LAST Tuesday, the Oscar nominations were revealed. After another strong year for cinema, our film reporter Mathew Lanceley takes a look at the suprise snubs and most exciting nominations.
There will be no prizes for guessing who is leading the way in nominations. La La Land, Damien Chazelle’s indie darling, is the clear frontrunner with 14 nominations, including best picture and best actor/actress for Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone respectively.
The musical tribute is now tied with “Titanic” and “All About Eve” as the most nominated film in Academy Award history. If it were to win six of its 14 nominated awards, La La Land would have more Oscars than any musical ever made, beating Mary Poppins. Meanwhile, Academy mainstay Clint Eastwood got very little recognition this year, with his Tom Hanks-led emotional biopic “Sully” receiving only one nomination, for sound editing.
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The other notable omission was Amy Adams, who was snubbed for both of her major roles last year, “Arrival” and “Nocturnal Animals”, this made all the more confusing due to otherwise successful awards presence of “Arrival.” (the flick was nominated for best picture and more).
In an utterly shocking move, Meryl Streep has been nominated for an Oscar. In other news, water is wet. The veteran actress has now racked up 20 nominations total (eight more than any other actor) for her performance in “Florence Foster Jenkins”.
Streep must be saving the really big celebrations for her 30th win, however, as she famously replied to her record breaking nomination with a gif of herself dancing to Paul McCartney.
There was a name on the best directors list that surprised many, though; Mel Gibson.
It appears that his Hollywood quarantine period is over, and his latest effort “Hacksaw Ridge” certainly has earned plenty of award attention, receiving six nominations in total, including three of the ‘big ones’ (best actor, best director, and best picture). For better or worse, Mel’s back.
The Academy has also managed to avoid a third year of #OscarsSoWhite controversy by nominating six black actors; more than any previous year. Black actors were represented in every major category, with Viola Davis receiving her own record third nomination for “Fences”.
While this is certainly good news, pressure must be kept on the Academy to continue this diversity. Is it really a surprise that after two years of no black representation whatsoever there is suddenly have a record amount?
There were plenty of deserving performances, of course. We should hopefully be seeing much more of Mahershala Ali after this nomination, as he has always existed on the fringes of major productions in the past (such as “The Hunger Games”) yet never been given the spotlight.
As usual, the Golden Globes were indicative of those who would go on to be nominated, and La La Land may not sweep the board. It’s up against some stiff competition as “Moonlight” and “Manchester by the sea” have both won big at the Golden Globes already, putting them into a strong position. It’s La La Land vs the rest of the world this year, and the results will be fascinating indeed.
By Mathew Lanceley
@mlance5284
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