Home Culture ‘La La Land’ Ties Record With 14 Oscar Nominations

‘La La Land’ Ties Record With 14 Oscar Nominations

by AFP

Robyn Beck—AFP

Diverse crop of nominees shows Academy is trying to avoid controversy of past two years.

Romantic showbiz musical La La Land topped the Oscars nominations list on Tuesday with a whopping 14 nods, tying the all-time record set by Titanic and All About Eve.

The movie—a whimsical tribute to Hollywood’s Golden Age of musicals, set in modern-day Los Angeles—earned nods for best picture, director for 32-year-old Damien Chazelle, and for its two stars, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. In second place were sci-fi movie Arrival and coming-of-age drama Moonlight, tied at eight nominations each.

This year’s crop of nominees clearly reflected a push by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to show more diversity after the #OscarsSoWhite controversy of the past two years, with multiple black actors and filmmakers earning nods.

For best actor, Gosling will be vying for a golden statuette at the Feb. 26 Oscars bash along with Golden Globe winner Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea), Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge), Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic) and Denzel Washington (Fences).

In the best actress category, France’s Golden Globe winner Isabelle Huppert was nominated for her performance in the rape-revenge thriller Elle, along with Stone, Ruth Negga (Loving), Natalie Portman (Jackie) and Meryl Streep, who earned her 20th nomination for Florence Foster Jenkins.

Industry watchers had predicted that Chazelle’s La La Land—buoyed by a record seven Golden Globe awards earlier this month—will triumph at the nominations. But few thought it would tie for the all-time record set by Titanic and All About Eve.

La La Land will vie for best picture honors with eight other films (current rules allow for up to 10 nominees in this category) including Arrival, grim family drama Manchester by the Sea and Moonlight. Others in the coveted top category are the film adaptation of August Wilson’s play Fences, Mel Gibson’s bloody WWII drama Hacksaw Ridge, the western Hell or High Water, the real-life tale of NASA’s black female mathematicians Hidden Figures and Garth Davis’s family drama Lion.

In the running for best supporting actress are three black actresses: past nominee Viola Davis for Fences, Oscar winner Octavia Spencer for Hidden Figures and Naomie Harris for Moonlight. They will compete against past Oscar winner Nicole Kidman (Lion) and Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea), who was nominated three times before.

In the best supporting actor category, Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water) will take on Mahershala Ali of Moonlight, Dev Patel (Lion), Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea) and Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals).

The foreign films nominated are Land of Mine (Denmark), A Man Called Ove (Sweden), The Salesman (Iran), Tanna (Australia) and Toni Erdmann (Germany).

The nominations were revealed in the pre-dawn hours in Los Angeles in an online broadcast, not at the traditional press conference. Unlike previous years, this year’s nominees include a number of black actors and filmmakers, a move that should ease the diversity row that has cast a shadow over the Oscars for the past two years.

Almost half the 683 people invited last year to join the 6,000 plus Academy members that bestow the Oscars were women and nearly as many people of color. All 20 nominees in the main acting categories at last year’s Oscars were white for the second year running, prompting calls to boycott the glitzy event and an angry social media backlash under the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite.

The Academy’s board of governors has vowed to double the number of female and ethnic minority members by 2020. Late night funnyman Jimmy Kimmel will host the Oscars this year.

Nominees in main Oscars categories:

Best picture:

Arrival

Fences

Hacksaw Ridge

Hell or High Water

Hidden Figures

La La Land

Lion

Manchester by the Sea

Moonlight

Best director:

Denis Villeneuve, Arrival

Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge

Damien Chazelle, La La Land

Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea

Barry Jenkins, Moonlight

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 actress:

Isabelle Huppert, Elle

Ruth Negga, Loving

Natalie Portman, Jackie

Emma Stone, La La Land

Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins

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 foreign language film:

Land of Mine (Denmark)

A Man Called Ove (Sweden)

The Salesman (Iran)

Tanna (Australia)

Toni Erdmann (Germany)

Best animated feature:

Kubo and the Two Strings

Moana

My Life as a Zucchini

The Red Turtle

Zootopia

Best documentary feature:

Fire at Sea

I Am Not Your Negro

Life, Animated

OJ: Made in America

13th

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

20th Century Women – Mike Mills

Best adapted screenplay:

Arrival – Eric Heisserer

Fences – August Wilson

Hidden Figures – Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi

Lion – Luke Davies

Moonlight – Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney

Best cinematography:

Arrival – Bradford Young

La La Land – Linus Sandgren

Lion – Greig Fraser

Moonlight – James Laxton

Silence – Rodrigo Prieto

Best original score:

Jackie – Mica Levi

La La Land – Justin Hurwitz

Lion – Dustin O’Halloran and Hauschka

Moonlight – Nicholas Britell

Passengers – Thomas Newman

Best original song:

“Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” from La La Land

“Can’t Stop The Feeling” from Trolls

“City of Stars” from La La Land

“The Empty Chair” from Jim: The James Foley Story

“How Far I’ll Go” from Moana

Best visual effects:

Deepwater Horizon

Doctor Strange

The Jungle Book

Kubo and the Two Strings

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Number of nominations for films with three or more nods:

La La Land – 14

Arrival – 8

Moonlight – 8

Hacksaw Ridge – 6

Lion – 6

Manchester by the Sea – 6

Fences – 4

Hell or High Water – 4

Hidden Figures – 3

Jackie – 3

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