Academy Award Nominations Announced: La La Land Gets All of the Nominations, but Beware the Backlash

The Oscar nominations were announced Tuesday morning, and dreamy new-style musical La La Land found itself on top with a record-tying fourteen nominations.  Only Titanic and All About Eve (both of which went on to win Best Picture) have collected as many.  If you think this makes Damien Chazelle's Hollywood love letter a sure thing for the top prize, you might want to temper your expectations.  Before these nominations were even announced, the backlash machine had already begun pushing against the film's awards hype.  This past Saturday, SNL had a sketch that skewered over-zealous fans who refuse to hear a bad word about their favorite crowd-pleaser, replete with some pointed zingers about Moonlight and Westworld.  

The sketch is simple and funny, and the reason it works is because it hits on an uncomfortable truth about awards-bait movies and awards season in general that nobody likes talking about, but that everyone really knows anyway, which is that these awards are often decided not only by merit, but by manufactured buzz and the politics of awards campaigning.  Buzz is unpredictable, though, and if people start to think all the praise being heaped on something is unwarranted, then it could go sour very quickly.  If La La Land continues to sweep through every award ceremony like an unbeatable behemoth, people will begin to question if it really is that great, and that doesn't always go well.  Decreased buzz at this point could result in what I like to call the reverse-Argo, a term I didn't just make up, honest.  

Way back in 2012 (remember the iPhone 5?  Ah, how things have changed), Argo was on a similar path to La La Land.  It was sweeping through awards season with an iron fist after having been a major front-runner ever since its August debut.  Just as it looked like it would be smooth sailing all the way to the Kodak theater, the backlash kicked in.  People began to think, "Yeah, Argo is great and all, but is it really great great?"  That silly borderline-nonsensical question rang in the right people's ears just enough to slow down the film's momentum.  Eventually, the film still scored seven Oscar nominations, but it was snubbed in four of the seven major categories, including a surprising Best Director snub for Ben Affleck.  When the nominations were announced and Ben Affleck wasn't on the list, the reaction immediately shifted.  The feeling changed from Argo getting too much recognition to Argo getting too little recognition.  And as a result, the film ended up winning Best Picture despite not receiving a Best Director nomination, a feat that has only happened three other times in Academy Award history.

With fourteen nominations, La La Land doesn't have the chance to switch from front-runner to underdog.  It's a successful film, but it's certainly not Titanic successful, so the only real hope is that it actually lives up to the hype.  A win is certainly likely, but with strong contenders like Moonlight or Manchester by the Sea, it is far from a sure thing. 

Some other interesting Oscar notes:

• For those keeping track at home, Pop Cult Stop featured two of the five Best Animated Short Film nominees in our Short Film Showcase feature (Pearl and Borrowed Time).
• It's also nice to see oddball absurdist fable The Lobster get some script love, especially since I kind of loved it.
• A lot of hay is being made about Deadpool failing to get a nomination after it's surprising Golden Globe, Producer's Guild, and Writer's Guild nominations, but honestly, did anyone really think it would happen or that it deserved it?
• Apparently, Hollywood has forgiven Mel Gibson, as he picked up a rather surprising directing nod for Hacksaw Ridge.  Really, though, his redemption story was only a matter of time in an industry that is addicted to redemption stories (See Mickey Rourke, Roman Polanski, etc.).
• Lastly, 2016's #Oscarssowhite Twitter campaign seems to have paid off, as this is one of the most diverse nominations lists in Oscar history.  Three African American women nominated in the same acting category?  Right on.

Check out the full nominations list below:

Best picture:
“Arrival”
“Fences”
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“Hell or High Water”
“Hidden Figures”
“La La Land”
“Lion”
“Manchester by the Sea”
“Moonlight”

Lead actor:
Casey Affleck, “Manchester by the Sea”
Andrew Garfield, “Hacksaw Ridge”
Ryan Gosling, “La La Land,”
Viggo Mortensen, “Captain Fantastic”
Denzel Washington, “Fences”

Lead actress:
Isabelle Huppert, “Elle”
Ruth Negga, “Loving”
Natalie Portman, “Jackie”
Emma Stone, “La La Land”
Meryl Streep, “Florence Foster Jenkins”

Supporting actor:
Mahershala Ali, “Moonlight”
Jeff Bridges, “Hell or High Water”
Lucas Hedges, “Manchester by the Sea”
Dev Patel, “Lion”
Michael Shannon, “Nocturnal Animals”

Supporting actress:
Viola Davis, “Fences”
Naomie Harris, “Moonlight”
Nicole Kidman, “Lion”
Octavia Spencer, “Hidden Figures”
Michelle Williams, “Manchester by the Sea”

Best director:
“La La Land,” Damien Chazelle
“Hacksaw Ridge,” Mel Gibson
“Moonlight,” Barry Jenkins
“Manchester by the Sea,” Kenneth Lonergan
“Arrival,” Denis Villeneuve

Animated feature:
“Kubo and the Two Strings,” Travis Knight and Arianne Sutner
“Moana,” John Musker, Ron Clements and Osnat Shurer
“My Life as a Zucchini,” Claude Barras and Max Karli
“The Red Turtle,” Michael Dudok de Wit and Toshio Suzuki
“Zootopia,” Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Clark Spencer

Animated short:
“Blind Vaysha,” Theodore Ushev
“Borrowed Time,” Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj
“Pear Cider and Cigarettes,” Robert Valley and Cara Speller
“Pearl,” Patrick Osborne
“Piper,” Alan Barillaro and Marc Sondheimer

Adapted screenplay:
“Arrival,” Eric Heisserer
“Fences,” August Wilson
“Hidden Figures,” Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi
“Lion,” Luke Davies
“Moonlight,” Barry Jenkins; Story by Tarell Alvin McCraney

Original screenplay:
“20th Century Women,” Mike Mills
“Hell or High Water,” Taylor Sheridan
“La La Land,” Damien Chazelle
“The Lobster,” Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthimis Filippou
“Manchester by the Sea,” Kenneth Lonergan

Cinematography:
“Arrival,” Bradford Young
“La La Land,” Linus Sandgren
“Lion,” Greig Fraser
“Moonlight,” James Laxton
“Silence,” Rodrigo Prieto

Best documentary feature:
“13th,” Ava DuVernay, Spencer Averick and Howard Barish
“Fire at Sea,” Gianfranco Rosi and Donatella Palermo
“I Am Not Your Negro,” Raoul Peck, Remi Grellety and Hebert Peck
“Life, Animated,” Roger Ross Williams and Julie Goldman
“O.J.: Made in America,” Ezra Edelman and Caroline Waterlow

Best documentary short subject:
“4.1 Miles,” Daphne Matziaraki
“Extremis,” Dan Krauss
“Joe’s Violin,” Kahane Cooperman and Raphaela Neihausen
“Watani: My Homeland,” Marcel Mettelsiefen and Stephen Ellis
“The White Helmets,” Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara

Best live action short film:
“Ennemis Interieurs,” Selim Azzazi
“La Femme et le TGV,” Timo von Gunten and Giacun Caduff
“Silent Nights,” Aske Bang and Kim Magnusson
“Sing,” Kristof Deak and Anna Udvardy
“Timecode,” Juanjo Gimenez

Best foreign language film:
“A Man Called Ove,” Sweden
“Land of Mine,” Denmark
“Tanna,” Australia
“The Salesman,” Iran
“Toni Erdmann,” Germany

Film editing:
“Arrival,” Joe Walker
“Hacksaw Ridge,” John Gilbert
“Hell or High Water,” Jake Roberts
“La La Land,” Tom Cross
“Moonlight,” Nat Sanders and Joi McMillon

Sound editing:
“Arrival,” Sylvain Bellemare
“Deep Water Horizon,” Wylie Stateman and Renee Tondelli
“Hacksaw Ridge,” Robert Mackenzie and Andy Wright
“La La Land,” Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan
“Sully,” Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman

Sound mixing:
“Arrival,” Bernard Gariepy Strobl and Claude La Haye
“Hacksaw Ridge,” Kevin O’Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie and Peter Grace
“La La Land,” Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee and Steve A. Morrow
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” David Parker, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson
“13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi,” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Mac Ruth

Production design:
“Arrival,” Patrice Vermette, Paul Hotte
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” Stuart Craig, Anna Pinnock
“Hail, Caesar!,” Jess Gonchor, Nancy Haigh
“La La Land,” David Wasco, Sandy Reynolds-Wasco
“Passengers,” Guy Hendrix Dyas, Gene Serdena

Original score:
“Jackie,” Mica Levi
“La La Land,” Justin Hurwitz
“Lion,” Dustin O’Halloran and Hauschka
“Moonlight,” Nicholas Britell
“Passengers,” Thomas Newman

Original song:
“Audition (The Fools Who Dream),” “La La Land” — Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
“Can’t Stop the Feeling,” “Trolls” — Music and Lyric by Justin Timberlake, Max Martin and Karl Johan Schuster
“City of Stars,” “La La Land” — Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
“The Empty Chair,” “Jim: The James Foley Story” — Music and Lyric by J. Ralph and Sting
“How Far I’ll Go,” “Moana” — Music and Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda

Makeup and hair:
“A Man Called Ove,” Eva von Bahr and Love Larson
“Star Trek Beyond,” Joel Harlow and Richard Alonzo
“Suicide Squad,” Alessandro Bertolazzi, Giorgio Gregorini and Christopher Nelson

Costume design:
“Allied,” Joanna Johnston
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” Colleen Atwood
“Florence Foster Jenkins,” Consolata Boyle
“Jackie,” Madeline Fontaine
“La La Land,” Mary Zophres

Visual effects:
“Deepwater Horizon,” Craig Hammack, Jason Snell, Jason Billington and Burt Dalton
“Doctor Strange,” Stephane Ceretti, Richard Bluff, Vincent Cirelli and Paul Corbould
“The Jungle Book,” Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Dan Lemmon
“Kubo and the Two Strings,” Steve Emerson, Oliver Jones, Brian McLean and Brad Schiff
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” John Knoll, Mohen Leo, Hal Hickel and Neil Corbould