Academy Awards nominees more diverse than last year’s
“La La Land,” the songand-dance musical about two aspiring artists trying to balance their careers with their personal lives, became the third movie in the history of the Academy Awards to earn 14 nominations (the other two are “Titanic” and “All About Eve”). “L a L a L and” was nominated in every conceivable category, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Ryan Gosling), Best Actress (Emma Stone) and two entries in the Best Original Song race (“City of Stars” and “The Audition Song”).
“Moonlight,” the madein-Miami drama about three stages in the life of a young man growing up in Liberty City, earned eight nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director for Barry Jenkins and Best Adapted Screenplay for Jenkins and playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney, whose personal experiences inspired the movie.
“Arrival,” the sci-fi drama about mysterious space - ships that land on Earth, also snagged eight nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director, but not one for its star Amy Adams.
“Hacksaw Ridge,” director Mel Gibson’s fact-based drama about a man who served as a combat medic in World War II without ever touching a rifle, earned a surprising six nominations, including Best Actor for star Andrew Garfield and Best Director for Gibson.
Also earning six nods was “Manchester By the Sea,” director Kenneth Lonergan’s drama about a man who is forced to look after his nephew after a family tragedy. The movie earned nominations for Best Director, Best Actor for Casey Affleck (who is the early favorite to win) and his co-stars Michelle Williams and Lucas Hedges.
“Hidden Figures,” the surprise box-office hit about t h r e e Af r i c a n -A mer i c a n women who played a key role in an early NASA mission, earned three nominations, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress for Octavia Spencer.
But Spencer stands little chance against Viola Davis, who is the front-runner in the Supporting Actress award for her fiery performance as the wife of a philanderer in “Fences.” Davis is now the first African-American actress to have three Oscar nominations (the previous two were “The Help” and “Doubt”). “Fence s ” a l s o scored Best Pic ture, Best Actor (Denzel Washington) and Best Adapted Screenplay nominations.
In contrast to the 2016 list of nominees, which spawned the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite due to a lack of diversity, seven of this year’s 20 nominees in the acting categories are people of color.
Jenkins, for “Moonlight,” i s t he f o ur t h b l a c k f i l mmaker nominated for Best Director (after John Singleton, Lee Daniels and Steve McQueen) and only the second to be nominated in both writing and directing categories (the first was Singleton, for 1991’s “Boyz n the Hood”).
S e n t e n c i n g wa s p o s t - poned Tuesday for an American-born Muslim convert convicted of supporting the Islamic State group and helping to plot a 2015 attack on a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas. Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem appeared for an hour-long sentencing hearing in a federal court in Phoenix, but U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton delayed imposing his punishment and instead ordered attorneys to hand in legal briefs in preparation for a new sentencing hearing on Feb. 8.
A 14-year-old girl who says she escaped a Toledo, Ohio, basement where she was chained, handcuffed and molested by two relatives confronted the men in court Tuesday. The girl, who had a comfort dog next to her on the witness stand, testified that she often was held in the basement as punishment by Timothy Ciboro and his 28-year-old son, Esten Ciboro. Both have pleaded not guilty to charges including rape, kidnapping and child endangering. The two men were serving as their own attorneys.