The 2017 Academy Awards nominations have been announced and finally this year some progress is being made. While Ryan Gosling/Emma Stone musical “La La Land” leads the pack with 14 record-tying nominations, Moonlight has been given the nod for 8 awards, a good haul for a queer film featuring people of color.
Moonlight is the tender, heartbreaking story of a young man’s struggle to find himself, told across three defining chapters in his life as he experiences the ecstasy, pain, and beauty of falling in love, while grappling with his own sexuality. Created by black director Barry Jenkins and featuring a black lead character, Moonlight has wowed and impressed audiences and critics.
The 8 nominations for Moonlight include Best director, best picture, supporting actress & actor, best editing, adapted screenplay, score, and cinematography. We’re looking forward to Moonlight picking up as many of those statues as possible. Moonlight is available for pre-order on iTunes so you can still watch it before Oscar night on February 23.
Unlike previous years controversies, the 2017 Oscar nominations finally include persons of color in each of this year’s acting categories, Mahershala Ali (best supporting actor for Moonlight), Ruth Negga (best actress for Loving), Viola Davis (best supporting actress for Fences), Naomie Harris (best supporting actress for Moonlight), Octavia Spencer (best supporting actress for Hidden Figures), Dev Patel (best supporting actor for Lion), and Denzel Washington (best actor for Fences). In fact 2017 marks the first year that 3 black actors were nominated in the same category with Viola Davis, Naomie Harris and Octavia Spencer vying for the statue (and that’s going to be a tough pick).
Of course we are a bit shocked that Dev Patel only received a best supporting actor nomination when he’s quite clearly one of the film’s main stars (if not the story’s main character).
La La Land has garnered 14 nominations, tying it with Titanic & All About Eve. (Titanic went on to win 11 Oscars). While we’re fans of both Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, it’s also wonderful to see a musical leading the nominations (and beating previous musicals including Chicago and Mary Poppins). We’re also excited that Meryl Streep has picked up her 19th nomination which keeps her in the lead for the most nominations. Apparently she is over-rated after all, what with all this industry acknowledgement. (We’ll be cheering for Natalie Portman’s portrayal of Jackie Kennedy over Streep’s Florence Foster Jenkins).
Many of the nominated films are already available on iTunes—it’s the perfect excuse to stay in and get caught up before Oscar night.
Best actor
- Casey Affleck (Manchester By The Sea)
- Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge)
- Ryan Gosling (La La Land)
- Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic)
- Denzel Washington (Fences)
Best actress
- Isabelle Huppert (Elle)
- Ruth Negga (Loving)
- Natalie Portman (Jackie)
- Emma Stone (La La Land)
- Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins)
Nominations leaderboard
- La La Land: 14
- Arrival: 8
- Moonlight: 8
- Hacksaw Ridge: 6
- Lion: 6
- Manchester by the Sea: 6
- Fences: 4
- Hell or High Water: 4