‘La La Land’ equals nominations record

ROMANTIC showbiz musical La La Land topped the Oscars nominations list yesterday with a whopping 14 nods, tying the all-time record set by Titanic and All About Eve.

The movie – a whimsical tribute to Hollywood’s Golden Age of musicals, set in modern-day Los Angeles – earned nods for best picture, director for Damien Chazelle, 32, and for its two stars, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.

In second place were sci-fi movie Arrival and coming-of-age drama Moonlight, eight nominations each.

This year’s nominees clearly reflected a push by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to show more diversity after the #OscarsSoWhite controversy of the past two years, with multiple black actors and filmmakers earning nods.

For best actor, Gosling will be vying for a golden statuette at the February 26 Oscars bash with Golden Globe winner Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea), Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge), Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic) and Denzel Washington (Fences).

In the best actress category, France’s Golden Globe winner Isabelle Huppert was nominated for her performance in the rape-revenge thriller Elle, along with Stone, Ruth Negga (Loving), Natalie Portman (Jackie) and Meryl Streep, who earned her 20th nomination for Florence Foster Jenkins.

Industry watchers had predicted that Chazelle’s La La Land – buoyed by a record seven Golden Globe awards earlier this month – would triumph at the nominations.

But few thought it would tie for the all-time record set by Titanic and All About Eve.

La La Land will vie for best picture honours with eight other films.

Others in the top category are the film adaptation of August Wilson’s play Fences, Mel Gibson’s bloody World War 2 drama Hacksaw Ridge, the western Hell or High Water, the real-life tale of Nasa’s black women mathematicians Hidden Figures, and Garth Davis’s family drama Lion.

Best supporting actress nominees include three who are black – past nominee Viola Davis for Fences, Oscar winner Octavia Spencer for Hidden Figures and Naomie Harris for Moonlight.

In the best supporting actor category, Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water) will take on Mahershala Ali of Moonlight, Dev Patel (Lion), Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea) and Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals).

The nominations were revealed before dawn in Los Angeles in an online broadcast, not at the traditional media conference.

Funnyman Jimmy Kimmel will host the Oscars on February 26.