The Academy Awards, or "Oscars", is an annual American awards ceremony hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence in cinematic achievements in the United States

1. The list of nominations for the 89th Academy
Awards
Nominations (by movie):
“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
Best picture
“La La Land”
“Moonlight”
“Manchester by the Sea”
“Arrival”
“Fences”
“Lion”

2. “Hidden Figures”
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“Hell or High Water”
Immediate reaction: This race is shaping up to be a battle between the
poignant drama “Moonlight” and the fanciful musical “La La Land,” which
won a record-setting seven Golden Globes earlier this month. “La La”
seems to have the edge given its record-tying 14 nominations.
Best actress in a leading role
Natalie Portman, “Jackie”
Emma Stone, “La La Land”
Isabelle Huppert, “Elle”
Meryl Streep, “Florence Foster Jenkins”
Ruth Negga, “Loving”
Immediate reaction: Amy Adams, who starred in “Arrival,” was
snubbed in this category, but maybe it’s for the best, since Adams has

3. become the Susan Lucci of the Oscars — always a contender, never a
winner. Natalie Portman’s performance as Jacqueline Kennedy in “Jackie”
is going to be hard to beat, though Isabelle Huppert took home the Golden
Globe over Portman for her role in a foreign film, “Elle.” Ruth Negga gets
the only nomination for “Loving.”
Best actor in a leading role
Ryan Gosling, “La La Land”
Casey Affleck, “Manchester by the Sea”
Denzel Washington, “Fences”
Andrew Garfield, “Hacksaw Ridge”
Viggo Mortensen, “Captain Fantastic”
Immediate reaction: Casey Affleck has won just about every award
there is to win for his affecting turn as a grieving, broken man in
“Manchester by the Sea.” Will a Gotham, a Globe and countless critics’
association awards add up to Oscar glory? It’s looking that way.
Best director
Damien Chazelle, “La La Land”
Barry Jenkins, “Moonlight”
Denis Villeneuve, “Arrival”

4. Kenneth Lonergan, “Manchester by the Sea”
Mel Gibson, “Hacksaw Ridge”
Immediate reaction: The question is whether Damien Chazelle can re-
create his stellar Golden Globes night with another director’s award. This
isn’t Chazelle’s first Oscar nomination; he was also up for the best
screenplay award in 2015 for “Whiplash.” Another notable mention: Mel
Gibson, whose redemption is complete.
Actress in a supporting role
Viola Davis, “Fences”
Michelle Williams, “Manchester by the Sea”
Octavia Spencer, “Hidden Figures”
Naomie Harris, “Moonlight”
Nicole Kidman, “Lion”
Immediate reaction: Viola Davis could win an award for award-
winning, given that she always delivers moving, thoughtful speeches. She
has a good shot at giving us a little more of that brilliance thanks to her
powerful performance as a put-upon wife in “Fences.” She’s also the first
black actress to be nominated for three Oscars.

5. 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”
Immediate reaction: This prize should be Mahershala Ali’s to lose. He
was stunning as a drug dealer with a paternal streak in “Moonlight.” To
everyone’s surprise, the Golden Globes awarded Aaron Taylor-Johnson the
prize instead. That clearly won’t be happening again at the Oscars since
Taylor-Johnson didn’t even make the cut for nominees. His co-star Michael
Shannon did, though.
Best documentary
“O.J.: Made in America”
“13th”
“I Am Not Your Negro”
“Fire at Sea”
“Life, Animated”
Immediate reaction: There were a number of exceptional
documentaries about race in America this year, and the Academy noticed.
“O.J.: Made in America” is ESPN’s exhaustive, stunning 467-minute docu-
series about O.J. Simpson’s rise and fall; “13th” is Ava DuVernay’s

6. examination of racial inequality in the prison system; and “I Am Not Your
Negro” uses the words from writer James Baldwin’s unfinished book to
explore how the assassinations of three civil rights activists still resonate
today.
Best foreign language film
“Toni Erdmann”
“The Salesman”
“Land of Mine”
“A Man Called Ove”
“Tanna”
Immediate reaction: If you have a few hours to spare, and a taste for
absurdist humor, then it’s time to check out “Toni Erdmann.” The
disarmingly funny German movie about a wacky dad trying to get his all-
business daughter to loosen up could earn its writer-director, Maren Ade,
her first Academy Award. Asghar Farhadi, the writer-director of “The

7. Salesman,” saw his film “A Separation” win this category in 2012 (and he
was nominated for best original screenplay as well).
Best animated feature film
“Zootopia”
“Kubo and the Two Strings”
“Moana”
“The Red Turtle”
“My Life as a Zucchini”
Immediate reaction: As always, there’s a good mix of box office hits and
smaller releases. “Zootopia” was a given, with its timely subtext about
acceptance and unity. That’s the clear front-runner. Meanwhile, Pixar
missed out with no nomination for “Finding Dory.” (Not to worry, though,
as the studio was nominated for best animated short, for “Piper.”)
Best adapted screenplay
“Moonlight,” Barry Jenkins and Tarell McCraney
“Arrival,” Eric Heisserer
“Lion,” Luke Davies
“Fences,” August Wilson
“Hidden Figures,” Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi
Immediate reaction: The rules on what constitutes an adapted
screenplay are a little odd, but here we are. Although “Moonlight” is based
on a play by Tarell Alvin McCraney that was never actually performed, it’s
still in the adapted category. (Meanwhile, “Jackie,” based on any number of
biographies about Jackie Kennedy’s life, is original. Go figure.) The
competition is stiffer in this category, because we all know how Hollywood
loves to churn out adaptations.
Best original screenplay
“La La Land,” Damien Chazelle
“Hell or High Water,” Taylor Sheridan

8. “Manchester by the Sea,” Kenneth Lonergan
“The Lobster,” Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthymis Filippou
“20th Century Women,” Mike Mills
Immediate reactions: Taylor Sheridan got his start as an actor, but he’s
gotten a lot more attention for his brilliant, gripping scripts with no
shortage of social commentary. First there was “Sicario” in 2015, then last
year’s “Hell or High Water.” He shows no sign of slowing down given that
his latest (also his directorial debut) “Wind River” just debuted at Sundance
to good reviews. But can he possibly beat “Manchester by the Sea” and “La
La Land”? That will be a tall order. This is the sole nomination for each of
the two other movies in this category, the eccentric dark comedy “The
Lobster” and the coming-of-age dramedy “20th Century Women.”
Best original song
“How Far I’ll Go,” “Moana”
“City of Stars,” “La La Land”
“Audition (The Fools Who Dream),” “La La Land”
“Can’t Stop the Feeling!” “Trolls”
“The Empty Chair,” “Jim: The James Foley Story”
Immediate reaction: You can’t exactly call it a snub, but it’s still a shame
that the charming Irish musical “Sing Street” — not to be confused with the
animated “Sing” — got no love from the Academy. The song “Drive It Like
You Stole It” is at least 15 times more brilliant than Justin Timberlake’s
inescapable and derivative “Trolls” anthem. In other news, Lin-Manuel
Miranda is apparently taking over the world. After getting plenty of acclaim
for “Hamilton,” he’s also getting love from the Academy for his work on
“Moana,” and if “How Far I’ll Go,” which he wrote, wins this category, he’ll
become part of the select group of people to have won an EGOT (Emmy,
Grammy, Oscar and Tony).
Best original score
“La La Land,” Justin Hurwitz

9. “Moonlight,” Nicholas Britell
“Lion,” Dustin O’Halloran and Hauschka
“Jackie,” Mica Levi
“Passengers,” Thomas Newman
Immediate reaction: Come on. It’s all about “La La Land.” Obviously.
Though it’s interesting to see that the universally panned “Passengers” got a
nod, one of two for the movie. (The other was production design.) This is
composer Thomas Newman’s 14th nomination.
Best cinematography
“Moonlight,” James Laxton
“La La Land,” Linus Sandgren
“Arrival,” Bradford Young
“Silence,” Rodrigo Prieto
“Lion,” Greig Fraser
Immediate reaction: There was some stunning cinematography this
year, from the showstopping opening sequence of “La La Land” to the
mind-bending shots of a gravity-free ascent into a spaceship in “Arrival.”
Even if that movie’s director of photography, Bradford Young, doesn’t win
the award, he’s already made history as the first African American
cinematographer to be nominated for an Oscar. This has been a long time
coming for the Howard University graduate, who many said was robbed
when he didn’t get a nod for 2014’s “Selma.”
Best production design
“La La Land,” David Wasco and Sandy Reynolds-Wasco
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” Stuart Craig and Anna
Pinnock
“Arrival,” Patrice Vermette and Paul Hotte
“Hail, Caesar!,” Jess Gonchor and Nancy Haigh
“Passengers,” Guy Hendrix Dyas and Gene Serdena
Immediate reaction: Are you getting sick of all the love for “La La Land”
yet? Well, you’re not alone. Still, the movie was pretty stunning to look at.

10. It’s also about time that David Wasco got a nomination. He’s responsible
for the production design for “Pulp Fiction,” “The Royal Tenenbaums” and
“Inglourious Basterds,” among others. This is one of two nominations for
the Harry Potter spinoff, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” and
the sole nomination for the Coen Brothers’ “Hail, Caesar!”
Best live action short film
“Timecode”
“Sing (Mindenki)
“Silent Nights”
“Ennemis Interieurs”
“La Femme et le TGV”
Best documentary short subject
“The White Helmets”
“Extremis”
“Watani: My Homeland”
“4.1 Miles”
“Joe’s Violin”
Best film editing
“La La Land,” Tom Cross
“Moonlight,” Nat Sanders and Joi McMillon
“Hacksaw Ridge,” John Gilbert
“Arrival,” Joe Walker
“Hell or High Water,” Jake Roberts
Best sound editing
“La La Land,” Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan
“Hacksaw Ridge,” Robert Mackenzie and Andy Wright
“Arrival,” Sylvain Bellemare

11. “Sully,” Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
“Deepwater Horizon,” Wylie Stateman and Renée Tondelli
Best sound mixing
“La La Land,” Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee and Steve A. Morrow
“Hacksaw Ridge,” Kevin O’Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie and
Peter Grace
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” David Parker, Christopher Scarabosio and
Stuart Wilson
“Arrival,” Bernard Gariépy Strobl and Claude La Haye
“13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi,” Greg P. Russell, Gary
Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Mac Ruth