Check Out the List of the Honorary Oscar Recipients for 2017

Donald Sutherland in Ordinary People

As the Oscar season heats up, it's time to also prepare for the annual Honorary Oscars ceremony. What lucky talents will get the chance to be recognized for their careers in art? It only seems fitting that the names have been released right as trailers for potential upcoming nominees have dropped. So, who are the four faces that will light the stage in just a few short months? The talents are vast and reflect a variety of fields, including acting, directing, and technical aspects behind the scenes. So ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Honorary Oscar circle: Donald Sutherland, Charles Burnett, Owen Roizman, and Agnes Varda. Who are they? More information will be available after the jump.

The general goal of the Honorary Oscars is to recognize talents who haven't yet gotten their due, or deserve credit for going above and beyond what the average categories go for. In cases like Steve Martin or Jackie Chan from previous years, they haven't even been nominated but fill the screen with so much joy. Others are more humanitarian and use their popularity and influence for good, which is the main goal of the Jean Herscholt Humanitarian Award (which isn't being presented this year).

Before I get into the general description of each recipient, I must announce my bias and fondness for Donald Sutherland. I have been disappointed for years that he hasn't even received an Oscar nomination - especially when every other co-star for Best Picture winner Ordinary People received something. He has had an interesting career that's seen him do a diverse group of roles ranging from The Dirty Dozen to Animal House to more recently with the understated but still enjoyable villain role in The Hunger Games franchise. As a whole, this is the second-best thing that The Academy could do to actually nominating him for something. I am at least relieved that he got some recognition eventually.

So, who are these four people? The Academy released a press announcement today listing a direct description of each. They are:

Charles Burnett

Born in Mississippi and raised in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, Burnett is an independent filmmaker whose work has been praised for its portrayal of the African-American experience.  He wrote, directed, produced, photographed and edited his first feature film, Killer of Sheep, in 1977.  His other features include My Brother’s Wedding, To Sleep with Anger, The Glass Shield and Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation.  Burnett also has made several documentaries including America Becoming and Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property, and such short films as The Horse and When It Rains.

Owen Roizman

Roizman earned five Oscar nominations for his work on The French Connection (1971), The Exorcist (1973), Network (1976), Tootsie (1982) and Wyatt Earp (1994).  He began his career shooting television commercials before making his debut feature film, Stop, in 1970.  His other notable credits include The Heartbreak Kid, Three Days of the Condor, Absence of Malice, True Confessions, The Addams Family and Grand Canyon.  Roizman represented the Cinematographers Branch on the Academy’s Board of Governors from 2002 to 2011.

Donald Sutherland

With more than 140 film credits spanning six decades, Canadian-born Sutherland began his career with small roles in British and Italian films before his breakthrough in The Dirty Dozen (1967).  Since then he has starred in such varied films as M*A*S*H, Klute, Don’t Look Now, The Day of the Locust, 1900, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Ordinary People, Cold Mountain, The Italian Job, Pride & Prejudice and The Hunger Games series.

Agnes Varda

Belgian-born Varda has been called the mother of the French New Wave.  Her first feature, La Pointe Courte (1956) – which she wrote and directed with no formal training – is considered to be the film that inspired the movement.  Varda has experimented with all forms of filmmaking from shorts to documentaries to narrative feature films during her more than 60-year career, including such works as the New Wave classic Cleo from 5 to 7, Le Bonheur, One Sings, the Other Doesn’t, Vagabond, Jacquot, The Gleaners and I, her autobiographical documentary The Beaches of Agnès, and her most recent work, Faces Places.

The awards will be handed out on November 11 at the Ray Dolby Ballroom. Stay tuned for more coverage of the event. What do you think of this year's nominees? Is there anyone who you are surprised to see on here? How overdue is Donald Sutherland for some attention? It's another great class, and I hope to that there's plenty of memorable speeches to complement this special night.