The Oscar nominations were finally announced on Tuesday morning, and leading the list was the glitzy musical La La Land. They bagged the most nominations with a whopping 14 nods including Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Actor, and Best Director.
2017 Oscar Nominations: Snubs and Surprises
1. Best Actress
Surprise: Meryl Streep
Snubs: Amy Adams
Despite all the Oscar nominations under their belt, La La Land faces tough competition in each category. For example, the film’s lead actress, Emma Stone, is up against Natalie Portman, Isabelle Hupert, Ruth Negga, and Meryl Streep.
Noticeably missing from the Best Actress category is Amy Adams, who did an amazing job in the sci-fi feature Arrival. Streep, on the other hand, made a powerful speech in the 2017 Golden Globes, which may have increased her chances of being nominated this year.
2. Best Actor
Surprise: Viggo Mortensen
Snubs: Hugh Grant
Ryan Gosling, Casey Affleck, Andrew Garfield, and Denzel Washington were all expected to collect Oscar nominations, but not many were betting their money on Captain Fantastic‘s Viggo Mortensen to be included on the list. It looks like his portrayal of a bohemian father paid off and the actor could emerge as a dark horse in the category.
Grant, however, was an early contender for Best Actor, but the Academy failed to recognize his work for the movie Florence Foster Jenkins.
3. Best Animated Film
Surprise: My Life as a Zucchini
Snubs: Finding Dory
Pixar’s Finding Dory was noticeably snubbed despite grossing over $1 billion in the box office. Taking its place is the touching Swedish stop-motion film My Life as a Zucchini. The movie, which is yet to be released to American theaters, has received universal acclaim from critics.
4. Best Director
Surprise: Mel Gibson
Snubs: Clint Eastwood, Denzel Washington
Clint Eastwood‘s Sully hardly went noticed by the Academy Awards as it only picked up one nomination, which is for Best Sound Editing. His directorial effort was not given a single nod either and lead actor Tom Hanks who played the eponymous hero of the film failed to gain a nomination at all.
The same can’t be said for Washington’s Fences as the movie is one of the top films to receive Oscar nominations this year. However, his stint in the director’s chair was not given any recognition. Mel Gibson, on the other hand, marked his triumphant return to Hollywood by earning a nod for Best Director for the biographical war film Hacksaw Ridge.
5. Best Picture
Surprise: Hell or High Water
Snubs: Deadpool, The Birth of a Nation
Hell or High Water seemingly went unnoticed by mainstream media. But this brilliant western film is finally getting the attention it deserves by garnering a nomination for Best Picture. More popular films such as Deadpool and The Birth of a Nation weren’t quite as lucky.
