2017 Oscar Nominations

Here we are once again with the 2017 Oscar nominations and while I attempt to limit any coverage of the awards season hoopla (simply because there are so many to cover and too little to care about) the Academy Awards are obviously the biggest show of the season and so it was with great anticipation I awaited this morning’s announcements.What's surprising about this year is just how unsurprising the nominations are. Sure, there were a few both pleasant and somewhat shocking turns with the two biggest being that Amy Adams didn't receive an acting nomination and that Meryl Streep did. No, not really, everyone knows the Academy can't resist a Meryl Streep performance even if no one saw the movie and it was far from her best work. Even Streep knows she is somewhat coasting lately and yet, after not giving her a nod for Ricki and the Flash the Academy just couldn't do it two years in a row. In all seriousness, one of the more (personally) upsetting exclusions this year was that of my favorite film of the year, Sing Street. How it wasn't able to even grab a nod in Best Original Song is beyond me. I haven't heard "The Empty Chair," and I'm sure it's a fine enough track, but I would have given anything to see Sing Street on stage at the Oscars rockin' out to "Drive It Like You Stole It." Of course, the biggest story of the year is La La Land and now that it has tied Titanic and All About Eve with the most nominations ever with fourteen it looks to have a huge night, but just how many of those nominations will secure wins? I could easily see it taking both Picture and Director as well as in many of the technical categories for which it was nominated, but the acting categories are a different story. Ryan Gosling will have to compete with Casey Affleck and Emma Stone has the likes of Natalie Portman and Isabelle Huppert to deal with. Speaking of the Best Actress category, though I wasn't as high on the film as many, it was great to see Ruth Negga get a nod for Loving. For further analysis as well as my thoughts on this morning’s announcements hit the jump. 

Following close behind La La Land this year is Barry Jenkin's Moonlight with eight nominations which could result in less, but potentially higher profile wins. It's not hard to imagine Moonlight taking both Picture and Director out from under La La Land and I honestly wouldn't mind either as both films are more than deserving of the praise they've received this year. It also seems likely that at least Mahershala Ali will score a win for his work in Moonlight, but Naomie Harris' screen time was too limited to get her a win, not to mention she's up against Viola Davis in Fences. The Denzel Washington film received a number of nominations in the major categories including Picture, Actor, and Adapted Screenplay, but it will likely go home with only the single win for Davis. Coming from where we were last year and the year before though, the fact the two leading nominees for Best Supporting Actress are black says a lot about the diversity in both this years films and nominees. Speaking of diversity, the underrated Lion scored a healthy amount of love from the Academy as both Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman scored Supporting Acting noms as well as Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, and Best Picture. I was rather struck by this obvious attempt at Oscar bait despite it being exactly that, but would have loved to have seen Lion's littlest star, Sunny Pawar, sneak into that Best Actor category in place of Viggo Mortensen for Captain Fantastic which feels like a case of the Academy not being able to come up with anyone else. I wasn't a fan of that film, to be frank, but even if I was this would feel like a pick out of left field.

There isn't much more to say about this years crop as most of what was nominated was expected to be nominated. Seeing Michael Shannon get a nod for his supporting work in the underseen and underappreciated Nocturnal Animals was nice, as is the love for Hell or High Water, and though I haven't seen 20th Century Women yet I imagine it deserved that Original Screenplay nod (nice to see The Lobster included here as well) and much more (Annette Benning in place of Streep, perhaps?). It should also be noted Martin Scorsese's Silence was more or less shut out sans a Cinematography nod with Mel Gibson's Hacksaw Ridge earning a Best Picture, Director, and Actor nom for star Andrew Garfield who deserved recognition this year for something as we was fantastic both in Hacksaw and the aforementioned Silence. Outside of a few nice little touches it is clear this years Oscars will be what we all expected them to be though, a showdown between La La Land and Moonlight for Picture and Director with the Best Actress race shaping up to be the most interesting of the bunch.  

Check out the full list of nominees below and catch the broadcast on February 26th at 7 p.m. Eastern on ABC hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.


Nominations for the 89th Academy Awards

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

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

Best Original Screenplay
“Hell or High Water”
“La La Land”
“The Lobster”
“Manchester by the Sea”
“20th Century Women”

Best Adapted Screenplay
“Arrival”
“Fences”
“Hidden Figures”
“Lion”
“Moonlight”

Cinematography
“Arrival”
“La La Land”
“Lion”
“Moonlight”
“Silence”

Best Documentary Short Subject
“Extremis”
“4.1 Miles”
“Joe’s Violin”
“Watani: My Homeland”
“The White Helmets”

Best Animated Feature 
“Kubo and the Two Strings”
“Moana”
“My Life as a Zucchini”
“The Red Turtle”
“Zootopia”

Best Animated Short
“Blind Vaysha”
“Borrowed Time”
“Pear Cider and Cigarettes”
“Pearl”
“Piper”

Best Original Song
“Audition” — “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 Live Action Short
“Ennemis Interieurs”
“La Femme et le TGV”
“Silent Nights”
“Sing”
“Timecode”

Best Foreign Film
“Land of Mine”
“A Man Called Ove”
“The Salesman”
“Tanna”
“Toni Erdmann”

Best Sound Editing
“Arrival”
“Deepwater Horizon”
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“La La Land”
“Sully”

Best Sound Mixing
“Arrival”
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“La La Land”
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”
“13 hours”

Best Production Design
“Arrival”
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”
“Hail, Caesar!”
“La La Land”
“Passengers”

Best Costume Design
“Allied”
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”
“Florence Foster Jenkins”
“Jackie”
“La La Land”

Best Original Score
“Jackie”
“La La Land”
“Lion”
“Moonlight”
“Passengers”

VFX
“Deepwater Horizon”
“Dr. Strange”
“The Jungle Book”
“Kubo and the Two Strings”
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”

Best Makeup
“A Man Called Ove”
“Star Trek Beyond”
“Suicide Squad”

Best Documentary Feature
“Fire at Sea”
“I Am Not Your Negro”
“Life, Animated”
“OJ: Made in America:
“13th”

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