The nominees for the 89th Academy Awards were released this morning. Read the full list of nominees below and then check out my thoughts and opinions on them. The nominations that are highlighted in bold are the nominees that I would personally like to see win.

Best Live Action Short:

“Ennemis Interieurs”

“La Femme et le TGV”

“Silent Nights”

“Sing”

“Timecode”

Best Short (Animated):

“Blind Vaysha”

“Borrowed Time”

“Pear Cider and Cigarettes”

“Pearl”

“Piper”

Best Documentary (Short Subject):

“Extremis”

“4.1 Miles”

“Joe’s Violin”

“Watani: My Homeland”

“The White Helmets”

Best Foreign Language Film:

“Land of Mine” from Denmark

“A Man Called Ove” from Sweden

“The Salesman” from Iran

“Tanna” from Australia

“Toni Erdmann” from Germany

Best Documentary Feature:

“Fire At Sea”

“I Am Not Your Negro”

“Life, Animated”

“O.J.: Made in America”

“13th”

Best Production Design:

“Arrival”

“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”

“Hail, Caesar!”

“La La Land”

“Passengers”

Best Sound Editing:

“Arrival”

“Deepwater Horizon”

“Hacksaw Ridge”

“La La Land”

“Sully”

Best Film Editing:

“Arrival”

“Hacksaw Ridge”

“Hell or High Water”

“La La Land”

“Moonlight”

Best Sound Mixing:

“Arrival”
“Hacksaw Ridge”

“La La Land”

“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”

“13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi”

Best Makeup and Hairstyling:

“A Man Called Ove”

“Star Trek: Beyond”

“Suicide Squad”

Best Costume Design:

“Allied”

“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”

“Florence Foster Jenkins”

“Jackie”

“La La Land”

Best Original Score:

Micachu for “Jackie”

Justin Hurwitz for “La La Land”

Dustin O’Halloran and Volker Bertelmann for “Lion”

Nicholas Britell for “Moonlight”

Thomas Newman for “Passengers”

Best Original Song:

“Audition” from “La La Land” by Emma Stone

“Can’t Stop the Feeling” from “Trolls” by Justin Timberlake

“City of Stars” from “La La Land” by Ryan Gosling

“The Empty Chair” from “Jim: The James Foley Story”

“How Far I’ll Go” from “Moana” by Auli’i Cravalho

Best Cinematography:

Bradford Young for “Arrival”

Linus Sandgren for “La La Land”

Greig Fraser for “Lion”

James Laxton for “Moonlight”

Rodrigo Prieto for “Silence”

Best Visual Effects:

“Deepwater Horizon”

“Doctor Strange”

“The Jungle Book”

“Kubo and the Two Strings”

“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”

Best Original Screenplay:

Taylor Sheridan for “Hell or High Water”

Damien Chazelle for “La La Land”

Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthymis Filippou for “The Lobster”

Kenneth Lonergan for “Manchester by the Sea”

Mike Mills for “20th Century Woman”

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Eric Heisserer for “Arrival”

August Wilson for “Fences”

Theodore Melfi and Allison Schroeder for “Hidden Figures”

Luke Davies for “Lion”

Barry Jenkins for “Moonlight”

Best Animated Feature Film:

“Kubo and the Two Strings”

“Moana”

“My Life as a Zucchini”

“The Red Turtle”

“Zootopia”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role:

Mahershala Ali for “Moonlight”

Jeff Bridges for “Hell or High Water”

Lucas Hedges for “Manchester by the Sea”

Dev Patel for “Lion”

Michael Shannon for “Nocturnal Animals”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role:

Viola Davis for “Fences”

Naomie Harris for “Moonlight”

Nicole Kidman for “Lion”

Octavia Spencer for “Hidden Figures”

Michelle Williams for “Manchester by the Sea”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role:

Casey Affleck for “Manchester by the Sea”

Andrew Garfield for “Hacksaw Ridge”

Ryan Gosling for “La La Land”

Viggo Mortensen for “Captain Fantastic”

Denzel Washington for “Fences”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role:

Isabelle Huppert for “Elle”

Ruth Negga for “Loving”

Natalie Portman for “Jackie”

Emma Stone for “La La Land”

Meryl Streep for “Florence Foster Jenkins”

Best Achievement in Directing:

Damien Chazelle for “La La Land”

Mel Gibson for “Arrival”

Barry Jenkins for “Moonlight”

Kenneth Lonergan for “Manchester by the Sea”

Denis Villeneuve for “Arrival”

Best Picture:

“Arrival”

“Fences”

“Hacksaw Ridge”

“Hell or High Water”

“Hidden Figures”

“La La Land”

“Lion”

“Manchester by the Sea”

“Moonlight”

I am fairly satisfied with this year’s nominees. Unlike the last two years, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has included non-white nominees for the Best Performance categories; I am very happy to see this because films like “Moonlight”, “Fences”, “Hidden Figures” and “Lion” boasted many fantastic performances from non-white actors and actresses who deserve to be recognized.

As is the case with every list of Oscar nominees, there were definitely some films, filmmakers and actors/actresses that I am very disappointed to see not make the cut; they are as follows:

“Silence” (Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay)

“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” (Best Achievement in Visual Effects)

Denzel Washington for “Fences” (Best Achievement in Directing)

Martin Scorsese for “Silence” (Best Achievement in Directing)

Andrew Garfield for “Silence” (Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role)

Adam Driver for “Silence” (Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role)

Clint Eastwood for “Sully” (Best Achievement in Directing)

Tom Hanks for “Sully” (Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role)

Aaron Eckhart for “Sully” (Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role)

Marion Cotillard for “Allied” (Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role)

Amy Adams for “Arrival” (Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role)

“Sully” (Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay)

“Finding Dory” (Best Animated Feature Film)

John Williams for “The BFG” (Best Original Score)

“Letter to the Free” from “13th” (Best Original Song)

“We Know the Way” from “Moana” (Best Original Song)

Joel Edgerton for “Loving” (Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role)

“Loving” (Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay)

I am incredibly surprised to see the lack of nominees for “Silence” and “Sully” because both of these films were perfectly directed, had great supporting and leading performances and possessed amazing screenplays. I am really not sure what the Academy was thinking when they snubbed these two films of their respective nominations. I also do not understand why “Fantastic Beasts” did not receive a nomination for Best Achievement in Visual Effects; it had some of the best visual effects of the year and the best visual effects in the entire “Harry Potter” franchise, so, again, I am not sure why it did not get a nomination.  “Finding Dory” not receiving a nomination for Best Animated Feature Film, Amy Adams not receiving a Best Leading Actress nomination, “We Know the Way” from “Moana” not getting the Best Original Song nomination and “Loving” not getting a Best Picture or Best Adapted Screenplay nomination also greatly disappointed me.

The 89th Academy Awards will be held on February 26, 2017 at 5:30 p.m. PST (8:30 p.m. EST). The ceremony will be hosted by television host Jimmy Kimmel and it will be televised on ABC. Final voting on the nominees will begin on February 13 and end on February 21. For more information on the 89th Academy Awards, please visit http://www.oscars.org/.

Be sure to like and share this story and let VistaNow know what you think about the nominees this year and who you would like to see win in February.