This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
One thing is sure for the 89th Academy Awards: There will be dancing.
The exuberant musical "La La Land," in which a jazz musician and a struggling actress fall in love through singing and dancing around a picture-perfect Los Angeles, took a record-tying 14 Oscar nominations, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Tuesday.
"La La Land" will face competition for Best Picture from the science-fiction drama "Arrival," the August Wilson adaptation "Fences," the World War II drama "Hacksaw Ridge," the Texas crime thriller "Hell or High Water," the women-in-NASA drama "Hidden Figures," the cross-cultural "Lion," the grieving-family drama "Manchester by the Sea" and the coming-of-age character study "Moonlight."
"Arrival" and "Moonlight" tied for second for most nominations with eight each. "Hacksaw Ridge," "Lion" and "Manchester by the Sea" received six nods apiece.
After two years of all-white slates of acting nominations, the academy made good on its diversity drives by giving seven of its 20 acting nods to people of color. Also, one of the five nominated directors, "Moonlight's" Barry Jenkins, is African-American.
Moreover, three of the nine Best Picture nominees — "Fences," "Hidden Figures" and "Moonlight" — feature predominantly African-American casts, while "Lion" spotlights actors from India or of Indian descent.
There were not many surprises among the acting nominees; most of those who were being predicted for nods got them.
The Best Actor nominees are Casey Affleck as a grief-paralyzed man in "Manchester by the Sea," Andrew Garfield as a conscientious objector during World War II in "Hacksaw Ridge," Ryan Gosling as a jazz musician in "La La Land," Viggo Mortensen as an off-the-grid dad in "Captain Fantastic" and Denzel Washington as a garbageman put down by life and racism in "Fences."
For Best Actress, the nominees are Isabelle Huppert as a rape victim seeking revenge in "Elle," Ruth Negga as a woman fighting for civil rights in "Loving," Natalie Portman as Jacqueline Kennedy in "Jackie," Emma Stone as a striving actress in "La La Land" and Meryl Streep as an out-of-tune opera singer in "Florence Foster Jenkins."
Streep's inclusion, her 20th nomination, is a bit of a surprise — and perhaps the academy's show of support after she criticized then-President-elect Donald Trump, which prompted Trump to tweet that she was "overrated." With Streep in, someone had to fall out, and that seems to be Amy Adams for her role as a linguist trying to communicate with aliens in "Arrival."
Mahershala Ali is considered the favorite in the supporting-actor category for his role as a conflicted drug dealer in "Moonlight." His competition: Jeff Bridges as a cagey lawman in "Hell or High Water," Lucas Hedges as a teen coping with the loss of his father in "Manchester by the Sea," Dev Patel as a man searching for his roots in "Lion" and Michael Shannon as a hard-bitten detective in "Nocturnal Animals."
Three women of color are on the slate for supporting actress. The nominees are Viola Davis as a put-upon wife in "Fences," Naomie Harris as a crack-addicted mother in "Moonlight," Nicole Kidman as a supportive adopted mom in "Lion," Octavia Spencer as a hypercompetent number cruncher in "Hidden Figures" and Michelle Williams as a grieving mom in "Manchester by the Sea."
The other big surprise in the nominations may be the return of Mel Gibson, who received a nomination for directing "Hacksaw Ridge." The movie is considered a comeback for Gibson, whose career took a dive after incidents of using sexist and racist language, as well as accusations of using anti-Semitic themes in his "The Passion of the Christ."
Also competing for Best Director are Denis Villeneuve for "Arrival," Damien Chazelle for "La La Land," Jenkins for "Moonlight" and Kenneth Lonergan for "Manchester by the Sea."
Tuesday's announcement also was the death blow to the awards hopes of "The Birth of a Nation," Nate Parker's antebellum biography of slave-rebellion leader Nat Turner. The movie was touted as a surefire Oscar draw — and an answer to the academy's diversity woes — when it premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and received a $17.5 million deal with Fox Searchlight. But the Oscar campaign fizzled after news resurfaced of a 1999 rape charge against Parker, and the movie was shut out of the academy's nominations.
The 89th Academy Awards will be handed out Sunday, Feb. 26, in the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. The ceremony, with Jimmy Kimmel as emcee, will be telecast on ABC, KTVX-Channel 4, in Utah.
Twitter: @moviecricket —
Oscars on TV
The 89th Academy Awards will happen Sunday, Feb. 26, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. The ceremony, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, will air on ABC, KTVX-Channel 4 in Utah. —
All the nominees
Nominees for the 89th annual Academy Awards presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences:
Best Picture • "Arrival," "Fences," "Hacksaw Ridge," "Hell or High Water," "Hidden Figures," "La La Land," "Lion," "Manchester by the Sea," "Moonlight."
Actor • Casey Affleck, "Manchester by the Sea"; Denzel Washington, "Fences"; Ryan Gosling, "La La Land;" Viggo Mortensen, "Captain Fantastic"; Andrew Garfield, "Hacksaw Ridge."
Actress • Isabelle Huppert, "Elle"; Ruth Negga, "Loving"; Natalie Portman, "Jackie"; Emma Stone, "La La Land"; Meryl Streep, "Florence Foster Jenkins."
Supporting Actor • Jeff Bridges, "Hell or High Water"; Mahershala Ali, "Moonlight"; Dev Patel, "Lion"; Michael Shannon, "Nocturnal Animals;" Lucas Hedges, "Manchester by the Sea."
Supporting Actress • Viola Davis, "Fences"; Naomie Harris, "Moonlight"; Nicole Kidman, "Lion"; Octavia Spencer, "Hidden Figures"; Michelle Williams, "Manchester by the Sea."
Directing • "Arrival," Denis Villeneuve; "Hacksaw Ridge," Mel Gibson; "La La Land," Damien Chazelle; "Manchester by the Sea," Kenneth Lonergan; "Moonlight," Barry Jenkins.
Foreign Language Film • "Land of Mine," Denmark; "A Man Called Ove," Sweden; "The Salesman," Iran; "Tanna," Australia; "Toni Erdmann," Germany.
Adapted Screenplay • "Moonlight," screenplay by Barry Jenkins, story by Tarell Alvin McCraney; "Lion," screenplay by Luke Davies; "Arrival," screenplay by Eric Heisserer; "Fences," screenplay by August Wilson; "Hidden Figures," screenplay by Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi.
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.
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.
Production Design • "Arrival," production design by Patrice Vermette, set decoration by Paul Hotte; "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," production design by Stuart Craig, set decoration by Anna Pinnock; "Hail, Caesar!", production design by Jess Gonchor, set decoration by Nancy Haigh; "La La Land," production design by David Wasco, set decoration by Sandy Reynolds-Wasco; "Passengers," production design by Guy Hendrix Dyas, set decoration by Gene Serdena.
Cinematography • "Arrival," Bradford Young; "La La Land," Linus Sandgren; "Lion," Greig Fraser; "Moonlight," James Laxton; "Silence," Rodrigo Prieto.
Sound Mixing • "Arrival," Bernard Gariepy 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," David Parker, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson; "13 Hours," Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Mac Ruth.
Sound Editing • "Arrival," Sylvain Bellemare; "Deepwater Horizon," Wylie Stateman and Renee 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.
Original Score • "Jackie," Mica Levi; "La La Land," Justin Hurwitz; "Lion," Dustin O'Halloran and Hauschka; "Moonlight," Nicholas Britell; "Passengers," Thomas Newman.
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.
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.
Documentary Feature • "Fire at Sea," Gianfranco Rosi and Donatella Palermo; "I Am Not Your Negro," Raoul Peck, Remi Grellety and Hebert 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.
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.
Animated Short Film • "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.
Live Action Short Film • "Ennemis Interieurs," Selim Azzazi; "La Femme et le TGV," Timo von Gunten and Giacun Caduff; "Silent Nights," Aske Bang and Kim Magnusson; "Sing," Kristof Deak and Anna Udvardy; "Timecode," Juanjo Gimenez.
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.