It’s that time of year again (no, not Superbowl season): the 2017 Oscar nominations are here! This year is the 89th year the awards will be held, featuring 24 categories of awards. They will take place on Sunday, February 26th at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood and will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, comedian and host of his self-titled talk show.
The most noteworthy nominations are as follows:
Actor in a leading role: Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea, Andrew Garfield in Hacksaw Ridge, Ryan Gosling in La La Land, Viggo Mortensen in Captain Fantastic, and Denzel Washington in Fences.
Actress in a Leading Role: Isabelle Huppert in Elle, Ruth Negga in Loving, Natalie Portman in Jackie, Emma Stone in La La Land, and Meryl Streep in Florence Foster Jenkins.
Best Picture: Arrival, Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, La La Land, Lion, Manchester by the Sea, and Moonlight.
Directing: Denis Villeneuve for Arrival, Mel Gibson for Hacksaw Ridge, Damien Chazelle for La La Land, Kenneth Lonergan for Manchester by the Sea, and Barry Jenkins for Moonlight.
Among the leaderboard of 60 films nominated, La La Land boasts the most nominations this year with 14 in total, including best picture. This is an astounding 6 more nominations than the films in second place, Arrival and Moonlight, tied at 8 nominations each. La La Land is also setting the record for most honored musical film in Oscar history, surpassing classics like Mary Poppins and Chicago.
La La Land, starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, is a comedy/drama musical, which tells the story of an aspiring actress (Mia) who falls in love with a jazz musician (Sebastian). Released on Christmas Day, the film made about $4 million during its opening weekend and has since grossed an estimated $93 million in the USA alone. The movie is also certified ‘fresh’ by ratings website Rotten Tomatoes, having a score of 93%.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) – responsible for organizing the awards and nominations – received a lot of flak last year for allegedly being too “white,” by not having enough racial diversity among nominees. In fact, there wasn’t a single African American nominee in the lineup. Many famous African American actors boycotted the awards entirely, spawning the trending hashtag #OscarsSoWhite, in order to show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement and social justice in the film industry. This year however, there is a significant increase in the diversity of nominees, including 7 minority actors nominated out of a total 20 nominees – an all-time record.
Overall, this year’s Oscars look set to be well-represented and controversy-free, which is probably a good thing considering the amount of controversy in the news these days. Don’t forget to watch out for your favorite stars on the Oscar’s stage on February 26th!
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