The candy-colored love letter to musicals "La La Land" on Tuesday landed a record-tying 14 nominations to the Academy Awards, which fielded a notably more diverse list of nominees following two straight years of "OscarsSoWhite" backlash.
"La La Land" matched "Titanic" and "All About Eve" for most nominations ever, earning nods for best picture, stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, its jazz-infused songs and its 32-year-old writer-director, Damien Chazelle.
"I'm in Beijing right now. This only adds to the disorientation," Chazelle said by phone Tuesday. "All that I have in my head is 'thank you' a million times over."
Nine films out of a possible ten were nominated for best picture. The others were: "Moonlight," ''Arrival," ''Manchester by the Sea," ''Hell or High Water," ''Lion," ''Fences," ''Hidden Figures" and "Hacksaw Ridge."
Barry Jenkins' luminous coming-of-age portrait "Moonlight," nominated for eight awards, Denzel Washington's fiery August Wilson adaption "Fences" and Theodore Melfi's crowd-pleasing African American mathematician drama, "Hidden Figures," insured that for now, at least, "OscarSoWhite" wasn't trending on nominations morning. After two straight years of all-white acting nominees, seven people of color were among the 20 actors nominated Tuesday.
Jenkins, who was nominated for his directing and screenplay, said the nominations for "Moonlight" and other films showed that people were eager to put themselves in the shoes of others.
"I love the American film industry and to see it this year, I feel, really reflect the world that we all live and work in, it gives me hope," Jenkins said by phone from Amsterdam. "It heartens me. There's a lot of work being done to make this year not be an anomaly."
The biggest surprise of the morning was the strong boost of support for Mel Gibson, who had long been shunned in Hollywood since an anti-Semitic tirade while being arrested for drunk driving in 2006 and a 2011 conviction for domestic violence. Not only did his World War II drama "Hacksaw Ridge" land a best picture nod, but Gibson scored an unexpected best director nomination.
Denis Villeneuve's cerebral science fiction thriller "Arrival" tied "Moonlight" for the second most nominees with eight nods. Yet Amy Adams, the five-time nominated star of "Arrival," was left out of the competitive best actress nominees.
Meryl Streep, who President Donald Trump recently derided as "overrated," landed her 20th nomination. Her performance in "Florence Foster Jenkins" was among the best actress nominees that included Stone, Natalie Portman ("Jackie"), Ruth Negga ("Loving") and Isabelle Huppert ("Elle"). Beside Adams, also left out was Annette Bening for "20th Century Women."
The nominees for best actor were: Gosling, Casey Affleck ("Manchester by the Sea"), Andrew Garfield ("Hacksaw Ridge"), Viggo Mortensen ("Captain Fantastic") and Washington ("Fences").
Nominated for best supporting actor were: Mahershala Ali ("Moonlight"), Jeff Bridges ("Hell or High Water"), Michael Shannon ("Nocturnal Animals"), Lucas Hedges ("Manchester by the Sea") and Dev Patel ("Lion").
Viola Davis, the supporting actress favorite for her performance in "Fences," notched the expected nomination. Also up for the category are Naomi Harris ("Moonlight"), Nicole Kidman ("Lion"), Octavia Spencer ("Hidden Figures") and Michelle Williams ("Manchester by the Sea").
Whether fairly or not, the nominations were seen as a test for the revamped film academy. It's the first Oscars voted on since academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs ushered in new membership rules and added 683 new members as a way to diversify a predominantly white, male and elderly group, which now numbers 6,687.
Progress could be seen in other categories as well. Joi McMillon, who edited "Moonlight" with Nat Sanders, became the first African-American woman nominated for best editing. Bradford Young of "Arrival" was just the second black cinematographer nominated.
The Oscars also rejiggered its nominations format. Instead of announcing nominees live in Los Angeles, pre-produced videos of previous winners introduced each category on Tuesday morning. The announcement was live-streamed on Oscars.com.
Though "La La Land" and other best-picture nominees such as "Arrival" and "Hidden Figures" are knocking on the door of $100 million at the North American box office, none of the best picture nominees has yet grossed more than $100 million.
After an unlikely awards season run, the smart-aleck superhero "Deadpool" ($363.1 million) didn't manage to crash the party, making this year's best picture nominees one of the lowest grossing bunch ever.
But the regular business of today's corporate-driven Hollywood is increasingly set apart from the industry's awards season, where smaller, critically adored films like "12 Years a Slave," ''Birdman," ''Boyhood" and "Spotlight" have recently dominated. Only one major studio – Paramount, which distributed "Arrival" and "Fences" – scored a best picture nomination.
Amazon, however, landed its first best picture nomination for Kenneth Lonergan's "Manchester by the Sea," which the streaming retailer partnered with Roadside Attractions to distribute. Netflix also scored three nominations, including two for documentary short and one for feature documentary: Ava DuVernay's "The 13th."
The other documentary nominees were: "Fire at Sea," ''Life, Animated," ''O.J.: Made in American" and "I Am Not Your Negro."
The dearth of blockbusters will pose a test for host Jimmy Kimmel, who'll be presiding over the Feb. 26 Oscarcast for the first time. While the Academy Awards are still among the most-watched TV programs of the year, ratings have been in decline the last two years. Last year's broadcast, which host Chris Rock introduced as "the White People's Choice Awards," drew 34.4 million viewers, an eight-year-low.
Nominees for best animated film split between big and small films: "Kubo and the Two Strings," ''Moana," ''My Life as a Zucchini," ''The Red Turtle" and "Zootopia."
In the foreign language film category, Maren Ade's Cannes sensation "Toni Erdmann," from Germany, was nominated alongside Denmark's "Land of Mine," Sweden's "A Man Called Ove," Australia's "Tanna" and Iran's "The Salesman," from Asghar Farhadi, whose "A Separation" won the award in 2012.
NOMINATIONS BY CATEGORY – 89TH AWARDS
Performance by an actor in a leading role
Casey Affleck in “Manchester by the Sea” (Amazon Studios)
Andrew Garfield in “Hacksaw Ridge” (Summit Entertainment)
Ryan Gosling in “La La Land” (Summit Entertainment)
Viggo Mortensen in “Captain Fantastic” (Bleecker Street)
Denzel Washington in “Fences” (Paramount)
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Mahershala Ali in “Moonlight” (A24)
Jeff Bridges in “Hell or High Water” (CBS Films and Lionsgate)
Lucas Hedges in “Manchester by the Sea” (Amazon Studios)
Dev Patel in “Lion” (The Weinstein Company)
Michael Shannon in “Nocturnal Animals” (Focus Features)
Performance by an actress in a leading role
Isabelle Huppert in “Elle” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Ruth Negga in “Loving” (Focus Features)
Natalie Portman in “Jackie” (Fox Searchlight)
Emma Stone in “La La Land” (Summit Entertainment)
Meryl Streep in “Florence Foster Jenkins” (Paramount)
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Viola Davis in “Fences” (Paramount)
Naomie Harris in “Moonlight” (A24)
Nicole Kidman in “Lion” (The Weinstein Company)
Octavia Spencer in “Hidden Figures” (20th Century Fox)
Michelle Williams in “Manchester by the Sea” (Amazon Studios)
Best animated feature film of the year
“Kubo and the Two Strings” (Focus Features) Travis Knight and Arianne Sutner
“Moana” (Walt Disney) John Musker, Ron Clements and Osnat Shurer
“My Life as a Zucchini” (GKIDS) Claude Barras and Max Karli
“The Red Turtle” (Sony Pictures Classics) Michael Dudok de Wit and Toshio Suzuki
“Zootopia” (Walt Disney) Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Clark Spencer
Achievement in cinematography
“Arrival” (Paramount) Bradford Young
“La La Land” (Summit Entertainment) Linus Sandgren
“Lion” (The Weinstein Company) Greig Fraser
“Moonlight” (A24) James Laxton
“Silence” (Paramount) Rodrigo Prieto
Achievement in costume design
“Allied” (Paramount) Joanna Johnston
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” (Warner Bros.) Colleen Atwood
“Florence Foster Jenkins” (Paramount) Consolata Boyle
“Jackie” (Fox Searchlight) Madeline Fontaine
“La La Land” (Summit Entertainment) Mary Zophres
Achievement in directing
“Arrival” (Paramount) Denis Villeneuve
“Hacksaw Ridge” (Summit Entertainment) Mel Gibson
“La La Land” (Summit Entertainment) Damien Chazelle
“Manchester by the Sea” (Amazon Studios) Kenneth Lonergan
“Moonlight” (A24) Barry Jenkins
Best documentary feature
“Fire at Sea” (Kino Lorber) A Stemal Entertainment Production, Gianfranco Rosi and Donatella Palermo
“I Am Not Your Negro” (Magnolia Pictures) A Velvet Film Production, Raoul Peck, Rémi Grellety and Hébert Peck
“Life, Animated” (The Orchard) A Motto Pictures and A&E IndieFilms Production, Roger Ross Williams and Julie Goldman
“O.J.: Made in America” (ESPN Films) A Laylow Films and ESPN Films Production, Ezra Edelman and Caroline Waterlow
“13th” (Netflix) A Forward Movement Production, Ava DuVernay, Spencer Averick and Howard Barish
Best documentary short subject
“Extremis” (Netflix) An f/8 Filmworks in association with Motto Pictures Production, Dan Krauss
“4.1 Miles” A University of California, Berkeley Production, Daphne Matziaraki
“Joe’s Violin” A Lucky Two Production, Kahane Cooperman and Raphaela Neihausen
“Watani: My Homeland” An ITN Production, Marcel Mettelsiefen and Stephen Ellis
“The White Helmets” (Netflix) A Grain Media and Violet Films Production, Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara
Achievement in film editing
“Arrival” (Paramount) Joe Walker
“Hacksaw Ridge” (Summit Entertainment) John Gilbert
“Hell or High Water” (CBS Films and Lionsgate) Jake Roberts
“La La Land” (Summit Entertainment) Tom Cross
“Moonlight” (A24) Nat Sanders and Joi McMillon
Best foreign language film of the year
“Land of Mine” A Nordisk Film Production, Denmark
“A Man Called Ove” A Tre Vänner Production, Sweden
“The Salesman” An Asghar Farhadi/Memento Films Production, Iran
“Tanna” A Contact Films Production, Australia
“Toni Erdmann” A Komplizen Film Production, Germany
Achievement in makeup and hairstyling
“A Man Called Ove” (Nordisk Film/Music Box Films) Eva von Bahr and Love Larson
“Star Trek Beyond” (Paramount) Joel Harlow and Richard Alonzo
“Suicide Squad” (Warner Bros.) Alessandro Bertolazzi, Giorgio Gregorini and Christopher Nelson
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
“Jackie” (Fox Searchlight) Mica Levi
“La La Land” (Summit Entertainment) Justin Hurwitz
“Lion” (The Weinstein Company) Dustin O’Halloran and Hauschka
“Moonlight” (A24) Nicholas Britell
“Passengers” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Thomas Newman
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
“Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” from “La La Land” (Summit Entertainment), Music by Justin Hurwitz, Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
“Can’t Stop The Feeling” from “Trolls” (20th Century Fox), Music and Lyric by Justin Timberlake, Max Martin and Karl Johan Schuster
“City Of Stars” from “La La Land” (Summit Entertainment), Music by Justin Hurwitz, Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
“The Empty Chair” from “Jim: The James Foley Story” (HBO Documentary Films and Kunhardt Films), Music and Lyric by J. Ralph and Sting
“How Far I’ll Go” from “Moana” (Walt Disney), Music and Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda
Best motion picture of the year
“Arrival” (Paramount) A Paramount Pictures Production, Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, Aaron Ryder and David Linde, Producers
“Fences” (Paramount) A Paramount Pictures Production, Scott Rudin, Denzel Washington and Todd Black, Producers
“Hacksaw Ridge” (Summit Entertainment) A Pandemonium Films/Permut Presentations Production, Bill Mechanic and David Permut, Producers
“Hell or High Water” (CBS Films and Lionsgate) A Sidney Kimmel Entertainment/Film 44/LBI Entertainment/OddLot Entertainment Production, Carla Hacken and Julie Yorn, Producers
“Hidden Figures” (20th Century Fox) A Fox 2000 Pictures Production, Donna Gigliotti, Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, Pharrell Williams and Theodore Melfi, Producers
“La La Land” (Summit Entertainment) An Impostor Pictures/Gilbert Films/Marc Platt Production, Fred Berger, Jordan Horowitz and Marc Platt, Producers
“Lion” (The Weinstein Company) A See-Saw Films Production, Emile Sherman, Iain Canning and Angie Fielder, Producers
“Manchester by the Sea” (Amazon Studios) A Pearl Street Films/The Media Farm/K Period Media/The A | Middleton Project/B Story Production, Matt Damon, Kimberly Steward, Chris Moore, Lauren Beck and Kevin J. Walsh, Producers
“Moonlight” (A24) A Dos Hermanas Production, Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Producers
Achievement in production design
“Arrival” (Paramount) Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Paul Hotte
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” (Warner Bros.) Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
“Hail, Caesar!” (Universal) Production Design: Jess Gonchor; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
“La La Land” (Summit Entertainment) Production Design: David Wasco; Set Decoration Sandy Reynolds-Wasco
“Passengers” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas; Set Decoratio: Gene Serdena
Best animated short film
“Blind Vaysha” A National Film Board of Canada Production, Theodore Ushev
“Borrowed Time” A Quorum Films Production, Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj
“Pear Cider and Cigarettes” A Massive Swerve Studios and Passion Pictures Animation Production, Robert Valley and Cara Speller
“Pearl” A Google Spotlight Stories and Evil Eye Pictures Production, Patrick Osborne
“Piper” (Walt Disney) A Pixar Animation Studios Production, Alan Barillaro and Marc Sondheimer
Best live action short film
“Ennemis Intérieurs” A Qualia Films Production, Sélim Azzazi
“La Femme et le TGV” (Innovative EYE) An arbel Production, Timo von Gunten and Giacun Caduff
“Silent Nights” A M & M Production, Aske Bang and Kim Magnusson
“Sing” A Meteor Filmstudio Production, Kristof Deák and Anna Udvardy
“Timecode” A Nadir Films Production, Juanjo Giménez
Achievement in sound editing
“Arrival” (Paramount) Sylvain Bellemare
“Deepwater Horizon” (Summit Entertainment) Wylie Stateman and Renée Tondelli
“Hacksaw Ridge” (Summit Entertainment) Robert Mackenzie and Andy Wright
“La La Land” (Summit Entertainment) Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan
“Sully” (Warner Bros.) Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
Achievement in sound mixing
“Arrival” (Paramount) Bernard Gariépy Strobl and Claude La Haye
“Hacksaw Ridge” (Summit Entertainment) Kevin O’Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie and Peter Grace
“La La Land” (Summit Entertainment) Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee and Steve A. Morrow
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” (Walt Disney) David Parker, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson
“13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi” (Paramount) Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Mac Ruth
Achievement in visual effects
“Deepwater Horizon” (Summit Entertainment) Craig Hammack, Jason Snell, Jason Billington and Burt Dalton
“Doctor Strange” (Walt Disney) Stephane Ceretti, Richard Bluff, Vincent Cirelli and Paul Corbould
“The Jungle Book” (Walt Disney) Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Dan Lemmon
“Kubo and the Two Strings” (Focus Features) Steve Emerson, Oliver Jones, Brian McLean and Brad Schiff
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” (Walt Disney) John Knoll, Mohen Leo, Hal Hickel and Neil Corbould
Adapted screenplay
“Arrival” (Paramount) Screenplay by Eric Heisserer
“Fences” (Paramount) Screenplay by August Wilson
“Hidden Figures” (20th Century Fox) Screenplay by Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi
“Lion” (The Weinstein Company) Screenplay by Luke Davies
“Moonlight” (A24) Screenplay by Barry Jenkins; Story by Tarell Alvin McCraney
Original screenplay
“Hell or High Water” (CBS Films and Lionsgate) Written by Taylor Sheridan
“La La Land” (Summit Entertainment) Written by Damien Chazelle
“The Lobster” (A24) Written by Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthimis Filippou
“Manchester by the Sea” (Amazon Studios) Written by Kenneth Lonergan
“20th Century Women” (A24/Annapurna) Written by Mike Mills
