Oscar nominations 2017: Surprises, snubs, facts

As expected, the dazzling Los Angeles-set musical “La La Land” led the 89th Academy Award nominations on Tuesday with 14 noms, tying with “All About Eve” (1950) and “Titanic” (1997) for the most ever. “La La Land’s” nominations include best picture, lead actor (Ryan Gosling) and lead actress (Emma Stone).

The coming-of-age story “Moonlight” and the dreamy sci-fi drama “Arrival” followed with eight nominations each, including best picture.

“Hacksaw Ridge” did surprisingly well with six nominations, including best picture and lead actor (Andrew Garfield).

Kenneth Lonergan’s heartrending drama “Manchester by the Sea” also received six nominations, including best picture, lead actor (Casey Affleck) and supporting actor (Lucas Hedges, in somewhat of a surprise).

But, as usual, there were other surprises, snubs and achievements. Here’s a look.

▪ Scorsese doesn’t score: The famed director’s passion project “Silence,” about two priests who travel to Japan to propagate Catholicism, was favored to be among the best picture and director nominees for Martin Scorsese but didn’t land either. The film’s sole nomination was for best cinematography.

▪ “Hacksaw Ridge” makes amends: Mel Gibson received a well-deserved directing nomination for his fact-based gripping war film, a sign that perhaps Hollywood has forgiven him for his past very public bad behavior.

▪ Best actress shake-up: Despite a strong buzz and guild award nominations, Amy Adams failed to land a nod for best actress for her wonderfully understated performance in “Arrival.” Meanwhile, Ruth Negga came out of nowhere to land a best actress nomination for “Loving,” about an interracial couple in 1950s Virginia. And though it was a long shot, Annette Bening didn’t score a nomination, either, for “20th Century Women,” despite strong critical praise. She has so far received four nominations with no win.

▪ Supporting actor shake-up: This category was extremely competitive and could have gone several different ways. Even so, Michael Shannon was a complete surprise nomination for his turn in “Nocturnal Animals.” It was widely anticipated that Aaron Taylor-Johnson would land a supporting actor nomination for the same film, especially after winning the Golden Globe and landing a BAFTA award nomination. And hopes were high that Hugh Grant would land his first Oscar nomination for “Florence Foster Jenkins,” but no dice.

▪ “Dory” gets lost: Disney’s sequel “Finding Dory” seemed a shoo-in for the best animated feature category but was missing from the line-up that included “Moana” and “Zootopia.”

▪ “Deadpool” was D.O.A.: It was always a long shot that the irreverently foul-mouthed comedy would get any Oscar love at all, but its recent guild nominations made it seem a little more likely, especially for its lightning-fast script. But it didn’t get any Oscar nods, even in the makeup or visual effects categories.

Interesting facts

▪ Meryl Streep received her 20th acting nomination for her turn as a tone-deaf opera singer in “Florence Foster Jenkins,” the most of any performer (she has won three Oscars).

▪ Barry Jenkins is the fourth black filmmaker to be nominated for best director (the others are John Singleton, Lee Daniels and Steve McQueen). Meanwhile, the directors of four of the five nominated feature documentaries are black. So are six of the 20 acting nominees. #Oscarsnotsowhite

▪ At a whopping seven hours and 47 minutes long, best documentary nominee “O.J.: Made in America” is the longest film ever to be nominated for an Oscar. Take that, “Gone With the Wind.”

▪ Thomas Newman received his 14th Oscar nomination, for best original score for “Passengers.” He has yet to win.

▪ “La La Land” is the first musical with original music and screenplay to get a best picture nomination since “All That Jazz” (1979).

▪ Joi McMillon is the first black woman to be nominated for best film editing for her work with Nat Sanders on “Moonlight.”

▪ Damien Chazelle could become the youngest best director winner (for “La La Land”) in Oscar history at 32. John Singleton is the youngest best director nominee, when he was 24 for “Boyz in the Hood” (1991).

▪ “La La Land’s” Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan are the first female team to be nominated in the sound editing category.

This story was originally published January 24, 2017 at 4:12 PM with the headline "Oscar nominations 2017: Surprises, snubs, facts."