Oscar night is February 26th, 2017. Here are the nominees along with how I fared on my punditry and some interesting stats. Also Read: "8 Big Takeaways from the Nominations" and "Sad Snubs and Curious Inclusions", "Nominations that made us happy" and "Curious Statistics - Oscar Numbers"
La La Land enters Oscar history with 14 nominations, the most ever
BEST PICTURE:
“Arrival”
“Fences”
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“Hell or High Water”
“Hidden Figures”
“La La Land”
“Manchester by the Sea”
“Lion”
“Moonlight”
How'd I do on my predictions: 9/9 though this wasn't that difficult I will readily admit
History Made: La La Land, with 14 nominations, ties the record of "most nominations ever" with Titanic and All About Eve
BEST ACTOR
Casey Affleck
Andrew Garfield
Ryan Gosling
Viggo Mortensen
Denzel Washington
How'd I do on my predictions: 5/5. This was the expected list, no surprises...
BEST ACTRESS
Isabelle Huppert
Ruth Negga
Natalie Portman
Emma Stone
Meryl Streep
How'd I do on my predictions: 4/5. I had Ruth Negga in the list until the last moment. Argh! Amy Adams, as I suggested in November, had to sit this one out. Let us not discuss my depression over the Bening being left out.
History Made: As with every time Meryl makes a movie, history made. It's her 20th nomination. Soon she will double the nomination counts of her nearest rivals...
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Mahershala Ali
Jeff Bridges
Lucas Hedges
Dev Patel
Michael Shannon
How'd I do on my predictions: 4/5 Hugh Grant missed the list after all... but that's okay as it was a fraudulent campaign -- he was totally a lead, however great he was. I nominated him in lead.
History made: This is the first time since the 1970s I understand when a Golden Globe winner (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) was not nominated in this category.
Stat-Love: Lucas Hedges is the 8th youngest man ever nominated in this category. He's 20 years old. If he wins he'll be the youngest winner ever in the category.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Viola Davis
Naomie Harris
Nicole Kidman
Octavia Spencer
Michelle Williams
How'd I do on my predictions: 5/5. But this was the expected list. It'd be fascinating to know who was sixth.
History Made: Viola Davis is now the most nominated black woman of all time with 3. There are several people tied in second place with 2 nominations
BEST DIRECTOR
Denis Villeneuve
Mel Gibson
Damien Chazelle
Kenneth Lonergan
Barry Jenkins
How'd I do on my predictions: 4/5. The big surprise here was Mel Gibson. We figured, incorrectly that if the more populist DGA didn't nominate him he wouldn't make it with the more elitist Academy. Better luck next time Garth Davis of Lion breakthrough.
Stat-Love: 4/5 of these nominees are first timers in this category. Barry Jenkins is only the 4th black director nominated in the category. None have won.
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
“Kubo and the Two Strings”
“Moana”
“My Life as a Zucchini”
“The Red Turtle”
“Zootopia”
How'd I do on my predictions: 5/5. Go me! I am relieved that Finding Dory wasn't nominated. We really don't need the Oscars to honor cash grab sequels when they can be honoring gorgeous films that need the support like The Red Turtle.
Stat-Love: This is getting to be regular, isn't it? 3 American productions, 2 foreign in animated.
ANIMATED SHORT
“Blind Vaysha”
“Borrowed Time”
“Pear Cider and Cigarettes”
“Pearl”
“Piper”
How'd I do on my predictions: 2/5 oops. But I had 2 of these as my alternates ;)
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“Arrival”
“Fences”
“Hidden Figures”
“Lion”
“Moonlight”
How'd I do on my predictions: 4/5. I assumed Fences would miss for a surging Nocturnal Animals but Oscar didn't like that movie in the way BAFTA and the Globes did.
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“Hell or High Water”
“La La Land”
“The Lobster”
“Manchester by the Sea”
“20th Century Women”
How'd I do on my predictions: 4/5 I thought Captain Fantastic would squeeze out 20th Century Women. I love both movies but I'm so happy 20th Century Women wasn't completely ignored.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Arrival”
“La La Land”
“Lion”
“Moonlight”
“Silence”
How'd I do on my predictions: 5/5. Gorgeous movies all.
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“Fire at Sea”
“I Am Not Your Negro”
“Life Animated”
“OJ: Made in America”
“13th”
How'd I do on my predictions: 5/5 WHOA. I am surprised at my success.
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
“Extremist”
“4.1 Miles”
“Joe’s Violin”
“Watani My Homeland”
“The White Helmets”
How'd I do on my predictions: 4/5 I missed 4.1 miles
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
“Ennemis Interieurs”
“La Femme et le TGV”
“Silent Nights”
“Sing”
“Timecode”
How'd I do on my predictions: 2/5. Oops.
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“A Man Called Ove”
“Land of Mine”
“Tanna”
“The Salesman”
“Toni Erdmann”
How'd I do on my predictions: 5/5 Yay! It's a good thing to considering how we like to be thought of as the top site for this category.
History Made: This is Australia's first nomination in this category with Tanna
BEST FILM EDITING
“Arrival”
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“Hell or High Water”
“La La Land”
“Moonlight”
How'd I do on my predictions: 5/5
History Made: Joi McMillion who edited Moonlight (with Nat Sanders) is the first African-American woman nominated for film editing.
BEST SOUND EDITING
“Arrival”
“Deep Water Horizon”
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“La La Land”
“Sully”
How'd I do on my predictions: 4/5 I missed La La Land and had predicted Deadpool
BEST SOUND MIXING
“Arrival”
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“La La Land”
“Rogue One”
“13 Hours”
How'd I do on my predictions: 3/5 I missed 13 Hours (wtf) and Rogue One and had predicted Sully and Deepwater Horizon just as I had with sound mixing...
Stat-Love: ...but there was a far greater split in these categories this year than usual. They usually line up 4/5 but this year 3/5
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
“Arrival”
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”
“Hail Caesar!”
“La La Land”
“Passengers”
How'd I do on my predictions: 2/5 OUCH. OUCH. OUCH. I only guessed Fantastic Beasts and La La Land. I am horrified that The Handmaiden wasn't nominated but what can you do? It's very tough for foreign language films to break into regular Oscar categories.
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
“Jackie”
“La La Land”
“Lion”
“Moonlight”
“Passengers”
How'd I do on my predictions: 1/5. I think this is the worst I've ever done in this category. But it was impossible to predict this year if you believed, as I did given statistical evidence, that the music branch would never nominate this many first timers. They usually allow only one a year and 4 of these 5 are first time nominees.
History Made: John Williams (The BFG) is nominated in virtually every year in which he's eligible. The last time he missed the lineup was for Far and Away (1992) a quarter century ago! So his omission this year is a shock. Especially since the branch is so averse to new members.
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Audition
Can’t Stop the Feeling
City of Stars
Empty Chair
How Far I’ll Go
How'd I do on my predictions: 4/5 I missed Can't Stop the Feeling
BEST MAKEUP AND HAIR
“A Man Called Ove”
“Star Trek Beyond”
“Suicide Squad”
How'd I do on my predictions: 1/3. Oops.
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
“Allied”
“Fantastic Beasts”
“Florence Foster Jenkins”
“Jackie”
“La La Land”
How'd I do on my predictions: 3/5. Missed Allied and Fantastic Beasts
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
“Deepwater Horizon”
“Doctor Strange”
“Jungle Book”
“Kubo”
“Rogue One”
How'd I do on my predictions: 4/5. Missed Deepwater Horizon as I thought Arrival love would pull that in despite it not having "Most" Visual Effects
Stat-Love: True to form Doctor Strange continued the tradition of Marvel Studios nabbing only 1 or 2 (in this case 1) nomination even when it looked like there'd be a good shot for multiple nods.