The votes have been counted and The Academy has officially whittled down 2016’s crème de la crème to select the nominees for the 89th Academy Awards.
Continuing its impressive victory lap, Damien Chazelle’s La La Land leads the pack with 14 nominations, after receiving the nod for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Costume Design, Film Editing, Original Score, Original Song (for both “City of Stars” and “Audition”), Production Design, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing. It’s a haul that equals the record set by All About Eve (1950) and James Cameron’s Titanic (1997), and following its historic coup at this month’s Golden Globes ceremony, La La Land will be the one to beat on February 26th. Another record worth mentioning now belongs to the great Meryl Streep, who scooped up her 20th nomination for her nuanced performance in Florence Foster Jenkins.
Beyond that, Moonlight and Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival trail with eight nominations a piece, though the latter’s lead star, Amy Adams, is a notable absentee from the Best Actress category. Ditto for Martin Scorsese’s Silence, which finds itself in the running for Best Cinematography and little else.
In more positive news, thanks to the strong performances of Hidden Figures, Loving and the Denzel Washington-helmed Fences, #OscarsSoWhite won’t be rearing its ugly head for a third consecutive year. Without a single acting nominee of color in either 2015 or 2016, the lack of diversity in The Academy’s selections sparked widespread protests. Hollywood brass then went about implementing a radical shake-up to its pool of voters – in fact, of the 683 new invites issued last summer, 46 percent were women and 41 percent people of color.
Without further ado, here’s the complete list of candidates in the running for the 2017 Academy Awards, and though Rogue One, Doctor Strange and even Suicide Squad all made the cut, the Merc With a Mouth was shunned entirely. Looks like Deadpool‘s Oscar campaign really was wishful thinking after all.
Best Supporting Actor
Dev Patel
Michael Shannon
Jeff Bridges
Lucas Hedges
Mahershala AliBest Cinematography
Arrival
Lion
La La Land
Moonlight
SilenceBest Documentary
Fire at Sea
I Am Not Your Negro
Life Animated
OJ: Made in America
13thBest Foreign Language Film
Land of Mine
A Man Called Ove
The Salesman
Tana
Toni Erdmann
Best Actor
Casey Affleck
Ryan Gosling
Denzel Washington
Viggo Mortensen
Andrew GarfieldBest Production Design
Arrival
Fantastic Beasts
Hail Caesar
La La Land
PassengersBest Visual Effects
Deepwater Horizon
Doctor Strange
Jungle Book
Kubo
Rogue OneBest Costume Design
Allied
Fantastic Beasts
Florence Foster Jenkins
Jackie
La La LandBest Makeup and Hair
A Man Called Ove
Star Trek Beyond
Suicide Squad
Best Original Score
Jackie
La La Land
Lion
Moonlight
PassengersBest Original Song
Audition
Can’t Stop the Feeling
City of Stars
Empty Chair
How Far I’ll GoBest Original Screenplay
La La Land
Hell or High Water
The Lobster
Manchester
20th Century WomenBest Adapted Screenplay
Arrival
Fences
Hidden Figures
Lion
Moonlight
Best Animated Film
Zootopia
Kubo
Moana
My Life as a Zucchini
The Red TurtleBest Supporting Actress
Nicole Kidman
Viola Davis
Naomie Harris
Octavia Spencer
Michelle WilliamsBest Actress
Emma Stone
Isabelle Huppert
Ruth Negga
Natalie Portman
Meryl StreepBest Director
Damien Chazelle
Denis Villeneuve
Mel Gibson
Kenneth Lonergan
Barry JenkinsBest Picture
La La Land
Moonlight
Manchester by the Sea
Arrival
Fences
Lion
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
Hidden Figures
What do you make of the selection going into this year’s Oscar ceremony? Drop your thoughts below and remember, the big night has been penciled in for Sunday, February 26 at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre, when Jimmy Kimmel will be our host for the evening.