Oscars 2017: 8 Things The Academy Screwed Up

By Simon Gallagher /

5. Fantastic Beasts Winning Best Costume Design

Warner Bros.

What Happened

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Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them won Best Costume Design, despite basically being a period piece with very few actual wixarding costumes compared to the Harry Potter films. They were pretty and well observed, but they absolutely weren't the best costumes - or the best USE of costumes - in the list of nominees.

What Should Have Happened

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The only film not to have a historical reference should have won.

La La Land used costumes as a living palette of colour, as much a part of the production design (which was acknowledged) and the art direction (same thing in Oscar's eyes, apparently) as the sets and cinematography. Not acknowledging that is failing to notice one of Damien Chazelle's cleverest directing details, which makes his win for Best Director incomplete.

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They may be simpler designs, and not have historical observations to pack in, but the way they're used and primarily the striking use of colours absolutely put them above everything else.