Oscar Nominations!

In the early morning hours of Tuesday, January 24, 2017, Hollywood woke up at the ungodly hour of 5:18 am to find out who the chosen were.  Over the course of the following 10 minutes, the 89^th Academy Award nominations were announced by Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Jennifer Hudson, Brie Larson, Emmanuel Lubezki, Jason Reitman, and Ken Watanabe.

Unsurprisingly, La La Land stole the show by garnering a whopping total of 14 nominations, tying for the most nominations for a single film in Academy history.  Titanic and All About Eve are the only other films to have 14 nominations.  Land received nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor (Ryan Gosling), Best Actress (Emma Stone), Best Director (Damien Chazelle), and Best Original Screenplay (Damien Chazelle).  The film received multiple technical nominations including two for Best Song (“City of Stars” and “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)”).

Arrival and Moonlight each received eight nominations including Best Picture and Best Director (Denis Villeneuve and Barry Jenkins, respectively).  In a surprise turn, Amy Adams did not receive a sixth nomination for her role in Arrival. Adams has received rave reviews for her role as a linguistics professor interoperating the language of aliens. Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris both received nominations in the supporting actor/actress categories for their work in Moonlight.

Manchester by the Sea, Hacksaw Ridge, and Lion each received six nominations.  In a surprising turn, Mel Gibson was nominated for Best Director of Hacksaw Ridge.  Gibson previously received two Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture for his work on Braveheart.  Judging by his legal and personal problems over the past 12 years, I honestly believed that Gibson would be left off of this list; after all, the Oscars are not objective.  However, it seems like this is Hollywood’s way of saying, “We forgive you.”

he Best Picture category was rounded out by Fences, Hell or High Water, and Hidden Figures.  Fences picked up nominations for Denzel Washington as Best Actor and Viola Davis as Best Supporting Actress, and front runner for the award.  Water and Figures was also nominated in the supporting actor/actress categories for the work of Jeff Bridges and Octavia Spencer.

For the first time in two years, minorities were included among the acting and directing nominees: seven actors/actresses and one director.  These include Denzel Washington for Fences (Best Actor), Ruth Negga for Loving (Best Actress), Mahershala Ali for Moonlight (Best Supporting Actor), Dev Patel for Lion (Best Supporting Actor), and Barry Jenkins for Moonlight (Best Director). Viola Davis (Fences), Naomie Harris (Moonlight), and Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures) all received nominations in the supporting actress category, making it the first time ever that an acting category has more than two black actors/actresses.

Finally, I have a little Easter Egg for you all.  Lin-Manuel Miranda of Hamilton fame received his first Oscar nomination for writing the song “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana. Yay!

Any surprises or snubs you want to talk about?  Write to us on Twitter or Facebook.

The Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, will air on Sunday, February 26.

-Ariadne Ansbro

Best Picture

Arrival
Fences
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
Hidden Figures
La La Land
Lion
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight

Best Actress

Isabelle Huppert, Elle
Ruth Negga, Loving
Natalie Portman, Jackie
Emma Stone, La La Land
Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins

Best Supporting Actress

Viola Davis, Fences
Naomie Harris, Moonlight
Nicole Kidman, Lion
Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures
Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea 

Best Actor

Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea
Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge
Ryan Gosling, La La Land
Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic
Denzel Washington, Fences 

Best Supporting Actor

Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water
Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea
Dev Patel, Lion
Michael Shannon, Nocturnal Animals

Best Documentary Feature

Fire at Sea
I Am Not Your Negro
Life Animated
O.J.: Made in America
13th 

Best Director

Denis Villeneuve, Arrival
Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge
Damien Chazelle, La La Land
Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea
Barry Jenkins, Moonlight

Best Adapted Screenplay

Arrival, Eric Heisserer
Fences, August Wilson
Hidden Figures, Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi
Lion, Luke Davis
Moonlight, Barry Jenkins with story by Tarell Alvin McCranley

Best Original Screenplay

Hell or High Water, Taylor Sheridan
La La Land, Damien Chazelle
The Lobster, Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou
Manchester by the Sea, Kenneth Lonergan
20^th Century Women, Mike Mills

Best Foreign Language Film

Land of Mine
A Man Called Ove
The Salesman
Tanna
Toni Erdmann

Best Original Score

Jackie
La La Land
Lion
Moonlight
Passengers

 

Best Original Song

“Audition (The Fools Who Dream),” La La Land
“Can’t Stop the Feeling,” Trolls
“City of Stars,” La La Land
“The Empty Chair,” Jim: The James Foley Story
“How Far I’ll Go,” Moana

 

Best Cinematography

Arrival
La La Land
Lion
Moonlight
Silence 

Best Production Design

Arrival
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Hail, Caesar!
La La Land
Passengers 

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

A Man Called Ove
Star Trek Beyond
Suicide Squad