Oscar Nominations: ‘La La Land’ leads while ‘Lion’ roars
More good news for Lion—off the back of its record-breaking opening weekend at the Australian box office, the homegrown tearjerker has been nominated for six Academy Awards.
Early this morning in LA, 11 former winners and nominees including Glenn Close, Jennifer Hudson and Brie Larson shared Oscar memories and advice as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled its nods for Hollywood’s biggest night.
Lion, which was partially filmed in Tasmania, earned six nods including Best Picture, supporting actor Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman in the supporting actress category for the first time. (The three-time Best Actress nominee won once in the lead category for 2001’s The Hours.)
Another local production, Mel Gibson’s AACTA-winning WWII saga Hacksaw Ridge, made a strong showing with six nods for Best Actor (Andrew Garfield), Best Director (Gibson) and a slew of technical categories.
Australia was also represented for the first time in the Best Foreign Language Film category by Bentley Dean and Martin Butler's South Pacific love story Tanna, which was shot in Vanuatu and highlights the Nauvhal language.
As expected, La La Land ran away with a leading 14 nominations, joining fellow 14-nod record setters Titanic in 1997 and All About Eve in 1950. La La Land received notices for Best Picture, director Damien Chazelle, Best Actor (Ryan Gosling), Best Actress (Emma Stone) and two Original Song nods for "Audition" and "City of Stars."
Following right behind were Arrival and Moonlight with 8 nominations each, while the other films nominated for Best Picture included Fences, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, and Manchester By the Sea.
As always, the announcement was not without its surprises and snubs. Films like Suicide Squad (Best Makeup and Hairstyling) will find themselves vying for Hollywood’s most valuable hardware next month, while expected nominee Amy Adams in Arrival was among those whose names will be absent from the final ballot.
Win or lose, attendees may want to follow the advice of 2010 lead actress nominee Gabourey Sidibe, who said, "Get sleep when you can, sneak in to the Oscars with a flask, and have a good time."
The 89th Annual Academy Awards will air in Australia on Mon, Feb. 27.
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