation (37%; 53 votes)

06. Rachel Weisz — The Light Between Oceans (30%; 43 votes)
07. Nicole Kidman — Lion (20%; 29 votes)
08. Annette Bening — 20th Century Women (19%; 27 votes)
09. Laura Linney — Sully (15%; 21 votes) – NEW
10. Other (13%; 19 votes)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

01. Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (98%; 45 votes)
02. Fences (93%; 43 votes)
03. Silence (89%; 41 votes)
04. Arrival (39%; 18 votes)
04. Wilson (39%; 18 votes) (moved to 2017)

06. Sully (33%; 15 votes)
07. Nocturnal Animals (30%; 14 votes)
08. Love & Friendship (20%; 9 votes)
09. The Light Between Oceans (11%; 5 votes) – NEW
09. Lion (11%; 5 votes)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

01. Manchester by the Sea (89%; 41 votes)
02. The Birth of a Nation (80%; 37 votes)
03. La La Land (74%; 34 votes)
04. Loving (70%; 32 votes)
05. Moonlight (46%; 21 votes)

06. 20th Century Women (33%; 15 votes)
07. The Lobster (26%; 12 votes)
08. Toni Erdmann (15%; 7 votes) – NEW
09. Zootopia (13%; 6 votes)
10. Café Society (11%; 5 votes)

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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