Romantic musical ‘La La Land’ leads in Oscar nominations

Oscar nominees for the 89th annual awards were announced on Jan.  24 during a live-streamed event filmed in six cities around the globe.

Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs was joined by Demian Bichir, Dustin Lance Black, Glenn Close, Guillermo del Toro, Marcia Gay Harden, Terrence Howard, Jennifer Hudson, Brie Larson, Jason Reitman, Gabourey Sidibe, and Ken Watanabe to announce the nominees in 24 categories.

“La La Land” has earned nods for best picture, its stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, its songs and its 32-year-old writer-director, Damien Chazelle.

The other nominees for best picture are: “Moonlight,” ‘’Arrival,” ‘’Manchester by the Sea,” ‘’Hell or High Water,” ‘’Lion,” ‘’Fences,” ‘’Hidden Figures” and “Hacksaw Ridge.”

Following two years of “OscarsSoWhite” furor, the Academy of Motion Pictures fielded a notably more diverse field of nominees, led by Barry Jenkins’ luminous coming-of-age portrait “Moonlight,” Denzel Washington’s “Fences” and Theodore Melfi’s “Hidden Figures.”

Among those scooping up nominations for best actor as the nail-biting announcement began were Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea,) Andrew Garfield, (Hacksaw Ridge,)  Ryan Gosling, (La La Land,) Vigo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic) and Denzel Washington, (Fences). Also, the Oscar nominees for supporting actress in a motion picture are Isabelle Huppert (Elle), Ruth Negga, (Loving), Natalie Portman (Jackie) Emma Stone (La La Land) and Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins). 

The Oscar nominees for best supporting actor went to Mahershala Ali (Moonlight), Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water), Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea), Dev Patel (Lion) and Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals). 

In the best supporting actress category, the nominations Viola Davis (Fences), Naomie Harris (Moonlight), Nicole Kidman (Lion), Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures) and Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea.)
“Land of Mine” (Denmark), “A Man Called Ove” (Sweden), “The Salesman,” (Iran), “Tanna,” (Australia) and “Toni Erdmann” (Germany) are the nominations in the best foreign language film category. 

IN the other main categories, the nominees for the best director included Denis Villeneuve (Arrival), Mel Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge), Damien Chazelle (La La Land), Kenneth Lonergan, (Manchester by the Sea) and Barry Jenkins, (Moonlight). 

The best animated feature category included “Kubo and the Two Strings,” ‘’Moana,” ‘’My Life as a Zucchini,” ‘’The Red Turtle,” ‘’Zootopia.”

The Oscars will be handed out at a Feb. 26 ceremony in Hollywood hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.