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Tuesday, January 24, 2017

The 89th Annual Academy Awards: Nominations and Notes

The Silver Screen Surprises of This Year's Oscars

By Chris Sabga

This year, I'm going to keep it simple and true to the theme of this site. I will list the nominees and then examine the "Silver Screen Surprises" for each of the main categories.

Which films and performers was I surprised to see on the list?

Were there any surprising omissions?

And the Oscar goes to...



Best Picture

Arrival
Fences
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
Hidden Figures
La La Land
Lion
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight

Surprises: "Arrival" has gotten rave reviews from critics and audiences alike, but I never expected an "alien" movie to get nominated for Best Picture. After all, the Oscars tend to be rather exclusionary and snooty about such things – at least in the main categories. There are exceptions, of course – especially in the years since the Best Picture category has expanded from five movies to a maximum of ten (there are nine this year) – but it's still a surprise.

"Hacksaw Ridge" also received strong acclaim, but I'm still surprised to see it here. This nomination represents Mel Gibson's return to Hollywood's embrace after a decade of turmoil with himself, others, and the film industry at large.

"Lion" also came out of nowhere, but Dev Patel should be familiar to most audiences from past Best Picture victor "Slumdog Millionaire."

Nowhere to be found is the troubled "The Birth of a Nation," which some predicted as early as last year's Academy Awards to be a lock for this year's. Mixed critical reception and ugly rape allegations for its writer, director, and star, Nate Parker, have seemingly shut it out of the Oscar race.

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea
Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge
Ryan Gosling, La La Land
Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic
Denzel Washington, Fences

Surprises: Because I wasn't expecting to see "Hacksaw Ridge" nominated for Best Picture, I also wasn't expecting to see its star, Andrew Garfield, nominated in this category.

"Captain Fantastic" didn't have the hype or buzz of some of the other predicted Oscar front-runners, but I'm happy the Academy is mixing it up and making it more interesting this year with the inclusion of Viggo Mortensen.

The omission of Tom Hanks for "Sully," I suppose, is somewhat of a surprise.

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Isablle Huppert, Elle
Ruth Negga, Loving
Natalie Portman, Jackie
Emma Stone, La La Land
Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins

Surprises: French actress Isabelle Huppert has gotten some of the best reviews of her career for Paul Verhoeven's "Elle," so I'm not entirely surprised to see her nominated, but I wouldn't have been surprised if she wasn't because of the film's controversial subject matter: A woman who was sexually assaulted doesn't report the crime to the police but instead seeks out her rapist.

Ruth Negga has gone from "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." recurring guest star to Oscar nominee. No surprise, though, for anyone who knows the quality of her work. She draws people to her. Her soulful and enigmatic eyes and expressions are impossible to look away from.

While I wasn't expecting it to happen, I'm downright upset by the snub of Rachel Weisz for "Denial." It was an incredible performance and unjustly overlooked.

Silver Screen Surprises reader Lauri has more than a few problems with the nomination of Meryl Streep and the omission of another actress. Warning: Most of her rant was unfit for publication. "*BLEEP*... Meryl *BLEEP* Streep over Amy Adams in Arrival????????????????????" she screamed. "Who the *BLEEP* is she *BLEEP*-ing with this year? Amy Adams was so robbed. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! *BLEEP*"

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water
Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea
Dev Patel, Lion
Michael Shannon, Nocturnal Animals

Surprises: Chris Pine garnered the best reviews of his career for "Hell or High Water" but Oscar mainstay Jeff Bridges received the nomination instead – his 7th since 1972. It's hard to argue with that level of quality.

The inclusion of Dev Patel surprises me the same way "Lion" surprised me in the Best Picture category.

While Meryl Streep was recognized for "Florence Foster Jenkins," Hugh Grant was completely shut out of both the Leading and Supporting Actor categories. That's especially surprising considering that he has received the best reviews of his career for this film.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Viola Davis, Fences
Naomie Harris, Moonlight
Nicole Kidman, Lion
Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures
Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea

Surprises: The parts played by Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer struck me as leading roles, not supporting, but the Academy has a history of playing fast and loose with this designation if it gives the actor a better chance of winning.

There is no sign of Spencer's co-stars, Taraji P. Henson and Janelle Monáe, in either of the Acting categories. That's surprising to me.

Could this be Viola Davis's year? I would have mixed feelings about that. She's so incredible as an actress than anything less than a Leading Role Oscar seems like almost a snub.

I'll also take this opportunity to sound the trumpet again about Rachel Weisz, who should have been nominated for "Denial." That was definitely a leading role, but what the hell, I would have accepted her here too.

Best Directing

Denis Villeneuve, Arrival
Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge
Damien Chazelle, La La Land
Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea
Barry Jenkins, Moonlight

Surprises: Whether accurate or not, it is commonly believed that the movies recognized in the Best Directing category are the five "true" Best Picture nominees – a throwback to when only five films were considered for the Academy's top award. If that's truly the case, "Arrival" being on this prestigious list is definitely unexpected.

Best Animated Feature

Kubo and the Two Strings
Moana
My Life as a Zucchini
The Red Turtle
Zootopia

Surprises: No "Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders"? Okay, I wasn't really expecting it, but it's some of the most fun I've had all year.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Arrival
Fences
Hidden Figures
Lion
Moonlight

Surprises: It would be silly to be surprised by "Arrival" at this point after all of its other nominations, but if you had asked me yesterday, I wouldn't have predicted its inclusion in this category – simply based on past Oscar history.

Best Original Screenplay

Hell or High Water
La La Land
The Lobster
Manchester by the Sea
20th Century Women

Surprises: "The Lobster" receives its one and only nomination in this category.

Best Foreign Language Film

Land of Mine (Denmark)
A Man Called Ove (Sweden)
The Salesman (Iran)
Tanna (Australia)
Toni Erdmann (Germany)

Surprises: After Isablle Huppert's somewhat surprising Best Actress nomination for "Elle," I almost expected the film to show up here too. Alas, it didn't.
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Other thoughts: "La La Land" has scored a record 14 Oscar nominations, a feat achieved by only "All About Eve" and "Titanic." If it wins all or most of the Academy Awards, that would make for a very dull and predictable show. The Oscars have become better about that in recent years, so we'll see. This does appear to make "La La" a front-runner for Best Picture though.
_____

The rest of the categories and nominees are:

Best Documentary Feature

Fire at Sea
I Am Not Your Negro
Life, Animated
O.J.: Made in America
13th

Best Original Song

“Audition (The Fools Who Dream),” La La Land
“Can’t Stop the Feeling,” Trolls
“City of Stars,” La La Land
“The Empty Chair,” Jim: the James Foley Story
“How Far I’ll Go,” Moana

Best Original Score

Jackie
La La Land
Lion
Moonlight
Passengers

Best Cinematography

Arrival
La La Land
Lion
Moonlight
Silence

Film Editing

Arrival
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
La La Land
Moonlight

Costume Design

Allied
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Florence Foster Jenkins
Jackie
La La Land

Makeup and Hairstyling

A Man Called Ove
Star Trek Beyond
Suicide Squad

Production Design

Arrival
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Hail, Caesar!
La La Land
Passengers

Sound Editing

Arrival
Deepwater Horizon
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Sully

Sound Mixing

Arrival
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

Visual Effects

Deepwater Horizon
Doctor Strange
The Jungle Book
Kubo and the Two Strings
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Best Documentary Short

Extremis
4.1 Miles
Joe’s Violin
Watani: My Homeland
The White Helmets

Best Animated Short

Blind Vaysha
Borrowed Time
Pear Cider and Cigarettes
Pearl
Piper

Best Live Action Short

Ennemis Intériuers
La Femme et le TGV
Silent Nights
Sing
Timecode

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