La La Land- Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. Photo courtesy of eOne.
The nominations for the 89th Academy Awards were announced this morning and there were the usual deserving noms and the snubs – most of which seemed odd, to say the least.
For example, Isabelle Huppert was nominated for Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in Paul Verhoeven’s Elle, which got no other nominations – not even for Writing (Adapted), or Foreign Language Film.
Deadpool didn’t get anything – despite receiving nominations from the Writers, Directors, and Producers Guilds. Heck, superhero movies only got two nominations combined – Doctor Strange (Visual Effects) and Suicide Squad (Makeup and Haristyling).
On the plus side, the little musical that could, La La Land, tied All About Eve (1950) and titanic (1997) for most nominations ever (14). The complete list of nominations follows the break.
The 89th Annual Academy Awards will be presented Sunday, February 26, 2017, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC.
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
For me, the biggest surprise here is Viggo Mortensen. Captain Fantastic wasn’t one of my favorite films in 2016 – but his performance as a father with a unique approach to parenting was exceptional.
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
No complaints her. In fact, Michael Shannon’s selection over Aaron Taylor-Johnson (who won the Golden Globe for a role that I though was one-dimensional) is a triumph over mediocrity.
Actress in a Leading Role
Isabelle Huppert – Elle
Ruth Negga – Loving
Natalie Portman – Jackie
Emma Stone – La La Land
Meryl Streep – Florence Foster Jenkins
Adams’ exclusion is not a snub. Amy Adams was great in Arrival, but frankly, these performances were better.
Actress in a Supporting Role
Viola Davis – Fences
Naomie Harris – Moonlight
Nicole Kidman – Lion
Octavia Spencer – Hidden Figures
Michelle Williams – Manchester by the Sea
Animated Feature Film
Kubo and the Two Strings – Travis Knight and Arianne Sutner
Moana – John Musker, Ron Clements and Osnat Shurer
My Life as a Zucchini – Claude Barras and Max Karli
The Red Turtle – Michael Dudok de Wit and Toshio Suzuki
Zootopia – Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Clark Spencer
Finding Dory, deservedly, missed the list here. I’m personally a bit disappointed that Sausage Party didn’t make the list, but I guess there are still far too many members of the Academy who think animated films are kids and families – and any animated film that aims for something more should be ignored.
Cinematography
Arrival – Bradford Young
La La Land – Linus Sandgren
Lion – Greig Fraser
Moonlight – James Laxton
Silence – Rodrigo Prieto
Nominating Silence if throwing Martin Scorsese a bone. In effect, it’s saying ‘we didn’t care much for your movie but you’re Martin Scorsese and this is your passion project so… Well, the pictures are pretty, so…
The problem with that is that Rogue One, Nocturnal Animals or Hell or High Water were more deserving.
Costume Design
Allied – Joanna Johnston
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – Colleen Atwood
Florence Foster Jenkins – Consolata Boyle
Jackie – Madeline Fontaine
La La Land – Mary Zophres
How do you not nominate Rogue One?
Directing
Arrival – Denis Villeneuve
Hacksaw Ridge – Mel Gibson
La La Land – Damien Chazelle
Manchester by the Sea – Kenneth Lonergan
Moonlight – Barry Jenkins
No complaints here, but this category really should be expanded to include the directors of every Best Film nominee (they don’t direct themselves, y’know…).
Documentary (Feature)
Fire at Sea – Gianfranco Rosi and Donatella Palermo
I Am Not Your Negro – Raoul Peck, Rémi Grellety and Hébert Peck
Life, Animated – Roger Ross Williams and Julie Goldman
O.J.: Made in America – Ezra Edelman and Caroline Waterlow
13th – Ava DuVernay, Spencer Averick and Howard Barish
Documentary (Short Subject)
Extremis – Dan Krauss
4.1 Miles – Daphne Matziaraki
Joe’s Violin – Kahane Cooperman and Raphaela Neihausen
Watani: My Homeland – Marcel Mettelsiefen and Stephen Ellis
The White Helmets – Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara
Film Editing
Arrival – Joe Walker
Hacksaw Ridge – John Gilbert
Hell or High Water – Jake Roberts
La La Land – Tom Cross
Moonlight – Nat Sanders and Joi McMillon
Deadpool and Rogue One should be here.
Foreign Language Film
Land of Mine – Denmark
A Man Called Ove – Sweden
The Salesman – Iran
Tanna – Australia
Toni Erdmann – Germany
Makeup and Hairstyling
A Man Called Ove – Eva von Bahr and Love Larson
Star Trek Beyond – Joel Harlow and Richard Alonzo
Suicide Squad – Alessandro Bertolazzi, Giorgio Gregorini and Christopher Nelson
Music (Original Score)
Jackie – Mica Levi
La La Land – Justin Hurwitz
Lion – Dustin O’Halloran and Hauschka
Moonlight – Nicholas Britell
Passengers – Thomas Newman
Music (Original Song)
Audition (The Fools Who Dream) from La La Land; Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
Can’t Stop The Feeling from Trolls; Music and Lyric by Justin Timberlake, Max Martin and Karl Johan Schuster
City of Stars from La La Land; Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
The Empty Chair from Jim: The James Foley Story; Music and Lyric by J. Ralph and Sting
How Far I’ll Go from Moana; Music and Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda
Best Picture
Arrival – Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, Aaron Ryder and David Linde, Producers
Fences – Scott Rudin, Denzel Washington and Todd Black, Producers
Hacksaw Ridge – Bill Mechanic and David Permut, Producers
Hell or High Water – Carla Hacken and Julie Yorn, Producers
Hidden Figures – Donna Gigliotti, Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, Pharrell Williams and Theodore Melfi, Producers
La La Land – Fred Berger, Jordan Horowitz and Marc Platt, Producers
Lion – Emile Sherman, Iain Canning and Angie Fielder, Producers
Manchester by the Sea – Matt Damon, Kimberly Steward, Chris Moore, Lauren Beck and Kevin J. Walsh, Producers
Moonlight – Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Producers
Oooh! Look! Virtually all of these films actually made money. How will the Academy ever live this down?
Production Design
Arrival – Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Paul Hotte
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
Hail, Caesar! – Production Design: Jess Gonchor; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
La La Land – Production Design: David Wasco; Set Decoration: Sandy Reynolds-Wasco
Passengers – Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas; Set Decoration: Gene Serdena
Certainly, Rogue One should have been included here over Arrival.
Short Film (Animated)
Blind Vaysha – Theodore Ushev
Borrowed Time – Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj
Pear Cider and Cigarettes – Robert Valley and Cara Speller
Pearl – Patrick Osborne
Piper – Alan Barillaro and Marc Sondheimer
Short Film (Live Action)
Ennemis Intérieurs – Sélim Azzazi
La Femme et le TGV – Timo von Gunten and Giacun Caduff
Silent Nights – Aske Bang and Kim Magnusson
Sing – Kristof Deák and Anna Udvardy
Timecode – Juanjo Giménez
Sound Editing
Arrival – Sylvain Bellemare
Deepwater Horizon – Wylie Stateman and Renée Tondelli
Hacksaw Ridge – Robert Mackenzie and Andy Wright
La La Land – Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan
Sully – Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
Throwing a bone to Clint Eastwood at the expense of Rogue One, Deadpool and/or Hell or High Water
Sound Mixing
Arrival – Bernard Gariépy Strobl and Claude La Haye
Hacksaw Ridge – Kevin O’Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie and Peter Grace
La La Land – Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee and Steve A. Morrow
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – David Parker, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi – Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Mac Ruth
Visual Effects
Deepwater Horizon – Craig Hammack, Jason Snell, Jason Billington and Burt Dalton
Doctor Strange – Stephane Ceretti, Richard Bluff, Vincent Cirelli and Paul Corbould
The Jungle Book – Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Dan Lemmon
Kubo and the Two Strings – Steve Emerson, Oliver Jones, Brian McLean and Brad Schiff
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – John Knoll, Mohen Leo, Hal Hickel and Neil Corbould
I am ecstatic to see Kubo and the Two Strings here. The CGI effects used to broaden the stop-motion animation was pretty amazing stuff!
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Arrival – Screenplay by Eric Heisserer
Fences – Screenplay by August Wilson
Hidden Figures – Screenplay by Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi
Lion – Screenplay by Luke Davies
Moonlight – Screenplay by Barry Jenkins; Story by Tarell Alvin McCraney
Writing (Original Screenplay)
Hell or High Water – Written by Taylor Sheridan
La La Land – Written by Damien Chazelle
The Lobster – Written by Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthimis Filippou
Manchester by the Sea – Written by Kenneth Lonergan
20th Century Women – Written by Mike Mills