For some February means Valentine’s Day, for others the Super Bowl is the month’s exciting holiday. But for cinephiles, February is the time to award some of the best films and filmmakers of the year. That’s right, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’s nominations announcement pnTuesday morning kicked Oscar season into full swing.
Damien Chazelle’s romantic musical, “La La Land” made history this year by earning 14 nominations, tying the record for most nominations for a single film with “Titanic” and “All About Eve.” The love story has been met with a widespread positive reception and glowing reviews from critics and general audiences alike, giving it some serious potential for taking home multiple awards. As of press time, the movie had a 93 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes’ critic score.
As excellent as the film is, “La La Land” isn’t guaranteed the awards; many of the films it is up against have real potential to win, as well.
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“Moonlight” is another contender for Best Picture and several other awards, raking in a total of eight nominations. The film tells the story of a young gay black adult trying to find his place in life while growing up in a tough neighborhood. The film had a quiet theatrical release after premiering at the Telluride Film Festival, but has been receiving rave reviews since and won the 2017 Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture—Drama. As of press time, the movie has a 99 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes’ critic score.
Also with eight nominations is the science fiction drama is “Arrival,” directed by Denis Villeneuve. The film follows a linguist trying to save humanity by finding a way to communicate with an alien species that has taken refuge on earth. “Arrival” has stiff competition in several of its nomination categories. Though, with so many nominations, the film may receive at least a couple accolades. It has a 94 percent critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, as of press time.
In the Best Music (Original Song) category, Lin-Manuel Miranda has a chance to take home the win and subsequently become the 13th person to complete an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony). With his Pulitzer Prize for Drama from “Hamilton,” this Oscar win would also make him the third person to win all five awards and would put him in the elite company of Richard Rodgers and Marvin Hamlisch.
His song, “How Far I’ll Go” from Disney’s animated film “Moana,” is one of the favorites in the category but is up against two songs from “La La Land” and Justin Timberlake’s summer hit “Can’t Stop the Feeling” from “Trolls.” It’s impossible to predict who will take home the win, and the audience will be holding its breath as the Best Music (Original Song) envelope is opened.
Besides Miranda’s, Disney has several nominations this year with “Moana” and “Zootopia” up for Best Animated Feature Film. Of course, when talking about which studio is leading in nominations, there’s no doubt that Lionsgate had an incredible year. From “La La Land,” “Hacksaw Ridge,” “Hell or High Water” and “Deepwater Horizon” the studio collected 26 nominations in total.
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Now that the nominations have been announced and the buzz is beginning, the only thing left to do is make some predictions, cross your fingers and hope your favorites take home those coveted statuettes.
The 89th Academy Awards will take place at Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Sunday, Feb. 26. For a complete list of the nominations, visit oscars.org.
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