First 'honest' Oscar ballot is in: 'I hated Arrival - it just sucked'

The Hollywood Reporter has unleashed the first of its anonymous Oscar ballots - and the results are predictably strange and surprising

Every year, The Hollywood Reporter unleashes its 'honest' Oscars voters on the world.

A collection of anonymous Academy members who you'll be - in equal parts - horrified, confused, and entertained by, while inevitably asking the question, "where on earth did they find these people?" First up in this year's batch, a longtime female member of the actor's branch, who brought along some alternately refreshing and bizarre views on this year's nominees.

Now, most would think the real Best Picture race lies between La La Land and Moonlight; yet, this individual has gone with "true American classic" Hell or High Water, while declaring: "I hated Arrival - it just sucked". Why does she think Arrival sucks? We'll never actually know, though she brings up multiple times her hatred for the film.

"I thought Meryl [Streep in Florence Foster Jenkins] played it like a clown — she's cute and adorable, but this woman didn't matter to me in the end — but people are gaga over Meryl, and I think she solidified her nomination when she gave that speech at the Golden Globes. I don't think she would have gotten nominated without it," she said of her nomination for Best Actress.

The ballot also saw her declare that she hated Toni Erdmann because "Germans are not funny!", while in the Best Makeup & Hairstyling category, "The Star Trek [Beyond] DVD they sent me stopped halfway through — something was wrong with it — so I called them and asked them to send me another, but they never did, so that eliminated them! The funny thing is I probably would have voted for them."

There are actually some quite fun, offbeat choices amongst her picks, too, as she admits that she's likely the only person who voted for Viggo Mortensen's performance in Captain Fantastic in the Best Actor category, while also choosing Ruth Negga in Loving for as her pick for Best Actress.

The Academy Awards are set to take place 26 February. You can find out everything you need to know here.