Not unexpectedly and as I predicted La La Land dominates with most nominations
from www.npr.org
When the nominees for the 2017 Academy Awards were announced this morning, La La Land racked up 14 nods, tying records held by Titanic and All About Eve.
Martin Scorsese's Silence received only a single nomination for cinematography, while the small but critically praised Western/crime film Hell or High Water performed above expectations, with nominations for best picture, best supporting actor (Jeff Bridges) and original screenplay.
Call it Oscars Slightly Less White: Unlike last year, when no people of color managed to secure acting or directing nominations, the Academy nominated Denzel Washington for lead actor in Fences, Mahershala Ali and Dev Patel for supporting actor in Moonlight and Lion, respectively, Loving's Ruth Negga in the lead actress category, and Viola Davis (Fences), Naomie Harris (Moonlight) and Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures) were nominated for best supporting actress. Moonlight's Barry Jenkins was also nominated for best director.
ABC will telecast the 89th Annual Oscar Awards ceremony on Sunday, Feb. 26.
BEST PICTURE
Arrival
Fences
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
Hidden Figures
La La Land
Lion
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight
First Impressions: If you loved La La Land and were worried that the buzz around it was peaking too early for it to make a strong showing at the Oscars, the raft of nominations it received this morning will either allay your fears, or cement them. One the one hand, it shows, yet again, how much Hollywood loves movies about movies — on the other, we've now got 33 whole days for the film's detractors to feed the palpable, and growing,backlash.
Otherwise, no particular surprises here. Except:
Notable Snubs?: The poor showing of Martin Scorsese's Silence isn't a surprise, if you've been following Oscar prognosticators, but it's striking.
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea
Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge
Ryan Gosling, La La Land
Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic
Denzel Washington, Fences
First Impressions: If there's a surprise here, it's Mortensen, if only because Captain Fantastic came and went so quickly. This is likely shaping up into a battle between Affleck and Washington.
Notable Snubs?: Joel Edgerton's performance in Loving was powerful but inwardly directed, and there may be room for only one stoic-mumbler performance (Affleck) on this list.
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Isabelle Huppert, Elle
Ruth Negga, Loving
Natalie Portman, Jackie
Emma Stone, La La Land
Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins
First Impressions: Florence Foster Jenkins is a chewy role, and Streep attacks it with Streepish verve, while Portman's performance as Jackie O. risks something by running right up to the edge of satire before retreating to find something smaller, and real. Negga ensures that audiences register the love between Richard and Mildred Loving in a nuanced, grounded way that never feels cloying, and Stone makes the most of some lovely moments in La La Land. But in Elle — a challenging, uncompromising film — Isabell Huppert is icy and ferocious, and she earns our sympathy while remaining unlikable. That is, as they say in acting conservatories, a neat trick.
Notable Snubs?: Just about everyone expected to see Amy Adams in here for her quiet but hugely emotional performance in Arrival. And personally, I'd have loved to see Annette Bening in here, because she does so much in 20th Century Women that's small and quiet, unshowy and true.
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water
Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea
Dev Patel, Lion
Michael Shannon, Nocturnal Animals
First Impressions: Hedges is a slight surprise here, but you can't say he didn't earn his place. Ali is heavily favorited.
Notable Snubs?: Many expected Hugh Grant to earn a nod for Florence Foster Jenkins.
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Viola Davis, Fences
Naomie Harris, Moonlight
Nicole Kidman, Lion
Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures
Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea
First Impressions: Williams made the very, very most of her relatively brief screentime, as did Harris, Kidman and Spencer. But screentime doesn't matter to Oscar voters (ask Judi Densch), emotional weight does. And by that metric, there's no contest — this is Davis's to lose.
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Kubo and the Two Strings
Moana
My Life as a Zucchini
The Red Turtle
Zootopia
First Impressions: Kubo has a great story, The Red Turtle is achingly beautiful, Zootopia is wildly popular (which doesn't hurt) and delivers a message (ditto), Moana is the juggernaut that is Moana, and My Life as a Zucchini .... I haven't seen My Life as a Zucchini.
Notable Snubs?: Many expressed surprise this morning that Finding Dory failed to make a showing here, which makes it the second Pixar film in a row (after 2015's The Good Dinosaur) to fail to earn a nomination.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Arrival
La La Land
Lion
Moonlight
Silence
First Impressions: Silence's only Oscar nomination this year.
COSTUME DESIGN
Allied
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Florence Foster Jenkins
Jackie
La La land
DIRECTING
Damien Chazelle, La La Land
Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge
Barry Jenkins, Moonlight
Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea
Denis Villenueve, Arrival
First Impressions: Jenkins is only the fourth African-American director to be nominated for an Oscar in the 89-year history of the ceremony.
Notable Snubs?: Directors of four of the nine films nominated for best picture — Fences, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures and Lion — didn't make the cut, here. Neither, as noted, did Scorsese.
DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)
Fire at Sea
I Am Not Your Negro
Life, Animated
OJ: Made In America
13th
First Impression: Depending on whom you talk to, the O.J. doc is either heavily favorited or — because most people saw it on T.V., not in a movie theater — a longshot. That may depress its votes, allowing the widely praised I Am Not Your Negro to take home the Oscar.
DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)
Extremis
4.1 Miles
Joe's Violin
Watani: My Homeland
The White Helmets
FILM EDITING
Arrival
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
La La Land
Moonlight
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Land of Mine, Denmark
A Man Called Ove, Sweden
The Salesman, Iran
Toni Erdmann, Germany
First Impressions: A Man Called Ove is a crowd-pleaser, while The Salesman is ... not particularly interested in pleasing crowds. This will be interesting to watch.
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
A Man Called Ove
Star Trek Beyond
Suicide Squad
First Impressions: The West Coast just woke up to a world in which the phrase "the Oscar-nominated Suicide Squad" is a thing people can say, with their mouths.
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
Jackie
La La Land
Lion
Moonlight
Passengers
First Impressions: Probably La La Land's to lose, particularly if the voters don't go for it in the major categories.
MUSIC (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
First Impressions: Two songs from the same movie hasn't happened in a while, so they might split the vote. But the real story here is that Lin-Manuel Miranda, of "How Far I'll Go," is one O short of an EGOT. Voters might want to be a part of that milestone.
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Arrival
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Hail, Caesar!
La La Land
Passengers
First Impressions: The Cohen Brothers Hail, Caesar! makes its only appearance in the 2017 nominations.
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
Blind Vaysha
Borrowed Time
Pear Cider and Cigarettes
Pearl
Piper
SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
Ennemis Interieurs
La Femme Et Le TGV
Silent Nights
Sing
Timecode
SOUND EDITING
Arrival
Deepwater Horizon
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Sully
SOUND MIXING
Arrival
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
VISUAL EFFECTS
Deepwater Horizon
Doctor Strange
The Jungle Book
Kubo and the Two Strings
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
Arrival
Fences
Hidden Figures
Lion
Moonlight
First Impressions: The screenplay categories offer a chance for both Moonlight and La La Land to get a victory on Oscar night, in case one or the other runs the table — but don't count out the goodwill that's still gathering behind Hidden Figures.
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
Hell or High Water
La La Land
The Lobster
Manchester by the Sea
20th Century Women
First Impressions: I love that The Lobster got a nod — but then, the screenplay categories are historically where films too weird for the Academy get recognized. 20th Century Women isn't weird, exactly, but it's pleasantly shaggy and unconventional in structure. That said, if La La Land takes this award, you're probably looking at a sweep.
from www.npr.org
When the nominees for the 2017 Academy Awards were announced this morning, La La Land racked up 14 nods, tying records held by Titanic and All About Eve.
Martin Scorsese's Silence received only a single nomination for cinematography, while the small but critically praised Western/crime film Hell or High Water performed above expectations, with nominations for best picture, best supporting actor (Jeff Bridges) and original screenplay.
Call it Oscars Slightly Less White: Unlike last year, when no people of color managed to secure acting or directing nominations, the Academy nominated Denzel Washington for lead actor in Fences, Mahershala Ali and Dev Patel for supporting actor in Moonlight and Lion, respectively, Loving's Ruth Negga in the lead actress category, and Viola Davis (Fences), Naomie Harris (Moonlight) and Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures) were nominated for best supporting actress. Moonlight's Barry Jenkins was also nominated for best director.
ABC will telecast the 89th Annual Oscar Awards ceremony on Sunday, Feb. 26.
BEST PICTURE
Arrival
Fences
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
Hidden Figures
La La Land
Lion
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight
First Impressions: If you loved La La Land and were worried that the buzz around it was peaking too early for it to make a strong showing at the Oscars, the raft of nominations it received this morning will either allay your fears, or cement them. One the one hand, it shows, yet again, how much Hollywood loves movies about movies — on the other, we've now got 33 whole days for the film's detractors to feed the palpable, and growing,backlash.
Otherwise, no particular surprises here. Except:
Notable Snubs?: The poor showing of Martin Scorsese's Silence isn't a surprise, if you've been following Oscar prognosticators, but it's striking.
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea
Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge
Ryan Gosling, La La Land
Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic
Denzel Washington, Fences
First Impressions: If there's a surprise here, it's Mortensen, if only because Captain Fantastic came and went so quickly. This is likely shaping up into a battle between Affleck and Washington.
Notable Snubs?: Joel Edgerton's performance in Loving was powerful but inwardly directed, and there may be room for only one stoic-mumbler performance (Affleck) on this list.
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Isabelle Huppert, Elle
Ruth Negga, Loving
Natalie Portman, Jackie
Emma Stone, La La Land
Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins
First Impressions: Florence Foster Jenkins is a chewy role, and Streep attacks it with Streepish verve, while Portman's performance as Jackie O. risks something by running right up to the edge of satire before retreating to find something smaller, and real. Negga ensures that audiences register the love between Richard and Mildred Loving in a nuanced, grounded way that never feels cloying, and Stone makes the most of some lovely moments in La La Land. But in Elle — a challenging, uncompromising film — Isabell Huppert is icy and ferocious, and she earns our sympathy while remaining unlikable. That is, as they say in acting conservatories, a neat trick.
Notable Snubs?: Just about everyone expected to see Amy Adams in here for her quiet but hugely emotional performance in Arrival. And personally, I'd have loved to see Annette Bening in here, because she does so much in 20th Century Women that's small and quiet, unshowy and true.
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water
Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea
Dev Patel, Lion
Michael Shannon, Nocturnal Animals
First Impressions: Hedges is a slight surprise here, but you can't say he didn't earn his place. Ali is heavily favorited.
Notable Snubs?: Many expected Hugh Grant to earn a nod for Florence Foster Jenkins.
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Viola Davis, Fences
Naomie Harris, Moonlight
Nicole Kidman, Lion
Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures
Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea
First Impressions: Williams made the very, very most of her relatively brief screentime, as did Harris, Kidman and Spencer. But screentime doesn't matter to Oscar voters (ask Judi Densch), emotional weight does. And by that metric, there's no contest — this is Davis's to lose.
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Kubo and the Two Strings
Moana
My Life as a Zucchini
The Red Turtle
Zootopia
First Impressions: Kubo has a great story, The Red Turtle is achingly beautiful, Zootopia is wildly popular (which doesn't hurt) and delivers a message (ditto), Moana is the juggernaut that is Moana, and My Life as a Zucchini .... I haven't seen My Life as a Zucchini.
Notable Snubs?: Many expressed surprise this morning that Finding Dory failed to make a showing here, which makes it the second Pixar film in a row (after 2015's The Good Dinosaur) to fail to earn a nomination.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Arrival
La La Land
Lion
Moonlight
Silence
First Impressions: Silence's only Oscar nomination this year.
COSTUME DESIGN
Allied
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Florence Foster Jenkins
Jackie
La La land
DIRECTING
Damien Chazelle, La La Land
Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge
Barry Jenkins, Moonlight
Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea
Denis Villenueve, Arrival
First Impressions: Jenkins is only the fourth African-American director to be nominated for an Oscar in the 89-year history of the ceremony.
Notable Snubs?: Directors of four of the nine films nominated for best picture — Fences, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures and Lion — didn't make the cut, here. Neither, as noted, did Scorsese.
DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)
Fire at Sea
I Am Not Your Negro
Life, Animated
OJ: Made In America
13th
First Impression: Depending on whom you talk to, the O.J. doc is either heavily favorited or — because most people saw it on T.V., not in a movie theater — a longshot. That may depress its votes, allowing the widely praised I Am Not Your Negro to take home the Oscar.
DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)
Extremis
4.1 Miles
Joe's Violin
Watani: My Homeland
The White Helmets
FILM EDITING
Arrival
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
La La Land
Moonlight
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Land of Mine, Denmark
A Man Called Ove, Sweden
The Salesman, Iran
Toni Erdmann, Germany
First Impressions: A Man Called Ove is a crowd-pleaser, while The Salesman is ... not particularly interested in pleasing crowds. This will be interesting to watch.
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
A Man Called Ove
Star Trek Beyond
Suicide Squad
First Impressions: The West Coast just woke up to a world in which the phrase "the Oscar-nominated Suicide Squad" is a thing people can say, with their mouths.
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
Jackie
La La Land
Lion
Moonlight
Passengers
First Impressions: Probably La La Land's to lose, particularly if the voters don't go for it in the major categories.
MUSIC (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
First Impressions: Two songs from the same movie hasn't happened in a while, so they might split the vote. But the real story here is that Lin-Manuel Miranda, of "How Far I'll Go," is one O short of an EGOT. Voters might want to be a part of that milestone.
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Arrival
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Hail, Caesar!
La La Land
Passengers
First Impressions: The Cohen Brothers Hail, Caesar! makes its only appearance in the 2017 nominations.
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
Blind Vaysha
Borrowed Time
Pear Cider and Cigarettes
Pearl
Piper
SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
Ennemis Interieurs
La Femme Et Le TGV
Silent Nights
Sing
Timecode
SOUND EDITING
Arrival
Deepwater Horizon
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Sully
SOUND MIXING
Arrival
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
VISUAL EFFECTS
Deepwater Horizon
Doctor Strange
The Jungle Book
Kubo and the Two Strings
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
Arrival
Fences
Hidden Figures
Lion
Moonlight
First Impressions: The screenplay categories offer a chance for both Moonlight and La La Land to get a victory on Oscar night, in case one or the other runs the table — but don't count out the goodwill that's still gathering behind Hidden Figures.
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
Hell or High Water
La La Land
The Lobster
Manchester by the Sea
20th Century Women
First Impressions: I love that The Lobster got a nod — but then, the screenplay categories are historically where films too weird for the Academy get recognized. 20th Century Women isn't weird, exactly, but it's pleasantly shaggy and unconventional in structure. That said, if La La Land takes this award, you're probably looking at a sweep.
